THE ARCHERY OUTFIT (Not all on scale.)
| I. | The five-foot bow as finished, with sections at the point shown. |
| II. | The bow "braced" or strung. |
| III. | The bow unstrung, showing the loop slipped down. |
| IV. | The loop that is used on the upper end of the bow. |
| V. | The timber hitch always used on the lower end or notch of the bow. |
| VI. | A turkey feather with split midrib, all ready to lash on. |
| VII. | End view of arrow, showing notch and arrangement of three feathers. |
| VIII. | Part of arrow, showing feathering and lashing. |
| IX. | Sanger hunting arrow with wooden point; 25 inches long. |
| X. | Sanger war arrow with nail point and extra long feathers; it also is 25 inches long. |
| XI. | Quiver with Indian design; 20 inches long. |
| XII. | The "bracer" or arm guard of heavy leather for left arm with two laces to tie it on. It is six inches long. |
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The Indians made arrows of reeds and of straight shoots of viburnum or arrow-wood, and of elder, but we make better arrows out of the solid heartwood of hard pine for target use, and of hickory or ash for hunting. The arrow should be twenty-five inches long, round, and three eighths of an inch thick, and have three feathers set as shown in Cut VI, about an inch from the notch. The feather B, that stands out at right angles to notch A, should always be away from the bow in shooting. This is called the cock-feather, and it is usually marked or colored in some way to be quickly distinguished.
CORRECT FORM IN SHOOTING.
The diagram at bottom is to show the centres of heels in line with target.
Turkey and goose wing feathers are the best that grow in our country for arrow feathers. The Indians mostly use turkey. With a sharp knife cut a strip of the midrib on which is the vane of the feather; make three pieces, each two to three inches long. White men glue these on to the arrow. The Indians leave the midrib projecting at each end and by these lash the {79} feathers without gluing. The lashed feathers stand the weather better than those glued, but do not fly so well. The Indians use sharp flint arrow heads for war and for big game, but for birds and small game they make arrow heads with a knob of hard wood or the knuckle bone of some small animal. The best arrow heads for our purpose are like the ferrule of an umbrella top; they receive the end of the shaft into them and keep it from splitting.
One of the best arrows I ever shot with was twenty-eight inches long, five sixteenths of an inch thick, had a ferrule head and very small feathers.
The finishing touch of an arrow is "painting" it. This is done for several purposes: First, to preserve it from damp which would twist the arrow and soften the glue that holds the feathers; second, each hunter paints all his arrows with his mark so as to know them; third, they are thus made bright-colored to help in finding them when lost.