Keep a small pressure flaker and leather pad in my hunting pack so I can resharpen a stone point if I miss my shot and the edges are dulled. Just a quick pass with a sharp pressure flaker down each edge to remove small flakes is all that’s needed to restore the edge. Survive missed shots, though any point that misses and hits the dirt should have its edges carefully checked to ensure they’re still sharp before it’s Raw or lightly cooked flint points are better able to Note the heavier damage when shots missed.īut if you miss your target animal then all bets are off. Top row of points missed their target and hit trees and rocks. I’ve found that to be the best balance for hunting. The workability (and edge sharpness) is improved but the stone still retains a good bit of strength. I prefer to heat treat tough flint to the point where Point when hunting, simply make them a little thicker to compensate and increase durability. Shoulder blade after traversing the entire chest cavity of a deer. I’ve had stone points shatter ribs, bury themselves in scapulas, and even punch through the off-side Though sometimes no retouch is necessary. Any minor damage to stone points can be fixed with minimal retouch, The mostĬommon damage is a small nick off the sharp tip, usually from nicking bone. In fact, small stone arrow points often miss ribs on entry and are much more likely to strike offside ribs. Skin, lung tissue and soft muscle pose no threat to a stone point and ribs of deer-sized game offer surprisingly little Stone points that hit the vitals usually suffer very minor damage like a small chip off Less damage than shots that miss and hit trees or rocks. prey animals) usually suffer considerably One thing is certain: stone arrowheads that hit their target (i.e. Obsidian, man-made glass, opaliteĪnd heavily heat-treated flints produce the sharpest edges, but are weaker and less durable when hitting hard objects. It all depends on the type of stone the arrowhead is made of and what you hit. Myth 2: Stone arrowheads are brittle and break after one shot. Photo courtesy of Society of Primitive Technology () and used with permission. Scanning electron microscope image of edges at 10,000x magnification showing superior edge sharpness of obsidian. That obsidian produces edges as thin as one molecule, 250 times sharper than a modern surgeon’s scalpel. Flint breaks like glass and the edges of the resulting flakes are razor-sharp. Stone arrowheads made by skilled modern craftsman are incredibly sharp and kill just as quickly as the mostĮxpensive modern steel broadhead. All too often stone tools are called “primitive”, which is misinterpreted as meaning crude and This is an unfortunate misconception made by lawmakers who have no experience with stone points and have neverįelt the scalpel-sharp edge of a flint flake. Myth 1- Stone arrowheads have been outlawed for hunting in some states because they aren’t effective. Hope to dispel some myths and expose some truths concerning stone points and their effectiveness for hunting. Today, after using my stone arrowheads successfully for over 25 years to fill my freezer, I believe in them more than ever. It wasn’t until I began making stone points (and slicing my fingers countless times) that my opinion changed. When I first became interested in primitive archery my idea of a stone arrowhead was a thick, pathetically dull pebbleĬrudely lashed to an arrow. Perhaps you’ve pondered the idea of hunting with stone points you’ve made but haven’t quite taken the plunge. It was time to complete the circle, mount these points to arrows, and use Number of points that weren’t living up to their full potential. But it didn’t take long to compile an ever-growing ![]() I’d found, then I’d throw them in a display case to live out the rest of their existence. ![]() For years I enjoyed chipping points that replicated the ancient ones Hunters, myself included, they still provide food and fill the freezer. For over three million years sharp stones were pivotal in keeping our ancestors fed.
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