I fully appreciate that THR is primarily a gun forum, BUT, I find it darn near impossible to believe that the fur boys were not copying the native ways and using bows and arrows when possible.
There is something special about building something yourself, using it yourself, and sustaining yourself with it. That’s why I enjoy reloading, fly tying, and the occasional carpentry project. I’m nowhere near the point of making a bow from a piece of wood, but that’s because I work, and can keep working under electric lighting. The fur traders had daylight, and campfire light to work with....they had time at night to carefully and skillfully craft bows, spears, and likely even atlatl. They likely also traded with natives who would teach them or trade traditional goods to them.
Now, back to your scheduled programming about wonderfully antiquated thunder sticks.