I got a new to me book on archery and bow hunting.See what you think of this quote from one of the articles:
"Broadhead design can bring forth as many arguments as can spine and cast.Some argue with trophies to back them up and others merely express opinions.Archery will never grow stale as long as we argue and try to strive to improve our equipment."
Other articles talked about the fight to get and keep bow hunting privileges,the light bow-heavy bow argument and there were some references made to the light arrow-heavy arrow contraversy.
Oh and the book was Ye Sylvan Archer,Volume VII,Jan 1942-Dec 1943.
We may be a lot more "traditional" than we imagined.
That's good stuff! Just goes to show, some things never change :campfire:
I was a little dumbfounded reading that stuff,Curt,as too how much we hadn't changed.
One thing that has changed,and it says a lot for our sport-not to judge those guys but they were taking shots out to 100+ yds and thinking nothing of emptying quivers full of arrows.
Today,the emphasis on tuning setups and taking high percentage shots within our real,practical,shooting limits is more the norm and says so much about our sport and the people who are drawn to it.
We can argue the same old stuff and probably will for an eternity but still have changed a ton for the better with few changes in our equipment.It is something to be proud of.
Very interesting!
good stuff. That is one of the things I like about trad archery is the connection to the past (past referring to 1000s of years)
QuoteOriginally posted by JimB:
I was a little dumbfounded reading that stuff,Curt,as too how much we hadn't changed.
One thing that has changed,and it says a lot for our sport-not to judge those guys but they were taking shots out to 100+ yds and thinking nothing of emptying quivers full of arrows.
Today,the emphasis on tuning setups and taking high percentage shots within our real,practical,shooting limits is more the norm and says so much about our sport and the people who are drawn to it.
We can argue the same old stuff and probably will for an eternity but still have changed a ton for the better with few changes in our equipment.It is something to be proud of.
Its neat you mention that. I've had a bit of a ahard time digesting some of the long, rather errant shots that used to be common place in those old hunting stories. What's more is when they connected, alot of times there was game in the bag.
That says alot about the effectiveness of archery equipment.
I also think its funny to read the same heavy Vs. light arrow and bows argument from 60+ years ago. The argument is still EXACTLY the same LOL :)
Brian
Great stuff. I just noticed how many broadheads in my small collection were single bevel from the 50's and 60's. Probably was a sales hype then, too. ;)
Someone once said (or many people have frequently said): "There's nothing new in bowhunting."
60,000 years is a long time.
(http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture02/fig_02-05d.jpg)
Grog! What you paint frontal shot for? You reckless game waster. You just want you face on wall.
I like the two does with femoral artery shots shown in the pictograph or cave painting or whatever that is. Notice also they did not shoot the antlered bucks/bulls.
One of my favorite quotes is from the book The Den of the Old Bow Hunter, "We made our heavy bows heavy and our broad heads broad." Chester Stevenson
Good stuff and a consistantly needed reality check - for me especially.
Our trad hunting equipment would likely be far different if the vast majority hunted for sustenance.
VERY GOOD LITERATURE....
Make you think doesn't it. We still ask the same questions and differ on the same points of discussion. The connection to the past still exists and I think that is good. Sure we have more refined and better equipment with laminated bows and such but we still have to get within an effective killing range and put the arrow in the right spot. I wonder if early man sitting around the fire with his buddies debated the same kind of stuff? I'll bet they did. Someone had to have a better bow, or knapped point or wooden shaft. Stumpkiller's picture made me think about it. Is that picture really from a pictograph? If so, I'll bet there was a lot of discussion on where to aim at on an animal!
What I have found using traditional equipment is the fact that the equipment isn't what normally let's me down.
It is usually the nut loosing the arrow, and that is the most difficult one to tune, focus and get corrected.
That is why we like to discuss, argue, test and tinker. It helps build confidence and that is one best ways to get the nut adjusted.
All nuts are different, so there is no cookie cutter one method fits all.
Yes, we can look back and see the same issues today as then. Not a whole lot new in this tradtional thing. Materials have been the biggest improvement.
"Grog! What you paint frontal shot for? You reckless game waster. You just want you face on wall."
Hilarious!
Cool pic Stumpkiller. I guess when you're hunting for survival you just gotta keep the 'wood in the air'. I can't say much for the penetration, but I'll bet those boys had superior tracking skills and not much got away from them if they could get it to bleed.
That image is a cave-painting attributed to 30,000 years ago. It also looks like they're catching them emerging from a river. We hunt for sport. They did not have that luxury.
QuoteFig. 2-5d. Paleolithic cave paintings showing the importance of the hunt.
D. Hunting of stags with bow and arrow, Cueva de los Caballos, Albocacer, Castellon, Spain.
Source: Singer 1954, Fig. 89.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture02/lec02.html
QuoteCro-Magnons dominated Ice Age Europe from at least 40,000 years ago. Remnants remain of their high culture including animal skin clothing and moccasins tailored with bone needles, highly efficient flint blades, and homes made from branches and, in the Ukraine, from mammoth bones. Evidence of the high culture of Cro-Magnons is found in their artistic legacy found in cave paintings which have been dated from 30,000 years ago. This art in its depictions of animals and hunting scenes indicates their complete involvement with the hunt (Fig. 2-5). This cave art was not a rare event; more than 200 late Stone Age caves bearing wall paintings, engravings, bas-relief decoration, and sculptures have been found in southwestern Europe alone. The most spectacular are the caves at Lascaux (dated 18,000 to 17,000 years ago) and recently at Chauvet (20,000 years ago).
Bah. Kort says hollow cane shaft best 'cause fly fast. Me know solid birch shaft heavier and blow clean through cave bear. Him full of mamoth poo.
What goes around comes around. The circle of life
The more older archery books/mags/literature I read the more I realize not much is new in archery.It's actually pretty amazing...
AMEN :clapper:
I was under the impression that the bow is a more recent invention than 30,000 years. Something in the range of 5000-10,000 with the atlatl being used before that anyone here have the skinny on that stuff?