Anyone hunt with a bow and arrow?

[penpusher]

Sling shot crossbow

http://www.knightsedge.com/crossbows/sl ... ossbow.htm

penpusher

[Grumpy]

Otherwise known as a `Stone Bow` penpusher - they used to be a favourite with English poachers.

[mishradk]

Hi people,
I too have little experience on Bows and Arrows.
Some 25 years back my dad was posted in a jungle. It was Kendujhar District of Orissa..

As a kid I have played with the Munda, Kandha Orang Tribal people so have a good exposure to these type of things..

Mostly they use 4 types of bows.
1. For normal protection from wild animals. These are used by any one including women and kids.. It used to be a normal bamboo bow, with the string made was of some skin of tree, twisted and processed properly to work like leather. Arrows were from stem of some beans plant.. don’t remember.. they sharpen the head and use it ..

2. The second type of bows were used for hunting small animals.. the bow was a normal bow with a special attachment of bamboo / wood at the grip part tied with the bamboo .. to give more strength. On this type of bows the string used to be made of bamboo or leather. But arrows were of many different types. For killing different type of animals they use different shapes of iron, bamboo, horn of animals as arrow head..

3. The third type are double string bows, made of bamboo. But don’t use arrows but clay ball, stones or that type of things.. to protect crop from birds, animals.. a leather joins two strings at the center and the clay is kept there for shooting.

4. The fourth type and the most powerful type which is used for killing big animals like tiger, elephant are quite big.. it is used from a tree top. One person holds the bow keeping his leg straight and two other people pull the arrow. Some times they put the iron head in fire before shooting. The arrows can be of 6 ft long. As per dad, these are used at a very sensitive part of the animal to kill. Some arrows have multiple head like a fork.

My Dad used to go for hunting mostly bears. Tribal people love to eat bears.

We used to have many bows and arrows for our self protection. Our colony guard used to carry a bow and pair of arrows. These arrows had a horn on top. It was a quite different type of arrow head (upside down). The arrow was entered from the pointed part of the horn and the wider part was made flat. So that it should not enter any one’s body. It can only release the impact.. And even can break the bone.

I have seen these types of arrows being used for rabbits, they don’t kill the rabbit but the hit can make him senseless. Also the tribal people used these type of arrows for bringing the fruits, flowers down from branches of tall trees.

Sorry Now I don’t have access to those places. But if I get time I can make drawing of all those and post it here..

Old memories came alive..

[Mark]

Mack The Knife,

My apologies but I did not get to make a bow this time, we had another person who was bowmaking, and I taught some basic blacksmithing and tool-forging. I will take pics from the website posted earlier and post descriptions of what is happening on them.

Mishradk,

Thank you for the very informative post, that sounds fascinating. Interestingly, bows made for shooting clay pellets do not exist in North America as far as I am aware.

[Mack The Knife]

Deepak,

Thanks for your post. Very informative and sketches would be most welcome.

It reminds me that a friend of mine has a tribal bow, perhaps with some arrows too and that I must take some pictures of it and post it here.

Did your father hunt bear with a bow or a firearm?

Mack The Knife

[Mack The Knife]

No worries, Mark.

I have been going through some sites but yet to come across one which explains the making of a primitive bow and arrow without it taking a lot of time for wood curing etc.

This primitive bow you intended making...how much curing time would the materials require?

Mack The Knife

[mehulkamdar]

I was never very fascinated with bows but the Madras Museum in Egmore has a huge Arms and Armour section with several dozen types of bows and hundreds of guns though, sadly, all have been deactivated and many are in pathetic condition.

The pellet bows that Deepak talks about ate actually quite common, like a powerful, large catapult in effect though I have seen more shot with stones than with clay pellets. You could buy them from Nari Koravas (tribal fox hunters) in Tamilnadu some years ago for a few rupees. These days, the Koravas are becoming more urban and settled and I have no idea if they still sell the stuff. There is a huge Korava school at Saidapet in Chennai which may be the best place to enquire of you want to buy this stuff. The principal whose name I cannot recall at the moment, is a very nice and helpful lady. Maybe Rags or one of the Chennai people could check.

Cheers,

Mehul

[mishradk]

Mr. Mack The Knife,
normally Dad used to go with 12 bore but it was very difficult to educate the tribal people that they should not come in front of the shooters ( into the shooting range).

I think Dad was not an expert in Bow and arrow. And it requires special skills too. I think in a typical tribal hunting he used to preside the process only..

regards
Deepak

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks, Deepak.

Mack The Knife

[Mark]

Mack The Knife,

Here are my explanations of what is happening in the pictures.


Here the wood has been split in half with a wedge and sledge hammer, you can see the tools in the background. When split like this they are now called "staves"




Here is the initial rough shaping. I use a hatchet, but one about 1/2 the size shown here.



Here shows how much is taken down either with the hatchet or with a tool called a drawknife. Notice the second stave from the right- you can cut down a green tree, trim it to this size and place it in a 6" PVC pipe with a 20 watt light bulb and leave for a week, it will be cured for you.



Here is the only important thing to do when making a bow, it is called checking the "tiller" which means keeping both sides of the bow balanced under draw. I do not use a jig like this, I just bend them over my knee or bend one against the ground then turn the bow over and check the other side against it. The stiffer side gets shaved down a little more.



This is a scraper, they work good not only for removing wood but giving a fine finish.



Shaping the handle with a file, just hold it in your hand and remove the stuff that should not be there



Using a round file to file a guide where the string goes at the tips of the bow.



A completed bow with a recently split stave.


Never go camping with this gentleman!

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks Mark. The notes do preclude any misunderstanding from misinterpretation of the picture.

That tip about the PVC tube and lamp was a cracker!

Does tillering influence the bows draw weight? Would length play a part as well?

Would it be possible to get 30 to 35 lbs draw weight or even 40 lbs., for that matter, from a 4' long bow? My draw length is 30".

Thanks again.

Mack The Knife

[Mark]

Yes you could definately get that sort of draw weight from a 4' bow.

I just took some pics of my daughters bow, it is 4' long and has a draw weight of 20 pounds and is quite slender. a 5 or 6 foot bow would most likely be needed for your draw length but you could use a release to give you a shorter arrow length for the bow.

I'll try to get the pics put up tonight or tomorrow.

Also, regarding tillering- that just describes the balance between the upper and lower limbs. To reduce draw weight you just remove more material from both limbs.

[Mack The Knife]

Hi Mark,

Somehow the idea of release does not appeal to me in this particular case as I would like to keep the equipment as basic as possible. So I suppose it will just have to be a longer one then.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[jonahpach]

Great stuff mark.. Mack The Knife I would love to see you build one of these.. If you want one speak to me lad..

Jonah

[Mack The Knife]

If you want one speak to me lad..

Go on then, I'm all ears......and serious about it.

Mack The Knife