Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Marks on January 24, 2013, 12:43:23 pm
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I just starting but I plan on primarily Hunting with mine. I also plan to make some for a few family members and maybe friends. I doubt I will ever sell any and certainly don't plan on competing. I just want the satisfaction of building something with my hands and taking game with it. I'm not really into History when it comes to events and people but I think its fun to try to learn how things were done back then. Making Maple Syrup has also been a recent challange I've taken on.
Why do you build them and what do you do with them?
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if im not satifyed with the bow in terms of weight i give it away. or ill make em for others.
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I make 'em just for the heck of it.
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I make them because after I made my first one, I couldn't stop. I hunt with them (unsuccessfully :-[ ) and target shoot with them.
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I hunt with mine. After i killed my first deer with a self bow i made i never picked up another fiberglass and dont think i ever will.
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I shoot with em, hunt with em, sell them, give them away, and burn them, usually after i break em. After almost 10 years of building, it's fun to compare the difference between my most recent and my first attempts.
Not really into the competition thing either, but I have been known to enter into the BOM a few times. The rivalry that goes on here is a lot easier to stomache than in most venues. Feels more like brothers having fun, and I enjoy that.
Scott
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I started making bows in 2004 because I couldn't afford to buy a good fiberglass bow on a starving musician budget :) I make bows to hunt with mostly but being part of twin oaks I've been getting into 3D shoots more as well. I've givin most of my bows away to friends and family but I hang on to a few that are special to me. I've taken deer, rabbits and hogs with my bows and stone points. Nothin like it in the world ;)
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I hunt and just go out stumping, and give them away, if I didn't give them away i'd run out of room, like Will I started making because my bow broke and I didn't have the money to buy a bow, plus i'm a southpaw, I keep a few of my own but most the bows I keep are ones that were made by the people on here
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hunting, sometimes i give them away to friends or acquaintances, whether or not they appreciate the work isnt that big of a deal i like the smiles :D i have sold a few to help pay for school.
my bows are precious to me, but i wont hesitate to beat down some bushes or use them as a digging stick ;)
-Pinecone
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I hunt with mine every chance I have, shoot em' when I can't hunt, just hold them and think about hunting when I can't hunt or shoot. :) Have given many away, never sold a one and I keep the ones that I don't shoot around so if someone shows up interested
in shooting I'll have a bow that fits them. If they are sincerely taken by the sport, ( and I like them enough), they may go home with the gift of their own bow. ;)
Greg
ps: I like Osage Outlaws comment: "I made my first and couldn't stop" :D :D :D Kind of sums it up for a lot of us don't it?
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I make them for no other reason than to make them. I enjoy using my hands and crafting something useful, I love shooting and while I have deer hunted some with them I have not killed anything with them yet. Making bows is my Prozac.
Grady
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i agree badly, ive caught the disease pretty bad, and ive been infecting others as well ::) so far i have one majorly hooked, another is pretty hooked, and two others that just wanted to make one for the sake of making one. Man do i have it bad too. if you find yourself examining all the trees you pass while trying to drive then you know your in over you head >:D :o ::)
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My great grandfather made Osage bows to hunt his way through the Great Depression ....I live on the east coast so I have to use other materials, but I'm keeping on the family tradition as best I can.
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My great grandfather made Osage bows to hunt his way through the Great Depression ....I live on the east coast so I have to use other materials, but I'm keeping on the family tradition as best I can.
My favorite answer so far.
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Now that you're addicted Marks, you'll end up making some for you and giving a lot of them away because if you don't, you'll soon run out of room in your house for all the bows (and staves and boards you'll start hoarding for materials).
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This is a great question and it can explain the many, many answers to the same exact question. How a person uses their bows completely dictates their opinions. If a person does nothing but shoot paper, his expectations, his opinions and his experience is all going to revovle around shooting paper. Now ask another guy who does nothing but hunt with his bows that same question. The answers will vary greatly. Of course there are some guys who never really even shoot their bows much at all. They just make them. This explains to me why we never have settled which wood is best or which style bow is best.
Im 110% hunter and dont use my bows for anything else, unless its shooting foam to get better at shooting critters. As for my "extra's", they are spread out all over. I give most of them away or donate them. I usually keep 8-10 behind for myself to mess with.
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Just as ionic said "Man do i have it bad too. if you find yourself examining all the trees you pass while trying to drive then you know your in over you head" That is totally me. Whenever I'm in the car driving I am always looking for new places to cut bamboo, cane, etc. It is just a good way to spend your time instead of wasting your free time away by doing absolutely nothing. I have only recently started making bows and I swear my parents and family always nag on me about just wanting to go home and work whenever I get the chance. But they sure do like looking at them and shooting them when they aren't saying "You're obsessed". You really never understand how fun and worth while it is until you actually make one for yourself.
I make mine for a number of reasons. I plan to hunt with them, target shoot, admire them, and most of all get in touch with nature and it's beauty. Being able to make a bow from a piece of wood is amazing and I can't wait till the day I use all primitive tools to make myself a bow.
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The good ones i give away.
The bad ones i torture to a splintery death to learn what they can take >:D
The only one i will keep for sure is my first shooter.
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tgtmatt glad to know im not the only one ;D
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i am not a good bowyer and don't make many.i do have one that i am going to give a friend at the classic this year.i have many bows made for me by great bowyers.i use them for target shooting,hunting,stumpshooting and bowfishing.my real love is squirrel hunting and bowfishing.these are what i really love to do with my bows.the greatest thing about making bows is the people that you meet along the way,so i guess i also use my bows for the comroderie and friends.
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I hunt, target shoot, and experiment with my bows. I have gotten into the really primitive native bows, and am a perfectionist, so I keep building bows to find that perfect one.
Jon
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Haha Yeah Ionic at least we know we're not crazy, or maybe we are. But we aren't alone.
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It's all about building the most effective hunting bow that I can build.... That and the fact that I am hopelessly addicted to making them. It is like dopers who are always looking for the ultimate high - that next bow might be the best one yet. I give them away. I haven't sold one - they are either too special to sell or they aren't good enough to sell - so they are gifts to the deserving folks that look like they need a bow. Mostly they just pile up to add fuel to my wife's opinion that I need professional help. ;)
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Osage Outlaw hit the nail on the head. I made my first one strictly to hunt with. Took a deer with it that first fall, and fell in love. I just kept making more. Some I have never hunted with, so for me it's not "just" to hunt with. I just dig it! Best answer I can give.
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shoot the target in the back mostly, plan on hunting when I get the chance, and starting to sell some to keep me in the hobby
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I send a lot of my bows to Pearly Boy so he can have good bows to shoot:)
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I hear ya Roy. I sent my best shooter to Ol' Pearly. How else is he going to have something that will kill a deer. >:D
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Bout the only way he could even hit a deer is put one of them thar compound sights on his bow...
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I send all mine to pearlie boy Tooo! :o Maybe with all them bows he can get something someday ;D >:D
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Maybe Pearls doesn't really shoot em?? Ya spose he's just one of them hoarders!,,,,,,,,,,,,Just kidding Pearls >:D
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I'm thinking all them pictures he posts of pretty tillered bows, now I'm wondering how many of them are mine, Clints, or yours Keenan, that he doctored up the finish a bit so we didn't recognize them?:)
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:laugh: :laugh:Poor guy isn't even here to defend himself >:D O:)
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Haven't got a lot under my belt yet , but the bows I made I still have even the broken ones ( just to remind myself what not to do ).
And yes I have the bug BAD , everywhere I go I,m looking at trees to see if they will make a bow and how hard it would be to get ( been looking at a hackberry 6" in diamiter no knots and flagpole strait at work all day and it may come home with me tomarrow if I get the chance , see I have the bug and like the cold you just have to make shavings and let it run it's corse).
Just can't pinpoint the exact cause , dad told storys about his uncle making bows and flyrods after WW1 , the look and feel of a wood bow , the meetings with other bowyers and teaching others the art of bow making ( the Oklahoma Selfbow Society holds OJAM less than 20 miles from my house so I get to meet bowyers from allover and share stories every year), or just a good way to relax unwinde at the end of the day, or maybe all the above.
Whatever it was I got it good.
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In all seriousness, Mine are made to be shot, hunting, stump shooting or just plian target practice it is the life of what a bow is! I have a few that have served well and have thier own special spots on the wall now.
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Don't worry, Keenan. I'm sure he will shoot some flaming arrows at us in the morning:) LOL
But Pearly does make very awesome bows, matter of fact he sent me an Osage Self Bow about a month ago and it is sooo sweet looking and what a shooter it is. Quiet as a church mouse, fast and accurate. In return, I'm sending him this BBO I'm working on now.
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I carried a Pearly bow quite a few times this past hunting season :o He can put a stick and string together pretty good ;) ;D
Sorry Pal, I was put up to it. I won't mention any names..........R...........O.......... :-X
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AH Bull-Crap Clint, it wuz yer idear:)
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I have one bow that I hunt with. Been my go to for the last 3 years. I have 2 that belong on my wall, permanently retired. The rest I sell mostly. I have given a few away. Like lots of folks, I made my first bow because I wanted to hunt but couldnt afford a weapon. Only logical choice is a stick and string, so I put one togeather and got lucky on my first try. Still have that bow too, its one of my two wall hangers. And man is it UUUUUUGGGGLLYYYY.... But, its my first, so it gets a place of honor.
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Same as a lot of folks..I give some away to friends and family...but I don't have enough friends and family compared to my bow output,so I have a bunch of bows laying everywhere in the house....I need to find a way to get rid of some of that junk otherwise your gonna see me on that hoarders show buried in bows.... :laugh:
Pearly s got one o mine too...but I got his first static..and I do still shoot it
Hey Roy I see you put on that burly maple on the handle for a girly...i mean burly guy :laugh:
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Being a man of faith Im going to let all these bad words ROY started just roll off my back! Keenan, I would love to have one your creations to add to my rack of art one day. Clint isnt lying, he made me a fantastic bow and so did Hawkeypoo. Im a lucky guy to have them both, and if ROY ever gets one to hold together long enough for a full draw? I may just end up with one more that even ol' Dean would be jealous of!
Nothing better than giving bows away, especially to unsuspecting folks. Thats the best part.
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When I started out all I wanted was custom long bow. Even then custom bows were $ 500.00 or more. So I just built one, At the time I had no idea what a selfbow was. Even though I started with recurves, shot compounds for 11 years switched back to recurves. All I wanted was a long bow.
YOUNG AND DUMB at the time. I had no idea the path building a bow would make in my life.
Just word of mouth (no internet then) in a few years I was building and selling 10,12 bows a year. The year I stoped had made 14 that year. No big number but to big for me I did'nt get into it for the money. Watch what you wish for. It was cutting into my hunting, fly fishing and other hobbies way to much.
I've built umteen for myself to hunt with always looking for that 1 bow. Built way to many for friends,family ,gave away others and many to kids, other causes and ofcorse traded. I never really stop makeing and selling bows but now I'm down to building 1 or 3 a year If I get the time. But I make no special effert. I have way to many of other hobbies. Now I mainly build bows in my off (winter late summer) seasons.
EVEN THEN I DON'T GET IN A HURRY. I AWAYS HAVE A PERSON OR TWO PISSED OFF AT ME.
IT'S A HOBBIE RIGHT.
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built my first cuz my kid was screaming bloody murder for a bow and arrow for christmas well I had lost my job so no dough I did have a hatchet though so to the woods made it green tillered it green it has a lottttt of set but it still shoots. Now I build them cuz i don't like wheeks to hunt with and besides what am I gonna do with all my spare time. Ron
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I am like alot of you guys.
I hunt with them, shoot our stuffed animal course and do 3d in season. Matter fact that little course is a blast and probabley shoot that with Rocky more than anything else. It has become a good social event around here with our friends and even the ones that don't shoot enjoy walking in the woods with us down the trail and sharing a few libations. I am sure it helps me be a better shooter in hunting situations as every shot is different from unknown distances and my accuracy and confidence has improved immensly.
I have given away most of of my bows and only recentley become alot more picky as to who gets one. I've broken a couple and retired a couple that had poor tiller and just got sluggish after shooting for a while. I've kept every one and every piece of those.
I've only sold one and that was when I was unemployed and needed the money. Guy never even shot it, it ended up being a wallhanger even though at the time it was my go to bow.
As far as the sickness goes, I'm ate up with it as well and am always scouring the countryside as I drive to the city. My wife cracks up when I'm in new territory cuz I'm rubber necking it left and right " that looks like some potential bow wood in there".
I would say we all are cut from the smae or similar cloth. Danny
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I had a hand in screwing up a marriage to a pretty decent woman, and got into making my first bow to take my mind off the ongoing divorce. I shot the heck out of that bow until someone picked it up on a hot day and overdrew it.
Since that first bow I have been making bows for others and shooting one that was given to me by my mentor. This last summer, I got fed up and built one for myself. Named her Jane, plain as she was, she was still pretty. But even Jane ended up leaving me and now spends time in another man's hands.
Heck, maybe I am fated to be shooting other people's bows...like the shoemaker whose kids are barefoot, or the mechanic that drives a beater.
I go to a few Rendezvous with the muzzleloader crowd, a few other events and such as well. Always try my best to have a kid sized bow and a handful of arrows so that when they wander by to see what I am doing (making shavings out of perfectly good wood) I can send 'em off with something to occupy them. Most often those bows don't go home with me, instead I end up with a memory of an ear-to-ear grin.
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JW, that was perfect:) ^5 Roy
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I had so many stone points that I made layin around I decided I needed a bow to stick em in sumthin with. Now I've made so many bows I may have to start knappin and arra making again :P :P