I'd guess that 3Rivers Archery Supply would have what you need.
Why do you have to have money to shoot a respectable buck? Don't you think it would be fun to arrow a mature buck, you don't have to keep the horns and it certainly yields more meat than a doe.
I built my own bows for a bit. By the time I had one the way I wanted, I had spent far more than just ordering a nice custom bow. Learning something new and the satisfaction of taking an elk with my own bow far outweighed the cost.
I don't think I'll be loosing many arrows, I just think buying a gross of good shafts, some tools, adhesive & pre-cut feathers maybe a good way to save some money and have a Lifetime supply. All I really have is time as a stay at home Dad.
Maybe a dumb question, I have been out of hunting for a long time. Heck, I just learned there's no longer an age limit for Youth as long as a mentor is within arms length. So the question is, is it illegal to use the feathers of a Turkey that's legally taken with a tag? I do know, and happen to disagree with the rules on Black Bear. I understand that situation can promote unethical harvesting. I just figure though that many guys hunt bear just for a rug. I've tasted bear and didn't like it. I found it fatty, smelled bad when cooking, and disagreeable to my liking. Though if an animal is legally taken, I see no reason why the entire animal shouldn't be used if it can be, even if for traditional ancient medicines that may be hogwash.
I don't have a problem with anyone taking a Buck for more meat, or trophy mount. My situation though has always been I find many more Doe than Buck and I'd rather just get my Deer and be out. I'm the only one that eats it, so as I butcher all my Deer myself I always got at least 40-60lbs of meat off a Doe. I clean the entire neck, everything. Takes me about a good 10 hours to do it all as well and clean as I like. Then cube everything and pack it in 2lb bags. That's total time but a lot of work.
If I do take a Doe & Turkey next year w/ tags, I'd like to use her skin to make a back quiver (either buy some chemicals or brain & urine tan) & the feathers from a bird for some arrows. Oh, and Cottontails tails don't make bad string silencers.
Shot a record turkey once with materials that gathered or traded for (stone point).
You don't need fancy equipment to build a primitive arrow. Sinew from a deer, primary feathers from a turkey, river cane for shafts, and make a trade-point.
In my experience, it's easier to make matching selfbows than to build matching arrows.
Youtube would be a good start to research how to build primitive arrows.
Native Americans obviously didn't use all the fancy stuff that we have today.
Good luck in your new hobby.
I used some turkey feathers that I had from a turkey I shot, and just not even knowing any better I simply cut them off. Did it with a knife. Used my standard glue on the arrows, and glued them on and they worked awesome. I trimmed the feathers with scissors so that the "really wiggly" tips were gone, but I had no issues and they flew true. Didn't do anything fancy and didn't hardly take more time than using production feathers. Guess I don't really know what I was missing. This was for use in a trad bow.
Bulk arrow production: might want to start small and make sure you know what you need before you commit to buying everything by the hundred.... there are small-batch and DIY solutions for about everything, but if you start thinking about arrows that are weight and spine-matched within narrow tolerances and really turning your arrow-making into a hobby, it’ll add up fast / taper grinder, feather burner& spine-tester all about $125-$150 (1 burner = about 4 choppers, so may as we’ll find a place down-wind of the house and go for it!) plus a grain scale for another $25 and shafts starting around $225/hundred for electronically sorted, unweighed stock that will require a lot of sorting...
Now, of course....
If you don’t plan on losing too many arrows, you’ll never get close to breaking even on the deal, but more importantly, you’ll never get to really experience what is probably the most enjoyable aspect of “Trad” Archery , which is simply loading up a quiver for a walk in the woods and not coming home ‘til you’ve run out of arrows or daylight or both. Compound guys don’t seem to be interested, and I guess if every arrow cost me as much as a full box of ammo for a centerfire rifle, I wouldn’t be that into it, either. Which probably explains why we no longer think of ourselves as a Nation of Riflemen... the only people who I ever see consuming much ammo are the spray-and-pray boys who just seem to get off on the noise and can’t hit squat.
But I digress....
Anyway, the cost of feathers is the least of your problems....
Use of feathers legally collected is 100% OK; you just can’t buy & sell, which is why the deal with Stykzz is that he’ll trade you his labor for the feathers you won’t use; believe it or not, there are some respects in which our government is actually reasonable and responsible all the way around...
Your thread title asks if it’s “worth it”?
So far as the feathers themselves are concerned.... they’re a by-product of your turkey hunt, so they’re free, and if you love DIY, you can’t put a price on it.
Beyond that, it’s just time or money... although if I were to ask my wife if she (as a stay-at-home Mom) had enough “free” time to become a part-time arrowsmith, I think I’d be sleeping in the shed.
If you have the inclination, give it a try.
I noticed in several posts above that guys were concerned about loosing arrows because turkey feathers blend in? It would be really easy to dye them with bright colors before mounting them on shafts!
I sell turkey capes all the time for taxidermists to mount. There are obviously certain species (eagles, hawks, etc) that are illegal to sell but I'm not aware of any states where it's illegal to sell turkey feathers? If you go to taxidermy.net there is a classified section where you could likely place an add and get as many turkey feathers as you could ever use....possibly some for the price of postage?
