What arrow and broadhead did Bill use to take the elephant in "Moments of Truth"? I couldn't make it out.

Bill used the Zwickey broadheads. And I'm pretty sure he used Aluminum arrows someone may correct me on the arrows. Bill loved Africa and went many times. And shot heavy bows up into his later years.He is the only man to kill the big 5 with out someone backing up with a rifle. I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed now days. you can see some of his videos on you tube.

Aluminum arrows and Zwickey broadheads.

Bear made him several bows to work up to his 104#'er he used in Africa for dangerous game.

I believe he used a glass shaft inside the aluminum shaft for more weight and penetration.

Actually Bill used a "Forgewood shaft" made by Bill Sweetland to take his elephant. There was a Sweetland ad in "Archery" Magazine to verify that the year of the kill. It was advertised as the only bow killed elephant taken in modern times to be killed with a wooden arrow.

Bob

I agree with Bob. Negley describes various setups he used in his book, Archer in Africa. Don't have a copy of the video you're talking about, but he does describe the 100# plus forgewoods in his book (they also weighed more than 1,000 grains), as well as the 102# Bear Kodiak recurve he used on some of his African hunts. He also talks about using Howard Hill heads. He may have used fiberglass and aluminum arrows and other heads as well on some of his huts.

I came by this 20-20 aluminum arrow with a something inside that made it very heavy. It has an Eskimo broadhead and Negley supposedly took to Africa

Mystery? I thought it was aluminum but I've been wrong before.

Traditional Bowhunter Magazine - Dec/Jan 1997

“Classic American Hunting Arrows” - St. Charles, Joe

The last arrow we will look at is an arrow of Bill Negley’s that was made for use in Africa. The 11/32" parallel 29" shaft is a special order Bill Sweetland Forgewood compressed cedar that was spine for Mr. Negley’s 100 pound bows. It tips the scales at 700 grains. The 5" high shield left wing helical turkey feathers are white with a red cock feather. The shaft is completely dipped white with a white index nock. This paint job was for visibility when filming and for spotting shot placement when attempting to down Africa’s dangerous game. The head is a Zwickey Black Diamond 11'32" Eskimo four blade This one is from the early 1960's.

Not to be too disagreeable, but this is a subject that I have been looking into for a while. Bill Negley went to Africa several times starting in 1957 and finishing in the early to mid 80's. I don't doubt that he use forgewoods and I have seen some of his aluminum arrows from the later safaris, but the arrows on the first safari are a bit of a mistery. On page 33 of Archer in Africa he writes

"The arrows I had been using for months were a special development of Eastman, the leading manufacturer in the field. Eastman, employing heat and pressure, impregnated cedar shafts with a resin that gave them extra stiffness, toughness and weight. My arrows weighed over a thousand grains and we're chronographed at over 200 feet per second."

The company he mentions has nothing to do with Bill Sweetland, and that is not the forgewood process. What he is describing is more like what Bear uses for risers now, except with cedar. I would love to see one of the arrows he is talking about.

Lucas: The quote is accurately reproduced, but I think there was a mixup in the printing/editing of the book. The process he describes is Sweetland's process. Eastman never worked with compressed cedar, though Negley also used aluminum arrows. In this case, Negley, or his editor(s) simply got the names mixed up.

That's very possible Jerry, but I am not aware of any resin being added during the forgewood process.

There was a fella on here back in 90s if not mistaken that was either the nephew or son-in-law of Bill Negley...or something like that. He sent me a video and was just getting into trad archery himself... Wish I could remember who it was as not sure they stuck around here but was just coming through asking questions in the infancy of internet forums and such.

Wish I would have spoke with him more about his famous relative...

keep em sharp,

ron herman

This is interesting!

There is a photo of Bill holding 3 pieces of broken wood shaft atop the elephant tusk.

Negley really didn't understand the Sweetland process and got that mixed up as well. The resin wasn't impregnatred into the cedar. It already exists/existed in the cedar, and the heat and pressure used in the Sweetland process changes its structure a bit such that it helps bind and strengthen the cedar.

His description is not real good, but if you substitute Sweetland's name for Easton's, it all makes sense.

Here is the photo

Certainly a wood shaft.

Bob Swinehart killed 2 African elephants. Much larger than the Asian elephant Bill faced. Sprinting out to 20 couple yards to shoot at a 12 foot tall mammoth that ended up charging him. Amazing stuff!

Bill shot an Elephant in Africa, how was it an asian elephant?

I don't think a lot of the people over there share our opinion of how well these events typically go off. Which is why they have significantly upped the tackle requirements; are now doing jazz like using tree stands; and have rules that require the animals to be put down by gunfire after a period of time, so as to not leave them to slowly die over several days, just so an achievement can be claimed.

Solwly die over several days? I don't think any of the accounts of Negly, Hill, or Swinehart include several days passing.....quite the contrary.

According to Liquid Amber, posted on a thread 05-02-07, "Negley's only claim to bowhunting fame, prior to his 1957 African hunt, were two illegal deer." bvd

OK I watched a YouTube video of this guy shoot a lion with his bow---the lion charged and the PH stopped it with a rifle. If he hadn't it is likely that this is the last Mr. Negley story there would have been. Afterward, when Mr. Negley was getting his arm patched up where the lion had clawed him, he remarked that he felt future hunts should only include a PH with a camera. Talk about guts!! His accomplishments certainly were impressive as well as his spirit of equal footing for the game he was hunting. Neat stuff!

I seem to remember another source that mentioned plastic resin, but you might be right Jerry.

two4: As has already been pointed out, Negley hadn't bowhunted much if at all before accepting the African challenge. He did manage to work his way up to a 102# bow, but he was a rather poor shot with it. In his book, Archer in Africa, he describes several Cape Buffalo and at least one elephant that he shot poorly and they got away. I think they tracked the buffalo for 2-3 days. A picture of one of the elephants he killed shows the arrow sticking out just slightly forward and very high of the rear hip. Probably caught the femoral artery under the spine. Think there were more animals yet poorly hit, but I'd have to go back and read the book again to identify them.

But, standards were different back then. Can't take it away from him. He had grit.

Kodiak: You can't believe everything in print, I doubt that the person writing the article could understand the process of making the "Forgewood shaft" POC when placed under extreme pressure and heat becomes its own glue. The oil in POC solidifies just like a plastic resin. And is why POC is the only specie of wood that will stay compressed for an extended period of time.

To understand that statement you have to know the history of the Sweetland family. Bill's father in the early 1900's tried to produce armor for the US military by compressing every specie of wood he could find and obviously did not succeed, but that is where Bill an archer got the idea for the compressed cedar shaft.

Bob

It doesn't show up in the accounts. It either didn't happen or they didn't say. With the internet, we sometimes hear people who talk from the other side of the Ocean, say they knew the PH so and so used, and that kind of thing. I don't have an opinion on this stuff as it is all second hand, but suffice to say in the more responsible countries rules have been changed, and tactics also.

Aro, I'm not saying the article is correct, but it's obviously genuine.

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