I finally managed to get the canoe out this weekend. It is always nice to get on the water. The weather wasn’t as spring-like as earlier in the week but acceptable. The trip, which usually takes well over three hours during normal summer conditions, took only about two and a half due to the increased flow rate from the recent rain and snow melt.

One of the highlights of the float was a great-horned owl I encountered. I would have paddled right past it if not for a group of raucous crows (or murder of crows, if you prefer) that were scolding it. The owl didn’t like the fact that it had been noticed so it became nervous and left the nest (which can be seen to the left of the owl in the photo) to perch on an adjacent branch. That caused the crows to get even more excited than they were before as they subsequently increased the intensity of their vocalizing. I wanted to stay longer to get a better picture but I felt bad about disturbing the owl and keeping it from tending to the nest, so I left after taking just a few more photos. I couldn’t tell if the owl was still incubating eggs or possibly brooding young so it will be fun to return in a month to see how the downy little owlets develop. I’ll have to be sure to bring my binoculars next time.

Aside from what wildlife one would normally expect to see on a trip like this (e.x.; geese, ducks, etc.) I also caught a glimpse of a red fox as it scurried away from the river’s edge after seeing my boat approach. Unfortunately, the fox was long gone before I could even get my camera turned on.

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We’ve had several days of warm weather here in western New York and the snow is melting and the water ways are beginning to open up. Between that and all the buzz about Canoecopia happening this weekend, the urge to get the canoe out of winter hibernation and ready for action has been overwhelming. In anticipation of this coming paddling season, I went about making a canoe pole. I have never made a dedicated canoe pole before, as I’ve always just cut a sapling or conveniently found something suitable along the shore that had been previously cut and prepared by beavers. It can sometimes be difficult to find a decent pole and this is usually the case when you really need one.  I opted to make a simple pole instead of purchasing a manufactured system mainly because I’m a cheapskate. I found some plans online that you can read here and went to work. Basically, this is a store bought 1 1/4” wooden closet rod that is used for coat hangers and the like. I found a nice, straight piece with near parallel grain, purchased the rest of the hardware, then went home and put it all together. I haven’t tested it out yet, but if the weather continues to cooperate, I’m hoping to get on the water this weekend.

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I have been reading Tony Nester’s latest book, The Modern Hunter-Gatherer. On the front cover of this book is a sort of collage showing various outdoor-related tools and miscellany. One of the items shown is a slingshot. Tony discusses using the slingshot as a practical means for acquiring game in the field. As a kid growing up, I never had the opportunity to use a slingshot, so after reading this particular section of the book, the inner child in me screamed out “I want a slingshot.” So, I had to listen and started collecting the materials needed to put one together. Within a short period of time I had fashioned my very own bean shooter. They’re relatively easy to make and are very fun to use. I will admit that I am a terrible shot and wouldn’t be able to put meat on the table with it just yet. But that is fine with me because it gives me an excuse to go out and have some fun with it. Up until recently, the biggest problem I’ve had with it was difficulty finding suitable ammunition on account of the snow cover. But now that things are thawing out, the rocks in my driveway are more easily accessible.

If you have ever considered packing a slingshot in your survival kit (or at least the surgical tubing to fabricate one in the bush), be sure to get a copy of Tony’s book, as it covers some helpful suggestions for use and practice. And if you are interested in learning more about slingshots and their capabilities, here are a few links worth checking out:

Mr. Bean Shooter Man (YouTube Link)

Slingshot Channel

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Okay, I said that I was going to make a projectile point of some kind with my new antler-tipped pressure flaker and then post the results. I made this little arrowhead last week but haven’t gotten around to posting about it until today. This is a small little ‘bird point’ that I made from a waste flake, so it is not huge. I intentionally decided to experiment with something small and if the flake tool worked out well, then I’d try it again on some larger material. And it is a good thing I started this way because it quickly became apparent that the mass of the small piece of antler I used for this tool was inadequate for larger flake removal applications. In addition, I had to cut my piece of antler shorter than I wanted because of a bend that I couldn’t get out. Ideally, I would have liked a longer piece for a more secure haft and added leverage that I couldn’t conveniently achieve with the shorter handle.

When using my new flaker, I was afraid to apply too much pressure on some of the larger platforms for fear of breaking the antler. In the beginning, I had a difficult time getting the antler to grip the platform; the smooth surface of the antler caused it to slip off before removing a flake. But after a little tinkering, I was actually able to make it bite pretty well. In fact, because of the antler is softer than the copper, it did an excellent job of gripping the platform’s edge if applied at just the right angle. This surely contributes to accelerated wear and subsequent resharpening, but when working with antler that is to be expected anyway. I can’t really give a fair or complete assessment of antler since my flaking tool is too small for thorough testing. But I do have some larger pieces of antler lying around and I want to make a new one similar in size and form to an Ishi Stick. The new one I plan to make will be larger and should be capable of removing larger flakes. When it is done, I’ll be sure to update. Until then I’ll go back to using copper and may reshape the antler flaker for use as a notching tool.

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I’ve been using a copper tipped pressure flaking tool ever since I started flint knapping. But I’ve always wanted to try using antler. I suspect that most people who flint knap have picked up an antler tine at one time or another and tried chipping with it with mixed results and opinions. For myself, I never enjoyed the feel of an antler tine. It was always uncomfortable – either it was not long enough or its curvature felt awkward in my hand or the fat, blunt tip was just different from what I was used to. I assume that this is probably why 99 percent of the knappers I know use copper.

Like most flint knappers, the occasion often arises when we are either working in the public’s eye or we are showing friends how this was done in the past. When I am observed working with copper, people invariably ask me what was originally used. For this reason, I always have an antler tine in my knapping kit to show and use as an example. I will remove a few flakes from the piece I am working on, then put it away and immediately go back to the copper flaker. But I’ve always wanted to have something more functional that I could be comfortable with, and not just use for the purpose of demonstration. In addition, I use a moose antler billet exclusively during the early reduction stages (with the exception of hammer stones) so using an antler tipped pressure flaker would be more satisfying and would compliment the traditional nature of the rest of my kit. I am also very curious about the use of antler and want to experiment with it and possibly abandon copper all together (sometime in the future perhaps). So, when I came across the article about Making a Reduced Antler Flaker by Steven Edholm in Primitive Technology, I had to make one for myself and try it out. Below is the process I followed as outlined in the article:

First the antler should be soaked for a few days to soften up the material. I used the sister antler tine from last weeks post. After soaking, you can then engrave a channel down the length of both sides of the antler tine using chert flakes from your debitage bucket. These sharp pieces of stone are referred to as burins in the literature and in archeological circles. In the past, I’ve used this technique to split bone and have always gone too shallow. So, this time I wanted to make sure I did a good job, but I probably went deeper than necessary.  You just need to reach the pithy core of the antler.

These are the waste flakes I used:

And this is the groove they produced in the antler:

The next step was to split the antler in half by inserting something flat and rigid through the pithy center of the antler to start separating the two halves:

Now that it is split, some additional shaping will be necessary. In my case, the tips were too narrow to support the amount of pressure that will eventually be applied during the flaking process. And the pithy center needs to be reduced to leave the inner half flat for hafting. At this stage, the antler tine is still curvy and wavy and will need to be straightened. The straightening is accomplished simply by binding the antler tightly to a straight stick and allowing it to dry. When the antler is wet, it is flexible enough that it will conform to the shape of the stick. When it is dry, it will be as hard as…well, as hard as antler.

I used some braintan buckskin to make lacing for the hafting process. I just created a flat surface on the edge of a stick for a handle and bound it all together.

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