Author Topic: deer toe bone fish hooks  (Read 25433 times)

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Offline swamp monkey

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deer toe bone fish hooks
« on: December 20, 2010, 10:23:59 pm »
Bone fish hooks require patience, and sometimes blood.  Yours in fact.  Or mine to be specific.  It depends on who makes them.  My first bone fish hook was made with a flint chip and some sand stone chunks.  I donated blood on three separate occasions. The flint cut my knuckle, the sand stone abraded my thumb and the hook was jabbed into the hand holding the sandstone.   My second one was less messy.  I then made couple with more modern tools and have to confess I am proudest of the primitive ones but am certain archaic natives would opt for a dremel if they had access to one. 
Below is a diagram of how a bone fish hook can come from a deer toe bone.  I have used some of my bone hooks with limb lines.  Half broke.  Each hook takes more than an hour each to craft and that is just the crude stuff.  Prettying things up takes more time.  The hooks I have seen in archeological displays are works of art.  Surely they cannot all be that pretty. 
The photo below is of four bone hooks and a split toe bone is an example of unsanded hooks.  I found a hacksaw cut the toe bone in half nicely and you can tell by the kerf marks that is what I did.  I did not have the forethought to photograph the bones I divided with a flint chip.   Bleeding kinda does that to your sensibility.  ;D
These hooks sure make me appreciate metal hooks. 

Offline jamie

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2010, 10:45:49 am »
very cool
"Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all."

waterbury, ct

Offline Sparrow

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2010, 09:56:30 am »
 Nice. Thanks !  '  Frank
Frank (The Sparrow) Pataha, Washington

Cacatch

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2010, 10:12:49 am »
Bone fish hooks require patience, and sometimes blood.  Yours in fact.  Or mine to be specific.  It depends on who makes them. 

Your work is awesome, and that part right there is hilarious, just cause of the way you said it, and because I'm sure it's true!  :D  Thanks for sharing your method too. I had wondered how these were made.

CP

Offline Bill Skinner

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2010, 09:56:24 pm »
Have you actually tried catching a fish with your toe bone hook?  They always broke when I caught a fish.  I tried to pick the fish up out of the water, like you do with a steel hook.  I have since found out they were probably used on a handline and probably used with a dip net.  You eased the fish in close, not fighting it, and when it was close enough, scoop it up with a dipnet.  Or you could ease it up to the bank and slide it out of the water.  I have had better luck making tougher hooks with raw legbones.  Bill

Offline swamp monkey

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2010, 10:20:05 pm »
i visited with an archeologist about the whole breakage thing and he said he thought the hooks were actually used to catch ducks not fish.  He things the hooks were tied to cords about 2 feet long. Then about 15- 20 cords were tied to a stake out in a marsh and each hook baited with maize or duck potatoes.  A duck foraging would swallow and be hooked in the throat but could not pull vigorously.  No breakage easy meal.  Kind tough on the duck if that is what really took place.

Yeah mine broke too.  The ones that did not had no bait left so i figure it was a clean meal for the fish. 
« Last Edit: July 04, 2014, 11:52:37 am by swamp monkey »

Offline bucksbuoy

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2011, 11:19:30 am »
really cool. I too am certain the archaics would have used dremels were they available. hahaha
Its only wood

Offline swamp yeti

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2011, 09:38:52 am »
                                  Those are real nice,I have made them out of the deer phalange bone but not of the toe bone yet,I am going to have to try that.

Offline bareshaft12

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Re: deer toe bone fish hooks
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2011, 07:40:17 am »
I have found so many of these on a few sites that I have,I always thought they were finger joints.Dont laugh now.