This was the one project I just had to finish before I started on my trade bow as I've been pretty obsessed with it ever since the stave came into my possession. A little history: the stave was sent to me by Mullet in a trade and originally came from Shannon Walker. Apparently this was the last of the "3 sisters staves" and as soon as Mullet sent me a pic I knew I had to take a shot at it. The stave was sent with a warning about difficulties the other two sisters had in the tillering process, so I was really focused on being as meticulous as possible with the scraper.
In the end I spent so much effort in getting the tiller as close to perfect as I could that, by the time I realized it, I had overshot my desired draw weight. I considered cutting the tips down to get some more weight, but the curves were so wonderful I just didn't have the heart to do it. In the end, I decided if I could comfortably shoot a decent group at twenty yards I'd keep it the way it was. Had to use lighter arrows, but this bow will NEVER see the saw (see pic below, not going to win any world championships but it's good enough for me!). I absolutely love it and my shoulder doesn't throb after an hour of shooting the way it usually does with my heavier bows.
Stats:
Osage self bow with back taken down to one ring. I was originally thinking fancy riser and tip overlays but it just didn't seem right as the bow curves naturally into my palm and then reverses for a perfect arrow "shelf." Decided instead to keep is "simple" and true to the stave.
Draw weight 43# (just a hair under actually) @ 30". I had originally posted a question about adding draw weight for a bow that was 40# @ 30" and it turns out that I was mistakenly measuring the weight at 29"
. I can really be a doofus at times
.
Length: 73" t2t (71" n2n)
Grip: Buffalo hide with latigo thatch. I have always preferred to shoot off my hand as opposed to a shelf, but the thick hide and natural curves make for a terrific and consistent "shelf" to shoot from while keeping the "off the hand" feel.
Enjoy! Talk to y'all later, I'm going shooting!!!
