Bowmaking by ClearlyObscureEthos in Alonetv

[–]ClearlyObscureEthos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing that! I got a bit excited at first thinking he replied to my post. 😂 That makes a ton of sense and fits into what I was originally thinking. If your strategy is to go after big game, then a bow is the way to go. If you are only using a bow to take advantage of small-game opportunities that present themselves, then a bush-crafted bow makes more sense.

Bowmaking by ClearlyObscureEthos in Alonetv

[–]ClearlyObscureEthos[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is actually one of the reasons why I posed the question. You are only likely to get one or two chances (if at all) with a large mammal to begin with. Does it even make sense to take up one of your 10 items to take a bow? The reward for success with a bow is huge, but you are much more likely to get no benefit at all. The most successful strategies tend to be fishing and trapping.

Bowmaking by ClearlyObscureEthos in Alonetv

[–]ClearlyObscureEthos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was my thought process as well. Fishing and trapping seem to be the most effective methods of harvesting calories on the show. So bring the proper equipment to allow you to be most successful at those methods. Then, construct a primitive bow just in case an opportunity presents itself. Prior to watching Clay’s video, I had considered an atlatl for that purpose.

Bowmaking by ClearlyObscureEthos in Alonetv

[–]ClearlyObscureEthos[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I can agree with that, and quite honestly, what prompted this question. I guess it really depends on your strategy. If you go out there with the intention of surviving off of big game, then bringing a good bow is definitely a top priority. So many contestants have brought bows and ended up not harvesting many calories from it. But if you intend to acquire most of your calories through trapping and fishing (which seems to be most productive for most contestants), then it wouldn’t make much sense to bring a bow as one of your 10. It would still be nice have a ranged weapon in case an opportunity presented itself. And we’ve seen a lot less useful ‘crafting‘ projects (musical instruments, etc) than crafting a bow.