Wish me luck please!!!

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

Al,
First let me add some more Good Luck and second I say your work making all that is mighty impressive.
A buddy of mine once said I’m not a hunter till I made all my own.
Well Sir you are a hunter and I can’t wait to see your game.

 

[Al33]

Well, I was in a tree just as I am now when I made my previous post. I submitted it, put my phone mn my pocket, looked to my right only to see a tall racked 4 pointer start ng at me 12 yards away. ? He kept staring for another half minute moved about 15 more yards away and stared some more. He came in on somehoghground that put me only 6-8 feet higher than him. He was standing just to the right of the dark green shrub. The pic of my broken point from a shot at a doe last PM. Those water oaks are tough n stone points. ?

 

[Al33]

Al,
First let me add some more Good Luck and second I say your work making all that is mighty impressive.
A buddy of mine once said I’m not a hunter till I made all my own.
Well Sir you are a hunter and I can’t wait to see your game.

Thank you! I do a lot more hunting than I do killing. ?

 

[Triple C]

Al...Keep swinging brother! I've missed already on a 12 yd shot. Still consider myself a newbie to traditional and I tell you that it's much harder than what I thought it would be. Tough to get em within 12 yds and not get busted trying to draw on em. And I ain't shootin what I made like you! Keep posting!

 

[Clipper]

Thank you! I do a lot more hunting than I do killing. ?

I think you spoke for a lot of us, certainly me. But I love to hunt, so it's ok.

 

[Al33]

Well folks, an update is in order as the season comes to a close. I would have certainly let you know had I been successful, lol , but I did not as it relates to getting a deer or bear. However, it was successful in many other ways. I have truly enjoyed the challenges hunting with primitive tools presents and am only inspired to keep at it. My records show I spent 188 hours in a tree with my bow and this doesn't include the first two weeks of the season while hunting primarily for bear which I never saw.

I had multiple opportunities I did not capitalize on missing a chip shot on a nice buck because I got too anxious and making a good stick on a doe I never found. A game cam video of the doe 15 minutes after the stick showed the arrow was perfect for the 10 yard quartering away shot but lacked good penetration. I can only surmise the stone point hit a rib and perhaps broke the tip off the head stopping it's penetration. I also missed another doe with a difficult but makeable shot. I passed on two shots I would have taken with my regular trad bows so as you can see I had an exciting season despite not accomplishing my goals.

I put the bow down a few times to hunt with a 1943 M1 Carbine I inherited from my brother early in 2018 wanting to get a deer with it and killed four so I have meat.
I'm now thinking turkey. Thanks for all the good luck wishes, encouraging words, and for following along in my pursuits. Hopefully I will have more positive results to report in the future.

 

[oldguy]

1943 M1 carbine! Wish I had one.

 

[Bubbaforsure]

Al...Just a matter of time before it will all come together for you Buddy... Keep after them.. Great Knapping skills on those points..

 

[Al33]

Another update is in order so here it is:
I now have taken three of the five Georgia big game species with my primitive bow and arrows (turkey, pig, and deer) with bear and alligator remaining. I killed a shoat pig last of May and this past Saturday evening I killed a small doe which much to my surprise was much smaller than I thought it was . Both the pig and the doe were not what I had in mind for my first primitive kills but happy to get them nonetheless. I spent the first week of season in search of a bear but never saw one. Was hoping to be back after a bear this week but the forecasts for record high temps, a doctor's appointment, and other matters may give me cause to wait for cooler weather. The alligator will have to wait until about 2022or 2023 before I can draw a tag unless I go to Florida for one but it wouldn't be a Georgia gator if I do that. No matter just yet, I'll think more on it after and if I get a bear.
Thanks for your interests in this effort and your encouraging words!!!

 

[JustUs4All]

Al that post wa well worth repeating. LOL
Congratulations on your deer. Any deer killed with equipment that you made and used yourself is a trophy in my book. The bear and the gator are sure to follow soon. Best of luck in your pursuit.

 

[Nicodemus]

Congratulations on your kills, Al. How is your setup going to be for the gator? Will you use barbed bone tips? Arrow or harpoon? Dogbane cordage and what will you use for floats?

 

[GrayG]

That Is Awesome!!! I started my primitive hunting journey this deer season and killed my first doe this past Saturday. I know the many hours and work (i.e. fun) involved in making your own equipment. Thanks for the updates and congratulations on your successes.

 

[Al33]

Al that post wa well worth repeating. LOL

Didn't realize I had posted twice so thanks for letting me know and I took care of it.

 

[John Cooper]

Didn't realize I had posted twice so thanks for letting me know and I took care of it.

Al as long as I have known you..... It's been a few years brother!! I have never known you to need luck! You sir are a hunter through and through!!!!!
I honestly believe you make your own luck!!!!!!!

Now get out there and get after them bud!!!!

 

[Al33]

Congratulations on your kills, Al. How is your setup going to be for the gator? Will you use barbed bone tips? Arrow or harpoon? Dogbane cordage and what will you use for floats?

Thank you Nick!! Let me first say that I seriously doubt primitive man hunted alligators with a stick and string. If they wanted to eat one I suspect they either trapped it somehow or just caught and ate the little ones. Having said that I am not hunting purely as primitive man did for any of the five species, just using "some" of their style tools. Neither did I make these tools strictly as they might have in that I have used both copper tools and bone to knap my points and the aid of a band saw and draw knife to make my bow. My bow string is Dacron and not a natural material so I am far from being purely primitive in these regards.
For the gator I have already made two bone points (no barbs) from cow leg bone. They are round sharp pointed and tapered for optimal penetration with a line hole drilled through them just forward of center and hollowed out about 3/4" deep for a foreshaft. The points are designed to release from the foreshaft once in the gator and once the gator pulls on the line will hopefully turn sideways to prevent them from coming out the hole made going in. The line (braided nylon) attached through the hole will lead to a small bouy or float made of man made materials. I will make a harpoon point from cow bone as well but it will likely be more blade like in shape with barbs and hafted to a foreshaft that will separate from the main shaft. I can only theorize and hope both the arrow and harpoon points will suffice. Perhaps I will post pic's of the finished tools once completed but I have a few more years before I get to that point. Thanks for the questions, I'm sure there are others curious as well.

 

[Al33]

Al as long as I have known you..... It's been a few years brother!! I have never known you to need luck! You sir are a hunter through and through!!!!!
I honestly believe you make your own luck!!!!!!!

Now get out there and get after them bud!!!!

Thanks John, but I have had a few hunting seasons where I would have been delegated to be a gatherer with the squaws rather than a hunter. lol

 

[John Cooper]

Thanks John, but I have had a few hunting seasons where I would have been delegated to be a gatherer with the squaws rather than a hunter. lol

Lol we have all been there except maybe RC......

 

[SELFBOW]

Good on ya Al. I got one more deer in me before I go after one w stone. Turkey I will try next year and the next gator I get drawn for will be a little one w the primitive gear. After having that big boy beside the boat this year I decided not to try w it but just to get him. Already got a pig and I know how difficult a bear will be.