Hunting with a bow can be a very thrilling experience. Going back to the methods used by our ancestors is proof that humans still have some basic survival skills. Hunting is a way of reconnecting with nature as well as with ourselves. A lot of people go hunting with a firearm and professional equipment and come back empty handed. Sometimes when you have to do all the work yourself you can improve your performances a lot. Making your own bow and arrows can be challenging but it can also be a rewarding experience. Today we are going to give you some basic instructions on how to make hunting arrows.
As it happens with most mass produced items, store bought hunting arrows are far from being perfect. Furthermore they are a lot more expensive than the ones that you can make for yourself. They are good for beginner archers but not for an experienced hunter. The first thing you need to procure when learning how to make hunting arrows is the right type of wood. According to various hunters willow is a very good choice but birch is ideal as it is the most rigid and the toughest wood. There are two ways that you can make an arrow: the natural way and the professional equipment one.
In order to make arrows in a natural way you just need some straight branches and a knife. Next you grab your knife and you start whittling ( this means shaving small pieces of wood in order to model the shape of the branch). The ends of the branches should be shaved in a pointy arrow shape. The other ends need to have a groove for the bow string. You can obtain this groove by shaving small pieces of wood from the center of the branch. Attach feathers to the end of an arrow and split the feathers in the middle. Test your arrows and adjust the fetch if necessary by changing the feathers.
If you want to learn how to make hunting arrows in a professional manner you need a few pieces of equipment. First you need to shop for some commercial dowels. Cut the dowels according to the length of your arms. A medium size dowel should be about twenty eight inches. If the dowel has crooked portions, you can straighten them by gently heating them over a flame and using your thumb to model them. You could also purchase a fletching jig. This is used in order to fix an arrow while applying fetching to the shaft. It needs to be flexible in order to be able to apply the fletching at different angles. As a beginner it is preferable to buy pre-cut feathers. You can finish the arrows by applying a wood stain or paint. There are a lot of other professional equipments and materials that you can use but they can be quite expensive and they are not always the best choice. The best thing to do is test different materials and techniques until you manage to master the art of making arrows.
