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Black Powder. White Smoke and Feathered Shafts
The group of archers walked with casual determination up to the mark and began eyeing the target, a 3-D deer target. The first in line drew an arrow made of an ocean spray shoot, nocked it to the string of artificial sinew, and focused intently on the mark. She drew back her hickory longbow, and with a whisper-soft release, planted her arrow just inside the heart-lung zone on the foam target. Hoots and calls of encouragement were echoed down the line. She turned and grinned at the other archers, her Plains Indian buckskin dress flapping with her motion. The next shooter, wearing a tan waistcoat and white linen shirt with puffy sleeves along with blue woolen knee breeches and a tri-cornered hat, toed the line for his shot. The big buckles on his low black shoes glinted in the sunlight. The other archers wore a variety of strange garb, including breechcloths and moccasins, calico shirts and drop-front trousers, and buckskin knee-breeches. Not too far away, the intermittent banging of black powder firearms signaled that the main purpose of the weekend was well under way. At first glance, the pairing of primitive or traditional archery with the shooting of black-powder muzzleloading firearms must strike many people as strange. This admittedly anachronistic combination is growing wildly popular however, at black-powder rendezvous all across the country. Its actually a great combination: primitive guns, primitive-style camping, and primitive archery go hand in glove. The buckskinners rendezvous is itself something of an anachronism. From cities, towns and farms, people load up vehicles and trailers with all sorts of camping gear meant to look old-fashioned white canvas teepees, wedge, marquis or wall tents, wooden water barrels, cast iron and copper cooking equipment, and the likeand assemble at gun clubs or private acreages to spend a weekend or a week. Many of them dress in buckskin, calico, wool and linen, emulating the mountain men, trappers, explorers, Indians, voyageurs, longhunters, pioneers and military people of days gone by. All of them have a love for, and many of them make and shoot, muzzleloading firearms. These guns, usually flintlock or percussion firearms, are replicas of the guns used by our American ancestors for hunting, self-defense, and recreation in the days before our American Civil War. Most modern rendezvous, in fact, have rules that limit all firearms to pre-1840 styles.
The main event at black-powder rendezvous, of course, has to do with competitive shooting of these muzzleloading firearms. The guns come in rifled, smooth-bore and pistol categories. There is almost always a competition in knife and tomahawk throwing, as well. Most events allow shooters to place in single events, and to combine scores for aggregate prizes. While primitive archery is often not included in those aggregate scores (primitive archery isnt for everyone), it has become an attractive add-on for those wishing to explore another aspect of what some call, experiential anthropology. Increasingly, primitive-style bows and arrows are finding a valuable and enjoyable place at muzzleloading rendezvous.
Certain archery criteria have become commonplace at recent rendezvous, at least in the Pacific Northwest: The bows must be wooden stickbows of traditional design. The strings can usually be either modern Dacron or sinew, but never the more modern trade-name variations. Arrows usually must be self-nocked. (Sometimes the rules allow plastic nocks, to encourage new-comers and, as some range officers say, for safety.) No arrow-rests or nocking points can be used. Since I have a vine-maple longbow that does have a brass nocking point and a small arrow rest, I simply turn the bow over and use it upside down. At the 2005 Pacific Primitive Rendezvous, held near Winchester, Idaho, the rules were even more stringent: Arrows had to be made from natural shoots, not dowels or store-bought Port Orford cedar, and the tips had to be primitive stone or steel points. The shooting thats done is usually of the 3-D woods-walk variety, much like a standard 3-D archery shoot. One advantage for experienced archers, perhaps, is that many of the courses offer relatively short distance shooting. This may be because its a rather new aspect of the rendezvous scene, or because of the homemade nature of some of the equipment, or maybe just so everyone can have fun shooting their bows, which often have lighter draw weights than hunting bows.
One does encounter archers with a vast range of skill and development. There are participants who make their own tackle and love to hunt with it, but many are beginners, spouses or children of buckskinners who dont shoot muzzleloaders. Some are shooters wanting to get away from all the loud noises for awhile. A relaxed and encouraging atmosphere is emphasized, and participants are urged to have fun. For this reason, the primitive archery shoot can be one of the most enjoyable parts of a muzzleloading rendezvous. As fun and as relaxed as it can be, there is serious competition at these events. At three 2005 buckskinners rendezvous in the Puget Sound area of Washington, the author managed to shoot very well for a change, and placed third twice and second once. The prizes included an envelope of gift certificates from a local restaurant chain, a discount at a muzzleloading supplier, and a medal. A tradition at many black-powder rendezvous is that the archery winners get to choose a prize from the blanket filled with donated goods. This gives the competitors the chance to come away with something useful no matter who actually gets first place. How did primitive archery come to be part of black powder shooting events? It probably sprang from the interest of some buckskinners in the culture of the Native American peoples who traded, befriended, and fought with the European Americans who were heading west. For example, the author remembers shooting the short, horse-back Plains Indian bow that Kevin Hiebert brought to a rendezvous in Kansas in the late 1980s. Kevin had made the bow and arrows himself, in true Indian style, and they shot very well. But he was the only one there with such a bow in those days. John Fredenberg, known as Fletcher at rendezvous, says that at least in the Pacific Northwest, the interest in primitive archery may have sprung from the participation of Boy Scout troops at black-powder rendezvous. Fredenberg himself has been rendezvousing for 15 years. He has also taught archery to numerous Boy Scouts, and has led Scout rendezvous that had both archery and muzzleloading elements in them.
An NRA-trained Shooting Sports Coordinator for the Pacific Harbors Council of the BSA, Fredenberg has been involved in youth archery since he was a 14-year-old Scout, and has been at least partially responsible for the growing popularity of primitive-style archery at muzzleloading shoots in the Pacific Northwest. Nowadays, there is scarcely any rendezvous in the Northwest that does not have an archery element. At many of them, one can find Fletcher all set up in his canvas wall tent with a large front canopy, selling hickory bows and ready-made self-nocked arrows, as well as providing repairs for archers with problems. Fredenberg is only one of many archers who have combined that love with their love of black-powder guns. Some of them just shoot their bows, some of them make their own tackle, and some provide tackle for others. If you like primitive archery, funny clothes, and guns that take loose powder and round lead balls, you can find it all at lots of black-powder rendezvous around the country. The author, Dick Weaver, has enjoyed traditional archery for a number of years, making the switch from a heavy compound bow to a 63-inch wood and fiberglass longbow from the Sky Archery Company early on. He now shoots a 55-pound vine maple longbow made in a class taught by Jay St. Charles. He also enjoys shooting flintlock long rifles, two of which he has built from parts (with lots of help). He is a resident of Seattle, Wash. |
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