Hello all:
I’ve recently been bitten by some type of bug. It makes me want to tie my own flies, carve my own decoys, shoot black powder guns that use a #11 cap, and most recently build a bow.
Without going completely off the deep end too quickly, my first step is to refinish an old #40 re-curve that I tramped around with as a kid. My folks being of the Depression Era never throw anything away, and I found it over at their place. It looks to be shoot-able with the majority of repairs being cosmetic, (fresh finish, new strike plate, felt shelf, etc) and of course a new string.
I’ve shot a compound some, and was always pretty decent, but then who couldn’t be since it’s all a matter of rehearsed mechanical movements. When I first picked up the new string for the re-curve, I had to try it out, prior to making any repairs. Being an instinctive shotgun shooter, I applied the same principles to my first shot with the re-curve. Lock in on the target with your vision and attempt to see the proverbial feathers on the bird’s neck or the rings on the clay. Forget about the barrels as the hands will go where the eyes go. Archery is the same: draw, anchor, visually lock-in, exhale, release, follow through. At a pace of fifteen GIANT steps, I placed three of the twelve in the three inch yellow bull’s eye and the rest clustered in the very near vicinity slightly off to the right; on par or slightly better than my last attempt with the wheel bow, mechanical release and fiber optic pins. The bug bite really began to itch.
At the time, it was 102 degrees at the PGA Championship in Tulsa 60 miles up the Turnpike. Sweat soaked through my new arm guard and glove. Now, all I can think of is cooler weather and the chance to hunt with the new/old re-curve. I can’t wait to practice more so I can feel confident enough to take an ethical shot at game. Once it’s cool enough to work in my shop without my own perspiration raising the moisture content of the wood I’m working, I want to build a bow. First a self, then a backed bow. Wood? Probably hickory or ash in that I have those growing on my place. I’ve got Boise de Arc too, but from what I’ve read in PA, that will have to wait. Supposedly a sawmill in Spavenaw sells Ipe, at least according to the guy at Woodcraft. I’d never even heard of the wood until I bought my first PA magazine. Why a sawmill in Oklahoma would carry a wood from South America is beyond me, but I figure it’s a sign.
I can’t wait to catch my first brown or rainbow on a fly made from the buck tail of my first primitive deer. I’m checking the ODWC regulations to see if an arrow over wooden decoys is a legal means of taking ducks. I’m afraid the infection is incurable and at best, can only be contained.
I found this site quite by accident. I then purchased the magazine. I then registered as a user and here I am. It’s good to be here. Stand by for lots of questions.
Thank you in advance.
Otoe Bow
“Mike”
