How to Make Hunting Arrows

Learn how to make hunting arrows to spice up your hunting skills and spark some excitement on your next hunt. Using arrows that you made can provide an added thrill and feeling of accomplishment when hunting for your next mounted trophy.

Things You'll Need

• Sticks or wood
• Sharp knife
• Feathers or light material
• Glue, tape or string

Instructions

Make Your Own Hunting Arrows

1. Choose wooden sticks that are straight and at least 3 feet in length, with a diameter of at least 1/2 an inch. You can use dry or green wood to construct your arrows.

2. Use willow or hollow-reed branches for the best results when making arrows. Willow and hollow-reed branches are flexible, yet sturdy and can withstand the force of bows and penetration.

3. Sit down in a comfortable spot with your wood, grab your knife and start whittling. Whittling is a woodworking term for shaving small pieces of wood off of a main piece with a knife, manipulating it into a certain shape.

4. Whittle the ends of every branch or piece of wood that you have selected into narrow, arrow-like points. The points of the wood should be very sharp. If you used green wood to make your arrows, char the end of each arrow with charcoal to harden the edges.

5. Turn each arrow over to the opposite end and begin whittling notches out of the center of each piece. This will create a groove to rest your bowstring in. Check that your bowstring will fit each groove by testing each arrow with it.

6. Fletch the butt-end of each arrow by attaching feathers or lightweight material. Divide a feather in half by splitting it in the middle. Attach both pieces of feather to the arrow by gluing them on.

7. Make your arrows original by painting each one a different color. Stick to neutral colors if you are concerned with remaining camouflaged. Try bright orange or yellow to create arrows that are easy to retrieve in the field.

8. Test your homemade hunting arrows with your bow. Determine whether you need to adjust the fletch by changing feathers.

Tips & Warnings

• If you prefer, you may use tape or string to attach feathers to your new arrows. If you choose to use string, be sure to make several turns with it to secure the feathers well.