trad. gear

[Tim in Wa.]

Anyone hunt still hunt with trad. gear either a re curve or longbow with wood arrows? I'm considering starting to make my own wood arrows but all the choices seem a bit daunting
Tim

[Ben Nicholson]

Sure do. In fact I was chasing rabbits with my longbow yesterday. I made the switch to traditional nine years ago and haven't looked back. I've shot wood arrows, but prefer carbons myself.

Good luck!

[ElkNut1]

Tim, are you talking about buying properly spined shafts & fletching them as well as varnishing unfinished arrows?

ElkNut1

[Tim in Wa.]

Tim, are you talking about buying properly spined shafts & fletching them as well as varnishing unfinished arrows?

ElkNut1

Thats what I'm thinking about.There is allot of time to kill before hunting season 2015

[ElkNut1]

Tim, we've done a lot of arrow building over the years of all sorts but I'm not an expert in that field! (grin) One of the guys here on the ElkNut Crew is an expert though, him & his Dad have built hundreds if not thousands of arrows over the years & were Trad shooters & hunters most their lives. His handle is joeh2o. I'll get a hold of him & have him help you out the best he can!

ElkNut1

[ferris bugler]

I do. It seems very intimidating, but is actually quite simple. Get some shafts. Take your time and get them super straight, stain them and apply a few coats of polyurethane to seal them. Add feathers, points and knocks and you're good to go. After you do your first dozen you'll be hooked. I have made them out of laminated birch for my recurve and poplar for my longbow. Both worked great and stay pretty straight. I know cedar is really good, but have never used it. I'll try to post a couple pics.

[ferris bugler]

These are the first ones I made.


And here are some of my more recent ones. Crested to my brace height with homemade small game heads made out of bullet casings.

[Tim in Wa.]

So I have a 60" recurve that pulls 56 lbs @ 29" as far as choosing the shaft diameter and spine weight .I just follow the charts for the spine I guess but the shaft diameter is not that clear because there seems to be some overlap.I currently use carbon shafts and I think the total weight is around 650 grains.Do I aim for a similar weight?Or are wood shafts a totally different animal?
Tim

[ferris bugler]

I don't know about choosing the diameter, but there is a little bit of a formula for picking the right spine. I'm not totally familiar with it, but wood arrows are spined according to a longbow and a type of rest which is not cut to center as I imagine your recurve is. Also you pull farther than 28 inches and if you shoot a fast flight string you need to add a little more. I think it's something like 10 pounds for a recurve, five for a cut to center rest and five for your 29 inch draw and five for a fast flight string if you use one. I would guess that you are going to be in the 80-90 pound range and probably a 125 gr head. I shoot a Black Widow 59# at 28 inches and my arrows are spined between 80 and 90 pounds. Check out stick bow.com or tradgang. There are guys there that will be able to steer you in the right direction to get started. Then just start shooting. If the arrow kicks like there is not enough spine grind a quarter inch off or put on a lighter head until you get it where you want it. I don't recommend bare shafting until you are really close to what you want because when a wood arrow hits a target sideways it may break. Good luck.

[Indian Summer]

Right now I am in the process of building an osage/bamboo reflex deflex bow with a center lam of black walnut. I spent 6 hours tillering it last Saturday. Can't wait to finish it! I haven't gotten to the arrow building yet. But the guy who is teaching me about the bows is an arrow building machine. My problem with that is by the time I have the bow ready I just want to shoot it. So I'll probably just buy arrows. Right now I am practicing my form with a 45 pound 1969 Bear Black Hawk recurve. Man is it smooth! I love it.

This September will find me in Alaska after moose. I know they are a big animal. But I think I can get close and the vital zone is huge so I plan to use a bow until it gets down to the last couple days. My dream is to be ready and able to get it done with a recurve. I can tell you that if I shoot a 60 inch bull with that you guys will hear me yelling from down here in the lower 48. It will be one of if not the peak of my hunting career.

[Tim in Wa.]

Ferrs bugler
Thank you for the tips
Indian Summer
Good Luck !That sounds like a dream hunt
Tim

[G Posik]

I hunt with a longbow and recurve. I use woodies and some FMJ. I have my woodies made for me. They guy I use makes some top of the line stuff, and I just do not have the time to spend on arrows.

Glenn