emergency arrow making

[Tartar Horde]

(11 October 2013, 18:09)Mortblanc Wrote: You do what you have to do.

http://www.iceman.it/en/node/282

Otsie only had two (2) , as in one, two, finished arrows but several viburnum shafts that were not even smoothed yet. But they were already nicked, for emergency use, even though they were raw, green wood.

That is exactly what I have said, our ancestors had arrows made up in all stages of completion because they were prepared did I not. It is your assumption that being "nicked" means the arrow/s is to be used in an emergency, this is quite wrong as the arrows are being prepared in stages, as per the evidence from his quiver, and the final stage is cutting the nocks, sanding down the shaft and then fitting fletchings. The points are fitted to foreshafts and so made separately and can be fitted when needed in the field to the shaft. The article does not mention the shafts as being from "green wood" and the fact that they have had some processing, ie the bark scraped off tells me the shafts are already seasoned. Shafts are seasoned with the bark on, as removing it when green gives a greater chance of the shaft warping/twisting when drying. Keeping the bark on dries the shafts more uniformly. Otzi's shafts are ready for the final sanding and fletching, as is the normal procedure for making arrows.
Talon I agree, if your life is in "immediate" jeopardy then you do not have time to make an arrow, even if you had a ready made shaft that was straight and true it would still take time to fit/cut nock and point and then fletch the arrow. You have to take time to fletch the arrow correctly or it won't fly accurately, what is the point or reason for shooting an arrow that is inaccurate, so it can't be rushed.
As Talon says you could use a bare shaft for ranges ten yards and under, but you have the problem of tuning/spine affecting accuracy again as Talon pointed out. Try it for yourself by shooting a fletched arrow and one that is not at the same range. You will find the same problem when shooting a raw green shaft and a seasoned one made from the same wood, they have different "spine" and so fly differently.
Arrows really are the key to archery and is the reason why all bow using cultures spent a lot of time and effort making the very best arrows they could, and to paraphrase Ishi the last Yana indian "any old stick can make a bow, but it takes a damn good stick to make an arrow" wise words.