September 1932 by National Field Archery Association

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SEPTEMBER-1932 SOME BACK YARD REMINISCENSES BY SHA-NIC-CO-UM

“THE AMERICAN BROAD ARROW . SOCIETY” BY B. G. THOMPSON

AN ARCHER’S SOJOURN IN THE . . OKEFINOKEE BY MAURICE THOMPSON

THE FIRST TOURNAMENT OF THE TEXAS STATE ARCHERY ASSOCIATION AN EXCERPT FROM CAPTAIN . • • • GEORGE VANCOUVER’S DIARY. 1792

NO. 5

VOL. 6 Ten Cents Per Copy

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Ivan Archer VOL. G., NO. 5

CORVALLIS, OREGON

Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Corvallis, Oregon, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Published monthly by Ye Sylvan Archer Publishing Co. Maud Rolfe Stover . ... Editor Allan J. Stover Manager B. G. Thompson Technical Adviser

Subscription Price...... Foreign Subscriptions Single Copies.................

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Advertising rates on application. Copyright, 1932, Ye Sylvan Archer Publishing Co.

CONTENTS Some Back Yard Reminiscences By Sha-Nic-Co-Um

“The American Broad Arrow Society”

By B. G. Thompson

An Archer’s Sojourn in the Okefinokee

By Maurice Thompson

The First Tournament of the Texas State Archery Association Letters Archery News Notes .................................................

15 .17 19

An Excerpt From Captain George Vancouver’s

Diary, 1792

.21

The Editor’s Page The pressure of other duties hav ing necessitated that Mr. Davis and Mr. Thompson be relieved of the rou tine of getting out the magazine, with this issue the ownership and manage ment of Ye Sylvan Archei' passes into the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Allan Stov er. Through his work with the newly formed “American Broad Arrow Soci ety,” and also in the capacity of tech nical adviser for Ye Sylvan Archer, Mr. Thompson will still be closely identified with archery. Several of our readers — some of them in foreign countries — have ex pressed the desire to exchange archery photographs. We have a limited space to offer for photo exchange notices. These must, of necessity, be brief. Mail us your name and address, stating the type of picture you have to offer, and what you wish to receive.

Welcome indeed are letters of con structive criticism, suggestions for reading matter, a few words now and then of appreciation. We have to thank Mr. H. H. McChesney of Minneapolis for the suggestion that we “print the later magazine articles of Maurice Thompson ... as many have never seen these and would be very much pleased to have them.” We offer an apology for the late ap pearance of Ye Sylvan Archer for Sep tember. Due to various changes, in cluding a change of printers, there has been some delay in getting this issue off the press. The time lost will be re gained during the next few months.

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

Some Back Yard

Reminisences By Sha-Nic-Co-Um

I suppose every archer’s dream of for the securing of necessary meat. I the ultimate in sport is to go after big never was a good fisherman, and had game, in wild country. It was—and is formed a pact with a friend whereby —my own, at least. It is a dream that either of us would forfeit his life to the has been realized, too! It has been my other if he ever played golf. privilege to spend many a day, as But when I accepted a flat ironwood many as I liked, in the finest of wild bow and some arrows from an Indian erness hunting country, with bow and in payment of a six-dollar debt, the arrow, the objects of my quest anyworld suddenly blossomed anew. I tmng from rotten logs to deer and would sneak furtively out of town, bear. The bear are all at large yet, with my tackle hidden in my car, but I have scored on the deer, and climb the fence into the said cow pas considerable smaller game. ture, and proceed to engage in an orgy The day I killed the deer was epochexactly to my taste. It will live in my memory as the It seemed the fitting thing to chuck day of days. It was nothing that I the hat and shoes into a clump of could shoot straight—nothing that I brush and go at the thing like I would was able to kill a fair number of rabhave done it thirty years previous. - A ^.Ut t0 3 deer! N°W W3S I These articles of apparel seemed to ,n?er—a man apart. cramp my style and imagination, as thr‘lls and excitement of big well as my head and feet, so into the f kui?tlng’ however, do not alter brush they went. pr^e iovthat;he fineSt S?°rt’ the My declared objective was usually were exn and~yes—the biggest thrills, the little striped gophers that always tastu Pfenenced in an old brush COW inhabit cow-pastures, from which to andX’ Ar°m the haunts of d<*r sally forth in fierce raids on adjacent dozen f Wlthln sound of a half gardens and corn fields. ne rest y WhistleS’ This was ^e It seemed a man must have an ob jective. It isn’t enough to go out and supper and ed t0 g° there after blaze at rotten stumps and bits of sod , P and sometimes before break for the pure joy of the thing. The fast, to p: bows andfaCtlCe and experiment with spectators want a more tangible ex bows and and arr°ws. It was my training cuse. But as it stands, the census of ground, where I drilled for the big ground-squirrels is entirely unchanged Same hunts to come later, ------- It was also by any efforts of mine. I’ve loosed my proving g—ground where I thrashed many an arrow at them that went ex out my ordnance "j — J Problems. Rarely actly where it was intended, but the was there a day when some idea in alacrity of the supposed victim was tackle was not Put to the test in this easily sufficient in every case to pre wolf with Wilderness- for I was a lone serve him from all personal harm be guide °r C°UncU in the technique of‘th^ yond the loss of his dignity. I must choice. Here with ' Ssport ?°rt of my ehoice. tell of one occasion where my shoot —J f'" some find — of it"v home-made tackle— ing eye was vindicated, as being good —-I xtook. a >t very crude, I must say enough for gophers. It was early in "e,w start in the field of sport. J the morning and none too light, when lost all enthusiasm over fire-arms as <-I saw a small yellow spot which cer sporting weapons, and had tainly looked like a gopher. To cinch come to regard rd a gun as a mere tool the matter, it moved. It was a good

«oX and3'?"1 T at the edge of

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

thirty-five yards distant, and a diffi mightier pen could give him his due cult shot, but I drew the pet arrow place with these beasts of immortal and let go. To my surprise, joy, con renown. sternation and grief, I saw the victim I stalked him and studied his meth leap up, flutter a couple of times and ods and laid a plan for his undoing, fall dead—a robin, whose neck, as till I learned at last that I was no anybody knows, is exactly the color of match for him. He was a crafty one, a gopher. I dug a little hole beside and I think he came to despise me, as the stump, and buried him, with a mix an unworthy foeman. He seemed, at ture of emotions that any true archer times, to laugh and sneer at me and will understand. my prowess. Once, on coming out cf The pasture was evidently made and a dark path where I sometimes saw conditioned for my purpose. There him, I was dumbfounded to see him were no rocks in the ground, and the sitting there in the open, not twenty cows had eaten the grass down and feet away, right in front of me. I chewed the leaves off the brush till it froze instantly to shooting position was impossible to lose an arrow. stealth ily drew my bow, and loosed There were rotten stumps, and tufts an arrow that I knew would not miss. of sod, rabbit in size, a couple of cans If that had been an ordinary rabbit. in a dry ravine, a half of an old rubber 1’11 swear his heart would have been ball along a certain cow path, and a split wide open, but he just flattened yellow ant hill as big as a deer. All himself down and let the arrow par: these enticing targets I punished un the hair on his back, then cocly mercifully, going from one to another, crawled from under it, as it stuck in always with a weather eye out for the ground, and hopped away. An prowling gophers. Nobody but a small other evening I saw the gray shape cf boy with his first .22, or an archer, him moving on the opposite side of a can imagine the tremendous possibilismall ravine. When he stopped, strain ties as a game animal of these vixcoe small my eyes as I would, I couldn’t distin beasts. They’re bad,' ornery varmints guish him from the ground aroundto tangle with, if J you go after them in But I took careful aim at the spc: the right way. where I supposed him to be, and Now believe it or not, but I discov loosed. That shot certainly started ered, one morning, that my brush something. A white streak flashed patch harbored big game. Yes Sir! and looped and barrel-rolled in a rzsr There was a rabbit! A live, longterrific manner for a few seconds-, then eared wild rabbit, that used to come suddenly the mixture of arrow and out at dusk and thrill me to my very rabbit dissolved—the arrow to lie cn soul by the sight of his white tail bob the hillside amidst much hair and the bing away through the brush. When I rabbit to dash past my feet like the first saw him; forgotten were the go devil was after him. I noted carefuly phers, forgotten were the deer and that there was no trace of blood ce bear I proposed to slay in the future, the arrow. » and forgotten for the moment was the After that episode, I got no sight cf I law that says no rabbits killed till the quarry for several evenings, so ce- ■ later. Art Young never had a greater cided to the early morning. Sever;! ■ thrill than did I, there in the autumn before breakfast trips failed to revfi- S dusk, as I prowled, barefooted and him, and I began to despair in the te- ■ bareheaded, along the cow paths, lief that I mi^ht have given him i B peeping into the brush on all sides for mortal wound on the occasion of ’ B another glimpse of this Nemean Lion of last engagement. my existence. That rabbit was a heroic On the morning of the first Suniiy ■ figure, and deserves a place in the sun, of the rabbit season, at an hour sr W along with Medusa, the Sphinx, and early that the dogs and shotguns greet E the Dogs of* ~~ Hades. —No doubt a still abed, I prowled once oxr

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SEPTEMBER, 1932.

through all his old haunts, with blood in my eye. It was a cinch if he still lived he'd be in some hunter’s bag within the hour, full of filthy shot. But it is written that the mighty shall prevail, and rule the earth. In the middle of the thickest brush patch, I found him. He was surrounded with such a hopeless maze of brush, that I almost despaired of finding an open ing big enough for an arrow. But af ter moving back and forth a few times, I discovered a hole, about two inches across, and I had to kneel down to line up on it. But line up I did, and I shot at the hole, disregarding the person of my ancient enemy entirely. Well the arrow centered the hole, and the rab bit was at the end of it. He died the death of a hero, spitted on my arrow, with never a kick nor a squeal. I didn't put my foot on his dead body and roar defiance at the jungle, but that’s the way I felt. There was a banquet that day at which one fried rabbit was first course, piece-de-resistance, last course, and dessert. I could easily have bagged this rab bit with a shot-gun the first time I saw him and could have killed him a dozen times with a rifle, without exer cising any particular skill, and the in cident would have been closed. Enough said when addressing a body of sportsmen like the readers of “Ye Sylvan Archer.” With the passing of the Cottontail, I turned my attention to insensate tar gets, and I believe it was a change for the better. I set to work to perfect my aim, so I could really hit things. I chose mostly small targets, at ranges from a few feet to thirty-five or forty yards, or what I consider practical hunting range. I used regular broad head hunting arrows, and bows of six ty-five pounds pull. I started entirely clear of point of aim, sights, and esti mating range. My idea was to develop the instinct of aim to the highest pos sible degree, with no artificial assist ance whatever. I do not presume to say I held the right theory, but I at least succeeded to a fair degree in

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5 what I attempted. I made so many lucky shots I decided it was a little more than luck. There were the two tomato cans in the ravine, that I venti lated, one after the other, at thirty or thirty-five yards. There was the piece of an old rubber ball that had an un canny attraction for my arrows. I couldn’t miss it. There was a half gallon pail that I spent two arrows on at about forty yards, and stuck the two of them squarely through it. Sometimes, of course, I got into a slump, but usually managed to fight it off. Whenever I start to get conceited, I only have to remind myself of the time I shot fifteen arrows at a big fal len leaf at about thirty feet, and failed to get closer than six inches to it. But there is consolation in the memory of an arrow I shot at a jaybird later the same day, at about fifty yards, which split the limb he was sitting on squarely under his feet. I rather think he had hot feet. A very fine feature of these little impromptu hunts was the faithful gang of three schoolboys that appeared every night. The weather might come and go, and my luck was good or worse, and the business depression could swell and shrink, but those boys didn’t vary. They were there. They came from sundry directions, at vari ous hours, but they came. Sometimes they would come down out of a tree, and oftentimes they seemed to rise up out of the ground. If they were not in sight, I used discretion in my long shots, for I knew not what thicket might conceal them. Unwelcome spec tators to my efforts at first, they finally became necessary and indispensable adjuncts to my sport. It was a thrill for all of us when they proved that they could pull my heavy bows, and hit the mark. It goes without saying that these boys all became archers, and at the last account were making When I later very creditable tackle, deer with the succeeded in getting a ,al triumph lay bow and arrow, my re: in breaking the news to boys. It takes nothing more than a htt e suggestion to hatch out the nsfincts

ye sylvan archer consider it a very fair shot for this particular style of clout shooting. I discovered a certain complex in my system—one, I imagine common to all archers. This was a tendency to under shoot badly when shooting across ra vines. I set about to correct this by cultivating an instinct for ravines. I mixed up my shots—ravine shots, level shin in k„ .. ,laea of sportsmanf P “hunting, is notably absent in ground, uphill and downhill shots, ran-es, anything that offered. This was a hard fought campaign, but the Red Gods looked with favor on my cause. 10 “» ‘“to One evening when I had gathered up sportsman. my tackle and started home on account opens a subject of the darkness, I noticed a white spot — text .... further. . .. snort if— I am to pursue on the opposite side of an open ravine. n>y II will, however, risk stirring I promotly opened fire, and noticed a remark UP * Iarge hornets ’ -- nest, by a small “Thut!” as each arrow landed. I ™ ? ,or tw° versus Maurice Th, — -.nompshot six arrows and went to investigate. —, that tha‘ anyI found the six arrows sticking through 1 is efair game ffor ’"her. Any bird °r an a small paper bag. Distance about , or animal that is twenty-five yards; size of bag, same as —1 j . useless - ^d' —is not a rabbit. I pulled the arrows rever anybody. If he had had ently out, and pronounced it the end of ■’ WipButchery of ^W’or^ a perfect day. u ,he ButchSecond in magnificence only to the ing.’ ‘le would WDuld be less mislead. campaign against the rabbit was the episode of a farmer and his hickory He was somewhat nonplussed by a Stick - hat. "ear I Came V ‘ reVeal h°"' the spectacle of an apparently sane civil engineer without hat or shoes, a certain World armed to the teeth with two bow’s and one evening while ^was^ne”13 af’Ong a great sheaf of arrows. It took some Practise hunts Aft» of mV «on, in the cours^f^/T^explaining, and suggestion—not to say i of having killed th- k * he boasted a whole lot of propaganda, to convince him that proceedings were regular. At last he seemed to sort of get the idea. me to shoot an arm! he asked or see the point, in a general way, to Nothing loath to kill him S!raight UPthe extent that he asked to see me It was late in the evening 1 jOmDliedshoot. A look around failed to dis dusky, so of course the and a close any suitable targets, so he laid beared in the blue. I yelled™^ dlSap‘ his old straw hat on the ground, some| and fled into the wind. - •’ Beat it!” The brave duck feet fromi me, and stepped back. g hunter stood rooted in hi', I with a 1huge grin. That grin was a moment, then started in■s tracks for a I challenge. I felt a_ little ....... bit like Wildirection, down-wind! I; the opposite liam Tell, as I selected an arrow and I watched him, horrified stopped and collected my faculties for the test. I I The arrow came down <— hut hopeful' thought of him, and I thought of | exactty in front of him, about one pace distant Ulysses and his home-coming, as I It was a hickory shaft, with r„ ' broadhead. The drew and shot. The big broadhesd ■ duck hunter turned a pa]e sped true, and slipped nicely through ■ green. the center of the target cutting a fine ■ Oh well! A fellow is bound to miss hig gash through each side of the ■ sometimes. I did the best I could, and (Continued on page 22) i" an opportunity to do what I can along' not T’ Pr°vided ‘he candidate has not already assimilated the idea of wholesale slaughter as being the meas aUnd°straanp°dfhUtntekr' is a ,ame"taMe and strange fact, that in all the good

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SEPTEMBER, 1932.

mi n 6 4 !.l

qwl

OM THE HUNTERS RETURN

The American Broad Arrow By B. G. Thompson For several years the field archers of the United States have seen the need of some sort of organization for the promotion of hunting with bow and arrows, and the stimulation of such forms of archery as roving, flight shooting, and archery golf. Two years ago the field archers of the Northwest conceived the idea of holding a big jamboree. Archer-hunt ers throughout the country were in vited to attend, several states were rep resented, and the jamboree went off very successfully. At that time the organization of a field archers' associa tion was rather widely discussed, and all agreed that such an organization was necessary. During the last few months there has been considerable further discussion of the subject, culminating in a big field archers’ meet at Corvallis, Oregon, over the Labor Day week-end. At this re cent meeting a temporary organization

of “The American Broad-Arrow So ciety” was effected. In order that the organization might be national in scope, no officers were elected at this meeting. A committee was appointed to develop a constitution, by-laws, and plans for the or ganization. This committee has worked out a plan for dividing the country into sections according to its natural divis ions as circumstances will require, and has appointed a hunting field archer to represent each regional division. Collectively, these regional chiefs will form a council authorized to elect a president and other officers of the society. The duty of each will be to look after the interests of field archers in his territory, working towards a game preservation program through the development of archery hunting preserves. A complete resume of the plan, with by-laws and further information, will

appear in the October issue of Ye Syl van Archer. All field archers who hunt with bow ..... enjoy and arrows; all archers- who roving, flight shooting, and archery golf; and all others—whether archers or not—who are interested in a wild life preservation program through the development of archery hunting preserves, are eligible „ ... to imembership in this association, Communications should be addressed to .. B. , G. Thompson, Chairman of *the ’ > Membership Committee, The American --------- .t Broad-Ar row Society, Corvallis, Oregon.

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

a cartridge shell pinched tightly to gether at the end. While having a much better penetration than the ordi nary blunt, this sort will not stick in a tree like a broadhead. The Gouthier Ranch diggers have been poisoned several times this sum mer, but were getting too wise to take poisoned grain. Most of those brought in by the hunters were old-timers. The result of the hunt totaled some forty diggers, rabbits, and sundry go phers, moles and rats. B. G. Thomp son’s and Grover Gouthier’s teams tied for first place, with eighteen diggers for each team. We question whether an equal num ber of riflemen would have returned with more game. However, we do know that in hunting small game with a rifle many wounded are not ac counted for, while an arrow generally penetrates deeply enough to make es cape impossible.

THE HUNT Viewed from any angle, the field archers’ meet sponsored by the Orange Bowmen of Corvallis was a decided success. The plan was to hunt from Saturday noon to nine: co’clock Monday morning, and finish the ..e meet with an archery golf match. The hunt was not planned for the THE LADIES’ FLIGHT SHOOT purpose of providing an excuse to THE ARCHERY GOLF MATCH merely go out and kill something, but for the express purpose of doing as On Labor Day, at 8 a. m., the ladies who attended the field archers' meet much as possible toward the extermi had a flight shoot. Mrs. Prouty wmt nation of the pestiferous ground squir rel. The hunting was done on Grover with a shot of 308 yards. Mrs. Thomp Gouthier’s 1000-acre ranch, where the son was second and Mrs. Ullrich thirc. Prizes for this event were a beauti ground squirrels—or “digger squirrels” as they are more commonly known— ful little silver cup, given by the have become such a nuisance as to be Orange Bowmen, and a silver and a doing serious damage. These little bronze medal by Ye Sylvan Archer. animals increase rapidly. It has been Following the flight shooting eve" came the archery golf match, proven that one of them will eat more than a bushel of grain in a year’s time, scores as follows: Homer Prouty ...... ...30 27 57 so it goes without saying that a few Grover Gouthier ........ 30 32 62 thousands of them are likely to be V. B. Adcook ............. 31 32 63 something of a menace. Gilman Keasey .......... 32 31 63 The hunting groups were divided E. J. Partlow ............. 33 into teams, with a leader for each Ned Myers ................... 35 33 6S team, and each team was assigned to a ...35 34 69 Mike Greenwood ...36 certain territory. All were soon climb Mr. Tawney ...... ...35 36 71 ing the various trails winding away Ed. Lindros ...... ...38 33 a Merlin Gouthier into the wooded hills, for at this time ...35 37 72 Earl Ullrich ...... of year these rodents are working in ...39 33 72 B. G. Thompson the oak and maple trees. The weather, ...36 37 73 H. F. McKinnis warm and sunny, was ideal for digger ...36 40 76 Mrs. Adcook ... hunting. ..40 Claude Lampert ..40 37 n Various kinds of broadhead C. S. Zilk ........... and 41 Ruth Tawney ..... ... blunt arrows were used. Gouthier uses (Continued on page 22)

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

An Archer’s Sojourn in the

Okefinokee By Maurice Thompson (From The Atlantic Monthly, April, 1896)

Late in March I entered the northern fringe of the great Okefinokee Swamp, having in mind a plot against the birds, most particularly the ivory-billed woodpeckers. My purpose was to col lect facts and to do some good shoot ing with the bow. The dry conscience of a student had in this instance deco rated itself with highly flamboyant garments of poetical stuff made to please a savage imagination. Once more I was alone in a wilderness, with a sennight of absolute freedom before me. The man who conveyed me, bag and baggage, in his primitive ox-wain, to the dilapidated cabin had gone, prom ising to return at the week’s end. No No sooner was he out of sight than I began to make myself a. at home by stretching my hammock across one comer of the single large room; and after 1 had hung my bacon on one side of the fireplace and 1..^ my bag of meal on the other, and had — d found ------ d a rude comer shelf for the rest of my simple supplies, out I went to look around. Getting one’s bearings is of importance before beginning a campaign. In front of the cabin, half a bowshot from the shutterless doorway, ran a sluggish, ditchlike stream, four yards wide and of a color suggesting weak coffee. The water had no bad taste, however, being quite free of vegetable or mineral impurities except the color ing matter, which must have come from dead leaves. All around stretched a heavy wood, here and there undergrown with cane. The cabin stood on what the Crackers call a “knob,” which is a barely perceptible rise of the ground. It had been built by a party of surveyors, y ----- agone. years A profound1 stillness pervaded the forest; the silence —1 was unbroken; not

even a bird twittered; and so my first impression was that I should see little of avian life about. This is not an un common experience in the wild woods, as I well knew, yet I felt a wave of misgiving pass through me. The sun was nearly down, and it was a decided relief to get my axe and chop some fat pine, or “lightwood,” as they say in the South. Moreover, while my working mood was on, I constructed a shutter, or curtain, of brush for the cabin’s doorway. An outline of the Okefinokee Swamp is shown on any good map of Georgia and Florida. My locus may be approx imately found by drawing a line ex actly southeast from Blackshear, in the former state, a distance of twenty miles. Immediately west of the cabin, a vast shallow pond, thickly set with cypress trees and fringed with cane and stretches of aquatic bushes and lily pads, marked the beginning of the swamp proper. Behind this gloomy re gion the sun went down, filling the treetops with a strange glow, while I was cooking my frugal dinner. Doubtless the enjoyment to be had from “a lodge in some vast wilderness Some boundless contiguity of shade,” is due somewhat to temperament, and not every man will be able to get even a smack of it. As for myself, each new camping-place proves my susceptibility to the charm of solitude. A torch of lightwood burning on the sand hearth filled the cabin with its yellow splen dor while night came on, and I find in my book of notes the following entry: “First dinner eaten. Comfortable cabin. Pitch dark out-doors, with a fog brewing. Cool enough to make the fire pleasant to sit by.”

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

Another note, jotted down on rising splashing noise of my feet, and so eas next morning, might be thought con ily kept beyond my vision. At all tradictory of the phrase “comfortable events, I had my toilsome tramp in cabin;” for it records that “I lay awake vain, save the killing of the wood an hour late last night. The moon, duck on the stream near my cabin. which arose toward midnight, got the My next book-entry is explicit: “Got better of the fog, and stared at me back at high noon. Plucked my duck, through a large hole in the roof. What a fine, fat young fellow, not a year old. awoke me was a big owl. It lit on the It was a rattling good shot. Hit him rib-pole overhead with a startling at forty yards with a heavy, blunt ar whack, jA............. little later it gave a yell row. Had got nearly back to cabin savage enough to chill one’s blood, and when I spied him on the brook. Shall loud enough to compare well ------ with ------i a have a roast of him for dinner this panther's scream. I was sl".L. sittingo bolt evening.” upright in my hammock fumbling for On a later page I find this: “Read my bow, first thing I knew.” nearly all the afternoon in Virgil’s It is morning, I might say the first Georgies, and heard thrushes sing in morning, after settling in a new camp, the boskets eastward. Have eaten al that gives the controlling impression. most the whole of my duck. Delicious I awoke with a distinct thrill of delight, with bacon and ash-cake. Sorted and hearing a twitter in the trees, and a mended arrows. Am bound to get an fresh breeze was playing upon me ivory-bill tomorrow.” through the spaces between the logs of But I did not even hear an ivory my cabin’s wall. I bounced out, and billed woodpecker next day, nor yet ran, stripped to Adamic freedom, down the day after. My notes show that I to the little stream, a tributary or explored a considerable pine ridge two branch of the Satilla, and wallowed in miles north-east of the cabin. "Saw its chill water as long as I dared. Then large holes in dead trees, old nests of a hard rub-down, clothes, and break either log-cocks or ivory-bilk. Two fast. small, lank deer ran past me just after At the time of which I write there I heard a gun in the remote distance. probably was not a dwelling within I remember that I found myself invol ten miles of me. Since then a railroad untarily skulking at the thought of a has been built across part of the swamp sportsman with a gun being anywhere hard by. During my stay in the cabin in my wilderness. A panther would and my excursions round about it I have been preferable. but twice heard sounds reminding me Most of my notes were written by of mankind, and I saw no human being. the light of fat pine splinters, at night, The followi 'wing entries in my notebook between dinner and bed. Here is one refresh my r- memory: of a self-conscious turn: “Wonder how “While3 eating c. breakfast heard an it would affect an average man of af ivory-billedJ woodpecker cackling far fairs to look in upon me here! This over in the swamp. — Had a sloppy, forlorn cabin deep in a primitive wood. haPPy time, Went after Campephilus, I sitting tailor-fashion on the ground and got a wood-duck. — Shall have to writing by torchlight; my bows leaning carry two quivers when I go into the in the corner; beside them my quivers watery parts of this region to shoot: full of arrows; yonder my hammock; 3 heavy arrows in one, light in other.” smell of scorched bacon and broiled l I remember that first long and fruit birds still lingering on the air. Hew less chase, following the ivory-bill by little suffices to make a willing nian his voice without once seeing him. It happy!” a was mostly wading in from two to six The chief element in my enjoynter.t g inches of water, between close-set cy of a sojourn like the one now unde? A presses and water-oaks. Doubtless the discussion is the sense of lonelm6^ ^td ■ wary bird could hear a long way the isolation always uppermost. Doubtless £ __o._

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SEPTEMBER, 1932. a perfect understanding of the anach ronism in archery makes the bow man of today seek primeval surround ings. I can say for myself that my first thought, when the time has come for an outing, is of some sylvan region where nature has never been seriously disturbed. There I can find true rec reation. My cabin in the Okefinokee suited me, because it would not have suited any other civilized man, and because the life it offered was absolute freedom. The big owl came every night, hit ting the rib-pole harder each time, and yawping in a way that I could not get used to. What came of it appears in the following entry: “Was on the qui vive for my owl last night, and when it came I grabbed my bow, and peeped and peered, trying to get a glimpse of the monster through some crack in the roof, but must have failed had it not changed its perch from the rib-pole to the top of the rickety stickand-dirt chimney. Then I saw how big it was, its entire bulk showing against the sky through the rent in the clap-boards. I drew a steel-headed arrow clean up to the point and let drive. That ended my trouble.” I found the old fellow next morning a rod from the house, dead enough; but my arrow had clipped right through, and gone I never knew where. It has been my luck to have owls bother me in my lonely camps. More than once the persistent whining of screech-owls has made made me me leave leave a place otherwise very very attractive. attractive. As for the big bird thatt II knocked knocked off the chimney-top, he probably „ had _1 a better claim than I to possession of the cabin; but I c_ could not afford to be ousted by him. Indeed, so attached to the place had I grown that when my man of th<ie ox-wain came promptly to bear me away, I sent for ---- T • some more bacon, meal, rice, and i sugar, and stayed ten •days longer. Spring came on with a rush in the swamp; everything flaunted rich greenery, By the third of April it was like June, Still there were not many birds, until one day they deluged the

forest. It was as if a sudden tide had borne them up from the South. At daybreak I heard their chattering and twittering, their whistling, their warb ling, a very pandemonium pf early throat-swellings and syrinx-shaking; above them all the voice of an ivory bill, a clarion call to his mate and a challenge to me. Very few are the naturalists who have studied the ivory-billed wood pecker (Campephilus principalis) in its native haunts. I have been sur prised to find that many persons priding themselves upon their orni thology are not aware that the log cock and the ivory-bill belong to dif ferent genera. More than a hundred letters came to me in response to a slight paper I had printed on this sub ject, and in most of them I was in formed that the ivory-bill had, until a few years past, been a bird quite common in the heavy woods near where each of the letter-writers lived. Of course it was the log-cock (Hylotomus pileatus), not the ivory-bill, that these persons remembered. The former is the great black woodpecker, about the size of a crow, which fifty years ago was common over a large part of our country east of the Missis sippi River, and in some places far ther west. But the ivory-bill, larger and more beautiful, has always been a rare bird. Neither Wilson nor Au dubon knew much about it at first hand, and nobody since their day has found out anything very notable on the subject. Hence my visit to the Okefinokee, and my enthusiasm of the following entries in my book: “Was out this morning at daycrack. Had heard an ivory-bill trumpeting eastward. Forgot to take my souse in the brook; ate not a bite of breakfast; seized my tackle and scurried away, buckling my quiver-belt as I ran. De licious morning,—green leaves, sweet smells, and an ambrosial breeze. My rubber boots felt almost cold to my feet and legs when I waded the brook. Had a glimpse of Campophilus while I was making a detour southward to pass between him and the swamp. Knew

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

but it was a close call. My arrow’s him by the sparkling white he showed and by a flare of carmine. I ran pewter head hit with a loud “rap-p-p,” which echoed like an axe-stroke, an through a cane-brake, then over an inch or two (call it three) above him acre of fallen dead trees and into a and to the right.” bay thicket, where I found good cover under which to creep. For a while I I killed two perfect specimens during did not hear him; then he began ham my stay and examined several old mering on a ghostly, barkless old pine. nests, besides observing with my glass I could see parts of the tree, but not a whole morning’s work of a pair of the bird. What blow's! They sounded ivory-bills at nest-making. They had strangely through the woods. When I chosen a large pine tree, dead for came within sixty yards of the tree, I years and quite stripped of its boughs, let myself down and crawled to the and were delving a hole into it just thicket’s edge. There he was, his below a projecting knot, I could not broad back toward me, and his flam tree stood get very near them, as the t ing red head flashing up and down in an open space; but with the glass while he pecked, or to this side and I could see all their proceedings, of that while he peeped around the which here is my note made on the trunk to see if there was any danger. spot: Now was my time. He was a magnifi “Male ivory-bill at work about fifty cent specimen, in full plumage. Had feet up, making a round hole about an arrow ready,—the best of my lot,— four inches in diameter. He strikes pewter-headed, feathered with pea five or six blows, then flings out frag cock. Drew up, but found my left ments of rotten wood. Very suspicious arm shaky. Buck fever at sight of a and watchful, stopping often to look woodpecker! all about, waggling his head. Great “I was excited. I knew very well red topknot and snow-white beak. that one shot would close the inci When he reaches into the hole he dis dent. Moreover, I should probably appears, save his tail, which is slightly not have another such opportunity spread. Female came and relieved during my outing. And it came into him, going briskly to work in his my mind that the chances were many place. He flew away.” against hitting that bird. I let down From what I know of other wood my bow-arm and rubbed it, meantime peckers, it probably was a matter of trying to settle myself. But my big two weeks’ time finishing that excava bird was about to fly, I knew by a tion. The ivory-bill usually digs certain wag of his body. Up went my deep, making a jug-shaped cavity, the bow again, and I pulled steadily, entrance being at the top of the neck. swiftly, with just a pause for aim. I have examined many of these pits, Aim! If I had time, I could write an mostly in the wildest lowlands of Mis essay showing that, in archery, aim is sissippi, Georgia, and Florida, and they a point of life rich with a subtile ex are' all of the same form, albeit differ tract of delight. You condense all ing in the length and course of the your capacity and press it hard there. neck, which is controlled by the na Your lungs are full, your brain is ture of the wood through which it is drawn to a focus, your steadfast eyes dug. glitter. Look at that left arm! OutDay after day I was tireless in my thrust like a boxer's when he punches, rigid as a cast-iron bar, it points the explorations. The great swamp had so many secrets to taunt me withal way; and the right arm drawn back that I could not be idle. Not even the as if to strike, three fingers of its dark nights could keep me in the hand hooked upon the string. There’s cabin. Once I groped my way for » a statue for you! When you loose, the long distance northward, trying to get old note of Apollo rings far and free. a shot at some large animal which I And of course I missed, such is luck;

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

could hear, but could not see. Of this incident I find the following note: “Awoke last night. Some animal sniffing at a crack near my hammock. Listened; heard it shuffling along in the leaves; then it sniffed again and made a raucous sound, between a whine and a cough. Got up slyly, slipped on boots, took bow and quiver, and went to the door. Heard a snarl ing cry; not loud, but strange. Slipped through the brush door-curtain and stepped forth, ready to shoot. Foot falls just around corner of cabin. Very dark; could not see, but went in that direction with bow half drawn. Ani mal hissed like a cat and moved away slowly. I followed, straining my eyes. Sky clear, packed with stars; a pleas ant temperature, no air stirring; wood still, silent, gloomy. Followed the thing on; heard it trot through a pool of water and stop; felt my way a little farther; thought I saw it'; let drive at it; but off obliquely to the right it snarled and moved on. So it led me a stumbling, fumbling chase, all to no end, save that when at last it loped away for good I discovered that I did not know where I was, and I lay down right there and slept till daylight, to find that I was nearly a mile from the cabin. When I got back, lo, my bacon was gone!” Every sportsman of adequate experi ence will understand the following en try : “While I had the bacon I ate very little of it. Now it’s gone I am raving hungry for it.” Wherefore it behooved me to shoot something edible, and a later note •yns: “Breakfast, dinner, and supper, rice and ash-cake. Out all morning, viciously alert; tramped miles in the swamp and on hammock; saw nothing to shoot.” Next day I had better luck, found a marshy a „ glade with an when I irregur pond in the middle, and had two hours of i ----■ ' ' r' of unmixed delight skulking from ppoint ' to point, under cover of grass tufts r ._ *"'*and ..J marsh shrubs, outwitting some killdees. It is of indescribable interest to me now, remembering bow I shot till my arms ached. The

birds were shy, and the shots were long, moreover, I had to use my tackle in very trying attitudes, as I could not stand upright without discovering my self to my quarry. The arrows would hit in the mud and knock up a spray of it close to the flickering, see-sawing game, and then what flying! But the glade seemed to have them charmed, for not a bird left it; they merely winged a circle or two and dropped in another part. I got a small bag of them in the long run,—five the record states,—and in due time spitted them at my cabin fire. A laconic note sums up the result: “Birds like tangled shoestrings; meat clung to skeleton as if sewed fast. Fragrant enough, but dry as chips. And now it is raining.” I had to dig a trench in the ground to drain out the water falling into the cabin through the ample rent in the roof; but, fortunately, my hammock was in a dry place, and I took great care of the provisions. It rained all night, furiously a part of the time, and I slept half awake. Next day was clear, cool, glorious, with a sea-smell in the air. This fine weather held during the rest of my stay, bringing out the full power of spring, and I was loath to go; almost tempted, against duty, to dick er with my ox-wain man for another week. Any reader must sympathize when the following notes meet his eyes: “Today has been my best, and it is my last here. Found an enchanted spot this morning, a pond lightly fringed with rushes. High bank of dry sand on one side, where I lay and dreamed, looking through a window like opening in the growth at the shal low water’s edge thirty yards away. I could see clean across the rushes, reeds and heavily wooded swamp beyond. And while I looked there came a stately white heron of full plumage wading across my vision. Slowly, step by step, with awkward yet supremely graceful motion, it passed and was gone. That was a poem of the Okefinokee.” “Good thing men are not all alike,

~14 else this solemn old swamp would to day be swarming with pleasure-seek ers, and my occupation would be gone.” “If there were nothing to prevent, how gladly I would go on living here, eating ash-cake and rice, shooting, studying, being free!” “For seventeen days I have been here, as happy, healthy, and busy as any bird, and it has cost me, all told, three dollars and forty cents!” There may be malaria in the Okefinokee at certain seasons, though per sons who are supposed to know say the contrary. I was not troubled with mosquitoes, saw few snakes, no frogs, and the air felt and smelt pure. Twice there was fog at night, which lifted soon after sunrise without disagree able influence. I drank the water of the stream at my cabin, and found it good enough. No sweeter sleep ever refreshed a tired man than fell upon me night after night in my hammock. I could tell the greatest stories of my bow-shooting, had I archers to listen, for I did keep the air buzzing with my arrows early and late, and therein was the chief fascination of it all. I took great comfort in my note book, making of it a familiar confidant. Reading the pages now gives me wafts from the swamp, and I hear the birds at dawn begin to flute from distance to distance. In one sense “desolation” is the fit word for the Okefinokee, and in every sense the whole region is, and prob ably will always be, a solitude given over to solemnity and silence. Yet it has its glowing spots, its nooks and corners of intense expression. By the following note — my book has many like it — a glimpse is afforded of an oasis, so to call it, in the plashy cypress waste : “This day, 9 April, I found a place where the ground was almost hidden under yellow flowers of the pitcher plant, acres and acres of them. They have a moonshine flash when the wind tosses them; and when still the whole field shimmers dreamily, a smoulder ing fire of straw-colored gold.”

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

Apparently, there are few birds’ nests in the swamp proper, but in the thickets and brakes which fringe it around I saw many. Even the log cocks and ivory-bills choose the pinetrees rather than the cypresses. Near the sluggish little streams there are wild haw thickets. In these I noted jays, cardinal grosbeaks, the various thrushes, and many warblers. Of wood peckers, my list contains ivory-bill, log-cock, golden-wing, red-cockade, red-belly, downy, hairy, yellow-belly, and red-head. The belted kingfisher was abundant beside the streams and open ponds, but herons were scarce. Departing from the Okefinokee, I had my Parthian shot, as this note re minds me: “Wagon had not gone two miles when I saw a pair of jays in a clump of bushes. The first glimpse of them showed something unusual in their coloring. Jumped out of wagon with bow and quiver. Driver waited while I went sneaking along. Birds were Florida jays. Got one, male, at second shot. A beautiful specimen, and far north of its reputed limit.” Among my many outings, I remem ber none with more pleasure than that which I have named An Archers Sojourn in the Okefinokee. EDITOR’S NOTE In reading Maurice Thompson’s stor ies, it will be remembered that he was living in an age when wild life condi tions were much different than they are now. As a collector of museum specimens he took skins of birds, mammals, reptiles, and all were care fully preserved. Much of his collect ing was done while he was connected with a museum, and he was obliged to exercise great care not to shock college authorities through doing his collect ing with bow and arrow! Few men have had such a varied career, or such wide interests, as Mau rice Thompson. He grew upon a Georgia ranch, and was educated — by tutors in his own home — as a civil engineer. During the Civil War he served as a sergeant cl (Continued on page 20)

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

The First Tournament of the Texas State Archery Association Sponsored by the archery clubs of Marfa and Fort Worth, the initial tour nament and convention of the Texas State Archery Association was held at Fort Davis, September 4th and 5th. The weather for the tournament was anything but ideal. On the morning of September 4th, overcast skies, occa sional rains, and a very strong wind made it next to impossible to turn in very good scores. While the wind was absent on the second day, light show ers persisted until the end of the tour nament. Mr. Slogeris of the Publicity Com mittee, having solicited Ye Sylvan Archer for cooperation in helping to make the first tournament a success, the management of this magazine de cided to originate an event for the occasion. Accordingly, we offered “Ye Sylvan Archer Flight Medal in Bronze,” to be given to the archer making the longest flight shot with a bow of not over forty pounds weight. This event to be open to anyone, the only conditions being that six arrows (any type desired) were to be shot, that no shot under 200 yards would be considered, and that a full description of the winning bow and arrow be mailed to Ye Sylvan Archer. This flight event was not on the reg ular program, but proved of sufficient interest to warrant the short length of time it required. The event was won by Mr. R. S. Hamilton of Fort Worth, Texas, whose letter follows Editor Ye Sylvan Archer: In winning Ye Sylvan Archer Flight Medal In Bronze with a distance of 270 yards, 2 feet, I used a 39 pound Osage Orange bow made by myself. The bow is 5 feet 9 inches in length, the ends sharply reflexed, 2 inch radi ance, light string, 18 strands, No. 30 Barbourgh machine thread. The bow is tapered from 1% inch to one-half

inch back to belly, sides 1 inch to fiveeighths inch, no horn tips, dips on each side of handle. The arrows are made of white pine, weight 290 grains, 29 inches in length, barrelled, the tip being one-fourth inch to eleven-thirty-seconds to five-six teenths nock end; balancing point 14 inches from nock end. Yours very truly, R. S. HAMILTON

Women’s Flight Event Jonnie Mae Fuller... —...... 159 Yards .145 Yards Mrs. Grace N. Zollars.. 137 Yards Mrs. All B. Slogeris..... Men’s Flight Event Royce Gottholt................ 286 Yds. 1 Ft. R. S. Hamilton................ 280 Yds. 2 Ft. -------Frank J. Gottholt........... 265 Yds. 1 Ft. A.----J. Slogeris.......................... 263Yds. W. L. Richmond.............. 247 Yds. George Rogers............... 241 Yds. R. S. Harris..................... 215 Yds. 1 Ft. H. W. Haynie................... 180 Yds. 1 Ft. Girls’ Flight Event Neva June Gottholt............... . 77 Yds.

Boys’ Flight Event Marlin Bownds, Jr................... 202 Yds. Jeff Parborn.............................. 201 Yds. Ye Sylvan Archer Flight Event (Bow not over forty pounds) R. S. Hamilton................. 270 Yds. 2 Ft. Frank J. Gottholt............ 259 Yds. George Rogers................. 222 Yds. 2 Ft.

Men’s Team Round (96 Arrows at 60 Yards Fort Worth 95-547 George Rogers ... 91-477 R. S. Harris....... 82-390 C. B. Price.......... 72-348 R. S. Hamilton... 340-V60

Marfa A. J. Slogeris .......................... Royce Gottholt ... .......................... Frank Gottholt ... .......................... W. L. Richmond. .

76-358 69-345 70-292 59-283 274-1278

Unofficial H. L. Zollars . D. T. Waguespack. H. W. Haynie

81-329 42-152 23-103

146-584 Women’s Championship Ci-----c Event — National and Columbia Round Jonnie Mae Fuller, Marfa, Texas National ............................... 20-74 8-38 28-112 Columbia . 13-65 20-90 22-108 55-263 83-375 Grace N. Zollars, El Paso, Texas National 15-75 15-69 30-144 Columbia 13-54 17-66 19-92 49-214 79-358 All B. Slogeris, Marfa, Texas National 7-27 2-10 9-37 Columbia 4-18 31-143 5-21 — — 13-67 — 22--06 Men’s Championship Event — Single York and Single American Round George Rogers, Fort Worth York .32-100 27-115 20-108 79-323 American ..... .28-154 29-199 30-198 87-551 166-874 R. S. Harris, Fort Worth York 16-82 34-120 21-113 71-315 ......... American 29-153 28-168 30-222 87-543 158-858 C. B. Price, Fort Worth York ....................................... . 10-24 25-93 13-51 48-158 American 27-157 28-170 30-186 85-513 133-681 W. L. Richmond,Marfa—York..... .. 12-24 27-107 18-72 57-203 American 25-95 27- 135 30-196 82-426 139-629 Royce Gottholt, Marfa—York .. 5-19 9-37 20-76 34-132 — American .27-133 28- 153 30-177 85-463 119-595 R. S. Hamilton, Fort Worth York 8-36 10-34 18-98 36-168 American ............................... 19-79 28-162 30-164 77 - 405 113-573 Frank J. Gottholt, Marfa York ... 16-84 27-115 — 19-99 62-298 American ............................... ... 15-69 17-75 25-115 57-259 119-557 A. J. Slogeris, Marfa York ........... . 7-33 —18-80 13-59 38-172 American .24-106 25-117 28-140 77-363 115-535 H. L. Zollars, El Pa:iso American 21-67 26-128 28-136 75-331 118-502 D. T. Waguespack, Marfa York 3-13 3-11 5-13 11-37 American ................................... 7-17 17-53 22-98 46-166 57-203 H. W. Haynie, Pecos York (Did not shoot.) American 4-14 -7-33 . 15-63 26-110 26-110 Girls’ Champion Event Double Junior* Columbia Round Neva June Gottholt, Marfa 1st Round .................................... 8-29 14-46 21-87 43-161 2d Round .......................... 10152 17-79 22-126 49-257 92-418 Boys’ Championship Event — Double Junior American Round Jerr Parbom, El Paso 1st Round 17-61 27-129 27-147 61-337 2d Round 17-67 22-118 29-167 68-352 129-689 Marlin Bounds, Jr., Marfa 1st Round 19-75 22-102 26-122 67-301 2d Round 18-78 17-77 25-125 62-280 129-519 Henry C. Miller, Marfa 1st Round 3-7 14-44 ...... 7-19 4-18 2d Round 16-64 30-10o 2-6 3-9 11-49

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

Letters Editor, Ye Sylvan Archer: I hand you herewith a record of scores made by Mrs. C. H. Johnson of Jenkintown, a member of the Phil adelphia and Pennsylvania State Arch ery Association, at an impromptu match held on my place in Horsham, Montgomery County, on Sunday, Aug ust 14th. I regard these scores as somewhat remarkable for a double American round for ladies. While the match had no official sta tus, it was conducted according to reg ular match practice on an accurately measured range. There were some twenty participants. Mr. William H. Palmer. Jr., of Wayne, Penn., twice holder of the national championship, acted as captain of the greens, and ob served all of Mrs. Johnson’s shots. I have the original score sheets wit nessed by Mr. Palmer, myself, and others who were shooting with Mrs. Johnson. The scores follow:

Editor, Ye Sylvan Archer: I read with interest the article by Stanley Spencer in the April issue of the Sylvan Archer, entitled “A Plea for a Standard Technique,” and I think that he has the right idea. However, the main question is how to arrive at a standard technique. Outside of a few (very few) basic facts, I am afraid ---------. difficult to> arit would be extremely ny standardized method of rive at any shooting. It is true that the methods of teaching should be standardized, but would all the instructors subscribe to the ideas set forth. Right here let me state that I am not one of those who oppose systematic training, for I am a firm believer in it, but will we not run into many argu ments concerning which is the best system to follow? " upj for archery, Before I gave it which to me is i the more interesting and enjoyable: sport of the two, I

First American: 60 yds. H. S. 7 5 5 5- 3- -5 25 7 5 5 5 3 1 -6 26 9 7 7 7 5 3 -6 38 7 5 5 5 3 1 -6 26 9 9 7 7 5 3 -6 40

S. 38 38 44 46 48

50 yds. H. 977555-6 9 9 7 7 3 3 -6 9 9 9 9 5 3 -6 999955-6 999975-6

H. S. Total 40 yds. 9 9'7 7 7 3 -6 ..42 999777-6 48 9 9 7 7 7 5 -6 44 9 9 7 7 7 1 -6 40 977775-6 42

29 155 30 214 60 yds. H. S. H. S. 50 yds. Second American: >7 7 7 5 5 -6 38 40 9 9 7 5 5 5 -6 9 7 5 3 3 1 -6 28 36 777753-6 9 7 5 5 3 3 -6 32 7 7 7 5 5 3 -6 34 7 7 7 7 5 5 -6 38 9 7 5 5 5 3 -6 34 < 7 5 5 5 1 -6 30 40 997753-6

30 166

Mrs. Johnson has since bettered these sscores ---- ; in cpractice shooting, a 590 for a single American. In making the above scores, Mrs. Johnson used a Lemonwood Bow pull ing about 28 pounds and the new type Rounsevelle-Rohm 3 point footed ar rows. Yours very truly, E. R. TEUBNER Philadelphia.

40 yds.

89 30 216 H. S. Total

9 9 9 7 7 5 -6 999977-6 999997-6 999753-6 997777-6

585

46 50 52 42 46

30 236

184

H. S.

586

Total 179-1171 a great Jdeal1 of golf and I took instruction from several of the admit tedly fine pros in the east. They all had a few basic principles of golf on which they nearly agreed, such as a straight left arm, but many stated that due to physical differences in the indi vidual, each pupil had to be taught in a slightly different manner. The one

pxctjrcu. played c*

)

outstanding point that I noticed was, Form: that each one had his own theories as Holding bow ............... 5 to how the game should be played and Anchorage .................. ..... 3% Aim ................................ what constituted a good golf swing. 8 Eliminating creep of ar All of this proved to me that while row 7% they all were sincere in trying to tell Timing between draw and the pupil what they, (the pros) did, release 2 they actually didn’t know themselves. Smoothness of release 2% They all thought they hit the ball in Psychology (dunno where it such and such a manner but it was the fits in but I will allow).... 1 advent of the slow motion picture cam 100% era that actually brought out the facts. Of course the above analysis is One well known golfer and a top notchpartly joking, as I know absolutely er in his day, made the remark after nothing about analyzing a thing scien seeing a slow motion picture of himself tifically, but I believe that most of the in action: “Well, I have been teach stuff in the books on technique of ing people how to play golf wrong for shooting is Al. Smith’s “baloney.” The twenty years." ordinary young man with a good I use the illustration of golf with this equipment should shoot 500 in the idea in view: Why wouldn’t the same American in one summer. Any man thing apply to archery? The theory of of fair mechanical ability with a sam a perfect loose is not hard to state, but ple to go by can make a pretty decent do we, or do the finest shots, actually conventional type of bow, if he takes know what their fingers do at the mo plenty of time, but when it comes to ment of release? I think that I know arrows, and fitting them to the bow— what I do, but I wouldn’t bet any that’s a different story. money on it! I believe it would be very Incidentally, I disagree with those interesting to get the opinions of the who say that every real archer wants best teachers in the country on how to to make his own bow and arrows. shoot and see how near they came to being alike. Personally, I don’t believe one in ten does, any more than Babe Ruth or Please do not think that this is a Jimmie Foxx would like to make his criticism of Mr. Spencer’s article beown baseballs. Buy your bows and cause I think that he has a fine idea arrows from an advertiser and pay a and I am right with him on it,, the only few dollars extra to have him take question, to my mind, is, can it be pains in fitting you right. Correspond done without coming coming to to blows blows as ... to .. which, or who,, is with him, telling all about your bow Is or has, the best system. or better still send him your bow, if you have already got one, tell him all Good hunting, your peculiarities about shooting—how ROSS D. THOMPSON Washington, D. C. wide is your bow at the arrow plate. Editor, Ye Sylvan Archer: Enjoying a quick improvement in shooting after discovering something, from a tip given me by “Nik” Nichols as to proper arrows for a bow, here’s what I think helps most in becoming a good archer: Equipment: Bow ........................ Arrows to suit that par-26%% ticular bow .......... 42 Shooting glove ......... 2

etc., and you’ll get somewhere. I’m far from being an archer yet. but my improvement in perhaps 30 or 36 afternoons’ practice has brought my score in the American Round from 134 to 564, and I am just getting started Proper equipment is perhaps 70% of the whole thine, in my opinion. I sup pose this will break the hearts of some of those who have been preaching to take one long breath, keep time with your big toe, have both feet in the (Continued on page 22)

= I I I

SEPTEMBER, 1932.

Archery News Notes

• si AN ARCHERY CLASS AT HUMBOLDT STATE TEACHERS’ COLLEGE, ARCATA, CALIFORNIA.

ARCHERY AT HUMBOLDT COLLEGE Archery, at Humboldt State Teach ers’ College, is definitely established as a sport, not merely as a snap course in physical education. For the second semester of last year there were thirty-five archers en rolled, eighteen of whom were men. The College provides targets, bows, tabs, ground quivers, and bracers. Stu dents buy their own arrows. There is a good hundred-yard range on the campus. Archery is also popular among the faculty, many of whom own good yew bows, arrows and accessories, — and they use them, too.

A TEACHER’S MANUAL Dave and Cia Craft sent us a copy of their manual, which, Dave writes, has had an accidental popularity, as it “was not intended for publication, being an outgrowth of notes outlining a training course for camp counselors.” We enjoyed reading the manual. It is concise, explicit, direct. Very plainly the result of practical experience, with all theorizing left out. Through their work in archery in-

struction, the Crafts have developed some decided improvements in shoot ing form and instruction methods. In all probability the manual will be re vised, added to, and reprinted as a book or pamphlet. We hope this will be done soon. Once its value is known, this work should be in great demand. A FOREST FESTIVAL Many novel ideas have been used to interest the public generally in forest protection and wild-life conservation, but West Virginia’s plan is different— a big three-day jubilee. The Mountain State Forest Festival, to be held at Elkins, West Virginia on October 6, 7 and 8, will be the third of its kind. It is a forest pageant which attracts about 50,000 people from all walks of life, — the mountain people turn out en masse and visitors come from all of the neighboring states. Civic organizations, educational in stitutions, state officials and Federal forest officials cooperate. They seem to be thoroughly sold on the idea and are doing their best to make the third annual festival a big success. If conservation can be sold in this manner in West Virginia, why not ev erywhere?—Field and Stream.

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

20 PHOTO EXCHANGE B. G. Thompson, Corvallis, Oregon, wishes to exchange <__ I „ 'hunting photo graphs.

“MOST REMARKABLE SHOTS” Every archer who has done any shooting in the field has at times made shots which have amazed1 even himself, of recMany of these shots are worthy '.. ----- ... ----- s to send us ord. We invite archers brief accounts _f of what ’----- they consider remarkable shots.” their “most 1.______ “A THING OF BEAUTY” Calgary, Alberta, has a live club, “The Calgary Archers,” with a rnembershio of about thirty, of which C. T. Humphrey is president. To quote Mr. Humphrey’s letter: “I should like to try making a rectangular bow. though my artistic taste is somewhat offended by the sharp, straight lines. I think a carefully made, orthodox bow, with its rounded contours and tapering sides, is a wonderful work of art, and ‘a

A. E. COLEMAN Corvallis, Oregon Oregon State Champion.

thing of beauty’.”

EDITOR’S NOTE (Continued from page 14) heavy artillery in the Thirteenth ANNUAL MEETING Georgia Battalion, as a lieutenant in the cavalry, and later as a major in the The annual meeting of the Orange Bowmen of Corvallis, Oregon, drew a Engineers of the Confederate Army. crowd of archery enthusiasts to the Some time after his recuperation log cabin archery museum of B. G. from injuries received during the war. he moved to Indiana, where he served Thompson. Officers were elected. Fourteen new as a member of the Indiana legislature. members were voted in. Plans were For four years he held the position made for indoor archery during the of state geologist of Indiana, and dur winter months. ing that time he did much of his col The program calls for shooting two lecting of natural history specimens. nights a week, with one night each In 1878 the National Archery Asso week given entirely to instruction of ciation was organized, with Maurice beginners. The steady growth of this Thompson as its first president. club is largely due to the willingness In 1888 he was a delegate to the of experienced archers to give time Democratic National Convention. In 1890 he become identified with and patience in teaching. An archery motion picture was of the editorial staff of the New York In special interest. The new, low priced dependent. motion picture camera promises to be Poet, essayist, novelist, his writings the very useful to archery, as the archer may be found scattered through t-~ may thus study his own shooting tech leading magazines of his day. nique,

SEPTEMBER, 1932. AN EXCERPT FROM CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER’S DIARY. 1792

“THE CLIMAX OF A WORLD QUEST” By George F. Cottcrill, p. 93-94

“—Yet more of their arrows were ob served to be pointed with thin flat iron than with bone or flint, and it was very singular that they should pre fer exchanging those pointed with iron, to any of the others. Their bows were of a superior construction; these in general were from two and a half to three feet in length; the broadest part of the middle was about an inch and a half, and about three-quarters of an inch thick, neatly made, gradually tapering to each end, which terminated in a shoulder and a hook for the security of the bow string. They were all made of yew, and chosen with a naturally inverted curve suited to the method of using them. From end to

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end of the concave side, which when strung became the convex part, a very strong strip of an elastic hide is at tached to some, and the skins of ser pents to others, exactly the shape and length of the bow, neatly and firmly affixed to the wood by means of a cement, the adhesive property of which I never saw, or heard of being, equalled. It is not to be affected by either dry or damp weather, and forms so strong a connection with the wood, as to prevent a separation without de stroying the component parts of both. The bow string is made of the sinew of some marine animal laid loose, in order to be twisted at pleasure, as the temperature of the atmosphere may require to preserve it at a proper length. Tirus is this very neat little weapon rendered portable, elastic, and effective in the highest degree, if we may be allowed to judge by the dex terity with which it was used by one of the natives at Port Discovery.” (Mailed to Ye Sylvan Archer through the courtesy of Jas. A. Berry, Seattle.)

VERY ANCIENT PICTOGRAPH FOUND IN A CAVE IN THE UINTAH MOUNTAINS. WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANY ARCHER

OR ARCHEOLOGIST WHO IS ABLE TO INTERPRET

THIS HUNTING RECORD.

A typographical error, and the wrong man is named as donor of a feathering clamp given as a prize at the archery golf match on Mount Rainier. This is a new feathering de vice — and a very good one, too — in vented and manufactured by M. L. Ackers of Pendleton, Oregon. We are sorry Mr. Ackers did not have credit for giving it.

THE ARCHERY GOLF MATCH (Continued from page 8) ■ J. ’ " A. Stover 42 37 79 Dr. Freeman ......... 41 42 83 Mrs. Thompson 39 45 84 Mrs. Prouty 48 Mrs. Stover 52 41 93 Mrs. Ullrich 54 43 97 Miss Leila Thurman .. .47 Dr. David T. Chase 50 Miss Oliver 52 * Did not shoot Awards in the golf match were, in the men’s class, a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal, given by Ye Sylvan o Archer. In the women’s class, a silver cup similar to the flight shoot trophy, a silver and a bronze medal, by the Orange Bowmen. V. B. Adcook of Portland and Gilman Keasey of Corvallis tied for third place in the golf match, and so the two of them, accompanied by Ed. Lindros ts scorekeeper, started over the course to “shoot it out.” It took half an hour or more of close shooting before a de cision was made, in favor of Adcock.

LETTERS (Continued from page 18) bucket, take one hitch in your trousers, Adonis yourself so that you will make a hit with the gallery and always hum gently “Oh Promise Me” from Robin Hood, or if one’s temperament requires less fervor, perhaps that shepherd’s flute strain from William Tell may suit better. Forget this lat ter stuff, pay the price to a tackle manufacturer who has made a study of it. They know what they are doing better than the archer himself, whereas you and I don’t. Very truly yours, COLIN J. CAMERON Amesbury, Mass.

SOME BACKYARD REMINISCENCES (Continued from page 6) ground. The poor chap picked up his hat, and stood for a while, dumbly contemplat ing the same, then put it on and walked slowly away, with never a word or a look back. I met him many times after that, but there was no recognition; no animosity —nothing but a glassy stare. He could easily have chased me out of his pas ture, but he seemed to consider me as something inevitable and a matter of course, but entirely outside of his con ception of the scheme of things. I do not envy the chaps who have the advantage of skilled advice and example when taking up archery. They miss the fun of inventing their own bows and arrows, and figuring out tho correct shooting form, that was mir.eIn my early experience, I was the only archer on that particular piece of hori zon. It was a long time before I even knew that there were books to be had on archery. When I tracked down and secured a copy of “Hunting With Bow and Arrow,” I was wildly elated to firu that many of my ideas were more cr less correct. I read this book one nigt* without stopping, and again the next night. Later I met experienced archers who were able to teach me many things, and expect to meet a lot mere of the same. But a thing I do not ex pect, is better sport than I had out sn the old cow pasture, where I pioneenc-r with crude and curious tackle, and learned to shoot. "Wc" •' pifq^sT TOURNAMENT ARRO*-^ ■ ' „ - -

• Self, Port Orford cedar. Matched , J spine and wei-ht. Straight, rar- • , nished, beautifully crested, per- * < fectly fletched with 3 inch erour-.d , J feathers. A real special at $5.09 ren • , doz., 2 doz., or more, S4.00 per don * J A New Hand-Sewed Target • • Made of tough, fibrous reed. Dur- » J able, thick, light. 52 in. rad, oil- • , cloth face. Only $10 f.o.b. Salt Lake , DESERET ARCHERS ’ < Salt Lake City — Utah .

SEPTEMBER, 1932,

| Classified Advertising

◄ J4 PROUTY’S FLIGHT BOWS ; 4

“

Archery Golf Bows

CLASSIFIED AD RATES (Cash with Order) 1 Month 05 a word I 2 Months .......... 09 a word 3 Months 12 a word Minimum—10 words. (Stamps accepted)

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EXCHANGE AND WANT ADS. Beginning next month, our classified section will also carry exchange and want ads, wherein subscribers may of fer archery equipment and material for other articles, and vice versa.

----------------------------------HOMER PROUTY

I Make Tackle 4

(See bulletin for my scores.) Same price to all.

.$6.oo; J Plain lemonwood bows. J Yew bows ... $25.00 and up J J Arrows—imported Norway Pine, 4 4 beefwood footed, matched hand J 4 shot, $12.00. Strings, 50 cents. Sea- 4 J soned Yew billets $1.50 to $10.00. J

ARCHERY GOLF SETS. Reflex bows to 60 lbs. and set of 3 golf ar rows, $20.00. Homer Prouty, 358 E. 50th St., Portland, Oregon.

NOTICE TO SECRETARIES of Archery Clubs. We want our archery club file to be complete. Please send Please send us the name of your club, stating whether it be municipal, colleg iate, academic, scout, campfire girl, or otherwise. Ye Sylvan Archer, Corval lis, Ore.

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YOU WILL BE PROUD OF.

ADIRONDACK DEER HUNT. Any one interested in an archers’ deer hunt in the heart of the Adirondack deer region, write D. W. Hershberger, Sar anac Inn Archers, Saranac Inn, N. Y.

SUPERIOR TARGET FACES. Low est wholesale rates to clubs and deal ers. Prices and samples on request. Dean Morrison, 6234 Majestic Ave., Oakland, Calif.

My flight bows won first, second and third places at the National Tournament this year

J 358 E. 50th St. N., Portland, Ore. /

SEVEN SECOND-HAND YEW BOWS, $3.50 to $10.00. AH refinished and guar anteed to be correctly made. Send your yew stave to be roughed out, horn tipped with silk string, $5.00. Cran dall’s Sport Service Shop, 527 22nd St., Sacramento, Calif.

CONTINENTAL SPECIALTIES for Archery Sport: Genuine Flandrish bowstrings; feathers for arrow-fletch ing: badges for clubs; trophies for tournaments. J. Schwarz and Bruder, 57 Lindengasse, Vienna (7), Austria, Est. 1873. Price list on request. Cable address: “Marahout.”

Write for Particulars

{

FRANK FRANK HORACK HORACK

J 51 Cramer St., N. Tonawanda, N. Y. t a

SCz.e_ J

J J iTepa.i4.

4 A light weight yet rugged all- { J purpose hunting point, 25c each. 4 t Satisfaction guaranteed. J

4 Wholesale prices on request. J J HUGO I HUGO BUCKNER BUCKNER J 115 W. 8th St. — Hanford, Calif. J

Patronize Sylvan Archer advertisers.

YE SYLVAN ARCHER

: . . OZRO M. WILSEY . . ; -

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Arrhnry Mfg. Tn/UanllAazI Indianhead Archery Equipment 224 N. Elizabet lizabeth St., Lima, O. Extra fine raw m;laterials. Specialists in producing fine matched arrow materials, Ask about our method and be convinced. Postpaid prices. Spe_r_ cial rates now. Catalogue free. hXfrr

1 SPECIALS SPECIALS , Complete Eagle wing, _sp. r $1.25 f< 100 bullet points...................... . 1.50 [' 5-16 cedar dowels, doz doz. 40c t 11-32 or 3-8 cedar dowels, each, 5c

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THURLOW’S IMPROVED SHOOTING GLOVE Genuine Cordovan Horsehide f Smooth release Absolute Protection Price $1.00 , J W. C. THURLOW J t 55 E. 70th St., Portland, Oregon f

$ * { f

9 A price on anything in Archery Tackle, J J yew staves-billets - cedar square - hunting 9 J 9 - flight and target arrows.

f HARRY HOBSON, LYONS, ORE. f

I MAN’S BOW, $3.50 5 } Like the 3-point footing, an- J f other Rounsevelle-Rohm knock- , * out. Our new catalog is full of < l prices like this. Send for it today. ! I ROUNSEVELLE-ROHM t * Box 300-S, Hazel Crest, Ill. ' , Students’ Handbook of Archery , > with 32 score sheets, 25c postpaid, i

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GEO. BROMMERS

9708 South Hoover Street, < Los Angeles, Cal. J { America’s Specialist in Archery { 4 Raw Materials I f Write for Latest Price List! I

The Belshaw Feathering Machine

\ 1. Locates each feather exactly. J 2. “Spirals” spirally,, not just on crude diagonal. i a c._dz { 3. Puts “straight” feathers on par11 1— ner- allel1 Lto- -shaft, and cnnooH spaced per fectly. . -= wing _..g on right spiral J 4. Uses right left wing on left. J Two-arrow size, $8., Six-arrow M size, $20, delivered.

Details on Request i i

THOS. BELSHAW

J 1772 22 Ave., So., Seattle, Wash. 4

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When You Order a

Yew Wood Stave or Billet

Remember the name: McKINNEY BROTHERS

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„. For it is Your Guarantee of Highest Quality and Reasonable Prices “Satisfaction Guaranteed”

McKinney Brothers, Reed, Oregon

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WWW

; Yew Osage

Orange ;

' j

Lemonwood Bows - Staves - Billets

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Full Line of Archery Supplies and Raw Materials. FANCY JAPANESE BOWS Write for price list!

ARCHERY SALES and SERVICE Co. 510 Van Buren St., Chicago

I Giving Veihw' a Break

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I Brass Parallel Piles, 1 doz____ 25c J 9 Flemish Bow Strings, each.......40c 9 { Fibre Strips, 6 ft. x I'/s in., each 25c * < Casein Fletching Glue, package 15c , J Lemonwood footings, % in. dz., 65c 9 , Lemonwood Bow Staves, 6 ft. , > 1 in., each ............................... $1.25 t J Turkey feathers, % wht, 3 dz., 30c * , Cordovan die-cut tabs, each....25c , » Broadhead hunting pts., doz., $1.75 9 '( new New design, J aesign, light and strong, s ind 2f)r , send 20c fnr for sample point. { No order under $1.00 total amount. 4 4 J ARCHERY MATERIALS 4 4 i G. Nichols, Manager 4 J 6120 Langley Ave., Chicago, C1- — Ill. J

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ARROW SHAFTS

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Hold on on the the Gold Gold Hold

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of Your Target

The H. The H. J. J. REEB REEB Co. Co.

P 0 Cedar Howells 5-16” or 11-32” per 9 100 $4.15; per doz., matched in weight and 9 ipme -75c; 2 doz. $1.35. Beefwood footings ' doz. ,75c; 2 doz. $1.35, per 100 $5.15, post- 9 Paid. J

J J. M. Hoff, Abbotsford, Wisconsin •

J The recently perfected Acme Glass * , Prism Bow Sight enables the , t Archer to sight on the Gold of the * J target. Adustable for windage and J f elevation. Sight equipped with * J Fibre Arrow Rest. Prism Sight J t complete ..................................$3.50 t J Blade with Prism for Acme Sights, { t previously furnished...............$2.00 < t Descriptive Circular on request. J

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J 434 N. 24th St., East St. Louis, Ill. J

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Tennessee Red Cedar

STAVES

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'* Grown L> ---- 23 limeonrock t in T Tennessee J backed with tough sapwood hick- J 4 4 ory. 4 4 6 ft. Grade A, $5.00 4 4 6 ft. Grade B, $3.00 4 4 J Faster than yew, at half the. J 4 price. Splendid for schools and f J Clubs. Superior for hunting be- 4 -. / cause of its z-zsiinlr quick nact cast. J. J Special Bows Made to Order 4 4 Any Length or Bull, $15.00 J 4 4 4 4

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' Selected P 0 Cedar shafts with pa- J J rallel piles and inserted fibre nocks 9 ! Doz. 5-16" $2; 11-32” tapered $2.50. J ’ Selected P O Cedar beefwood t ' footed shafts, tenoned for points, * « doz. 5-16” $2.75; 11-32” $3; fitted * ' with parallel points and fibre nocks, t i 5-16" doz. $4; 11-32” with parallel J ’ points and inserted horn nocks, t , and tapered doz. $5.00, all matched < i in weight and spine and sanded J { spedfy length and about weight , ! desired, postpaid. *

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HARRY PERKINS Box 6244 West Palm Beach, Florida

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yewood Ullrich Yewood

» Eventually you will come to use J 9 the Ullrich Yewwood. Regardless j J of whether it be a $10 stick, that 9 < will increase your tournament J 9 scores, when made up into a bow, > , or a pair of 50c billets, suitable for * 9 a knock-about bow, you will be , J satisfied with the results. Ullrich / t Yewwood, the best bowwood ob- J 9 tainable, is recommended by more , archers than all others combined. 9 tf .rteaa Read wnai what rney they nave have w to -say of it * 4 in Folder and Price List. ' t t 4 Yewwood Staves and Billets t 4 t Port Orford Arrow Materials 4 t 4 EARL L. ULLRICH 4 Oregon < 4 Roseburg

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JAMES DUFF

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ARCHERY MANUFACTURER The foremost experienced Archery Manufacturer living, trained in the best Archery schools of the past century, and making

archery tackle since 1892.

Retail Only 130 ZabrisJde Street

Jersey City, N. J.

Cassius Hayward Styles 75 Roble Road BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA Bows and Arrows for the tournaments and for big game hunting.

Mail inquiries solicited.

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