bow gigging or spikin' - ever heard of it?

[swamp monkey]

In the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks there was an off shoot of archery for bow fishing called spikin' because of the single point metal tip used to impale fish.  Later two and three pronged gig tips were developed and the art was also known as bow giggin.  The bows were made of sassafras, eastern red cedar and hickory and strung with wire.  Bows were soaked in water 20 minutes before using and kept wet the whole day through.  I am interested if this type of bow fishing occurred anywhere else in the US.  I know this existed in the Ozarks from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's.  I have made some replica bows and gig shafts but do not have the black smithing skills to do the gig tips.  I have some pictures of this set up if folks are interested.   Any information available on this practice outside the Ozarks.  would be appreciated.

[Pat B]

Never heard of either in archery terms but I would be interested in some pics and more info.

[Frode]

New to me too, but I'd be interested in pics, also!
Frode

[mullet]

 I'm interested, let's see'um.

[swamp monkey]

here is an image of the process at work in a local creek and the gear laid out so pretty.  I will hunt up a drawing of the spike tips and post that directly. 

[swamp monkey]

the gig tips are hand forged just like the much larger cousins the "gig pole" tip.  According to my historian informants the process of spikin' in Missouri led to the inspiration to gig during long log drives of the 1800's.  Gig pole tips were not know nearly so early as spike tips.  Spikes are the single prong tips.  Two and three prong tips were common too but four prongs were less common.  Bow gig tips are much stouter than frog gig tips.  They were meant to hit gravel and cobble and keep on stickin'.

[Postman]

Great stuff! Why were the bows soaked? wouldn't that cause a ton of set? also, any idea if this technique may have borrowed from the local tribes?
Thanks for sharing this-very cool!

[swamp monkey]

A local Ozarker let me examine and measure his bow gigging collection.  I have an excel spread sheet with specs on these bows.  At times they used some of the crudest materiel I have ever seen.  One red cedar bow had 18 knots alone on the back, the back grain violated more times than inmate parole.  Soak them in water for 20 minutes or more, and that lifeless, knotty, greyed out cedar resurrects its red hue and gets springy again.  But then other examples were simple works of art.  

I had the privilege of not only examining the bows  and spikes but making them under one such expert and now have fished with my own gear plus a gig tip that I traded for.  night time is the best time to do this.  No line or reel to attach to the arrow because the arrow floats.  it is a blast.  note the gunny sack on the waist of the fella with the red cedar bow?  That is for the fish you spike.  

[swamp monkey]

Why soak?  I think my experiments help shed light on that as would the Ozarker's own words.  The bows were made of wood that would float and not rot.  They were not necessarily the best tension wood.  Also during that time period immaculate staves of wood were not as common due to excessive logging of the time so you used what you could find.  So to keep the bow from breaking you would soak it and keep the wood springy.  I made three cedar bows and tried to string each with out soaking and all exploded.  Even an immaculate board stave.  Once I soaked my fourth it worked great.  I soaked all my sassafras bows before stringing and they work too.  I have three of them and one hickory ( but I did not feel the need to soak it). 

Did it lead to a lot of set.  Surprisingly not.  Some of the cedar and sassafras bows I examined from the early 1900's had very little set at all.  Others had some but I think they were hickory.  I will review my photos of his collection and see what I can tell. Honestly I was trying so hard to get the specs, and how many rules these bows "break" I totally spaced on the subtle stuff. 

I would love to chronograph one of these spikes and see how fast they go when shot.  I think they were all about momentum not FPS.  But i could be wrong. 

Another good question about the natives.  A historian from the Park Service indicates the earliest known spike in MO was found in1830's Delaware encampment.  His suspicion is that if the Delaware did not inspire the Scot Irish immigrants that settled the Ozarks then they got inspired while in the Appalachian mountains.   Again finding evidence of this practice outside the Ozarks would help make that case.  This whole style was almost lost because no one talked about it.  Folks were isolated back then and the Ozarks was a harsh place to make a living.  Few people wrote down their stories. 

[bucksbuoy]

That is too cool! I have bow fished before using contemporary equipment but I think that stuff was more of a novelty then anything else. Never gigged one fish to be honest. Those forged giggs are awesome and I love how those bows break all the rules. I cant tell you how many times I have stared at sassafras and thought "man that has got to be good for something other then birch beer."

[n2huntn]

Is that Ray Joe Hastings who wrote a book about this? Neat book available in Springfield.
Jeff

[Pat B]

This would make a great article for PA Magazine!    Very interesting in deed!

[swamp monkey]

Is that Ray Joe Hastings who wrote a book about this? Neat book available in Springfield.
Jeff

It is indeed.  He is the man who taught me a lot of what i know about the subject.  I have even had the privilege of working by his side as he forged gig tips and I made bows.  Good memories. 

[swamp monkey]

That is too cool! I have bow fished before using contemporary equipment but I think that stuff was more of a novelty then anything else. Never gigged one fish to be honest. Those forged gigs are awesome and I love how those bows break all the rules. I cant tell you how many times I have stared at sassafras and thought "man that has got to be good for something other then birch beer."

Sassafras is pleasant to work and smells great too.  I have made a paddle or two and splitting it out is a bit of a pill, but it is worth it in the end.  I have never tried a hunting self bow of sass'.  I figure it really could use a backing.  But get it wet and it does fine.  hardly takes a set either. 

[cherokeewan2b]

i never knew my grandfather but my dad said he made cedar bows with hickory bark string. you had to soak it in the creek so the so the would not break. i have a bow gig my dad made.and i have killed fish with it. fun in small streams but if you shoot a big fish he may get away with your arrow.  Shannon