Stone points

Nantahala Nut · April 21, 2016, 10:47:00 AM

Looking for some guidance on stone arrowheads. I live in the ancestral homeland of the cherokee. My neighbors are always finding arrowheads. I got it in my head that it would be amazing to take an old arrowhead and kill a deer with it. I know nothing about this subject so I could use some guidance on the feasibility of it and what states allow stone points. Also info on selecting a head and building an arrow.

McDave · April 21, 2016, 12:08:00 PM

Don't have much experience with this myself, but the Oct/Nov 2015 issue of Traditional Bowhunter has a good article on mounting stone points on wood shafts. There are also videos on the internet about mounting stone points on cane shafts.

April 21, 2016, 12:10:00 PM

Texas allows stone points. I have a hankering to kill a critter with a stone point off of a primitive bow!

Bisch

Longtoke · April 21, 2016, 12:47:00 PM

I love to hunt for points, once you find a good one its hard to stop. the biggest issue I see with using a real artifact rather than a modern made stone point is that you will be limited in grain and size to what you can find ( for example very small points here in SE CO) and your points will need to have some touch up flaking to make them sharp.

I would find a knapper and have him make you some nice obsidian or flint points the size you need. Obsidian points will be sharper but flint will be a little stronger. Keep the artifacts in your display case.

Pat B · April 21, 2016, 01:59:00 PM

I personally would not hunt with an artifact. You could have someone knap an authentic Cherokee style point for you though.

H1tman7 · April 21, 2016, 05:25:00 PM

How many grains would you want a point to be approximately? I can knock you one out of obsidian or keokuk. wont be as pretty as some kanppers and i'll try to get close on the weight, i'm fairly new but it should work just fine.

RJonesRCRV · April 21, 2016, 05:29:00 PM

H1tman7, that second one must be about 400 grains. Thatll definately make an extreme FOC arrow. They look good, its something Id like to get into

Jon Stewart · April 21, 2016, 07:05:00 PM

I hunt with my stone points. I make them around 100 grns, give or take but I shoot a light draw weight Osage self bow so they fly good and do the job.

Two things with using artifacts. One would be having the ability to re sharpen them and two would be that the bases would probably be too fat to haft to an arrow shaft. I know I have found many out on the desert during the winter months and have found maybe a handful that have thin bases.

I would never use a point that I found but there is a tourist trap in Greune, Texas that sells broke artifact points that he buys from someone in Arkansas. I have purchased a few of them for .50 each and reworked them into some hunting points for the grand kids.

Frank V · April 21, 2016, 07:33:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by H1tman7:
How many grains would you want a point to be approximately? I can knock you one out of obsidian or keokuk. wont be as pretty as some kanppers and i'll try to get close on the weight, i'm fairly new but it should work just fine.

Boy I think those are pretty.

Thanks for sharing.

H1tman7 · April 21, 2016, 10:32:00 PM

Knapping is addictive for sure. I also have a few spalls of Texas tab chert that would make a good point (same material as larger point above), although not as pretty as the others IMO.

Only 1 rule: you have to post pics of what you kill with it for the gang!

Jon Stewart · April 22, 2016, 09:35:00 AM

H1tman7: I cook my Texas rock in a turkey roaster with beach sand and that makes for easier knapping and a real sharp edge.

newhouse114 · April 22, 2016, 10:24:00 AM

I make my points from obsidian. My brother (who got me into knapping) called them stone bullets! A bit of an exageration but they are not super fine works of art that some knappers produce. One thing my brother also told me that I have found to be true, many indigenous people that depended on stone points to survive,,,,,,,,were lousy knappers!

Frank V · April 22, 2016, 01:22:00 PM

I believe stone is legal here in Montana, I'd have to check for sure.
I have a friend who has taken game with stone points & he says the holes they cut are almost unbelievable.

H1tman7, those are beautiful, how long did it take to get to where they looked like arrow heads? Lots of ruined stone first?
Thanks.

Longtoke · April 22, 2016, 03:45:00 PM

I think many things people think are arrowheads are actually small hafted blades or dart points. All the arrow points i have found have been very small, thin, and delicate, and very symmetrical.

Here is an example, I find a lot of washi.tas in my area pretty similar to these.

http://www.westernartifacts.com/ancient/indian/weapons/w-rfot8b.jpg

Just something to think about.

frank bullitt · April 23, 2016, 10:18:00 AM

Andrew McDowell, nice work!

H1tman7 · April 24, 2016, 01:28:00 PM

I'll try to answer some of the above questions.
- yes there is a learning curve where you will turn good stone into gravel. Sitting with an experienced knapper would help to shorten this dramatically. There are things that are hard to pick up from videos like how hard to hit, angle of pressure etc. I didn't do this but I've had the "ah ha" moments that a mentor could have gotten straight from the beginning. Also like anything good tools go a long way.
- larger point above is a spear point, smaller white point is an arrowhead but would be oversized compared to most from the archeological record.

Frank V · April 24, 2016, 04:04:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by H1tman7:
I'll try to answer some of the above questions.
- yes there is a learning curve where you will turn good stone into gravel. Sitting with an experienced knapper would help to shorten this dramatically. There are things that are hard to pick up from videos like how hard to hit, angle of pressure etc. I didn't do this but I've had the "ah ha" moments that a mentor could have gotten straight from the beginning. Also like anything good tools go a long way.
- larger point above is a spear point, smaller white point is an arrowhead but would be oversized compared to most from the archeological record.

Thanks I had an idea it wasn't just sit down & flake out a nice arrowhead. Looks like it'd be interesting though.

H1tman7 · April 24, 2016, 09:48:00 PM

I'll try to answer some of the above questions.
- yes there is a learning curve where you will turn good stone into gravel. Sitting with an experienced knapper would help to shorten this dramatically. There are things that are hard to pick up from videos like how hard to hit, angle of pressure etc. I didn't do this but I've had the "ah ha" moments that a mentor could have gotten straight from the beginning. Also like anything good tools go a long way.
- larger point above is a spear point, smaller white point is an arrowhead but would be oversized compared to most from the archeological record.

Warden609 · April 24, 2016, 10:14:00 PM

Great thread!

Jon Stewart · April 25, 2016, 08:31:00 AM

guess I don't have that picture posting thing figured out yet.