Leather Stalker Quiver

A stalker quiver is its own type, not a target, back or hip quiver. The difference is the slit down its side: while stalking you draw the arrow out through the side, instead of reaching over your shoulder as a back quiver makes you. Wear it at the side, or slide it round to the back, where it sits the opposite way up to a back quiver and carries more like a shoulder bag. No pockets or sleeves. A lambswool-lined collar keeps the arrows quiet, and the foam base takes broadheads and wider small-game heads pushed into it. It holds comfortably more than a dozen. Made from 3 mm full-grain cowhide that holds its shape. The type is an old one, not ours. This version has been in use since the 2020 prototype, refined for roving and stump shooting.

The first VLBB stalker quiver, in the words of the archer who tested it

Back in mid 2020 I started talking to László about making me a new quiver. In the past I’ve used his excellent finger tabs, so I knew what kind of leatherwork quality he was capable of. At the time I was interested in one of his field rig setups, but as the conversation went on, it became clear that because I’m primarily a roving / stump shooting kind of archer, that wasn’t going to be a good fit. It was then he mentioned that he’d had in mind for some time a design for a stalking quiver. He suggested that he’d make one and I’d test it out, and give him some comments for any modifications it might need.

In October 2020 the prototype VLBB stalking quiver arrived in Australia after a brief journey from Hungary on the other side of the world. The next day I took it out for a test drive, and it has been my main field quiver ever since.

As with anything that comes from VLBB, it is beautifully made, with quality materials and tidy, strong stitching. Given that I’m known by some of my archery friends as ‘Captain Flatcap’ for my tendency to be wearing a flatcap almost year round … Laszlo had a stamp made and the quiver is personalised with my nickname!

For the kind of archery I mostly do, the stalking quiver and back quiver work best for extracting arrows while wrestling with the undergrowth and traversing over uneven ground. The VLBB stalking quiver has worked perfectly for me under these kinds of conditions. I usually have it low down by my side on the draw hand (right) side of my body, and sometimes around behind my back. I also shoot what is colloquially (but incorrectly) known as a horsebow, and various different length bows can get caught up in a quiver that is too far around behind the body. About half way between my side and my back works best, and I can retrieve arrows comfortably without having to look at what my draw hand is doing.

There’s lambswool lining in the top collar, and a foam pad in the base, so it’s easy to keep the arrows quiet in a stalking situation. As I generally use arrows with various kinds of small game heads on them which are wider than either field points or broadheads, the volume of the quiver at the base is designed for there to be enough room for me to fit a couple of dozen arrows in at a time.

The only modification that I have suggested after quite extensive field testing, is for the angle of the front opening to be relaxed a little, to make it easier to get arrows out in a wider range of positions.

Dealing with László is always a pleasure and the quality of his work is absolutely first rate.

Lawrie Conole, Victoria, Australia