I went out yesterday and today to collect hill cane from along my driveway for arrows and trade. All together I collected about 100 culms, 25 yesterday and 75 today. I also collected about 15 silky dogwood shoots and two pagoda dogwood shoots. The pagoda dogwood is another native understory dogwood tree. I've never tried it for arrows but when I saw these shoots I decided to give them a try.
Here is what I got all together...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2011hillcaneharvest001.jpg)
what I got yesterday...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2011hillcaneharvest002.jpg)
and what I got today...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/2011hillcaneharvest005.jpg)
Good looking stuff Pat.
Great looking stuff, congrats Pat
Nice Pat. I would love to trade for a dozen of those hill cane shafts. What would you like in trade? I have lot's of leather for bow grips or quivers, turkey wing feathers, sitka spruce boards, yellow spruce board, osage board billets, ash board, hickory board, Mahogany board for risers, 3 chunks of Black Locust log's for risers..
I'm fortunate to have this hill cane growing along my driveway. For years I tried to eraticate it because it was a pain to deal with...until I realized it makes great arrows. d;^)
Depending on how the rest of the harvest goes I may have plenty to trade is a month or so. I have a lot more to collect then I will start cleaning it up and getting rid of immature stuff, stuff with bug holes and some that just won't make arrows. Then I will put them into groups of small, medium and large diameter culms then into sets of about 15 of similar sizes.
I hope you get your hands of a few of Pat's hill cane Roy. Of the different cane's available, hill cane is by far the best in my book. They provide higher spines, better arrow weight, great flight, which all adds up to a hard hitting, bone splitting hunting arrow......Art
I hope so Art.
Pat, Art, are there depressions above the nodes on them? I can't see any in the photos, which would be great.
No large leaf stem scar to worry about Roy. Very little if anything to worry about there really.....Art
Check out KerryB's thread (Copperhead Osage) and you can see his son posing with a hill cane arrow of mine........Art
Very nice arrow Art. Very nice!
I love making cane arrows with wild Turkey feathers..
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f165/ROY-CHRIS/copperhead018.jpg)
I thought I recognised that arrow Art. Here is a set of arrows I fletched from hill cane shafts Art made for me...I sent Art the cane...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/primitive%20archer/Artshillcanearrows001.jpg)
The one on the right are Art's version of the Eastern Woodland 2fletch style and another one of Art's hill cane arrows, 3fletched. The foreshafts and self nocks are made from maple I think.
Here is the complete set of 6 with fletching. These were my hunting arrows for this past year. Unfortunately their magic wasn't working this year.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/primitive%20archer/Artshillcanearrows007-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/primitive%20archer/Artshillcanearrows008-1.jpg)
Three of these were fletched with right wing(red wrap) and three with left wing(blue wrap), all shoot equally well from my hunting bow.
Pat, those are some nice looking arrows I like the tracer feather also.
I like to see where my arrows hit and with turkey feathers it makes it difficult without the tracers. With the tracers they pop on contact. They are made with rabbit zonkers from a flyfishing shop. I like the yellow or white.
How is that type footing holding up for you Pat? Art
Now the driveways accross america will have Hill cane along there sides. Nice so far. Could you add some pics here of the steps you do later as you do them. to get them ready to make an arrow.
Good luck hope most of them are good ones
Kelly
From what I can tell they will work fine, Art. Haven't hit a tree or rock with them yet so time will tell. It sure is impressive how clean the joint is. I can hardly feel the transition.
Kelly, there are plenty more I haven't cut yet. Should have at least twice this number when done.
verry nice arrows there ..nice work...john
You learn somthing new every day. You know whay it makes good arrows. It is bamboo, I never knew we had native bamboo in the states and yet we have 3 (river cane, Switch cane and Hill cane. This is the artical I just read. I was wanted to see what hill cane was did a google and well it is a Bamboo.
Go figure.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070313113103.htm
Can someone tell me again how to get the pictures to come up when there is a little box with a little red "x" in it?
Bona, try clicking on the box.
kelly : i dont know if your article shows it , but they just recently discovered hill cane as its own species. i have some river cane that tshooter sent me , and i did absolutely nothing to the tip of the one arrow , andn just to see , i shot it at a rock. basically it bounced back and almost hit me (dumb i know) , but there was hardly any mark on it at all. the slightest little peening on the edge.
with a hardwood or metal insert , im calling them bombproof. you better believe im going to be planting a crapton and a half of river cane once i get into my place...if it ever happens...
pat: if you ever decide to split that hill cane , let me know , i would love a rhizome or two of it.
-hov
Bona, at the top of your PC screen, there could be a little icon that is for compatibilty view. Mine looks like a piece of paper torn in half. Try that.
Very nice arrows Pat.
Hova, ain't no splitting to it. The stuff takes over. I uncover rhyzomes all over and not even near where the cane patchs are. I'll be happy to send you some. One problem with transplanting bamboo is if you cut the top growth(culms) off of a transplant it takes forever for the new culms to grow big enough for arrows. If you keep the top growth(culms) on it will send up tall culms the next year. AND! it is quite invasive if you have limited area to plant it.
When I clicked on this thread today the pictures were there. Thanks everyone.
That should keep you busy for a while Pat!
I'll have to wait for the snow to melt now before I can collect more.
Beautiful arrows :thumbsup:
I recently found some cane growing locally and plan on harvesting a few dozen as well.
pat : what do you mean if you cut the culm . i would think you would trim them back. anytime you come up with a piece of rhizome , or if you feel like sending a culm with a little root , let me know.
i have plenty of room for arrows.
have fun straitening all that boo!
p-hov
Nice arrows, Pat! Sure wish we had cane growth in our area! Oh well, Martha Stewart bamboo garden stakes will have to do.
Hova, for some reason when you cut the culms off the rhyzome for transplanting it stunts the top growth(culm, cane). Even when they come back they are smaller and it takes a few years to grow to normal height. I've tried this with other bamboos and it seems universal.
Jim, if you selectively pic through Martha's plant stakes you can make some very fine arrows. Those are either Japaneese Arrow Bamboo or Tonkin Bamboo.
Dave, when you go to harvest the local cane be sure you cut only mature culms. Cane shoots(culms) have a 3 year life cycle(from my observations). The first year of growth it will grow to it's ultimate height. The second year it matures and by the end of the 3rd growing season that culm dies. Ideally you want to cut your cane after the 2nd growing season but before it turns tan in color at the end of the 3rd year. One way to tell is if the paper-like sheath is deteriorating or is already come off. That sheath protects the new buds at the nodes. Once they harden off the protective sheath is no longer needed for proetection.
I let freshly cut cane sit for a month or so, usually wrapped in bundles of like sized culms. After a month a bit of drying has taken place. If the culms are not mature you will notice longitudinal wrinkles in the skin of the culm. These are usually too light and flimsey for arrows.
If you get a chance Pat could you show us some PICs as you go along. I know it is a long process but I ant going any where for 9+ months.
Kelly
Sure Kelly, I'll try to get something up when I get to that point.
I love this thread and new (to me) info on the "Hill" cane. I also love my own cane arrows , and even more/deeper feelings for some that Art made me a few years back. I even have a crooked old (straight shooting) arrow Pat made/gave me that is one of my favs too - a beauty out of a Sourwood shoot that even has a (real) snakeskin wrap on it. Mostly the canes are what I always use/shoot with (all of) my all wood bows (though I do throw some lovely woods with them from time to time too - LOL)
(Don't hate me for using carbons with my Anneewakee Addiction lam bow, guys - LOL I do use Turkey fletchings for my hunters, and have to get some more "Zonkers" so I can go back to tracers for those too - I really like those (tracers) I have on some of my canes and woods). I'm such a "mixmaster" of a guy anymore it'll be a miracle if I don't become a "multiple split personality" case study in my old age here.
That switch cane does make some fine arrows! Glad to hear that you still have a few left Bernie. Hey, don't feel bad 'bout shooting carbon arrows, heck, I would be shooting them myself if they were free for harvest......Art
LOL - well, I did get 2 dozen free from a friend who switched to some different (brand) ones - so that may have a bearing on my use of them - :D I have all (that you so kindly made me) but two (I think it is), My friend, and use them often. Just got a new (to me) Osage bow from Stiks-n-Strings (see my "A (very special) Christmas Gift" thread, under PowWow, buddy.
Would the bamboo patches I see growing in southern PA. be useable for arrows?
Dan
Could very well be Dan. Ask your county agent.
If your county agent happens to tell you they are "Tonkin" cane - run, don't walk, to the nearest patch and harvest heavilly - LOL (I love Tonkins too).
That's one cool bow all right Bernie! A very nice gift indeed. Congratulations!
That cane arrow in the last photo looks familiar :D . One I repaired I believe.......Art
Yep, That was the first one I broke, then I repaired one (field point), and then I "crashed" a couple (field points) on a couple Iron man courses, as I recall (that I still need to repair). I only lost two - one at Hickory, NC and one at Lake Stevens, WV. No - I also lost one (ricochet) right here in my own back yard - that one still drives me crazy from time to time - LOL. I've even completely moved a couple of brush piles, and taken my metal detector out 4-or 5 times without luck. I have about decided it took the notion and went back to WV - ;)
forget the arrow stuff Pat get to work on the hornbow,lol.good looking stuff.I have to say the shoots you sent me made some fantastic arrows.I even made one with a buffhorn arrowhead and it kept a descent edge as well.
PJ, I'm still studying and reserching the horn bow. I have the horn you gave me right where I can see them so they are on my mind a lot. I'm gonna build a Native American sinew/wood/horn bow sorta like the one James won BOM with last month on PA first to get the hang of the different processes involved in these bows. When I start the Asiatic horn bow I want to know what I'm doing! d;^)
That's an ambitious project, Pat. Lots of luck with it. Doesn't surprise me that James did one (well) - or that you will tackle it either for that matter - LOL. I'm sure you will do well also, when you do it.
Here's a few pics of my first attempt at cane arrows. These don't by any means add up to the fine work done by Art or Pat but they did provide plenty of self satisfaction. I'm not sure of the species of cane but it's very plentiful here in eastern NC and makes a pretty decent arrow. I reenforced the tips by gluing a wooden dial inside the shaft. Been lucky enough not to break one of em yet. They are fletched with natural turkey feathers that a good friend of mine Don (batman) Batten put on the St. Judes auction and I was fortunate enough to have the winning bid.
(http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu205/pmills1956/111.jpg)
(http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu205/pmills1956/222.jpg)
(http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu205/pmills1956/333.jpg)
I glue a proper sized dowel in the tip of mine also, Paul, and in the nock end as well - sometimes just a wooden skewer, (inexpensive in packages from the food stores), works for that end (sometimes the other end too, if you're lucky). BTW, those are fine looking cane arrows, buddy. Many of us love cane arrows for our all wood/self bows. Seems like they just go well with them.
I used to glue in a dowel or skewer but don't anymore. For store bought glue on points I just taper the cane on a disc sander and I cut self nocks in just above a node. I do wrap self nocks with sinew. For stone or trade points I just cut into the cane like with hardwood shoors or cedars and wrap with sinew.
Pat, I'm making a half dozen for someone and I had straightened them before the holidays and left them in the garage. Two have unstraightened again. Do you think they will stay straighter if kept in a controlled climate? Or should I look for a couple of better shoots?
Bona, I would try to straighten them again. Once straightened and after they have completely cooled I like start at one end and re-heat the cane until it begins to turn color(not too much though) and work down the shaft turning it as you go. This tempers the cane and should help it to hold it's shape. Be careful while you temper. if any moisture in still in the cane it will come out of the far end and can scald you.
After straightening again and after tempering lay the cane flat until it cools completely.
Hi Pat,
James's bows really are functional works of art without the price tag like Lucas and his work is top notch,his korean was the inspiration for me to try one and now i think I will have to try a native american style as well,I have enough horn after cutting out the strips for the asiatics to make a north american styledo you know the width of the limbs on his bow or the core thickness by any chance,If he calls you an ugly man tell him he ain't no work of art like his bows either,lmao.
PJ, I shot that bow before it got all dolled up. Sweet little bow! Seems like it is about 1" wide, maybe a bit more.I have to get with James about the core and other dimensions. I have some longhorns from Oklahoma that I will use for the NA style bow.
Oh and he knows I know he's ugly! d;^)
LOL - he even knows he's ugly himself, down deep inside his mind. I keep telling him he doesn't rate a purtty little wife like his (he just agrees with me - :D ).
Thanks Pat!
Hi Pat,
I would not recomend using longhorn horns as i got some a while ago and found them worse than useless(too many spirals and the inner layers of the horn are not fused like the buff horn)If you cut the horn for the plates for your turkish bow,I think there might be enough material left for you to get enough horn for the american style.Atleast this is what i am doing with my leftover stuff.
Thanks PJ. I did notice that some of these had "growth ring" seperation.
kodiak,verry nice arrows,i like them old bear broadheads,iv'e used some of my old bear heads on some of my homemade arrows...