just woundering how many of you shoot self bows and whats the attraction for you to shoot them what kind of arrows do you use wanting to take this path any info much appreciated thanks schnitz

I shoot self bows because thats what I make. I like the idea of reverse technology. My arrows are made from sourwood, dogwood, salt cedar and other hardwood shoots or a few different cane species.  Pat

I shoot selfbows with cane/boo, hand planed wood, or shoot arrows. Lots of good info here from some seasoned veterans. Well seasoned veterans! I mean there's some guys on here that were around before wood was invented.    jk

If you wanna get started in selfbows then you could check out the TBB (traditional bowyers bible) series, "Hunting The Osage Bow" by Dean Torges, "The Bent Stick" by Paul Comstock, or etc...

Or maybe there is someone close to you that could help you get started. Anyway if you do "take this path" you're in for the time of your life!

Salt cedar.     I used to be able to go down to the Pease river and cut more than I could carry, along with river cane.

I shoot everything from compounds to selfbows,,,, I'll always shoot selfbows because I consider them to be the purest form of traditional archery I can find,,its the biggest/toughest challenge and has the biggest rewards mentally.

I'll admit I don't currently make them because I have nowhere to do it (condo)  but I have made 5 that have all broke (whitewoods)  but I trade for and buy alot of selfbows mostly osage from many people. my Joe Mattingly selfbows are my prized possesions when it comes to my archery..
I shoot all kinds of woods arrows with australian silver woods and cedar being my favorites tipped with  STOS & Zwickey 90% of the time.

Let's see....... do I want to spent up to $1200 on a custom bow or a buck-fifty(string, rest, glue, finish, etc) and a little time for a great shooting, simple, easily replaceable, very effective bow. Yep, I shoot selfbows.

I hunt with my selfbows about 90% of the time, and glass bows the other 10%.

Walt Francis

I make them and I hunt with them.  

I hunt with my glass longbow, but I also have a selfbow, and plan on making a better one soon to hunt with.

I hunt with wood bows. My arrows are usually river or switch cane but i have hunted with shoot shafts as well, I use hand stripped turkey feathers, real sinew and either trade points I make myself or flint heads I get in trades with others.

There is a certain pride in hunting with a bow and arrows you've made yourself BTW this applies whether they are wood or fiberglass, and rivercane or poc's. Your personal involvement in their construction makes them more meaningful (rather than just writing a check)

The challenge of both construction and hunting with them and their utter simplicity appeals to me.

I shoot self bows that I make myself.  I make them mostly from white woods as they're easiest to find in my area.  I've worked on a couple osage staves when they came into my hands, but wouldn't pay money for one.  

I generally buy cedar shafts and tip them with either a two-bladed broad head, trade point or a stone point.  My arrows are always fletched with hand-shaped wild turkey or wild goose feathers.  

I choose self bows because I like working with my hands and developing my artistic and creative skill.  By making my own bows I get to experiment, learn what works best for me, and occasionally make money when I'm called on to sell a bow.  And it's fun!  You learn a lot about yourself while splitting and drawing down a log!

All the best,

-ELG

I started making red oak selfbows this year the first one was for my son,I,ll be trying diffrent woods soon.

A selfbow is an undiluted statement of simplicity and function. Although the skill to make a fine selfbow may be a complex and an evolutionary process, the end result is a bow as close to primordial and pristine as can be imagined. Just carrying one through the woods brings me that much closer to the natural rhythms of the Earth.

Another meaningful factor for me is the relationships that I have formed with the bowyers/friends who have made my bows. Carrying a bow that was made by a friend and masterful bowyer is talismanic, and brings additional depth and meaning to a bow.

Friendship and traditional archery just go together, and carrying a fine back quiver filled with cedar arrows and a great selfbow all made by my friends is powerful.

I've killed deer with glass bows and flint heads and I've killed deer with self bows and steel heads.  This year my goal is to kill a deer with self bow and a knapped head.  Marty Horn "Billet Head" supplied the heads and I just finished a couple new osage bows.  About another month till deer season.  The flint heads are mounted on river cane shafts.

I hunt with a self made wooden bow.  I plan to make some cane arrows and some trad points this winter.  I likr selfbows for it's purity.   keith

Self bows will ruin your life!!! Some guys I know, that's all they do, eat sleep and play with selfbows, they are just sick I tell ya.  

I shoot selfbows but not very well. Does that count? I have a hickory bow I made years ago that is way over my limit and have a beautiful hackberry bow that Jason Baker built for me but I still stuggle to shoot or find the right shafts for. it is part of the continue challenge I put before myself in archery.

I guess that I am one of those "sicko's" Dano just mentioned. I will try to make a bow out of just about any wood. Been shooting self arrows, but just started in with rivercane and knapping points. There is just no end to all the natural materials out there to try out...Terry

If  I could verbally explain the feeling it gives me when I successfully complete a useful selfbow & set of cane arrows, I would do so. But I guess I just don't have the kind of written talent to explain "why I hunt with a selfbow".

       Please don't take this to be "boastful" or "ego building" but this picture of a selfbow, cane arrow with trade point, and a successful harvest all completed by one set of hands says more then words could. The only thing missing in this explanation is the big smile on the other side of the camera.