What did archers of old carry?

[NW Jamie]

Since I am deep into reading Lewis and Clark's journals, and I might add they did not travel light, and reading what was found with Otzi the prehistoric archer; I do wonder just what was a typical pack that either native American or European archers of past that they would venture out with? Seems like I and perhaps a few other here may carry more for a day of hunting than are ancestors would pack for a journey of years. This is not a question of great magnitude but just wanting to understand how those traditional archers of our past packed and traveled.

[ishiwannabe]

Great read! I need to get it back from whoever I lent it to now...

I have often wondered the same thing...seems they made do without a lot of what we deem required now.

[2treks]

Skill,Patience,time. And maybe a little need and understanding.

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Well, it seems Oetzi carried a broadhead in his back!

[straitera]

Good question. Do you suppose they didn't carry much because they didn't have it, didn't need it, or they could use the Lewis & Clarkmobile for basecamp?
Read accounts of Tom Whelen hunting for months with 2 friends & sleeping between oiled tarps to stay warm in the snow & cold weather. They took little extra and ate what they shot along the way.

[loco_cacahuate]

Thier entire existance was living off the land. If they needed something, they knew what to look for and how to make it.

[fido dog]

One thing was "preforms". You would have points that weren't notched yet or a final edge. When it came time to hunt or trade, they were as good as gold, so to speak.

I did an appraisal last year of about 1200 points that were found in a cache on a ranch. There were finished and un-finished points. I have been wondering why ever since and that led me to traditional archery.

[chrisg]

The San bushmen carry a combination quiver/game bag made from a duiker skin, a bow, spear and a digging stick/club. In the quiver is a fire drill stick and base. They carry a small hunting knife stuck in a belt thong. In the bag they may carry an ostrich shell water bottle. They hunt widely over terrain they know well, actually 'own' it via a complex inheritance and user arrangement. The kit weighs about a pound and a half excluding water. Off they go for several days. In cold weather they will have a skin Kaross. Nowadays they wear more western clothing and look scruffy! The old hunters are dieing out fast and their skills with them sadly. Water is from tsama melons or else from stored ostrich shells cached in the rainy season or another tuber found under the sand. I was lucky to spend a short time with a group who were expert users of plant foods, insects and snares, they hunted with bows but were more succesful using bushcraft and their knowledge of the total resource base. Amazing experience. They are incredible to hunt with, calm, quiet and efficient. If they are in a larger group at least one will carry a springhare catching pole, basically a long flexible stick with a steenbok or duiker horn barb on the end, it is sent down burrows to snag the springhare and they then dig down to it. This is easy in the Kalahari, the largest continuous sand belt in the world.  A mega 'beach' with trees and grass tufts! The Botswana bushmen have amazing skills and that is why they need so little kit, as has been said, if you need it you can make it if you know how and what is available.

We take far too much stuff.
chrisg

[mcgroundstalker]

... And why should I worry about not takin' my cell phone in the woods?..... Great Topic!

... mike ...

[reddogge]

The cell phone just COULD save your life in an emergency, fall, broken leg, cut from knife or broadhead, etc.  Or save someone else's life.

Even the rondevousers and primative campers have cell phones hidden away in their packs these days.  You never know.

[Blackhawk]

For those interested in the topic and not read "The Witchery of Archery", it's great.

Will and Maurice Thompson had their guns taken away following the Civil War, so they made bows and arrows and headed off the the swamps of Georgia and Florida.  

You will find out they did not venture out with just 5 or 6 arrows and a blunt.

[NW Jamie]

Chris G,
Great info on the San Bushmen; exactly the stuff that I had hoped to learn with this post, when you do a search on the internet for equipment carried there is not much until you hit the time of the rifles. Not trying to change what we now carry, and yes my wife would have a fit if I went out hunting without a cell phone, may not mentioned to her that there is not any coverage where I usually go. But are really interested in what and how the woodsmen used to hunt and travel the distances that they did and were self reliant, course there was not game management units and season, but still perhaps we can all take a lesson or two from the ancient ones. Just remember that they were the high-tech of their time and in a lot of ways may have been further along then we are now. Did any of the Canadian fur trader's use bows or was that all shot and ball?

[Dartwick]

Otzi the iceman

 http://www.mummytombs.com/otzi/equipment.htm  
-a longbow made of yew
-a chamois hide quiver
-fourteen arrows (only two finished)
-a copper ax
-a flint-bladed dagger with a woven sheath
-a tool for sharpening (retouching) flint
-a larch wood frame and cords of a backpack (pannier)
-ibex bones
-two birch-bark cylinders
-a calf leather belt pouch
-a tassel made with a white marble bead and -twisted hide strips
-two pieces of birch fungus (each threaded with hide strips)
-other tools

The so called backbapck may have been part of his snowshoes.The other tools include what looks like an awl and a drill