Now, I realize not everyone is proficient with a bow, but think about long term survival. Picture if you will, a small band of people, seven or eight generations after major societal collapse, from which no government or order was restored.

Ammunition WILL eventually run dry, and there's no way of telling how long that will take, with clans fighting over lands, or families fighting off raiders. But one form of ranged weapon that has survived hundreds of years and will continue to survive is the bow.

Now a bushcraft bow isn't one of today's high end, mechanical death dealers. It's simple, effective, and downright crucial to survive for cultures even to this day.

There are many types of bows that can be made in the wild, including the bundle bow, the longbow, the flat bow, the bundle bow being the easiest to make in large quantities.

Bundle Bow- The bundle bow is the easiest to produce as it is simply three sticks of similar diameter and straightness tied together to create the general taper and properties of a one piece bow by having two offset from the center to give the desired height and overall bend. The thicker the sticks used, the higher the overall draw as more force is required to pull it back.

Longbow- The classic image of the archer is the Englishman and his longbow. Used for combat and hunting alike, the long bow, depending on the type of wood chosen, is capable of insane draw weight (some examples from the Mary Rose were capable of over a 200 pound draw). A classic D-shape with some kind of backing can be fashioned with an axe and a four-in-one rasp. The tillering on these is crucial to maintain an even curvature through out both limbs and to insure the arrow will fly true, after overcoming the Archer's Paradox as traditional D-shape longbows have no shelf cut into them.

1. Lay out your longbow design on the bow blank. Most longbows are at least 65 inches tip to tip and begin at 1.5 inches wide at the handle, tapering to 0.5-0.75 inches at each tip. 2. Rough out the bow shape with a band-saw, then fine tune the look of your bow using the rasp and drawknife. Work your handle out to fit your hand using the rasp and sandpaper. You can also cut out an arrow shelf at this point if you like.

3. Tiller the bow by floor tillering. Place the tip of each limb on the ground and slowly bending the bow to examine it for evenness. Once you have floor tillered each limb, string the bow.

4. Slowly draw the bow back inch by inch and checking the evenness of the tiller. If there are any uneven spots in the tiller, work them out by removing wood with the rasp.

5. Sand the tillered bow smooth by applying 3-4 coats of polyurethane, letting it cure at least 8 hours between applications, and fit a leather handle and arrow rest on it. String it up and it is ready for use.- Steps taken from ehow.com as they are the simplest, straight forward instructions I've found and used.
Flat Bow- Flat bows are generally self bows carved from a single piece of timber with a rectangular cross section. This creates the problem as the maker must take more time to insure the cross section is correct. This also requires a wider stave to begin with to allow more room to work with. Although very slow going a flat bow can be made with a saw and a sharp knife. Generally, a flat bow will not wear out as fast as an English longbow as there is less stress applied to the limbs during the draw.

• Begin crafting your flatbow by procuring a bow stave (basically a bow blank) or an oak 1 by 4 and shaving it down to a square on each side. Cut the stave to length (58 inches to 64 inches tall) at this time as well.
• Find the middle of the bow and measure three inches above and below this mark. This area will be the handle of the bow. Carve it and shave it the way you would like it.
• Find the mid-point of the bow lengthwise and mark it with a pencil. Measure 1 inch on either side of this line at the top of handle you just drew out. This will be the widest point of the bow.
  
• Measure 1/2 inch on either side of the center line at the tip of each end of the bow. Now connect this mark with the mark above your handle. This is a rough layout of what the bow will look like.
  
  
• Now, using the drawknife, shave the bow down until it is a little over an inch thick on the "belly" (the side that faces you when you shoot). Use the rasp to shape your handle according to your specifications.
  

Tillering Your Flatbow

• Once you have the bow "roughed out," it is time to begin tillering (the process of continually bending the bow until you reach the desired draw length).
• An easy way to tiller the bow is to have someone else draw the bow back a little bit at a time so that you can watch the arc of the limbs. If you discover a hinge (soft spot in the wood) or a hard spot, remove wood with the rasp so that the limb will bend evenly and gently.
  
• Tiller the bow until you have reached your maximum draw length (somewhere around 28 inches). Once the bow is tillered it needs to be sanded smooth and sealed with a polyurethane based finish and add a leather grip on your handle.
  

Arrows

Depending on their purpose, arrows varied in diameter and tip material. Our prehistoric ancestors used stone and our ancestors up to today have used metal. For example, during the Dark Ages, War arrows would be as large as half an inch wide and tipped with a bodkin point, designed for punching through chainmail and plate armor. Propelled from a 60 or 70 pound draw, this was the medieval equivalent of a .50 caliber round. This was also suitable for bringing down big game. To make simple arrows, all you really need is a dowel rod, aviation snips, some sheet metal, a small saw, paracord, duct tape, super glue, a small file, and a large file. 1. Find the grain direction on the dowel rod and use the small saw to make a groove against the grain on both ends. 2. Use the small file to round off and flare the ends slightly on one of the grooves, this will be the nocking point. 3. Mark a triangle on the sheet metal and cut it out using the aviation snips, insuring that the largest point is at least 1 inch wide. 4. Fit this into the other groove and use the small file to mark points on opposing sides of the point. File these into shallow grooves for mounting purposes. 5. Place the point in the groove and taper the wood until it forms a uniform cone on the sides of the point. This insures the arrow will enter the target smoothly, reducing the chances of breakage. 6. Gut the paracord and wrap it around the point, through the grooves in the metal and coat liberally in super glue. Allow this to dry and harden completely. 7. Once the glue has hardened, take two strips of duct tape roughly 6 inches long and apply them lengthwise to the arrow shaft, on opposite sides, just below and parallel with the nock. Press them together trying to avoid wrinkles. Trim with a knife into a triangle shape running lengthwise. Repeat on the opposite side to create the fletching.


Strings

Historically, bow strings were made from sinew taken from animals, but it can be very unforgiving, not to mention messy. Modern strings are made from Dacron or FastFlight but the material is expensive and not easily found. One method that I have used is three or four strands of butcher twine, braided together for strength. A Flemish bow string is the easiest to make as you can use a jig, but it isn't a necessity once you have the pattern down.