Making a Primitive Yew Bow for primitive archery hunting using stone tools. Otzi the Iceman bow.

Primitive Technology - How to make a copper age primitive yew longbow using stone tools. This is the same material Otzi the iceman used 5000 years ago.

[@fgoldy]

Shawn, in some cultures you would be considered a national treasure. Keeping skills from so long ago alive today, helps keep us all in touch with our past. Your skills are truly incredible, thanks for showing these videos for all to see. I hope to try some of your examples of bow building soon. They will not be anywhere close to what you do, and you did it with ancient tools.

[@hbarmygrowthesport5647]

Frank & Teresa Goldy well said

[@sarahg9052]

Frank & Teresa Goldy

[@christianchilders8556]

Amen to that

[@AllahWarrior]

I miss your old videos on hunting and primitive stuff so much.

[@pacsterthedeplorable6269]

Finally, Shawn, someone who can show me how to construct a primitive bow, using strictly PRIMITIVE tools. There are a lot of master bow makers out there, but eventually they all take a modern shortcut. Thanks, man!

[@SantisValiant]

Is it still a modern shortcut if I use a drawknife and a scraper that I forged myself from an iron bloom?

[@nsdtgabe4082]

santis309 its an iron age bow then, some tribes in south east asia still forge their own iron tools for bow making aswell 🤷

[@loganharris6713]

If you are still interested in primitive tools and techniques, I would recommend the youtube channel “Hunt Primitive”. Only downside is that the content creator goes too indepth (:

[@lordpuller2226]

True but a lot of those primitive tools are geographically found in different areas. For instance how many tribes had access to obsidian?

[@LordSinister_]

@@lordpuller2226 Obsidian is just lava glass, there are similar igneous rocks that would work I would assume.

[@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday]

I wish I knew where to get an inexpensive yew stave. most will cost you over $100. I have some private property to cut yew but only about 1 out of 50 trees are good enough to make a bow.

[@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday]

I will make a video on how to make a primitive bow string soon. both with sinew and linen thread

[@Doobie_AdamsSSB]

I just want to follow him around and watch and listen to him do and explain to me everything he knows!! I love the stuff this dude does!!

[@pkile2011]

Just finished my Otzi style yew bow. Bends in the handle. Pulls 60+ lbs at 24 inches draw. It's a beautiful thing. Snakey. Thanks for your videos.

[@chais1111]

I share your philosophy a 100%. i'm also a bowyer and have built many primitive yew bows in my life. I think you either get it or you dont. Personally i wouldn't want it to become mainstream cause it ruin the feeling. Keep up the good job!

[@virusinstall9658]

bro this was too cool. that rain on the plains scene was cozy af

[@isaacn8245]

now if I ever get in a plane crash in the wilderness ........................................ I still wouldn't survive lol

[@Marcelsk811]

He would

[@zhoupact8567]

+isaac N do the senario involve mutated canibals?

[@isaacn8245]

?

[@McLeod1703]

+isaac N its probably a reference to a video game called the forest

[@VojislavMoranic]

+Jonathan Thorpe-Smith I would rather slit my own throat than spend one night in that forest.

[@cetuspa]

Your videos are consistently some of the best in the genre. One thing I would like to know is how do you make the bowstrings? Are you using traditional materials? If so....what are they? Of course I completely understand if you decided not to.

[@watsonwrote]

It's great to see fellow Oregonians making use of natural resources and keeping primitive culture alive

[@Finley0312]

I'd totally buy a bow off you. Seriously. I was sold at the end of the clip when you shot the deer. Only thing is I would add a modern day 45lb string to it knowing the bow itself could sustain a 75lb draw. blending the two worlds together primitive bow with a modern sting. Hat off to you... RESPECT!

[@isaacwhite9255]

I am currently making my own Cherokee selfbow and it will be rather plain in design but after I finish that I really wanna make a bow with the animal teeth nocks at the tip. The aesthetic on that was so primitive yet beautiful

[@siroliver7226]

Man, you are extremely talented, what you are doing is just crazy...

[@crazy8sdrums]

Thank you for sharing your experiences Shawn! Very educational and a fascinating look into the real old-school! Cheers!

[@pilgrim985]

Great to hear from you! Congratulations on your newborn daughter and God bless you and your family!

[@rekapeace6936]

I was playing this game Village Life and the little people in the game were collecting yew and obsidian and I have never heard of these and didnt know what they were used for. Now I know! Thanks to you! Very nice video! :))) beautiful bow! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@bigfootbushcraft7063]

Awesome vid and I really love how you shared all the info at the end... It really helps people like me that have no clue where to start if I wanted. I have a good sence of where to start now so thank you!

[@aricente]

I was ready to do this until you said "letting the wood season over a year"

[@cretudavid8622]

It's been 2 yrs u could be finished already

[@huffpuff6336]

You don’t need to season the wood but it is preferred.

[@aricente]

@@cretudavid8622 Lmaoo true!!!

[@cretudavid8622]

@@aricente :)

[@jacobcritchfield8545]

same

[@cameronjones1860]

Great job that can be very time consuming but is all worth it!!! Very cool bow..my grandpa is Modoc and makes every thing out of stuff that the land provides over in Klamath. Pacific Northwest Museum of Natural History, Klamath Tribes Museum and the High Desert Museum have shown his work...his name is Ivan Jackson

[@aaronlandau5575]

Out of curiosity, do you butcher the deer with stone tools as well? If not, might be an interesting task

[@aaronlandau5575]

I'm genuinely curious. How do you process the meat? I'd think that doing it with home-made primitive tools would be an interesting and constructive task

[@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday]

Aaron Landau several years ago I posted a video on how to butcher a deer using primitive stone age tools. check it out and enjoy.

[@aaronlandau5575]

Shawn Woods nice! thanks!

[@5tonyvvvv]

Shawn Woods Is the bow string sinew? or Linen?

[@elkhamlichi2558]

+Shawn Woods what's your profession ? must be an awesome one

[@pilgrim985]

Shawn, have you ever thought about going on one of those survivor shows? You would be awesome! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with these videos you make.

[@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday]

Through my youtube channel I have been contacted by talent agents and producers for most of the major survival shows. So far I have declined all offers. With 2 young boys and a new 1 week old baby girl I am very happy staying at home with my family. I would lover to go on ALONE but at this season in my life I can't be away from my family for 3 months.

[@paulschnell1294]

Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge and primitive skills. Your natural woodsman abilities and professional communication skills are the finest on the topic of archery. Do you teach these skills some place? Many of us would be privileged to be your students, Shawn,

[@MrBradfordchild]

Ripper video! Probably the best on longbows I've watched and I've seen a few! Great work, Shawn !! Thanks!

[@john-carl2054]

Ranged and fleching lvl?

[@AaronKJames]

John Fritz runescape reference? Check!

[@garticus4426]

99

[@johnathanadams3770]

@@garticus4426 maxed out

[@nuggetnoodle9585]

archery level 100 smithing level 100

[@dh7164]

Fantastic. While this ancient art has survived millennia of passing down, one person to another, or by books, it is now even more accessible to us here. I would love to take up this tradition. I started off with a block plane and 1x2x6 hickory rod, but I hope to move on to a more primitive, from-scratch method.

[@AaronVisconti]

Love your videos man, you should do a Mary Rose English longbow, seeing that you already did the arrows. Beautiful bow.

[@Shushjio]

I have lots of respect for people who have the patience for this

[@chrischrisson7921]

s far as I know you are the only person on youtube showing excellent handcrafted and imperially supported tools from the Stone Age. It would be amazing if you could put up long winded videos from start to finish on how you make these items and put in as much detail as possible! keep up the awesome work. I wants to see every second of this stuff.

[@hunterblunt8850]

Hey Shawn I have made every one of your arrows using the exact same tequniqs and believe it or not I am only 11 and love your videos I was wondering how you could make a lighter bow maybe like a 25 pound bow because I love your bows and really want to make one of these bows they are beautiful thanks loved the vid

[@mikemac1298]

lol, making it look easy

[@timothyjackwells6555]

I just want to say how cool it is that you combine the modern technology of the internet to bring us quality information on primitive technology. I admire your handiwork, as it is rare to come by a person with such practical skills as yours. Your videos are inspiring me to do more craftsmanship, and that's coming from someone who does a lot of physical labor. Thanks for the great channel my friend.

[@artlawrence2760]

Nice video. After 50 years of shooting commercial long bows and am going to take a class and make my own.

[@garychynne1377]

EXCELLENT WORK SHAWN. I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE OF YOUR MOVIES THAT ISN'T EXCELLENT. THANK YOU. TAKE CARE GARE

[@joshuafairbanks5643]

This is awesome! I like that you didn't use modern tools.

[@dominator146]

Its almost unreal how perfect you shaped that stave with primitive tools great job :)

[@rcasewst]

Hi Shawn, my grandfather Roy Case also made his own bows and collected primitive and modern arrow heads.

[@woodsmith_1]

Wow! I am amazed at your knowledge and proficiency in these ancient techniques. Well done!

[@northstarpheonix]

I wish i had your technical ability. This was well worth a watch.

[@Chris-SS]

Nice to see you only using primitive tools and methods, thank you for a great video.

[@wickysoldier]

Thats kinda like a life complete moment when you got that deer. Would have been for me. Nice work and awesome craftsmanship. Subed

[@barrywebber100]

Excellent skills on display with a fantastic finished product, thanks for posting.

[@wheres-myangels4986]

Great video, I love It all, your Otzie, axe, back pack, quiver, knife and holster I think there's been many you-tubers trying to make your Otzie knife holster. and your research on everything your a kool dude

[@JavierBonillaC]

Amazing work. What a sense of accomplishment you must have after doing this.

[@Soviless99]

Yew bows look really beautiful

[@niko1233212]

5 people s souldn t leave in this planet. Im impressed by this men great job.

[@MrRampro]

Great video. Me and my son are making our first bows and enjoyed the information thanks!!

[@PrimalOutdoors]

That was really impressive thanks so much for sharing.

[@MrRextech76]

No matter what your background, race or nationality, these primitive skills were used at some point in our ancestors past. It's ingrained in our DNA and if we all took just a little time to learn these skills and got outdoors into the wild even a couple hours a week, we would find a therapy unmatched by anny modern medicine.

[@MrLordromanian]

I live on an island in British Columbia Canada, and have got two big yew trees growing on my property :)

[@michaelvogel4953]

I am so impressed with your craftsmanship. Thank you for sharing your work; it is a pleasure to witness incredible skill. - Mike

[@tonyhind6992]

Your skill is fantastic.

[@38911bytefree]

The kind of quality material that worths this site. Excellent video. Archery is not my cup of tea but the video is quite interesting, informative and clear. I guess that would be very fascinating to hunt using this primitive weapons

[@memekampf1751]

Good video. Feel bad for the deer but that's life. At least it was personal and I'm sure nothing was wasted

[@Alexanderthegreat.mp3]

the last photo is so cool! please keep making these kind of video, i really enjoy it thank you

[@michaelbauers8800]

fantastic video. No annoying music, for that thanks a LOT. And very clear explanation and clear video. Can't believe anyone downvoted this. They must downvote everything.

[@drewscott9763]

Excellent work. I find bow making difficult even with my modern day tools.

[@johndeer1850]

Excellent,nice job nice video.original tools,original Otzi.Thank you

[@soranuttwilawann8752]

This is the very video that made me subcribe. I really miss your survival stuffs.

[@EchoArchery]

Another outstanding video Shawn! I admire your stone tool work. Thanks a bunch for sharing the Echo Archery website at the end! That really caught me by surprise.

[@АлександрСтепанов-й7ш]

Люблю видео когда людям заняться нечем, и чёто путное выходит. Прям как в детство вернулся. )))

[@nimbly1693]

Your production quality is so much better these days. Do you ever consider remaking these? I know I speak for a lot of people when I say, Otzi and his gear are fascinating.

[@thatsmallrockshop]

Shawn woods: try using agate flakes instead of obsidian agate flakes will hold thier edge much longer.:-) but must be untreated agate as in no heat treatment. Great looking bow by the way .:-)

[@MrMkirk23]

I am really enjoying your vids man!

[@scottswiftwolfe7364]

I'm native Canadian and I have a compound bow and I don't know how to make a archery bow out of wood...I'm gonna try it now cause u showed me :)

[@mylesfranco3545]

Where in Canada are you from good sir? You can do research and make a bow specific to your tribal heritage ! from traditionally used local wood! A sinew backed bow is very common for many tribes however the Cherokee are known for having strong longbows!

[@scottswiftwolfe7364]

Saskatchewan

[@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday]

Thanks Dan. Did you ever get that bear?

[@evantoal9949]

What did he use as the string for the bow

[@whosaidthat5236]

Animal sinew or gut

[@tonyy5482]

Don't know what he used but one can also use plant fibres, such as nettle fibre, which perform better in wet conditions than sinew.

[@mlm6272]

He used a flax bowstring.

[@VideoNozoki]

Shawn has a couple videos on making the string as well. (and videos on making arrowheads, and on making arrows too)

[@ChaoticPasta]

He actually killed an animal with a weapon he made from plants! That's some real shit right there.

[@braxtondennis3312]

This seems like a dumb comment seeing as people have been killing animals from weapons made from plants for thousands of years.

[@heatseeker5362]

Braxton Dennis I think that was his point. We are so spoiled by modern amenities that is now fascinating how simple yet ingenious our ancestors were.

[@eightbitbrits4129]

Braxton Dennis he was just making a point

[@MichalBreslau]

Deer was made from plants too, deer is eating mostly plants. So deer meat is great vegan food. [joke]

[@AlyxAesthetics]

HeatSeeker that’s exactly what I always say

[@TheTribeOfBenjamin]

Congrats Man! This was another awesome accomplishment!....Ben

[@leviwesford6126]

Wow Shawn your videos have inspired me to get out doors and use nature nor e and build things I use a 30 pound compound and would love to be able to make a bow but do not know what wood to use. Levi

[@HamsterLife_EnglishLearning]

Awesome talent you have. Nice of you to share it on KZbin with us all. I did watch a small piece of this video on Woodbeardsman's channel. I thought I would come over and watch the whole video.

[@nakoawarrior3186]

Do some more hunting video's, and bow making video's,.....Awesome.

[@chuckgdry]

Great video, it's neat how well you can use primitive tools.

[@dnoodles]

Excellent skills and craftsmanship

[@mainehomesteaders3583]

Another awesome video Shawn... Well done and thank you!!

[@Hankxiong]

What do you do for a living? You got so much time! You up so much effort! I live your videos though very interesting! I'm a mondernday compound bow hunter but I like your ideas

[@eliboogity]

That would be so cool to live on the plains and look out when it's raining

[@sgtzomie7877]

Nice work man.. it’s crazy that we learn how 5,000 years people used to live.. before kids were man .. the thing that i loved living in 5,000 is that you didn’t had to pay taxes.. they were free

[@KiwiBushcraftAndSurvival]

Fantastic video mate, thank you so much for your time, efforts and uploads.

[@roydempster6527]

wow this has got to be the best vid on you tube

[@20tom09gt]

awesome man. there are lots of yew trees near where i live in England around a church where the monks grew them.

[@midnightarcher5729]

You could also crush up some sandstone and put it on leather that way it can act like sandpaper. It was a really great vidio, keep em' comin' shawn. 😃 midnightarcher

[@phantomblade2344]

Great video! You should do some research on primitive shortbows, and try to make one!

[@MrJob91]

oregon is so beautiful!

[@solkiv843]

That's great, trains young people students! You have gold in your hands :)

[@humbertogarcia7317]

Great job! I truly enjoyed your video and the information you provided.

[@TheWerdSmith]

love to see a video on construction of the bow string

[@thornwarbler]

Outstanding video..................... thanks

[@unab84]

Wonderful vid man, congrats on your work!

[@ryansy7060]

In Otzi's time,did they already have sinew backings on their bows?

[@markchambers2812]

I wish I had such a bow ! Very nice . Mark Baton Rouge

[@LiamMitts]

Awesome workmanship,thanks

[@bloodlinehunter]

You're amazing man. Simply awesome!

[@dustinhill1792]

Shawn, thanks for taking the time to post a video about such a cool project! The bow looks great. I had a question about something I couldn't see in the video. When does your bow begin to taper to the tips and how wide is it at the fades and at the tips. I'm trying to get some basic dimensions for the width taper for a longbow I'm working on. Thanks, Dustin

[@death666311]

Shawn i wish people like you would teach in my area... but Australia has really strict laws...

[@rev1910]

Thx for this video I really enjoyed it.

[@Frankster72]

Hi Shawn, very nice video. Would you also like to show us how to make a primitive bow string?

[@delcat8168]

Nice work. IMOthe best way to protect the back is to leave the bark on! It will fall off on its own during tillering.

[@ossu.entertainment5761]

got yourself a new subscriber! your kind of people are very rare! first class info, very well organized, vry nicely narrated, and very truely primitive! Searching for videos like yours was worth it. im just trad archer, not primitive, but every now and then I like taking out my Osage bow and take the handshock and slower speed (My own errors in making it kick back) and just take my elk quiver and cedar arrows, break a bunch and be for a bit just feeling a bit more feedback! BTW, being austria and Oetzi died some Kilometers from here... the pronouciation is rather "Otsi" ...Ö is hard to pronouce for you guys... it sounds like the U in TURN! he was named after the valley he was found at...Ötztal! Cheers from Austria!