Make an arrow from scratch...ID this limb...

[SirRobin77]

Ok i want to try my hand at making my own arrow shaft.
I found this one yesterday while still hunting my only trophy all day lol. Is this a good canidate for a shaft? Is this maple????? Whats the best way to remove the bark?
 IF THIS IS NOT A GOOD SPECIMAN CAN  YALL TELL ME THE BEST KIND OF WOOD TO USE THAT GROWS IN NORTH ALABAMA?
100 ??'s i know but im a total newb at this!! LOL HELP!
 
 

[b.glass]

Dogwood is considered one of the best. Find some young shoots where they are growing kinda close together. Pick ones that are about as big as your little finger in dia. and about six inches longer than you need. The leaves are off most of the dogwood in this area that helps identify them. They also have a smoothish grey bark.
I think they can be cut soon at least around here. They tend to split if cut too early and full of sap. Then they need to cure for a while before processed. PM me and maybe I can get you a few.

[b.glass]

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans" by Jim Hamm, that is an excellant book on how to make your own primitive gear and it's very entertaining too!

[Clay Hayes]

That's red maple, as thought.  

As far as the dogwood goes, there's two species that grow down south.  Flowering and swamp dogwood.  If you can find some swamp dogwood, you may be able to find some good shafting.  I've never been able to find any shafts on a flowering dogwood.

I'm not sure if you have any yaupon holly around, but they will produce good shafts sometimes.  Also, arrowwood viburnum, sparkleberry, rivercane, etc.  Sparkleberry is very good if it grows there.  

Good natural shafting is hard to find.  If you come across a good shaft, cut it and stick it in your quiver.  it may take all year to find 6 really good shafts.

ch

[Pat B]

I agree with Clay on the shoots to look for. I have made good arrows with viburnums(2 or 3 species), hollies(2 or 3 species), River, switch and hill cane and other exotic bamboos, maples, sourwood(one of my favorites), privet, silky and red osier dogwood(both are multi-stemmed shrub types of dogwood) and other shoots.
   If you can find where a tree has been cut most will sucker and those shoots will also work.
  When collecting you want to find the straightest you can to begin with so you don't have to work so hard to get them straight...and shoot straight ain't like POC, aluminum or carbon straight.   Pat

ps, I believe a few of the arrows in the pics I sent you were sourwood arrows and some are hill cane.

[SirRobin77]

So would bamboo or cane be easier?

[Pat B]

Any natural shoots are a lot of work. Cane is probably easier to straighten and it stays straight better than other shoot material.
   By the way, the shoot you posted looks like red maple.      Pat

[b.glass]

I have used cane mostly. My arrows fly very well. I'm going to collect some dogwood this winter/fall and try it. The cane I have was harvested in Alabama or Georgia (can't remember for sure) by Bill Skinner because we don't have it here. I think it has to be gathered green.

[kctreeman]

Defenately a maple.  Lots of work to do before it will be ready to shoot.cruise the back roads and look for thickets of dogwood. Easy to spot usually grows in large thickets about 4-8ft tall. Tops look reddish this time of the year.  Use hand pruner to cut at base about 3/8 or so in dia. i then bundle them together with rubber band and let them dry.  The bark will peel off with a sharp knife, then just heat and straighten.  God luck with this project.

[SirRobin77]

Ok if i could get the red maple limb straight could i use that type of wood? Is it strong enough?
Matt

[Pat B]

I made a red maple arrow this past year. It works fine although it is a bit bigger in diameter than other woods I used. One thing I have found out about using shoots for arrows is be sure the shoot is at least 2 years old. The first year it will have leaves directly on the shoot. The second year a small branch(twigs) will grow from where last years leaves grew. This makes a big difference as to the spine weight and how well the shoot stays straight.     Pat

[Dave Bulla]

Not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but I wouldn't even attempt to straighten the branch you have in the pic.  I doubt it could be gotten straight by bending alone and if you try to do it by cutting down the high spots, it violates the grain too much.  Besides, if you look around, I'm sure you can find lots of better candidates.

By the way, they call them shoot arrows (not branch arrows) for a reason.    :D    Shoots and suckers usually grow very straight and don't have twigs growing off them for quite a distance.  They work much better than just a branch in most cases.  As mentioned above, some species of wild dogwood grow in thickets which is conductive to long straight stems as they are competing with each other to get to sunlight.

Another option for you might be wild rose or multiflora rose.  Not sure if it grows near you but it's supposed to make quite a nice arrow.

[b.glass]

If you wanted to use maple or some other wood. You could get a log in the appropriate length and cut shafts from it. Jay Massey wrote about it in one of the Bowyers Bibles. He said that it was a technique used by primitive peoples.