The author with the kudu he shot using his Scythian recurve with the new string fitted.

It was then that Japie spotted the bushveld “string jig”

We had no hammer, but Japie promptly did the job with a big rock we found lying nearby

Once the nail was hammered in, the distance between the nails was tested with the old string.

We served the string and fitted a nock-set, ....

...and then waxed it well.

Rean Steenkamp tells how he managed to damage his bow string just before a hunt, and how two bow-expert friends made him a new string with hardly any tools or equipment

The finest bow is rendered useless if the string is cut. Not once, but twice did this happen to me last year! And both times because of my own stupidity. To save myself some embarrassment, I will report on only one of these incidents.

The heinous deed was done on the farm of Johan Pont, where I hunt blue wildebeest twice a year. During the day of our arrival at the tent camp we all practised a bit, just to make sure the arrows were still flying straight with the broadheads fitted. Being more than averagely absent-minded, I walked up to the butt to retrieve my arrow and pressed against the butt with my bow hand, with the bow still in the hand – as I do when extracting field-pointed arrows. Of course, on its way out the broadhead at the tip of the arrow nicked the bow string and severed more than half the strands.

So there I was, all ready to hunt but with no string on my Scythian recurve – quite a depressing situation. What will I do? Become the camp cook for the weekend? Although I did have Decron string material in my archery equipment trunk, I had no jig. But I was in luck – I was there with two friends who were both experienced bow builders and craftsmen.

“No”, said friends Henk du Plessis and Japie Grobler, “We will all hunt this weekend. We will make you a string – all we need is a straight piece of wood and a few nails.” It was then that Japie spotted the bushveld “string jig” (picture 1) lying where the baboons had wrecked one of Johan Pont’s tents. The “jig” was part of a pole that used to secure a shade net over the tent – nothing but a tar pole with two nails sticking out. But it would work, it just needed a little adjustment, they said. And the project was started.

First one of the big nails was removed, then the old string was used to determine the distance required, then the nail was knocked back into the pole – all in order to make a string of the correct length. We had no hammer, but Japie promptly did the job with a big rock we found lying nearby (picture 2). Once the nail was hammered in, the distance between the nails was tested with the old string. It was perfect (picture 3).

In very little time the string was made right there under the African sun. It fitted perfectly. We served the string and fitted a nock-set, and then waxed it well. Then we drew the string many times to stretch it, and I shot it many times until it was settled. We checked the nock-set and the arrow flight and in very little time I was ready to hunt with my brand-new field-made string.

Unfortunately I wasn’t lucky that weekend and went home empty-handed. I wasn’t too perturbed, since I knew the next weekend I would be huntiung at Moselesele Game Ranch.

I left for Moselesele the next Thursday evening. On the Saturday morning, at about 9:15, a fair-sized kudu bull approached the hide. It stopped and started feeding at about twelve yards. The horns were a little longer than I could afford, but at such a moment monetary values seem to change.

I nocked a Trophy Ridge carbon arrow, tipped with a 175-grain Zwicky Delta. Then I drew my 50-pound Scythian recurve, focused on a spot on the animal’s triceps and let the arrow fly. It flew true, hit the mark and exited on the other side, falling a few yards away. This of course happened in less than a second, and before the arrow hit the ground the kudu jumped up and took off at high speed.
The bull did not run far. Half an hour later we found it less than 40 yards from where it was hit. The field string did its job, and did it well .