Trad Gang

I'm sure I'm not the only one with this behaviour, but I guess I'll be the first to announce it here 8^).

For the past forty-couple years of bowhunting, I have always picked up articles in my hunting areas, such as; a tooth from an old animal skull; odd looking stones; maybe some pine needles; feathers, etc. I will carry them in my fanny pack through the season, thinking (in my primitive mind) that they may possess good luck of sorts. Usually I end up with a compartment full of what looks like a pack rat's nest.

I read an article in Bow and Arrow, I believe, about a then famous bowhunter who did the same thing, showing that I wasn't the only one stricken. I'm curious as to how many here have their little medicine bag included in their packs. By the way, I've already started mine for this year. There was a squirrel skull lying on an old stump near the bottom of my woods. Yep....a couple of those incisors are now in my medicine bag 8^).

I'm gonna try it

I don't know if this qualifies, George..but I have ALWAYS picked up unique stones, pieces of wood, and of course any indian relics laying around and brought them home.

I can go through my cabinet and pick one up, and immediately I'm transported to the place it came from.

The sights, the sounds, the smells..all come rushing back...right now I'm on top of the Continental Divide in the Gila..the wind coming through the tops of the ponderosas..the evergreen scent strong on the breeze.. the barnyard odor of elk comes to me on that same wind.

Yep, carried one for years. My first one contained little pebbles from sacred places like Bear Butte, Devils Tower, The Medicine Wheel on top of the Big horns,Wounded Knee,Little Big Horn Battle field,Harneys Peak, a little Turtle made by a Native lady out of the sacred Pipestone from the quarrys. A coyotes tooth, arrowhead I found. I'm proud to say Adkmountainman has carried it and added a few small items to it's power also. I;m wearing it now to help me stay on my path.   Vic

I have one made of buckskin with a beaded medicine wheel on it with things I have picked up. Knapped point from middle east, knapped point from west TX, polished stones found in dry river beds. piece of sage & piece of sweet grass. I plan on taking it to Canada for my caribou hunt.

Donald

Yeah.  Been doing it for years.  Usually make it a point to pick up a few stones from each new area I hunt.  Unusual feathers whenever I find them, or even unusual ones that have some other significance.  Most of these end up as decorations throughout our house.

You know i remember doing that when I was a boy.Don't know why I quit.I probably still have a few of those ole things.including what looks like a petrified cacoon.You can still hear somthing rattleing in it.but it's like rock.

I also did it as a boy/teen. I lost my medicine bag in my 20s and never replaced it. Might have to now that the thought has been given rebirth.

Yes, I Do!!!!!   :archer:

It good to know I'm not the only crazy one on here    :p     :rolleyes:  I've carried a little buckskin pouch with my "medicine" trinkets for years. Mostly secret stuff, a broken stone point found in my hunting area, a tooth or claw from an animal taken that showed special traits so as to capture their power.

The indians held great store in their medicine bags. The contents of which they would never reveal. Early one fall I had a female store clerk reach out and touch the medicine bag I had around my neck. It happened  fast before I could pull away.   :scared:   My hunting that year was the worst I can remember. Coincidence?....maybe,....or maybe not.     :confused:

I have one I have worn for years.

Ron,
I had a very simular experience with getting the "MOJO" sucked out of my medicine bag. I was on a bear hunt with 6 other hunters. The first night of the hunt one the other hunters seen my medicine bag laying on my gear bag and picked it up. He proceeded to hand it around to everyone else in the party so they could check it out. Well the first night out in the stands, 4 of the hunters shot big bears, the other hunter got his bear the 2nd night. I on the other hand sat for a week in stands and did not see one bear. I was the only one not to shoot a bear. Bad luck???? or bad medicine??

Rusty

I pick up stuff that that captures my attention but rarely keep them.  I will pick it up, look at it and return it to it's spot.  The only thing I remember keeping was a smooth, polished stone that I knew didn't belong where I picked it up.  It was a stone that you would most likely find in a novelty shop that had been polished and sold and probably not native to the area I was hunting.  I spent time in my stand that day wondering how it got there.  I dropped it in a creek on my way out because I felt it belonged in a creek.

Since I have put away my high tech bow and have started a new journey with traditional gear having a medicine bag seems natural.  I'll have to build one and begin keeping the things that catch my attention.

I dont do the medicine bag per say. However like you if I happen to see a feather or rock that catches my eye I pick it up and keep it in my pack at least through that hunt. Sometimes it ends up on my archery bench for years.

I have one that is about 15 years old and have been wanting to make a new one that doesn't smell so bad.

Lots of good MOJO in that smelly old bag,  might be bad medicine to throw it away.

:(  I had started one last year, but some how I lost it a few months ago on the archery range. It was a good one too. I miss it.   :(    :(      
Derek

Ohhh man.  If you are gonna succede by superstition, you fail from superstition.  Like the Gorillas say in their song - "It's all in your head".    :knothead:

Wow....I didn't know gorillas sang.

bowdude...it's all about allowing the total essence of the woods to pemeate our souls.  The aura of spirits past dwell within those trinkets and go along on the hunt.  It doesn't mean you will have a better chance to kill something; it does mean that you have a deep respect for the hunt in general, and are willing to share that with spirits of both the hunters and the hunted....past and present.

Yes sir, for years.  Leland

I've been carrying a medecine bag for a while now. I always enjoyed and still enjoy keeping with me these small things that remind me of places I've been and things I've seen.  

Giving that small pinch of tobacco always makes me feel good.

This is a very nice tread Mr. Stout.

Always got mine. I'd tell you what was in it but then I'd have to kill ya. I had to threaten my 11 yr old with bodily harm about my bag.

I'm not supersticious at all, but I carry a small lock of hair from my daughters and wife, and something that belonged to my grandfather in a small leather pouch tucked away in my fanny pack.

Whenever I get cranky or indecisive, my friends have a saying for me..."Have a COOKIE!!" (I'm a diabetic and low blood sugar really messes me up)     :thumbsup:

i have collected something from just about everywhere i have ever hunted.  some of the rocks i have picked up wouldn't fit in a medicine bag though, truth is some of them won't even fit in my pack. those ended up in the flower bed in the yard.

I don't but Dianne does.

I have more like a medicine ROOM downstairs full of "stuff" we've picked up over the years and like Rob, Dianne is an uncontrollable rock collector and we have rocks from every place we've ever been and some places we'll never see.

I do wear an elks tooth from a bull elk Dianne bow killed in Montana years ago. She gave me the tooth for our 24th wedding anniversary, so next May I'll have had it around my neck everyday for the last 10 years. Will wear it until I'm dust.

Just added one to my back quiver. I filled it with 'Big Bear Medicine'  teeth and such, going to lace a small shed to the cord ....room for much more as I go along.  

Hoping the medicine works for me !

just an idea, what if we could have a medicine bag exange, everyone makes a medicine bag and puts some good medicine in it, then sends it to someone, we have knife, bow, and turkey call exanges, why not this, again, its just an idea

No not really but I do have one habit that is similar... when I see a nice feather in the woods I pick it up and place it under my bows grip by the quill...

well i have made a bag and i will be starting to fill it when i come to the states. it will be a special one. well to me anyway.  :thumbsup:

good idea ian but aint ya supose ta geet these special things ya self?   :thumbsup:

My problem is I have a Medicine Backpack!  I'm always looking for something different to handle a knife blade with.  I should probably pay more attention to hunting    :bigsmyl:  Doc

Yep, seldom is it that I'm not wearing it. I also pick up larger odds and ends. My most important mojo I add little pieces to this pouch for safe keeping. I made and have worn this for almost the past 26 years. On the 4th or 5th braintan neck thong.

(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q271/bowmac_photos/MedicineBag.jpg)

I, like Ethan carry a lock of each of my daughter's hair with me, My wife is unaware that I have one of hers as well  ;)  there's a few other things in there that I wouldnt part with nor wander without.  I'd rather take a beatin or stay home.  Yeah I could be a little superstitious I reckon. DD

i will be making myself a new one shortly. i believe mr. Stout said it best. its about honor, lost souls and special feelings to me, as well as a little magic!

bowmac,
That's a nice un   :thumbsup:    :campfire:

"Early one fall I had a female store clerk reach out and touch the medicine bag I had around my neck. It happened fast before I could pull away."

Me too, Ron! I was horrified, but well, it was innocent ignorance on her part, with a touch of unschooled rudeness, and I just tried to get out of there without a fuss. I don't remember what year that was, or if it harmed my hunt. Hey, maybe that was when I got downsized out of my cushy overpaid job and had to empty portajohns at construction sites while looking for my brutal job at the Post Office..

To the questions I always get about its content, well, it is a schematic of my head...full of rocks! I escape in the laughter, and keep my secrets.

Mine has gotten old and is falling apart, so it travels in a pack. Folks don't see or ask about it now, so, no harm. I dunno how you keep yours so nice, bowmac, with everyday wear, collecting sweat and oils, mine only last about seven years.  

Killdeer

I put one (hand made by someone else) on St. Judes this year, and it was bid well on by a gent who really wanted it for a very personal reason (he got it). The more I looked at it and thought about it the more I decided I wanted to try to make some nice ones, and I still hope to (when I find time - LOL)

This was that one:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/ber643/MedicineBag.jpg)

I don't have a medicine bag per say but I'm constantly picking up various items I find when I'm out in the woods.Feathers,bones,jawbones,skulls or anything that catches my attention.

Me too.  My kids think I am weird......