Makers of Fine Leather Archery Accessories

Seven Elements of a Great (Almost Perfect) Quiver

If a grain of sand can become the genisus of a pearl

then a miserable rainstorm and sloppy useless

fletchings can give birth to a better quiver . . . and it

did. A missed shot and only a couple of days left to

hunt can sure grease up the thinking gears and after

drying out that evening, I poured over a number of

ideas of quivers I'd used and produced for sale

and decided to incorporate all the good ideas into one

useable quiver and eliminate as many of the problems

as possible at the same time. The finished product

went with me the next day and its design was as much

responsible for success, in my opinion, as a good

arrow and good bow. Fifteen years later I still have

that first "side-stalker" quiver and I've produced

hundreds of others for happy users all over the world.

There are seven elements that make up a good quiver.

Admittedly, this is on man's opinion, but if you will

consider my thoughts carefully you might find a better

way of carrying your darts afield.

The first element is the ability to safely carry an

adequate supply of broadhead equipped arrows. If all

the other ideas for a quiver were put on the shelf,

this one element should remain as the most important.

Broadheads are dangerous, period! I've seen archers

of all sorts carrying unprotected arrows in ways that

still give me the shudders and how they managed to

survive a season in the brush is in itself a miracle.

In fact, time and again I've read accounts of

self-inflicted wounds that were sometimes deadly and

always avoidable with a well-designed quiver and

common sense. Most quivers today allow for a good

measure of safety afield.

An adequate supply of arrows is more the marriage of

the archer's skill, the game involved, and anticipated

time afield. A rabbit hunt in the high desert over a

weekend might necessitate a wheelbarrow full of arrows

and a gallon of Ben Gay. As a rule though, most

thinking archers after big game and on day trips,

should consider six to eight arrows about right.

Accessing arrows with a minimum of movement is my

second element of a good quiver. Simply put, hand

waving gyrations and a gut wrenching tug-of-war for an

arrow shaft in front a spooky Pope and Young whitetail

means another "almost" story and frustration.

Visualize, if you will, how arrows are extracted from

bow quivers, back quivers, cat type quivers, etc. and

you will see that each presents a movement that can be

spotted instantly by a predator wary animal. I

developed the "Side-Stalker", Heritage II" and "Chief"

quivers to accommodate arrow extraction with a below

the belt and out of sight movement. After grasping a

shaft with index finger and thumb four or five inches

behind the broadhead simply move the shaft backwards

about two inches and up a couple of inches, then let the

whole shaft slide out and forward until you feel the

fletchings make contact with the palm of your hand.

I've stood square in front of any number of game

animals and extracted arrows this way. The movement

is easy, simple and non-threatening. There are times

when any movement is too much, but always the less the better.

I suppose protecting your fletchings and minimizing

flagging could as well be the second element as the

third, but as they are so close in importance I just

flipped a coin for position on the list. I watched a

well-camouflaged bow hunter move across the dark and

gushy upper end of a swale years ago and if it hadn't

been for his six brightly fletched arrows, I would

have never seen him. When I went from a back quiver

to a side-styled quiver I saw more game closer. Just

lowering the sight plane of my quiver made a big

difference in game sighted. In fact, until I found a

way to protect my fletchings from the elements, I

managed to collect all sorts of big game animals, some

at bow length distances. Here in the northwest, wet

conditions mean the fletchings need extra protecting,

so a fleece hood with a plastic liner and shock cord

were added and that meant two things. First a quiet

dark color stopped most of the flagging and I had to

develop the designs that lead to the "up, out and

down" extraction system now in place on all three

quivers I manufacture.

One thing I have learned about camouflage is that it

is as much attitude and common sense as it is clothes

and face paint. Any animal thinking about living

through a hunting season or just surviving where bear

and cougars lives sees movement long before it sees

color or larger shapes. Even you and I catch the

flick of a little brown bird's tail not bigger than a

fifty-cent coin. He is perfectly camouflaged and

surrounded by brush, but if it moves you see it. You

weigh considerably more than a little brown bird and

yet we wander around in the hinterlands like we are

invisible. This, in part, is why tree stand hunting

works so well. Your butt is parked and your movement

is partially hidden in that you are about the normal

sight plans.

A good quiver should allow you to take extra gear

afield and still be useable. This is element number

four. Of the reasons I don't care for a bow quiver -

this is not one of them. The back quivers and cat

quivers are in the space where a day pack or fanny

pack should go. We frequently hunt miles from

transportation and in places where carrying water,

first aid items, food and other equipment is very

important. Juggling wants and needs can get very

difficult. Because side quivers hang on a

cross-shoulder strap I can easily carry

everything I need for extended day trips in a daypack

and hunt comfortably. In fact, a full backpack works

as well. I don't hunt all day with a full backpack in

place, but I'm not limited in my hunting activity on

the way to a campsite either. If game is spotted

simply slide the backpack off and go after it.

The last elements of a good quiver are like other

aspects of good traditional equipment in that how they

look, feel, and are designed adds to the over all

pleasure of owning and hunting with them.

Leather articles designed right have a traditional look and feel.

We live in an artificial plastic age and I appreciate

it's contribution to my like and comfort. However, when I go

hunting I want to experience a "going back" to a less

complicated era. In fact, if the truth were known in

a "Walter Mitty" way, I am looking for an experience

not far removed from my arrow shooting, bow pulling

ancestors. Plastic just doesn't do it for me.

I get off on self-bows, wood arrows with red feathers

and leather. Leather arm guards, leather shooting

tabs or gloves, leather grips and shelfs on my bow and

leather quivers. Leather is the product of something

that was alive. In a good quality product it is still

alive. Rifles today are made of stainless steel and

black plastic. For some, this is the best the world

has to offer. For me.... Puke. Give me leather and

wood.

I suppose the fifth and sixth element could be melded

together, but it seems important to me to separate

them. Good design and quality of manufacture honor

the animal that died for the raw material, reflect the

integrity of the manufacturer and reflect the value

the owner places on quality goods. It is said that

only the rich can afford cheap goods because they can

buy them over and over again. Well, as a manufacturer

of fine leather goods, I know that spending hard

earned cash for quality products is an investment.

Over the years I've cut and sewn up countless quivers

and armguards. I've designed and redesigned items to

reflect my thoughts toward leather products. Hand

saddle stitching is time consuming and very labor

intensive, but it makes for a better product. The

10/12-oz. latigo leather is expensive, heavy to ship

and now harder to get than ever, but the end product

is worth the price and effort. Like the first time

you shot an arrow from a fine yew or osage self-bow,

you can't go back to another product. It is addicting

and it's in your blood. It's a peek into your

ancestral past.

This brings me to the seventh and last element - and

that is your future. A great bow develops history and

every bump and scratch is part of a larger story. A

good quality piece of equipment becomes a part of your

personal hunting history. If it's good and goes on

lots of hunts you find that, like a great hat or

particular bow, it is a valued friend, so to speak,

and a terrible slight to leave it at home. Poor

equipment goes on very few memorable hunts. Good

equipment will out live you and it's stories and yours

will be told around campfires long after you are

gone. I doubt if that garage sale plastic arrow

carrying device will mean anything to you in your book

reading rocking chair years, but that old leather

quiver full of arrows and stained with blood, sweat

and years will. K-Mart will always have their

specials and old men will have stories to tell. How

many times have you read the label on a plastic bow?

I've read the stories of Art Young and Saxton Pope and

others and I prefer them.

Jack Bowers

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