Saturday, March 7, 2020 Workshop from 10:30-4:30 in Puyallup WA
Check out our Traditional Big Game Bow & Arrow Making Instructions article and get started on your own bow and arrows, joining us for the following workshop itinerary:
10:30 – Instinctual Archery Training
10:45 – Traditional Al-Latl Training
11:00 – Knife Training for making Al-Latl Spear Throwers
11:15 – Bow Making Overview: From material selection to the final touches. Demonstration on Tillering Bows and reducing the wood to a single growth ring on back.
11:45 – String-Making Primer & Sandstone Grinding Slate Arrowheads
12:00 – Working Lunch: Field Trip to Harvest Bow Staves
1:00 – Quickie Bow Notches, Stringing & Exercising
2:00 – Choose Seasoned Bow Materials for Tillering, Straightening & Curving, Balancing, Smoothing & Preserving.
3:00 – Arrow Making Overview: Cutting Nocks, Fletching with Feathers & Sinew, Pine Pitch & Sinew Arrowhead Attachment, Straightening, Balancing, Smoothing & Preserving.
4:00 – At-Latl Dart Fletching & Shooting
4:30 – End of instruction, but feel free to stay to craft a bamboo dart, selecting feathers and slate arrowhead material, then shape, tiller and finish the dart into a functional arrow prototype.
Please note that this workshop focuses on how to make a “self-bow” plus arrows and at-latls that are good enough for hunting large game, but there are many varieties of more advanced techniques that cannot be covered in one day, such as sinew-backing, re-curving, and much more. If you would like to learn more advanced bow and arrow making, please enroll in our 5 Day Summer Course: Ancient Artisans: Classic Crafts & Traditional Technologies
Costs:
• $95 general, includes 1) green quickie hardwood bow stave and natural string material, 2) quick arrow dowel, slate arrowhead blanks, artificial sinew and fletching feathers, and 3) self-made at-latl handle and bamboo dart blank.
• And $90 per additional friend/family member including basic materials.
At the end of the workshop, you can also optionally contribute $25 to add Dacron string and seasoned nettle stocks for natural string; $45 for a seasoned bow stave blank; $65 for a set of all-natural seasoned arrow kit materials including a seasoned, high-spine-weight arrow blank, vine maple dart blank, obsidian arrowhead blanks, hammer stone, pressure-flaking antler, plus real sinew, hide glue and goose feathers.
You don’t need to purchase any materials if you just want to use the quickie kits designed to practice your artisanry skills. We will have basic tools you’ll need to work with during the workshop, and resources for you to find affordable tools to purchase for future projects. As you can imagine, there will only be time to start your projects during the workshop, so you will likely have to finish them later.
Registration: Who & How
Our weekend workshops are designed for adults, but youth are also welcome to register with an enrolled parent or guardian. Directions to meeting location and carpooling information will be provided upon registration.
Credit/Debit Card Registration Option: Just call us at 425-248-0253 and we will take your registration securely over the phone.
Check/Mail Registration Option: Send with a check donation payable to the Wolf College, 1026 14th St. SW, Puyallup WA 98371 with participant name(s), phone number, email address, age of any minors, and any allergies or health restrictions we should know about.
Or Use PayPal to register via secure online donation with a credit/debit card or via direct withdrawal from your bank account. Use the link below (might not be visible if you are using “reader view” on your phone or other device) or sign into paypal.com and “send money” to our email address: (we’ll get back to you with any additional information we may need)
Email us to be put on our our list for this program in the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.
Refund Policy: Deposits ($100 for day programs, $200 for overnight programs) are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit is needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, pan-demics, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.
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Preparatory Information
If you have woodworking tools, saws, hatchet, knife, etc. bring those. Otherwise, please prepare as you normally would for a hike, including lunch, water bottle, 10 essentials, etc. and dress for cold weather for our harvesting hike. Also, be aware that sparks from the woodstove fires can melt your synthetic clothing, so wool might be a good option. Join us today and at any of our Weekend Workshops on themes of survival, wildlife and ethnobotany, and please contact us for carpooling information.