2011 hill cane harvest

[Pat B]

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...


what I got yesterday...


and what I got today...

[kerryb]

Good looking stuff Pat.

[1oldbowguy]

Great looking stuff, congrats Pat

[Roy from Pa]

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..

[Pat B]

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.

[Art B]

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

[Roy from Pa]

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.

[Art B]

No large leaf stem scar to worry about Roy. Very little if anything to worry about there really.....Art

[Art B]

Check out KerryB's thread (Copperhead Osage) and you can see his son posing with a hill cane arrow of mine........Art

[Roy from Pa]

Very nice arrow Art. Very nice!
I love making cane arrows with wild Turkey feathers..

[Pat B]

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...

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.
 

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.

[1oldbowguy]

Pat, those are some nice looking arrows I like the tracer feather also.

[Pat B]

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.

[Art B]

How is that type footing holding up for you Pat? Art

[KellyG]

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

[Pat B]

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.

[stikbow4148]

verry nice arrows there ..nice work...john

[KellyG]

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

[b.glass]

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?

[Pat B]

Bona, try clicking on the box.