selfbow elk?

[Slivershooter]

Yep,
60" Osage 58#@29"

[david w.]

ok stupid question i always hear people talk about "medicine".
what is it?

[sonny]

Good "medicine" can be added to a bow for instance by applying sinew, rawhide, antler overlays, etc. that was given to you by a buddy who harvested the animal it came from. I have some deer sinew ( a buddy gave me from deer killed this past fall) that I'll use on a future bow that'll have Good Medicine.   

 Jay Massey created his Medicine Bow from a hickory sapling cut on his older brother's land, in hopes that the bow would contain some of his brother's powerful spirit....certainly Good Medicine.
   
I think non-Native Americans likely think about Good Medicine (or mojo) differently than Native Americans. Hopefully Bob will see this and add his opinion as to what constitutes  Good Medicine.
 

[huntertrapper]

I think of good medicine as luck. Or something special. Something that really matters most. "Medicine" is a big part of hunting and trapping for me, medicine is also my respect for the animals i hunt and kill.

[Pat B]

My particular Medicine Bow is a copy of Jay Massey's. Every component of the bow came from someone else and all I did was built it. Probably 8 or 10 folks contributed.  It is a 60" sinew backed hickory bow with rawhide cover on the back. This bow won BOM a few years back. I don't have pics handy but you can probably look it up.      Pat

[david w.]

Ah thank you. Medicine takes apart in my hunting too i just didnt know that was the term

[huntertrapper]

it isnt really the term so much as the feeling you get. i feel close to the native americans of my heritage so i always use "medicine"

[Wolf Watcher]

Years ago I lived on a big cattle ranch just outside of Yellowstone.  I had a recurve I made.  It pulled 65#s at 28".  I used mostly jasper and obsedian points.  There was no Wyoming law about stone points and most of my points were around 2" by 3/4". with any arrow I could find.  I managed to surround both elk and mule deer and one moose with that old bow.  It was a real dog by today's standard, but did the job.  The secret for me was to have the points really sharp and get really close!!  I sure wish I had a good selfbow back then!!  Wolf Watcher

[huntertrapper]

that sounds cool wolf watcher. see wheel bow people think you need all the high tech "crap" to kill an animal humanely.

[330bull]

Well not to rub it in but...I plan on taking a bow elk hunting this fall that John Strunk gave, yes I said GAVE to me.  I've become good friends with John lately and for some reason he just handed me this bow and told me "here's one for your collection."  I practically cried. 

It's a Vine Maple Flatbow, ~58" ntn, and about 65-70# @ 26".  It has +1" of natural reflex and is by far the most efficient bow I have ever shot.  It shoots a 660 grain hickory arrow about 150 fps; plenty good for an elk even out to 30 yards.

So...although I have never attempted to use a selfbow on elk, I will certainly try this fall.

Best of luck to everyone!

Joe

Ps.  John made that bow with a hatchet & pocket knife and stained it with charcoal.

[deerhunter97370]

330bull can you post some picks of your free bow. Joel

[330bull]

Here you go.  Enjoy!

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[recurve shooter]

lol, i havent ever taken anything other than deer and small game. i recomend being REALY close and REALY good shot placement.