Complete noob asking dumb questions

[Mohawk]

Hello, I just joined up, and I have to say, you guys have the right idea - we have forgotten so much knowledge, and you guys are reclaiming it! Sure I could go buy a sweet $600 compound bow with slick aluminum arrows for my first deer kill, or i could make my own bow, like countless generations of my ancestors before me, from my natural surroundings. I think we all know the clear choice here.

So, I have never deer hunted before, but this year I am going.  (dont worry, my expectations arent high, i know making my own bow and taking a deer first time are pretty high goals - but it seems like the damn deer are getting to be tamer and more numerous than peoples dogs, so i figger its time to help thin the herd, and pad my midsection).  I am going to make a hickory or perhaps an oak selfbow.  Any suggestions which would be better?Also, I have some questions about tools:

making a tiller stick seems easy enough, but I have a question on draw weight; how do you determine this? is there some sort of scale or pulley or something? where do i get one?

Thanks guys, I love this forum.

[DanaM]

Wecome to primitive archery Mohawk. Either hickory or oak will make a bow, as for a tillering stick they work but
I'd recommend a tillering tree with a rope and pulley so that your safely out of harms way. You can buy a scale from
3 Rivers Archery just Google them. Also I would buy Traditional Bowyers Bible Vol 1 for starters , Paul Comstocks book "The
Bent Stick" is also excellent and reasonably priced. Remember to go slow and take yer time, patience comes in handy which you
will also need for hunting. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask for help and post pics if ya can.

[a finnish native]

First of all welcome! I would maybe start from hickory. just remember that you have to keep the belly flat in this case because hickory starts to take compression fractures to the belly if badly tillered or rounded bellyed. otherwise hickory is an excellent material. I would make just a simple D bow with around 50-60 pounds of draw weight. now to your scale question: I like to check the draw weight by taking a person scale that will probably be found in your house too. then you want to get a long and strong piece of wood like a board or something. you mark the point of fulldraw to the board measuring from either end. then you put the board on the scale so that the string of the bow is placed on the upper end of the board and lets say you want a bow of 50 pounds, you just push the bow down towards the mark you made and look on the scale. when you reach 50 pounds on the scale don't push longer. if it was before your mark scrape off some wood and check the tiller. then again until you have about 50 pounds an inch or two before the mark. then round the edges and so on and voila. you have a bow with a certain draw weight.

[Justin Snyder]

Welcome,  You are right about making a bow and getting a deer your first year, it will be tough.  But don't defeat yourself by thinking it cant be done.  If you work hard, and get proficient with your bow. It is no harder than getting one with a compound.  You can do it.  You just need to practice with the bow. 

Where do you live.  Do you live where the humidity will be high during the hunt?  Do you plan to hunt for several days at a time, or will it be mornings and evenings with work in the middle. If you will be out for days on end with no break and it is real humid,  I might lean toward the Oak, just because the hickory can soak up a lot of humidity. If you can take the bow back home and let it rest in a hot box or warm room, the humidity would not be near the issue, and I would go hickory. 

Santtu. is correct about checking weight with a bathroom scale, it can be done fairly easily.  If you want to make one bow, this might be a good route.  If you become addicted and want to make lots of bows like the rest of us, I would definitely make a tillering tree like Dana said.  You can use the search option, just type "tillering tree" and search, and you should find plenty of pictures to look at to see how to make one.  Keep us posted and ask lots of questions.  Justin

[Pat B]

Welcome aboard. We love dumb noob questions.  Makes up feel smart.    Like Justin said, don't second guess yourself. It is quite possible to build a bow and take a deer the first time out if you do your homework, work hard and most of all, develop (or increase) your patience. It would be difficult to learn how to build a bow, and build one successfully and learn how to deer hunt and to be able to do that successfully in such a short time period.  For me to start now, build a bow of hunting weight and to learn it's idiosyncrasies well enough to successfully hunt with it this season, would be a task I wouldn't put myself through. To start now to prepare for next years season would be feasible and practical...but you will not accomplish either if you don't start now.  
    Check out Jawge's and The Ferret's sites for excellent tutorials on building wood bows from both staves and boards.
   As far as weight goes, don't worry about a number(as long as it is legal weight) but make the bow you can shoot comfortably and most of all accurately.
  I salute your way of thinking and your ambition. You will be a successful bow builder and hunter...just maybe not this year.      Pat

[lowell]

[quote 
  I salute your way of thinking and your ambition. You will be a successful bow builder and hunter...just maybe not this year.      Pat

  Not being successful the first year can be a good thing in the overall picture!!

  I have seen several hunters, starting young or later in there life,  be very successful there first time out (ie..a big buck) only to lose interest very quickly. The guys that go out a struggle for a few years are the ones that really get hooked!! IMHO

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Either way, you're on track to have a lot of fun

[gene roberts]

i'm also new here i've heard that hickory is the easiest thing to make a selfbow out of.

[Jbell]

Welcome aboard Mohawk! You are in for alot fun building these wonderful bows. Its a great challenge and you will love seeing yourself progress.  My biggest advice to you would be to have fun , enjoy what mother nature has givin us , sit back and enjoy the ride cause it may not be all that easy to get your first deer. Just don't beat yourself up over It. The only pressure you should put on yourself is after the shot. Do your best to track your game. I have seen to many people give up to soon only to find their deer 50 Yards from where they stopped looking  a week earlier. But then again It happens to everyone and we just learn from our mistakes, that is what hunting is about. Just be patient, only you will know when you are ready to hit the woods. Good luck!

[Pappy]

Welcome Mohawk,like Pat said no dumb questions here.The main thing is have fun,take your time and it will come around.
   Pappy

[jamie]

welcome aboard everybody gave great advice . one thing more important than the others. is make sure you know your limitations when hunting. practice , practice, and when your down done practice some more. where you from? peace

[Mohawk]

Thanks for the replies; the bathroom scale I would have never considered, great idea - if im getting it, it sort of almost sounds like a reverse tiller stick, ie holding the middle point of the string stationary as opposed to the bow.

Jamie, i am in upstate ny - the deer are getting numerous.  just the other day, i saw an 11 pointer on the well used bike path. i had time to count, because he showed no fear of me and just watched me as i rolled up on him. a couple weeks ago, some were prancing through my front yard.  and i live on busy corner intersection in the city!

[Mohawk]

just remember that you have to keep the belly flat in this case because hickory starts to take compression fractures to the belly if badly tillered or rounded bellyed.

im using hand tools for this and (excuse my ignorance) i dont know much about wood working in general.  would I be using just a hand planer, and will this ensure it to be flat? I mean, if my angle on just one stroke is off, wouldnt that mess up the entire thing? i could be overthinking the situation (seeing as how man did this for tens of thousands of years without a single Home Depot), but I just want to make sure.

How do some of you real cavemen do this stuff? I mean do you chop up a stave with an obsidian ax? (which is so cool - i want to make an obsidian knife and axe, not to mention arrowheads, but im afraid of slicing my fingers off).  if you do that, are you just sorta guesstimating on the shape, like an artist making a sculpture?

I know I probably wont take a deer this year. But if i am going to kill one, i want to make the bow and the arrow that end another creatures life. it seems to honor the spirit of the animal more than if you just go to walmart and buy a rifle and some ammo and plug him from afar.

[DanaM]

It was finnish native that made that comment, but I don't think a hand plane is the way to go. All ya need is a good wood rasp and a scraper.
I generally alternate rsap, scraper, rasp, scraper until I'm close to finished dimensions then use strictly the scraper. Do a search on here for rasp
and scraper and you will find info. 3 rivers sells Nicholson #49 and #50 rasps and scrapers, the rasps are expensive but well worth it. You can make yer
own scrapers from things like old saw blades, squares etc. I use an old butcher knife most of the time. And yea you can go stone age also see jamies threads
hes the caveman.

[jamie]

mohawk you are surrounded by chert in new york. the hudson and mohawk rivers have cobbles on the banks. normanskill is the best for points and such. eopus and onondaga are more available in the nrth and west. ive been trying to get some time to come up and do some rock hunting. the place i use to get it from now has homes on it. if i come up i'll let ya know and we can do some breakin. im in ct. by the way. my brother in law has a 180 acre camp north of fultonville. so the next time i get up there for anything ill let ya know. peace