Kalahari Bushman with his bow and arrows.

[cekinxxx]

amazing language ,how they make those clicking sounds

[leeham991]

Comments are really complicated.

The reason there are no fletchings is because they only really matter on high poundage bows. The sort of poundage you need semi-advanced technology to aquire.

[abdulkabza]

Hello! I have a Bushman bow and a set of arrows. There is small collection in the Military Museum in Istanbul too. These arrows are made of reed (or similar natural material) but my arrows' shafts are wooden. I have not experimented with the bow especially because I did not want to overstrain it and decided to wait till it reaches the equilibrium. Afrika is dryer than Istanbul anyway. Primitive weapons may be surprisingly efficient despite their simple construction. It deserves respect.

[abdulkabza]

...is insufficient.

[abdulkabza]

Reason of absence of fletching: 1-They draw and release with "pinch draw" so that there is probably too little archer's paradox (flexing the shaft during release). Therefore no need to correct the flight too much 2-The arrows have high percentage of "forward of centre" (FOC) especially when the foreshafts are made of metal. It provides good flight characteristics 3- Shooting distance is usually too short. They poison the arrows to get efficiency 'cause both the range and the penetration...

[Ravenna1964]

@abdulkabza

Thanks for giving a good explanation!

I both saw and tried it myself shooting there bows and arrows and I was impressed how well the flew throu the air without feathers. There shafts are made of from a grass that is called Bluegrass ,looks kind of Reed. They gather it where ever they walk. When you look upon a bundle of their arrows you can see that they do not make big differents from thickness of the reedshafts.

[Ravenna1964]

@Ravenna1964

It does not make big differents since they mostly shoot at big antilops at short distances. Also they only aim for a hit in the body to get the poison in the bloodveins. I asked a hunter how far distance they would consider their limit. He answered about 25 meters. I went hunting with them and saw them shooting att Kudu at about 20 meters. This hunter where well known for his hunting skills and had an excellent looking bow and some beautiful arrows to go with it!

[5tonyvvvv]

@Ravenna1964 They use a deadly neurotoxin to take down game and there enemies. The Yanomami and Waorani use a similar poison.

[MrTintin850]

@abdulkabza Is the archers' paradox a lot to do with release then? I thought it was mainly the arrow flexing as it passes around the bow.

[seizoiz]

I saw a butterfly flutter and land on his shoulder

[venomstrikez]

Could anyone explain why there are no feathers on his arrow? :s

as far as i know they are unbalanced without feathers at the start of an arrow.

[udyatanand]

which language is this in

[Caconymic]

@udyatanand Juǀʼhoansi, which is a large southern dialect of the language !Kung.

[steintanz]

The San have the most unique sounds in their language. Also great to see some of their techniques/tools. Thanks for uploading!

[182popeye]

subtitles would have been nice

[BubbaxBoxer20]

Native Americans haze the best bow and arrow . Handsdowm

[kmj2000]

@BubbaxBoxer20 You should see the Japanese ones. I think they are better.

[lastsaracen]

Simple people, without doubt. This is how it's suppose be. Notice how the sun shines on him whilst surrounded by nature, not concerned about bills and the bus to work, lol.

[panahitam]

what a wonderfullife - bow arrow... and no bill..

[EcoRover]

Thanks for posting the great video & pics of a beautiful People. As a fellow bowhunter, I understood many of the young man's gestures explaining his toolkit & hunting! Would like to see more shooting and a hunting scene, too.

[vfgjhj]

marvelous

[blackfeatherarchery]

Awesome this was fantastic,

[KonstantinKuehn]

wow... this was fascinating