45 1/2 inch chokecherry gull wing

[kleinpm]

I have been fascinated by short gull wing bows for as long as I can remember. I decided to go ahead and make a copy of one of the Blackfeet bows in one of my books.

45.5 inches ntn, 1 1/8 inch wide at the handle with a gentle taper to 3/4 inch tips. 47 lbs at 23 inches with one relatively thick layer of sinew. I reduced the bow to near finished dimensions and clamped it into the shape I wanted and ended up not needing to heat it at all. This bow started at 64 pounds at 23 inches but it started to chrysal around a small knot on the belly after about 300 arrows. I retillered it to its current weight and it seems like its going to stay together. The chrysals aren't any worse after another 700 or 800 arrow over the last month. I think at 64 pounds I was just asking to much from this piece of wood.

I expected the bow to take significant set even with the sinew but its holding steady at about an inch and the tips are still about an inch forward of the grip just unstrung.

The grip is inner cherry bark from the same stave as the bow. The string is two ply elk sinew. Everything on this bow was gathered within a few miles of my house in Montana.  I am surprisingly accurate to about 15 yards using a floating anchor draw to somewhere around my right arm pit. At 20 yards my accuracy is just awful and I often completely miss the entire target. I must say though that shooting a short bow is a lot of fun.

Patrick

[kleinpm]

A couple more.

[Onebowonder]

I think it is the cant you are holding the bow at, ...but it looks to be badly hinged on the bottom limb in your FD shot.  Can you do an FD more parallel to the world?

Kuul looking bow.  ...and very short with a lot of power.

OneBow

[bubby]

I hope it's the angle on the pic but it looks like a major hinge in the bottom limb, love everything about the bow including the story but the f/d looks scary

[kleinpm]

Here are two other pics. The inside pic was at about 20 inches draw and I think it is the only pic that I am not canting the bow.

Patrick

[Crogacht]

I'm no expert, but I like that bow I have some short elm staves I might try this design on one of them.

Those additional fd pics look much much better to my extremely untrained eye, the first one was scary

[mullet]

Full draw tiller looks good to me. Cool, little bow.

[loefflerchuck]

Great work! Chokecherry and sinew make a great bow. I notice they take a bit of set with 2-3 layers of sinew, but shoot sweet.

[zenart]

Yeah man, that's a great lil' stick! A real inspiration. Love the local materials thing, the Blackfeet homage, the re-tiller, all very cool. Even the admission on how much difference 5 yds. makes (you mean I'm not the only one?!)  Thnx for posting 'er.

[simson]

sweet little stick, Patrick. Chokecherry is on my list!
Interesting how different the bow looks in the f/d pics!

BTW. breathtaking landscape  -  where do you live?

[Blackcoyote]

cool lookin bow....and one hell of a backyard!   

[SLIMBOB]

Cool looking little bow.  Looks way better in the second set of pics.

[kleinpm]

sweet little stick, Patrick. Chokecherry is on my list!
Interesting how different the bow looks in the f/d pics!

BTW. breathtaking landscape  -  where do you live?

Simson,

I live in southern Montana between Livingston and Gardiner. The valley is known as Paradise Valley and the mountains in the background are the northern/western edge of the Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness area. We are about 30 minutes north of the northern entrance to Yellowstone Park.

I appreciate all the comments guys. I forgot to mention that I found the stave walking the dog along the river. I didn't have a saw with me so I searched the river bank until I found a piece of local unknown rock that fractures well enough to make an impromptu/disposable chopping tool. I don't know what kind of rock it is but its not chert. It might be basalt, but its maroon and not grey/black like most of the basalt around here. Whatever it is there is a lot of it.  I chopped it down with the rock as fast or faster than using a saw, although it was only about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Patrick

Patrick