Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: iowabow on December 17, 2013, 08:41:09 am
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The lowan Path is a post about our group and what we are doing in this area. Our numbers keep growing and now is above 10. I have to say first that the Iowan path stated with a visit to Twin Oaks in TN. Seeing those guys passing on the tradition of primitive archery inspired me to help others in this region learn the primitive skills that I learned from so many of you on this site at the classic and on this site. I started by helping others with one caveat, that they return the good will by helping pass on the tradition of primitive archery. So I am hoping to keep this post active so others can see what is going on in Iowa.
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Very cool John, way to pass it on ;) where's the pictures. ;) ;D ;D
Pappy
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Here are couple pictures from other posts of what we've been doing. Craig is spining arrows and Paul is weighting them. The other picture is from a meeting over the weekend. Gary and Steve are in the back I am on the left and Craig, Tim and Chris are to my left.
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First melting of wax from the bee hive. It is kinda raw but should work for primitive projects.
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S.O.A.B.O.
Sons of Archery, Bois d'arc Originals.
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S.O.A.B.O.
Sons of Archery, Bois d'arc Originals.
Lol so ABO
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Jw could be a nomad lol
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Steve and Cody came out and worked on their bows this afternoon and I had some time to finish an arrow for my new bow that I have named "temptation". I named her that because the wood makes me sick but I like building anyway.
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Nice!!!...JW a nomad lol ;D
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Nice!!!...JW a nomad lol ;D
and gundoc he has a patch
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Nice!!!...JW a nomad lol ;D
and gundoc he has a patch
Got a cut on my rocker, 99%er.
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I just realized the only people that will really get that reference are Law Enforcement that works with interstate gang activity, and those that L.E. is looking at. Either way, I just KIDDING!!!
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I want to be president of the Ohio charter.
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I want to be president of the Ohio charter.
you got it! Lol
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Finished an arrow for "Temptation", hope we get a little snow for Monday!
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Looking forward to today Craig is coming over and we are going to start building new bows. We are suppose to get some snow and it is still gun season so it is a great time to start a new project.
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From Des Moines.
I just finished my first atlatl and dart.
Here are two pics.
Canada Goose Fletching using cotton crochet thread for binding.
Still needs gluing.
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Cool john but the pics are not there. You should come over on our next bow night
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Sounds like fun.
My picture file was too big.
I need to figure out how to reduce the pixels.
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Craig came out and started on his new bow.
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Ryan, Craig, Sam and Cody came over to work on and finish a Chirstmas bow for a friend.
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Finished bow
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That was a fun day. ;D
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Ryan, Craig, Sam and Cody came over to work on and finish a Chirstmas bow for a friend.
It looks like Ive got antlers growing out of my head in that one pic! ;D
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I want to be president of the Ohio charter.
Whens the first meeting?
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A Christmas gift from Craig...this is a great gift Craig, it is light weight, quite and easy to navigate through the woods. Thank you!
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Forgot to mention that the bow Cody made for his friend for Christmas was made from a roughed out bow that JW brought as a prize during the first IAJAM. This bow blank was won by Beadman and then months later was given to me. I had it for a couple years and then gave it to Cody.
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Our group named by JW "Sons of Archery, Bois d'arc Originals" or Primitive Branch of Flint Creek Bow Hunting Club are going to help host the 3rd annual 2014 Iowa Jamboree here at the farm. We have plans to provide camping on a new site if the weather will cooperate and the brush can been cleared. A road access has been put in by the county and was bladed before winter. The club members have been a great help and keep coming up with great ideas like a canoe shoot during the 3d shoot. What fun. Dates are 21&22 of March.
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Paul stopped by with a pile of backstrap. Good to know a guy that butchers deer!
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Great fun yesterday. ..Paul came out to fish and check the depth of the pond on the new ground. After fishing we hunted the back side of the farm. We pulled a new stand in with the ice fishing gear and I carried it up the valley to nice spot with good activity but saw no deer last night. Going to give it a go again this morning.
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Next on "The Iowan Path" ... proven techniques for jigging for white tails. We'll show you how to get more action on smaller jigs!
And now a word from our sponsors over at Jiffy Ice Augers: Did you know that Jiffy makes over 20 different cover scent combinations that can be added to your two stroke oil in their new 2014 line of 2 stroke ice augers? Turn that exhust into "Come Here, Deer!" scent trail!
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Hello Iowan Pathers!
I just spoke with Iowabow/JB and am looking forward to meeting the rest of the tribe soon. I know John from another hobby and was very surprised to find him by accident here on PA. My name Matt and my youngest daughter Maddie and I are new to the old ways of archery.
Very much looking forward to the January gathering!
Matt
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It was great talking to you on the phone Matt! You and Maddie added to our tribe bring our numbers to 18. This does not count another 3 or 4 from outside the area. Wow we are really growing now. See ya in a week or so.
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Next on "The Iowan Path" ... proven techniques for jigging for white tails. We'll show you how to get more action on smaller jigs!
And now a word from our sponsors over at Jiffy Ice Augers: Did you know that Jiffy makes over 20 different cover scent combinations that can be added to your two stroke oil in their new 2014 line of 2 stroke ice augers? Turn that exhust into "Come Here, Deer!" scent trail!
next week chainsaws and bow strings.
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Photo closeup of my new bow and new arrow. Thought it was a cool picture.
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That looks like that slow bow. It shoots about 43 FPS, and has probably got at least two growth ring violations, a lifted ring, and about eight inches of set. The arrow is so snakey that it shoots around trees. ;) About the only person that could possibly shoot that combination straight is me, and my awesome ninja abilities. ;D
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That looks like that slow bow. It shoots about 43 FPS, and has probably got at least two growth ring violations, a lifted ring, and about eight inches of set. The arrow is so snakey that it shoots around trees. ;) About the only person that could possibly shoot that combination straight is me, and my awesome ninja abilities. ;D
lol your jw jr.
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I took another tonight :o
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Thats cool lookin! I love it when it snows while Im huntin. You should rub some of that bees wax on it to keep the moisture from penetrating the Tru Oil. Im thinking of doing it to mine.
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Club news...
Hi everyone, we have a lot of new people joining our group and that's really great! It looks like Friday nights work best for most folks so let's try for next month's meeting to be on Friday, Jan 10th at 6pm. Be sure to bring your bow for the shooting competition. Like last time, you can take a shot at winning an arrowhead. Last month's winner was Tim. We can do another potluck. Let let me know what you're bringing so we don't double up. This next meeting will include a talk about how to braintan those deer hides. You don't have to use brains, however! Please let me know if you can make it. Tim Marshall from the Flint River Bow Hunting Club will come if he can make it. Hopefully, he can fill us in on the event and activities going on this year and how we can help. I will talk about IAJAM 2014. Hope you all can make it.
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Iowabow.....I thought we were friends, this peice of thin ringed frustration you sent me home with is killing me in my pursuit of being lord of the ring chasers!!!
me
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Iowabow.....I thought we were friends, this peice of thin ringed frustration you sent me home with is killing me in my pursuit of being lord of the ring chasers!!!
me
bring it over I will chase it for ya!
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This was funny and wanted to share it with ya'll ...it is real cold in Iowa.
this was a text from Craig... Your gonna be hatchet jack today. Just so you know, if I find you froze to a tree im taking your bow haha
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Iowabow.....I thought we were friends, this peice of thin ringed frustration you sent me home with is killing me in my pursuit of being lord of the ring chasers!!!
me
after talking on the phone looks like you got it now.
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Iowabow.....I thought we were friends, this peice of thin ringed frustration you sent me home with is killing me in my pursuit of being lord of the ring chasers!!!
me
bring it over I will chase it for ya!
And turn in my man card......no way mister!
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Simple as pie Matt! Video for you....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjndR6aMtJ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjndR6aMtJ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player)
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Paul workin on fishing arrow and my new stave
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Paul finished a couple arrows for fishin and I made a couple points for them.
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Looks like a good day! I cut lots of rings, made a big mess in the shop. I'm skeptical as to if there is a bow hiding in that stave or not but if nothing else the ring chasing is good practice. I'll clean the bench and take pics tomorrow night to see what you think. The hatchet had to come out for the big knot on the side as it was causing problems.
Me
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Looks like a good day! I cut lots of rings, made a big mess in the shop. I'm skeptical as to if there is a bow hiding in that stave or not but if nothing else the ring chasing is good practice. I'll clean the bench and take pics tomorrow night to see what you think. The hatchet had to come out for the big knot on the side as it was causing problems.
Me
it is going to be too cold tomorrow to hunt so if you want me to stop over just let me know.
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Thanks John, I have to work and won't be home till 5 ish. If it works out for you I may try and head your way Saturday.
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Thanks John, I have to work and won't be home till 5 ish. If it works out for you I may try and head your way Saturday.
OK sounds good
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Me chasing a ring on another stave.
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https://www.facebook.com/maddie.edwards.96/posts/699852083371825:1
This will bring a smile to a dad's face.
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My text to our group...some if you don't text so thought I would post this for you...
Next Friday the 10th @ 6:00pm is our January gathering. It's going to be fun shooting bows indoors since it's so cold outdoors. The following people have told me they are coming- Tom, Paul and his daughter (maybe) Matt and his daughter, Tim J. Tim M. Chris H. and Leroy. If you are planning on coming please let me know so Annette can make enough chilli for everyone! If you would like to bring something to share that would be great. It's going to be a great time. I think Steve said he might make it also if I remember right. Stay warm till then!
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Looks like you group is growing John and yall are have some very fun and productive times. Cold here also just not as cold as where yall are. ;) :)
Pappy
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Looks like you group is growing John and yall are have some very fun and productive times. Cold here also just not as cold as where yall are. ;) :)
Pappy
Thanks Pappy, you are a great role model for how to reach out to others and pass on the knowledge of primitive archery. I have learned a lot from you TN boys that we are modeling into this group. It will be -13 on Monday with wind chills of -30 to -50 below lol and I see you guys building bows with no coats on ....envy!
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Isaac, Craig and I stopped by Matt's house to do a little on his bow. He has a great work shop and is a master craftsman! His family is totally into his work!
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All I can say to you guys (Isaac, John and Craig) is WOW and thank-you! The tag team ring chasing was great and on a new stave with a more forgiving upbringing, even better.
Maddie and Shelly had a much fun as I did I think. Shell said she took over a hundred pictures so the afternoon was well documented.
Thank you again, that was a fun learning experience!
Me
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found my pencil!
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Here is a picture of that tool
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I think I can make something like that. Since the weather outside isn't fit for man nor beast, after the snow blowing is over, I'm guessing the shop will be my refuge most of today and tomorrow. I'll see if I can slop together a few useful tools.
Me
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Sounds like a good plan. I have bee hives to put together, Annette has taken up bee keeping and we get wax for primitive archery projects so it a win win kinda thing. We got 30 pounds of honey and a bit of wax from the first year.we are going to add a hive per year over the next couple years.
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Very cool, hmmm....so bees wax makes good string wax. I use bees wax in the form of a toilet bowl ring for mustache wax. Unused ring of course :)
Me
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Very cool, hmmm....so bees wax makes good string wax. I use bees wax in the form of a toilet bowl ring for mustache wax. Unused ring of course :)
Me
it can be used for paints, finishes, glues and other stuff. We are starting to get enough guys that our supplies like sinew, bees wax, shafts, hides, staves and many other items wont be hard to come by for the "tribe" as you call us.
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Well Isaac and Annette pitched in a made short work of getting the new hive assembled
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Here's the prototype knot and tite spot scraper. Also the elusive pencil.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/006_zpsd89b0065.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/006_zpsd89b0065.jpg.html)
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Cool cant wait to see it in action
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Cool cant wait to see it in action
If you like it, it yours.
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Well heck I'm liking it even better now! :) :) :)
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A lot of cool activities going on over there across the river John. Keep it up, enjoy watching what you guys got started over there.
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A lot of cool activities going on over there across the river John. Keep it up, enjoy watching what you guys got started over there.
Thanks for the post it has been fun helping other learn about primitive archery. I was kinda wondering if anyone else was reading this stuff. :)
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It was -13 yesterday so Isaac and I went ice fishing. Paul loaned us an ice hut and told me to turn on my little camp stove to low and it would warm it. Well it worked great isaac took off his coat and we were very warm. We did not have a lot of time so we fished till we caught one whuch was a lot of fun.
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Awesome John! I got into ice fishing two yrs ago and love it. Of course last winter was a wash ice wise. I'll have to dig out my gear so we can go before the thaw.
Me
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This is a picture of the board bow that Matt built for Maddie for Christmas. This was his first fished bow ever and was amazing with a great tiller.
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Cool stuff John! I was expecting to see a big ol pile of fish on the ice considering how fast you caught the first one. I hope the crew has a good time Friday! Josh
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O ya we are reading John. ;) Looks like yall are having a good time for sure.
Pappy
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Cool thread here. Keep the pictures coming, they give me inspiration!
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Working on next bow ...sneak peek....man is this stave straight or what?
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Yep,looks straight and clean,very nice piece of Osage. :)
Pappy
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Hmmm? Wonder what ur maken dar wit dat dar peec of yeller wood 8)
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Hmmm? Wonder what ur maken dar wit dat dar peec of yeller wood 8)
The style of bow is secret and the mentor is anonymous as well but.........it's going to be cool to see if people can figure it out? I will do a post on just this bow in the future! No more Peeking till then butttttttttttt what a beautiful piece of wood for this project!
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It's going to be fun to watch this thread develop!
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John, Maddie and I aren't going to make it tonight. I'm battling plantar fasciitis in my heels and at the end of a work day it's all I can do to hobble from the truck to the couch. We will shoot for the next one and hopefully between the exersizes and the orthotics I can bring my feet too.
Be sure to post lots of pictures!
Me
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Sorry you two could not make it. The weather was bad but we still had a turn out and had a great time shooting bows and talking bow repairs.Tim Marshall stopped out and talked about the club range and activities that are happening this year. Tom was our winner shooting bows tonight.
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Picture of our group for the January meeting.
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Good turn out for a nigh meeting,we probably wouldn't have anyone if we had our's at night. ;) :)
Pappy
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We had ice and snow that night also.
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Here is a great photo from our shoot on Friday.
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News from the Iowans
Looks like Saturday the 15th of Feb. at 2:00pm will be our next meeting. Our last meeting was lots of fun despite the weather and Tom walked away with the arrow from the shoot. Annette's chili was amazing and everyone brought a wide range of food and treats. Tim Marshall came and talked about the bow club and many of us paid our dues. He left forms for folks to fill out, remind me at the next meeting for them.
I decided to hold off on the tanning demo till Feb so Steve could be here to watch. So I will demo how to work the hide after it is rawhide the next time we get together. We will also be shooting, talking bows, and how to get started on knapping those arrowheads from flakes of flint.
On a side note
On this Sat Jan. The 18th a few of us are getting together to remove trees from the dam at the new pond on the back 40. If you want to come hangout and lend a hand we start at 8:30 with a breakfast made by Annette that is going to be amazing and will finish with a lunch... homemade soup. I counted about 15-20 ~8 inch size tree that need to be dropped and moved. The temp will be around 25 -30 and should be sunny, perfect in my book for running a chainsaw. If you have a quad feel free to bring it.
In the afternoon Matt Edwards (Went tam) is coming over to work on bows and we will be running the bandsaw cuttng out staves. Your welcome to stay/come over after lunch to shoot, work on bows or just hangout.
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Sounds like a fun/productive weekend planned. :)
Pappy
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Great post John, I enjoyed the read and the pics. Wish I lived closer! dp
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Great post John, I enjoyed the read and the pics. Wish I lived closer! dp
I wish you did also. So get this...was going to clear brush today under powerline pole area where part of the camp ground is going to be but first needed to cut the fence, pull post, and cut a road in to the area. Power company calls and ask me if they can come tomorrow and cut fence and make road to the area where the want to remove all the brush. Ever wonder if there really is a God? Wonder no more.
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Road to camp ground done!
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That's awesome John. Glad you didn't start that project a week or so earlier. ;D Have a gooder, dp
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Tim came over and helped me to cut trees off the new dam.
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After getting 1/3 cut off dam we had folks that came over to work on bows
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And did a little shootin forgot to get a picture of Maddie shooting that great board bow.
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And do a little shootin forgot to get a picture of Maddie shooting that great board bow.
Hey, that's the fugly bow I gave Isaac! Didja ever put a finish on it?
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And do a little shootin forgot to get a picture of Maddie shooting that great board bow.
Hey, that's the fugly bow I gave Isaac! Didja ever put a finish on it?
yep we love that bow
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We were just letting him shoot it.
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Many, many thanks John for all the help and hospitality today! Maddie and I had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again soon.
I was thinking on the way home, if you would like, Maddie and I could one of our missions when we come over to build you that heavy duty bench you and I talked about. Seems like that might be a good use for some of that lumber jacking that I'm looking forward to helping you with.
me
On a side note, For those of you who don't know Iowabow, he is truly the epitome of what all the good that is primitive archery is.
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On a side note, For those of you who don't know Iowabow, he is truly the epitome of what all the good that is primitive archery is.
...except his wife gets bigger bucks with the car...AND without putting a scratch on the vehicle!
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On a side note, For those of you who don't know Iowabow, he is truly the epitome of what all the good that is primitive archery is.
...except his wife gets bigger bucks with the car...AND without putting a scratch on the vehicle!
LOL, well I bet John would have an arrow that he made in the car he could jump in the ditch and stab the buck with for a clean primitive kill :)
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Well, you may have something there, sir. He probably would have better luck with that technique if he wants to get an arrow into a deer.
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Just did an experiment on steaming out a compression mark on the back of a scrap bow limb. The process is a small hot iron and a scrap of linen dampened with distilled water. seems to have done a good job on removing about 85% of the indentation. Now the big question, do you think its a safe thing to do on a new bow if it was to suffer a dent in the building process?
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/269_zpscc85cfd0.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/269_zpscc85cfd0.jpg.html)(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/270_zps33f68de0.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/270_zps33f68de0.jpg.html)
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Time to test on your scrap piece. A dent that has sharp edges like the one you have might have very low survival rate, but if the edges were more gradually compressed it may have a higher survival coefficient.
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The news from Iowa.
Our Sat of work/fun day went as planned. Tim and I cut about 1/3 of the trees off the dam which was a lot of work. Annette made an amazing breakfast and lunch of lasagna. Then Matt Edwards, his daughter Maddie, Evan and his friend from 5 hours north came down to build bows. We got Matts bow heat treated and Maddie shot targets almost all afternoon Evan and his friend chased rings on two staves. They are hard working lads. Looking forward to seeing you guys on our next gathering.
Pictured below lasanga that Craig wanted lol.
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I stress tested the practice steam dent repair, put the limb piece in a bench vice and flexed it a bunch....a whole bunch....then really started to put a huge amount of pressure on it. I watched where it bent and moved the limb down in the vice where the majority of the flex was taking place right on the steamed area. It took alto of force, but when the limb finally snapped it was in a larger area well below the repair.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/001_zps6cf08ad3.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/001_zps6cf08ad3.jpg.html)
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Looks like your good to go
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Tim, Del and his son came over and helped with clearing trees from the dam this afternoon. We only have about 15 to go now
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hey guys just wanted to say good work on the passing it on, very very cool
chuck
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Nice little thread John! I've enjoyed reading the first seven pages. You guys are having fun!
Tracy
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OK John,what's going on in Iowa this weekend ? Looks like yall are piling up a bunch of fire wood,or maybe bow staves. ;) :)
Pappy
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Well the "master plan" is to accomplish multiple task with one group of trees. The top of the cedars poles, 5-8 inches dia x 6-8 feet, are going to a fence project that Tim is working on at home and the bottom 15 feet to a shelter/cabin project near the campground. The larger oaks will be chainsaw milled for siding and benches and work tables. The walnut cut into boards. The osage for staves and the bitter nut cut with the chainsaw mill making 4 or more staves and two nice 12 boards. There will also be many boards cut from a couple oak logs that can be used in board and batten construction. Del and his son will use the limbs to build furniture that he sells.
Now this weekend starting at 1pm today we cut the remaining trees from the dam and Saturday morning we lumberjack the logs to the top of the dam. The cedars will be moved to an open field and placed on scrap logs to dry till mid summer then move to the building location. The dimensional lumber logs will remain on the dam where they will be sawn into lumber, stripped of their bark and ends waxed/painted.
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hey guys just wanted to say good work on the passing it on, very very cool
chuck
Thanks it has been a lot of fun.
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Nice little thread John! I've enjoyed reading the first seven pages. You guys are having fun!
Tracy
This is a great group of guys!
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Just letting you know I'm reading this post. It looks like you guys are having a lot of productive fun. Way to pass it on.
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Looking forward to seeing the photos of all that work! Have a great time.
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Well we did not cut on Friday due to high wind but Paul came out on Sat. We had a lot of fun figuring out how to move logs up a steep slope. The log dolly was the trick. If you balance the log on the dolly it is really easy to pull logs up the hill. First picture is of the quad loaded down with equipment. The rest are how we managed the task. And yes the quad is pulling logs up the dam while on the ice. The snow has multiple layers of ice and snow that creates great traction. Lots of fun and it was a crazy day of pulling logs like that.
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More pics
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And Paul I found that mouse trap think your sneaky don't ya lol
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Good work guys, whoever invented the wheel was one smart fella. :)
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Annette and Isaac helped with clearing the brush from the dam today here are a couple pictures. Only 8 trees left out of 45 or so. It did not look like this much work when I started lol.
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Went tam here is the photo of the planes I have been buying at yard sales and such. So do let me forget to ask you about them on the 15th
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Looks like there is some usable iron in there. Next time I'm over I will bring some sharpening stones and we can tune one up. Remember my warning tho, vintage hand tools are addictive, I treasure mine more than any power tool I own.
Me
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Sounds great Matt. Looking forward to the 15th. The weekend was fun and we got a lot done on the dam. The temp yesterday was 45 and the ground was wet so we couldn't move logs. Today we have a high of 4 so the ice on the ground should be sharp. After work going to move some of those 14 footers and 8 footers that are already up on the dam. Temp is going to be 18 on Tuesday so I should get the other 8 cut then. That will leave logs for milling. Then a day for cleanup and then we will be done till spring seeding.
When the dam project is finished I will be starting on timber stand improvement so this means more staves on the way!
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Iowan news
I have two young men that want to come and finish building their bows on saturday. They already have the ring chased on their staves. They are driving 5 hours to get here so I want to make sure I have help before I tell them to come down. They would like start on Saturday and finish their bows the same day. Please let me know if you can help out so that I can let them know. Looks like the snow will be on friday not saturday. Also if you have projects to work on there should be lots of time to work on them also.
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Just about got it knocked out 2-3 trees left and cleanup.
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Tim stopped by work and dropped off a box he made for the quad. Just in time too, the 24 year old hoist box bit the dust after much use this winter. Now we have two good chainsaw boxes for both saws.
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Iowan news
The boys from up north are coming early Saturday morning. When tam if you can make it great Tim and Steve are coming but will only have Tim for a short time. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
On another note my college ask me to provide a demo on primitive skills to my colleagues. This will take place during our scheduled professional development day. This should be a lot of fun. If your in the area and would like be a guess I am sure I could arrange that. Date, time, and place TBA when I get more info. Nothing cooler than knappin at work.
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Cool pictures, looks like a lot of work in that cold!
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It has been very cold! Many days cutting in 8 degree weather. Here is a panoramic view of the completed cutting that I just finished. Now I have a lot of clean up and logs to move and some chainsaw milling to do.
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Here are a couple more
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Iowan news
IF you have not read this post from the beginning I will bring you up to date. We are in the seedling stages of building an archery group in the southeast Iowa area. Inspired by this website and the Twin Oaks Bow Club in TN, we too are dedicated to passing on the tradition of primitive archery. What we have accomplished so far, helped about 15 guys build their first bows. This got started with help from Scott, Josh Barnes, Beadman, Jw Halverson. These guys helped jump start the first members from there these new members are helping the next set of guys and I hope it continues to grow form this point on. We have a campground area cleared, logged timber for a structure, organized for Iowa Jam, and have started meeting regularly. So I think all of you can understand why I am so looking forward to this weekend. My weekend starts when I leave at 1 on Friday and meet Tim at the house to move logs from the dam toward the new shelter area. It will be nice to have that project completed before the thaw. Moving logs across frozen ground is easier than across that new dirt on the dam which will turn to mud in a couple weeks. The two guys that need that help on their bows will come Saturday at 8am and work till their bows are done. Steve, Paul, Tim, and Matt (coming at different time during the day) will be helping. Such a great group of guys! This might be the first time that I sit back and watch!. Sunday I hope to take the day off and just knap a little and relax.
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(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/003_zps9f6aea45.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/003_zps9f6aea45.jpg.html)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/002_zpsdc83b6e7.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/002_zpsdc83b6e7.jpg.html)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g429/mle3434/001_zps53f72d89.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/mle3434/media/001_zps53f72d89.jpg.html)
The next step is to cut away everything that does not resemble Johns new workbench.
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Hey Matt that looks like its going to have enough weight to handle the abuse that we are going to throw at it. With your skills it's going to make the old one look like firewood lol. Wow and that guy really came through with some nice wood.
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The two young men have shown up & are hard at work.
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We got the bows being built now.
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Awesome! Wish I was there.
Me
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More
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Wow, everybody is moving so fast they are blurry!
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Way cool John! I'm looking forward to roundup season so I'll be in the area more to hang out with you guys! Josh
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looks like fun John. Issac right out there in the middle of things and all. Way Cool!! dp
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Way cool John! I'm looking forward to roundup season so I'll be in the area more to hang out with you guys! Josh
we sure could use your input other than via phone. I only have 4 years of experience under my belt and that is just not enough to address the wide range of issues that can show up while making a bow. However helping others build bows build experience faster than on your own.
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looks like fun John. Issac right out there in the middle of things and all. Way Cool!! dp
yep he likes to have those adult conversations with Tom about whats going right and wrong in the shop. He seeks what he can't get from his father lol. He had a good time shooting the bow he got from jw at the first Iajam.
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Well the weekend was a blast with the dam clean up almost finished, two bows floor tillered and Paul coming over this afternoon to take a look at the progress on the timber for the new shelter...good times for sure. Hey When Tam your welcome to join us if your up for a hike in new snow. I hear a new storm is coming on Tuesday with lots more snow so dam work will halt till we get a melt. Just too hard to work on a slope with 2 foot of snow. The snow is not melting on the back side of the dam where the sun cant get to it. Looking forward to those 40 degree days. The temp now is 3 degrees seems like winter will never end.
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Matt, Paul is coming at 11am.
We had, counting mine, 5 bows going at one time I believe that is a record for our group. We would have had 6 but one guy could not make it due to snow.
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Looks like Santa's elves all grown up!
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Looks like great things were happening over there yesterday! So will the guys be coming back soon to finish their bows?
I would have MUCH rather of been there than snow blowing. Between the nice pile the ILDOT was kind enough to pile next to the vehicles and three break down/repairs to the snow blower, it only took about 4 hrs to redistribute the snow.
On an up note, I did start sizing the top for your new bench. It's going to be apr. 5' long 24" wide and 4" thick. Gotta get a gallon of glue and hope to have the top glued up today and start laying out the base.
Me
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Looks like great things were happening over there yesterday! So will the guys be coming back soon to finish their bows?
I would have MUCH rather of been there than snow blowing. Between the nice pile the ILDOT was kind enough to pile next to the vehicles and three break down/repairs to the snow blower, it only took about 4 hrs to redistribute the snow.
On an up note, I did start sizing the top for your new bench. It's going to be apr. 5' long 24" wide and 4" thick. Gotta get a gallon of glue and hope to have the top glued up today and start laying out the base.
Me
yes they will come down one more time and finish them out maybe on the 15th before our 2pm meeting. Paul and Steve will come out one evening this week and heat treat one of the bows. We all thought the bench we have was going to fall apart yesterday but it made it through the day. It is moving about 3 inches now lol. That bench your building sounds like it will be perfect. 4 inches is stout to be sure.
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Matt if you get this in time call me Paul and I could grab that glue and come help on the bench if you want.
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Cleared dam and Paul and Isaac having fun on the ice.
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It is -9 degrees in southeast Iowa! The high forecast for the next week is 24 degrees. Getting work done outside is very difficult. This winter has been so cold for so long that working in 15 degree weather seems like a normal temp for a work day.
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Looks like the bunch and club is starting to come together. ;) :)Careful what you wish for as I was told many years ago. :)It can get a little over whelming at times. :)
Pappy
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You have been busy
Great job , keep it up
Have fun
Guy
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Got Isaac's finger x rayed and yep it is broken. He did it at wresting practice the other night. He tried to act like it was no big deal as it was swollen to twice it's size. Heading now to an orthopedic surgeon to have a look at what needs to be done. Not one complaint about pain from this kid. I think he is more worried about what his mom is thinking.
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Young Mr. Tough Guy!
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Just remind him that "Pain is temporary and chicks dig scars!"
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:) :) :) hope all goes good with that,ant his shooting finger is it. :(
Pappy
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:) :) :) hope all goes good with that,ant his shooting finger is it. :(
Pappy
little finger right hand so he should be good.
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Had a great weekend and got some time to work on my mentor bow. Tim came over and worked on his bow. Last night Paul and I went to our local bow club meeting and they threw huge support our direction for our Iowa Jam coming in march. They will provide all of the targets for the 3d shoot and help setting up for the event. Our group offered to help set up their shoots and assist with the youth jam at the Big Hollow Recreational Area. Our group bought a youth traditional long bow and donated it to be given away at the youth jam in may.
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Had a great weekend and got some time to work on my mentor bow. Tim came over and worked on his bow. Last night Paul and I went to our local bow club meeting and they threw huge support our direction for our Iowa Jam coming in march. They will provide all of the targets for the 3d shoot and help setting up for the event. Our group offered to help set up their shoots and assist with the youth jam at the Big Hollow Recreational Area. Our group bought a youth traditional long bow and donated it to be given away at the youth jam in may.
And THAT is why the Sons Of Archery Bodark Originals didn't break with their archery club!
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Had a great weekend and got some time to work on my mentor bow. Tim came over and worked on his bow. Last night Paul and I went to our local bow club meeting and they threw huge support our direction for our Iowa Jam coming in march. They will provide all of the targets for the 3d shoot and help setting up for the event. Our group offered to help set up their shoots and assist with the youth jam at the Big Hollow Recreational Area. Our group bought a youth traditional long bow and donated it to be given away at the youth jam in may.
And THAT is why the Sons Of Archery Bodark Originals didn't break with their archery club!
yep a kinda sympathomimetic/ synergistic relationship
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Very much looking forward to the weekend. All kinds of activities planned. First Isaac and I tapped the maple trees yesterday and he will again this year be doing the maple tree sap run for the next couple of weeks during the flow. Saturday Evan and Tyler will be coming down to finish their bows starting at 8am. Craig, Tim and maybe Paul will be coming to help tiller them out. I was hoping to work on my mentor bow in between all of the activity. it is looking like one of the best bows I have ever buit. At 2:00 pm we have a primitive group meeting (SOABO) and it will be our first day light meeting this year. I am going to do the tanning demo that we skipped last meeting so everyone can get up to speed on tanning those hides. This will also be our last meeting before IAJAM. We still have a lot to do to get ready but this time we have help from the club.
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Sounds like a full weekend,have fun and stay warm. You tanning a hide in a day,you are the man. :) Takes me at least 2 and that ant counting fleshing/racking and scrapping. :)
Pappy
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Sounds like a full weekend,have fun and stay warm. You tanning a hide in a day,you are the man. :) Takes me at least 2 and that ant counting fleshing/racking and scrapping. :)
Pappy
Thanks Pappy, On the tanning, I already have it scraped just going to demo how to wring it out. Then I will wait till Sunday and finish stretching and drying it. The smoke demo will be done at a later date.
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Got it, I was thinking I need to see that demo if you turn one out that quick. ;) :) :)
Pappy
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Shell and I will get there as early as we can likely 11.....ish. Very much looking forward to it!
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Shell and I will get there as early as we can likely 11.....ish. Very much looking forward to it!
Paul's daughter was wondering if your daughter was coming?
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Maddie won't be there this trip, she has plans with her grand parents.
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Ok Matt we are hard at it
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I too am looking forward to Iowa Jam in March. While out of the state this winter I collect some 4 to 5 inch diameter bamboo. I hope to get some tips in March as to how to use it to back a bow. There sould be plenty to trade. I cut it just before the first of the year in Louisiana. It should be cured by March. It is just now loosing the green color here in Arizona. Any suggestions on handling and processing?
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Hey John and guys, great time today! We would have liked to stay longer but as usual weather jacked that up. Tell Annette that Shell will be ready for a few more laps to the maple pots about June :) Did the boys get their bows done?......pics?
Me
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Wow what a day they just left. 12 hours of string building bow building and our monthly meeting/shoot. I had really great help from the group and did not have to watch every tiller check and that was cool. Here are a couple pictures from the day.
Silver john I have not backed with boo but Craig has and maybe he can answer questions but many on this site have and can be of great help to you. Looking forward to meeting you as well.
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Here are a couple pics of them shootin their bows and Craig breaking a stick just as poor tyler starts to pull his bow. After these pics they finished the tips.
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AWESOME!
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anvilfire.com
nice score John! Sounds like your may be a 130#
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Ok cool here it is with better pictures. Hopefully i didnt get hurt for the 100
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Found this while cleaning
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Cool stuff going on! That anvil looks like a dandy! Josh
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I too am looking forward to Iowa Jam in March. While out of the state this winter I collect some 4 to 5 inch diameter bamboo. I hope to get some tips in March as to how to use it to back a bow. There sould be plenty to trade. I cut it just before the first of the year in Louisiana. It should be cured by March. It is just now loosing the green color here in Arizona. Any suggestions on handling and processing?
You need to rip it with a table saw on the sides just so you get past the hollow area inside. Its hard to explain so a little common sense is required as well as the finesse of your hands on the saw. Once you rip it, sand it flat on the "hollow side" with a belt sander. Wear gloves. Bamboo will cut you like a razor if it lets loose. Sand it flat until there is no more hollow space, the key here is to make a solid gluing surface. While you are sanding the boo flat, you will make a razor edge on the sides. Save yourself some trouble and sand the outer parts of the grass (bamboo) a little more than the middle making a tapering effect (this will help with tillering). I like to keep the grass pretty thin, by that I mean use some common since because you dont want the boo backing to be thicker than the bow you are backing. Keep in mind that you are only using the boo to back the bow, keeping the violated fibers of the real wood from lifting. Some folks say that you need to make the nodes in the grass centered on the bow to prevent it from breaking, that rule of thought implies that the boo is part of the working limb, and it is most likely to break on the nodes. Well, as long as you get the grass thin enough as to not overpower the back, this is not an issue in my opinion and is more of an ascetic appeal. I glue the grass onto the bow with urac 185 (available at 3 rivers) and clamp it by wrapping it with shrink wrap or saran wrap (you know what I mean). This works really well. After you wrap it, this is a good time to put any reflex or deflex into your stick (soon to be a bow). I do this with C clamps and blocks of wood. Let it dry completely, and remove from the form if you are using one and take off the shrink wrap. Continue building your bow.
Craig
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That being said, I believe that a chased ring is way more stronger than a backed bow. The reason I say this is because on a backed bow, you are relying on a glue joint. On a chase ring bow, you are relying on the tree that has not broke in umteen years.
Craig
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We woke this morning in Iowa to an icy winter mix they closed school for Isaac and my college. So we have the day off and we are making preparation for this weeks sap flow. Last year we just bought taps and used available buckets and pans which we are using again but also bought some real tap buckets with nice lids. Hope to keep the bugs and small tree parts from the sap collection. Craig gave use a turkey fryer to boil down the sap out side this time and we got food safe 5 gallon buckets to store the sap in so thinks should work out better this year.
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Last tree taped
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Artificial maple syrup is better than it was 20 years ago...but it will NEVER be what the real stuff is. Wow, I am so jealous of this lifeskill you and Isaac are learning!
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Artificial maple syrup is better than it was 20 years ago...but it will NEVER be what the real stuff is. Wow, I am so jealous of this lifeskill you and Isaac are learning!
Thanks JW this has been on my list my whole life. I can remember as a kid reading about it and wanting to do it. Isaac is really into the process and he does the sap runs without even being ask.
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Hey Matt there was a wind fall (white oak?) 24 plus tree on the ground from last year. I was thinking this might be a good shake tree? Sounds like an easy process.
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Sounds like fun to me.........white oak also makes great Morris chairs :)
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Sounds like fun to me.........white oak also makes great Morris chairs :)
I am looking for a froe tomorrow in the antique shop. If not heck we can just make one. Too much fun stuff and not enough time.
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I got an early birthday gift from my daughter who lives in Colorado. She and my wife conspired a surprise visit. Here are a couple pictures from yesterday.
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Nice,looks like winter up there. :)
Pappy
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Wow, John. That is one gorgeous daughter, she doesn't look anything like you at all! >:D
What a wonderful surprise, I bet your face hurts from all the grinning!
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Nice,looks like winter up there. :)
Pappy
It will never end.
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Wow, John. That is one gorgeous daughter, she doesn't look anything like you at all! >:D
What a wonderful surprise, I bet your face hurts from all the grinning!
yep very happy and very surprised and thank you.
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I ordered a 4 ton 4 inch snatch block for moving some of the timber. Had no idea it would be built so heavy. I think it could handle any abuse I can give it!
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Flint knappin demo at my Community College. Made a nice ABO preform.
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Two pails of sap and a beautiful sunset on this Saturday night in Iowa.
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Dude! Take a minute and clear a few messages from your inbox!!!
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Dude! Take a minute and clear a few messages from your inbox!!!
done
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Just found this spot on the side of my next bow stave. Looks like the chased ring is separating from the next ring. Chase the s.o.b. To next ring?
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If got enough meat to chase it, CHASE IT!
Better you find that problem now, than later down the road! Sic'em, boy, sic'em!
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If got enough meat to chase it, CHASE IT!
Better you find that problem now, than later down the road! Sic'em, boy, sic'em!
Thats what I thought..........life sux, evrything I touch lately turns to poop! I better make sure theres enough Scotch in the house to chase that today.
Thanks for the help though!
Matt
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My best day saw me break or ruin three half finished bows. Remember, this is just a chunk of a tree at this point.
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Hmmm, I like that. So basically there is little more than a fork in the road between bow and firewood?
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...and when you come to a fork in the road, take it! ;)
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...and when you come to a fork in the road, take it! ;)
And be sure to turn this way, NOT that way! Got it?
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Hey call me when you get a chance went tam
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Here are a couple pictures from the day. Jennifer wanted to drive the tractor this morning so we did a little snow removal work. Paul came over and we worked on his bow which is the first splice bow made in the shop thus far. We hooked up the cutter to the tractor and worked down a couple stick stumps on the drive to the campground. After working the drive we surveyed the new cabin site and located a couple trees that might be candidates for shake material for the roof.
Yesterday I did a little antique shopping and found a couple nice tools seen below is a adzes and a Heller blacksmith hammer I found for 8 dollars.
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Didn't accomplish near what I had hoped, but did finish my stave press idea.
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Here's another angle...
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That's smart can't wait to give it a try.
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Just got done taking the new stave vice for a spin, it really works well. Oh, and the sob stave is less one more troublesome ring :)
Tomorrow night, the hens will have run of the house, so I'll be in the cave and the goal is to make the sick look more like a bow.
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Today I am the big 5....0 yes 50 years old.
Went tam how did it go last night?
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Well, happy birthday John! I'm enjoying the link and it looks like you all are making a lot of progress. Your garage/shop looks great, are you currently working on that canoe frame, did you start it from scratch? Very cool photos and very interesting.
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Happy Birthday MR Bybee! I guess you are gettin "old"
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Well, happy birthday John! I'm enjoying the link and it looks like you all are making a lot of progress. Your garage/shop looks great, are you currently working on that canoe frame, did you start it from scratch? Very cool photos and very interesting.
Thanks man. The garage bow shop is going to move to a new location on the property. Craig , Paul, and Matt have some great ideas about a cabin/ workshop. I am going to combine the wood fired shed, blacksmithing area and bow making areas into one central location what will have an archery range connected to it. The current plan is timber framing covered with board and batten and shake roof.
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Today I am the big 5....0 yes 50 years old.
Went tam how did it go last night?
Happy B-day JB!! Have you got your AARP card filled out and ready to mail yet?
Last night went well, layed it out and cut everything that didnt look like a bow off with the band saw. Cleaned it up a little. Before I go in tonight, it will be ruff shaped and partially floor tillered.
I really need to sharpen my big rasp, shes a little dull.
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Caulled and cooling.
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Cool
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I had wondered how much reflex your design caulled for!
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And the tillering begins. The odds makers have it 10 to 1 that I hose it up.....tempting to get in on that action.
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I had wondered how much reflex your design caulled for!
lol
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And the tillering begins. The odds makers have it 10 to 1 that I hose it up.....tempting to get in on that action.
Right now the tiller looks perfect!
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Hey Matt is this the SOB stave? I worked the mentor bow some more yesterday and Paul and I tillered out that splice bow. That stave that Steve used to make his bow must have been real strange. He broke one limb when the bow was just about tillered out. The other end we used on the spliced bow and as we shot it in we noticed a splinter lifting yet again and the ring is fat. I guess some wood is use not going to make a bow. Anyway I had to wrap it but is was a opportunity to photo the process for Tyler's bow
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Hey Matt is this the SOB stave?
Yes, not the very first one, I have another name for that one, this the one that we chased as a group and then I found the separation in the ring last week.
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Here's where the "SOB" bow is right now. 46# @ 26" 4# less than my target but not an epic fail.
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I think your doing great. Is this your 3 bow now? Matt people like to see the back, belly and unbraced side pictures also because it helps them understand the design. Different designs can have different tillers. It looks like a lever bow to me. If you like the poundage and look of your third bow don't change it. If you wanted to continue tillering it some of the better bow builder would give advice if you added a couple more pictures.
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Just remember the efficency of a well tillered 40 pound bow could out preform a 50 pound bow in speed, comfort, accuracy. On the other hand a bow with a stiff limb is a bow and a bow you over work is fire wood.
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Had a little shop time over at Went tam's place. This guy has the most amazing set of tools. Check this out he used a radius plane to plane the caul he made and the saw he uses is all handmade. This is me continuing work on the mentor bow. This bow is going to be real nice.
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I have the same plane that I inherited from my grandfather!
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Really enjoyed the shop time JB. Especially the part where I showed you how to make lots of little rocks out of much larger ones, a handy skill if you have a primitive drive way to build. Of course that stuff you were doing with the rocks was pretty cool too. Maybe someday I can make something other than driveway fodder.
The circular plane is one of my favorites, doesn't get used a lot, but it's great for what it's made for and I just think the construction of it is so cool. Made in the day when tools sacrificed neither form or function.
Will most likely go out and pick through the gravel on the shop floor and make some more gravel later :)
ME
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With snow on the ground the syrup making season begins.
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First round of maple syrup just about done. Isaac made us a label for our bottle.
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With the maple syrup done for today I started working on the timber stand improvement project. Matt I was able to, with Isaac's help, set one of the trees up for cutting with the chainsaw mill.
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Awesome! Obviously today didn't work out for me. I have some time in the am tomorrow, and Shell and the girls are going to Nebraska next weekend thru Monday, so I'll have all kinds of time then.
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Ok if you want to come out in the morning that would be cool. We can take a look at the timber I am working on. In the afternoon Paul is coming out to work on bows.
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WTH! Does the weather always have to turn to $&@! when I make plans to come to your place?
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Matt I am not sure that the snow will ever go away. 3 more inches last night.
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Not going to make it over, as I will end up being the shuttle pilot for two girls that stayed at grandma's last night.
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Hey Matt sorry the weather was bad but forgot to tell you about the elm. I think it is a white elm. It has a straight trunk for about 30 feet. It grew in the bottom of the valley and is dead straight and 18 plus inches I think. This tree is competing in the canopy and will kill 2 real nice walnuts and younger white oaks so it has to go. Maybe it is red going to check the bark again today. Anyway this is a nice wind fall. It is going to be hard to drop do to its location.
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We will mill this guy for sure. We may have to wench the trunk out to get it to the ground. I don't like the idea of climbing and topping it. I will post a picture of it today when I go out to work.
Anyway go a lot more done on the mentor bow and it is now heat treated.
The pond is filled and I will start digging the new over flow tomorrow.
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About half way done with the timber by mid day and had to switch to dam repair. The repair this fall worked great and the pond filled faster than I expected. I was going to dig a trench this spring with the tractor but it is too wet to move on the dam with it so all digging now is by hand. That's the news from Iowa and yes that is snow on the ground.
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I host an event called the "Iowa Jamboree" or Iajam. The Iajam is a 3d shoot for primitive archers and tradition archers. This year will be the 3rd annual Iajam. The dates for this years Iajam are Friday March 21 starting at 9:30am and Saturday the 22nd starting at 9:30am. Annette and I host this event here at the "farm" and invite folks from across the county to participate. In addition to primitive archery there will be demonstrations on other primitive skills like flint knapping, spear throwing (atlatl), 3d archery shoot, and many other activities. If you have ever wanted to learn how to craft your own bows and arrows, wanted to make arrowheads or learn other primitive skills this is the place to be this weekend! Also, this is the first weekend without snow! Very primitive camping available.
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Cool,looks like fun. Good luck with this,we need a lot more events like that around the country. :)
Pappy
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Cool,looks like fun. Good luck with this,we need a lot more events like that around the country. :)
Pappy
Thanks Pappy it has been a tough winter and all of the projects got piled up at the last minute due to the cold weather. Timber work, maple syrup , dam repair and Iajam all in the same week is a lot to handle. Our club has been a big help could not have made through the week without them. I am digging and cutting timber then setting targets today.
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Takes time to dig frost. So far I am winning on the dam. No rain for the next week so the pond should drain down and handle the next rain. This ditch will be the emergency over flow when the new pipe goes in. Just hoping no bad rains come before I get the pipe in. There was no way to get a backhoe in so this was all dug by hand over the past three days.
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Check this one out Matt...Ash tree
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Yeah....I'm drooling!
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Here are some pictures from IAJAM 2014. We had a real nice gathering of folks and had a great time working on bows, eating great food, target shooting, flint knapping and throwing the atlatl. We had a number of PA members show up and a couple new guys as well. Pictured are Went tam, Silver John, Ninja, Beadman, Steve, Tim M, Tim J, J.B., me (iowabow), Annette, and Isaac. Annette made some really great food for everyone.
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Here are a couple more from the course and the duck shoot across the pond.
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The great Bow V.S. Atlatl competition. You be the judge ;)
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I had a wonderful time the last two days at IAJAM. I learned a great deal about bow building, arrow making and arrow tuning. Iowabow and Annette were wonderful hosts. Thank you for hosting a memorable weekend.
Silver John
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That looks like fun to me. Tis the season! ;D 8)
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Looks like a Great time ! Thanks for posting - Bob.
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Your welcome John we really enjoyed having all of you out!
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I'm sure sorry I missed it John. Looks like good times for sure. Josh
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Always fun when you get a lot of like minded folks together. ;) :)
Pappy
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Always fun when you get a lot of like minded folks together. ;) :)
Pappy
You, of all people, understand that principle, Pappy! Iowabow goes to your event to soak up the attitude and ambience so he can replicate it in Iowa. Having been to both events, I gotta say both share that wonderful sense of camaraderie and helpfulness. The only difference at this time is simply scale!
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It was a real good time, very much looking forward to the next!
John will most likely neglect to post the final scores in the 3d shoot, so I guess I'll gloss over the highlights. A lot of guys shot arrows, and I edged John out for the win by one point. Prolly the last and only time John hands me a pencil and a score sheet and says "Here, you don't mind keeping score do you?" I was unbeatable!
Seriously tho, he's the real deal, two shots, two hits in a floating duck decoy from 25yrds. I was impressed!
Thanks John and Annette!
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Pictures/pictures,where are the pictures. ;) ;D ;D ;D Ya WT keeping score is always a plus for me also. >:D ;)
Pappy
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The bow vs atlatal competition looks cool.
Kevin
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The bow vs atlatal competition looks cool.
Kevin
There is reason you would have never seen a fat guy with atlatal back in the day, because you can't hit any thing with an atlatal!
My right shoulder is still sore.
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Would you guys like to see a video of the atlatl out scoring the bow?
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Would we? :P :P :P you bet we would! :P :P :P
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Ok here was the Great Atlatl contest between the bow and atlatl. I shot against Silver John and Ninja and lost only once I think. This was a lot of fun!!!
https://youtu.be/6_9o6BLs9xU (https://youtu.be/6_9o6BLs9xU)
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pfffft......camera tricks! No one used an atlatl to hunt with that didnt end up starving to death. Actually, I believe that it was the first weight loss aid. "Here chubby, take this out and only eat what ever you can kill with it."
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Sounds like a grudge match is brewing. :)
Who will finally prove that they and they alone posess the superior weapon! ;)
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Sam Colt :)
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Plan for this morning is to prep for chainsaw mill work that I hope to start around 2pm
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Got the rails cut free from last year's log. The screws were in too tight to remove last year and I never got back out to cut them free so they set under the snow all winter. Annette and I moved all the gear and rails down to the log and got things set up for the milling this afternoon. Then we went to the dam on the pond and checked the status of our overflow ditch and then seeded down the slope on the dam to stabilize the soil. I have the DNR coming on Monday to do a site visit and advise on pipe drain size and installation. All in all my mind is at ease now that we have 9 inches of free board. This should be good for the emergency over flow ditch height and the pipe then will be dug to create a 1.5 foot free board...anyway that is my current mind set. Also a 6 inch low spot on the dam will be filled and raise the free board just a bit more.
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The mill work went well here are a couple pictures of the afternoon activities.
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Short sleeves and the Gun Show is ON!
Nice work on that log. How thick are the slabs?
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Ah, the "sit and scooch" method. Very effective with those Alaskan mills.
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I have thought abut getting one of those same chainsaw mills. How big a saw do you use with yours?
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I have thought abut getting one of those same chainsaw mills. How big a saw do you use with yours?
The first saw was a 50 cc but it would lag so i bought on craigslist a 55 cc and it works much better. The key is to order a couple rip chains. The chainsaw surface is cleaner than a saw from a standard mill.
@ JW as far as the guns well bow building, timber stand improvement, and digging that trench has kept me in shape this winter. The slabs are 1 1/4 , and 2 1/4 .
@ Olanigw when the arms get tried it is the best method plus you get to sit and take a break while the saw does the work. I am getting smarter by running the saw down hill now. This way gravity can do some of the work.
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I am getting smarter by running the saw down hill now. This way gravity can do some of the work.
Uncle of mine out in Washington state cuts vine maple, yew, and other PacNW woods for bowmaking and told me there was never a good piece of bow wood downhill from the truck!
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Uncle of mine out in Washington state cuts vine maple, yew, and other PacNW woods for bowmaking and told me there was never a good piece of bow wood downhill from the truck!
Great attitude, but in reality I've found the exact opposite. It's one of Murphy's Laws. ;) ;)
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This tree was just given to me wow!!!
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Here is a picture from wood I cut yesterday and pulled out from the valley with the quad today. This is butternut hickory.
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Is that yellow heartwood in that dropped tree???
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Good Stuff John!! dp
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Is that yellow heartwood in that dropped tree???
Yep osage orange
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Good Stuff John!! dp
Thanks man...too much fun
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JB and I are getting started on his bow tonight.
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JB and I are getting started on his bow tonight.
Heck ya Matt thanks for taking him on. You guys are going to do great. Man in 5 years we are going to really grow as a club.
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That really makes me happy to see that Matt.
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Just let me know if you need a string I can make him up one when you get to that point.
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Real good progress, there were some deep checks in the back but we got to one ring from our target. The checks are almost gone and should come out with the last ring. This stick looks awesome!
JB is fun to have in the shop, and doing great chasing rings.
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you guys really got after last night. looking good cant wait to see it when it is done.
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My lumber pile is starting to grow.
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Craig brought his canoe over so we could paddle on the new pond. Found this huge snapper in shallow water and I let him go.
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Thought you guys might like to see the hitch for the quad
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That is awesome, but is it legal to pull that thing all the way to Oquawka?
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That is awesome, but is it legal to pull that thing all the way to Oquawka?
lol the answer is yes because it is a farm implement.
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John, is the Iowa Path leading to Tennessee in a few weeks?
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Yes sir Mr. Pat going to try and finish the mentor bow down there
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Thought you guys might like to see the hitch for the quad
Bwahahaha! I gotta say, I am Red Green with envy! Might I suggest a touch more duct tape?
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OK JW, get your arse over to Iowa and hitch a ride with John again. >:(
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Ok here is the plan JW I am putting duct tape on the trailer and you can sit on it all the way to TN. >:D
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That sounds like a good plan for JW, Nice hitch John,that is what we call thinking out of the box. :)
Pappy
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Duct tape! That's like first class. How could you not JW?
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Let's see, drive 12 hours one way. Get duct taped to a trailer and drug thru the rain and windy roads to some holler back in the hills full of gap-toothed, shoeless hillbillies carrying primitive weapons????
What's not to love!
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So, are you on? ::)
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Working an angle, but I just did my taxes and I am in shock.
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So funny!!!
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Every year for the past few years I have been one of the presenters at Monmouth College during their archeology day. This year I will present on Wednesday a flint knapping demo with "ABO" tools, my ABO heat treating results from two firings and other primitive skills. If you are in the area please stop in and check it out.
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Good luck with your presentation John,I know you will do well. :) JW it always shocks me also. ;) :)
Pappy
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That hitch is redneck engineering at its finest! Lol! It looks like you've been as busy as usual. Josh
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Here is the poster they had up. I had a chance to check out the collect for about 30 minutes and it was cool.
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This weekend is going be a little more low key. Leroy and Chris are coming over on Saturday to help move shelter poles starting at 11:30 am and then doing a little target shooting afterwards.
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Have fun,everyone needs a little relaxing weekend from time to time. All work and no play thing ,ya know.
Pappy
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A lot got done today with Paul and Leroy. Also Annette put the first fish in the pond today. We moved most of the logs up off the dam. We also got most of the shelter logs moved. And then did a little shooting.
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Moving trees is a lot more fun with help.
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More
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Looks like yall are making progress.Nice work,always good after a hard day to set back and look at things coming together. ;) Good interested helpers is always a plus also. ;) :) :)
Pappy
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Dang John, do you get anything done or just take pictures all day. :o ;) See ya soon! Oooga Booga!! dp
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Lol well its the lighting and makeup that is the real time bandit when work on location don't ya know. >:D
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;D ;D dp
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Just a little update on the Iowan happenings.
We have worked really hard to harvest timbers that would have been left on the forest floor after my timber stand improvement project this winter. This lumber will be used to construct our shelter. So the images that you are seeing is the back story to the building of our club shelter.
This is a project that will not happen very fast because the wood has to cure and we only have about half the lumber needed to complete the project (I am guessing but Matt is working on the shelter plans).
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Great to talk w/ you yesterday. Sounds like you are going to have a great place to shoot. Guess you didn't get a turkey since I haven't seen anything on the forum about it yet. Have a gooder Buddy, see you soon, dp
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Nope cant hear any can't see any.
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Little adze work and it wore me out. Definitely need to develop a different set of muscles for this work but it does not create dust and so I like it ....I think.
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I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where you would find such an odd and unusual tool.
I suppose you had to answer adze in the Antiques For Sale section of the classifieds!
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Nope I just adzed around.
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Smart adze!
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I had a witty comment, but was afraid I might come off as being a bit of an adze hole.
Using vintage tools will give you a whole new respect for the craftsmen of old.
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Tackling this big osage log.
http://youtu.be/-smhn_2pRWs (http://youtu.be/-smhn_2pRWs)
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Listen to this one crack!
http://youtu.be/awGhzdhqxfM (http://youtu.be/awGhzdhqxfM)
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Holy smokes!!!! :o. That's a dandy! Josh
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More tools for shelter building. What are your thoughts Matt?
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Nice finds! I gotta find this shop. Careful with the small hatchet....you could get a splinter.
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Hows the paw?
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Great now lol
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Annette said no hewing till after TN.
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Hewing isn't the problem, nothing bad happens when only the log is hewn.........just sayin ;)
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You should be rested up now John,so back at it. ;) :)
Pappy
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Heck he's fixin to take another vacation to go hunt turkey in South Dakota this week/weekend. He ain't got time to work. All play for John right now. >:D dp
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Got a phone call from the Flatlander. He is about an hour from South Dakota. He is steadily gaining altitude and attitude! Should be fun!
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Even though I walk through the darkest bow wood desert, I will fear no sage, for osage are with me; your limbs and your branchs, they comfort me.
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Where are the trees that turkeys roost in jw
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I'm starting to feel like this is a wild turkey hunt oh wait it is
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Boooooring ride for sure going across there !
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30 minutes in the field at 128 ridge and jw lights up the valley at 12:15 pm. WIth a response from a gobbler like a Swiss yodele and here they come running with no time setup . So I took a knee in an open meadow jw dropped back 20 yards and called them to me at 20 yards. I missed... score 1 shot one miss.
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Glad to see you found trees! ;D
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"Another Shot in the Dirt" by John Bybee. Soon to be at a book store near you. ;D ;D ;D
It's all about the chase anyway. Once you hit one then the work starts. ;) dp ;)
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This is an ABO point I made last night for JW's friend.
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Cool,some action. Nice point by the way.
Pappy
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What a view
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Poor iowabow. He didn't believe me when I told him how lusty the lungs are on our birds. We had one bird ringing the bell an hour before sunset. He was sure it was right below us on the ridge. After holding on a great set up on his roost site, we were so cold and miserable, we decided since we were so close to sunset and he had not marched uphill, the mountain was going to Mohammed. We diddy-wopped over the ridge out of sight and boogeyed down low, skirted around on him and put a sneak over the toe of the ridge down in the valley. A couple of yelps and it was obvious to me that he was still a ways off. I figured maybe a hundred yards on a low bench roost site that used to hold birds years back. It was getting too dark to hunt and we got out of the area without tipping our hand.
Once back to the vehicle, we turned and drove up the road closer to the roost sight. We pulled over and owl hooted to get a better line on the bird in the roost in order to make the next morning's hunt easier. He lit up with a rusty pipes yodel that rang up and down the canyons.....across the road, thru a subdivision, and up the next ridge.
When we were thinking he might be 100 yds off, he was still a half mile away. I tell ya, those Merriams have electronic amplification in their voice boxes! John and I were humiliated in all the usual ways and several very novel ways this last weekend. We were "bosed" by birds with brains the size of a shelled pecan, REPEATEDLY. But get this, we worked birds every time we went out. We had set ups, we had chances, we had opportunities. If we were shotgunning, everyone of us would have filled tags, but this was Primitive Archer Forum Wild Turkey Camp (a.k.a. Witless Protection Program).
Fun.
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JW thank very much for all the fun and laughs last week. This trip was one to remember for sure. Those bird do have mighty powerful lungs and it is all together different game in the Black hills. The biggest difference is that the way to move in on a bird is much more difficult because of the open and up and down nature of the terrain. Now your going to have to come and hunt easterns in Iowa.
I really like the moccasins Kyle made for me I wore them all day yesterday.
Below are a couple photos from the trip. Also on the way home my path crossed with Gun Doc and I dropped an osage limb off to him from Iowa.
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The truth be know I did not get a bird for two reasons. One we could have gotten a lot more hunting done if JW wasn't always messing with his partial when we stopped on breaks (amazing dental work here in the black hills). And two I should not have gone on a bird hunt with a bird lover (real conflict of interest here)!
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With all joking aside JW's work with the Black Hills Rapture Center is just short of Sainthood for he and co - founder Maggy. Pictured is an owl that has only one functional wing. The rescue stories and public awareness/education is very important work for the conservation of these birds. Between the two of them they have done thousands of public events where the injured birds work as ambassadors connecting the public to the ongoing challenges of the raptors in the black hills. It is the dedication of folks like Maggy and JW that really make a difference and has real impacts in the black hills.
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;D ;D ;D Love the pic of Jdub lovin on that decoy. ;D ;D ;D freakin funny, dp
John, you forgot the third reason you didn't get a bird....you missed it on the first day you were there. :o
again, "Another Shot in the Dirt" by John Bybee. Soon to be at a book store near you. ;D ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D Love the pic of Jdub lovin on that decoy. ;D ;D ;D freakin funny, dp
John, you forgot the third reason you didn't get a bird....you missed in on the first day you were there. :o
again, "Another Shot in the Dirt" by John Bybee. Soon to be at a book store near you. ;D ;D ;D
Did you have to bring that up again? Lol
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Wish I'd have been on the hunt with you fellas. Looks like it was good time. Thanks for the limb stave John! I appreciate it. Josh
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;D ;D ;Dhehehe... ;) yup, i guess I did. >:D
dp
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Ok check this in out while driving to the Black Hills for 65 dollars I picked up this vise and a super scale machinist vise off craigslist. I was going to trade this machinist vise for a broad axe that was 40 dollars but Gun Doc took it off my hands for the same price . So With cash in hand the hunt continued for the broad axe. I checked every antique shop from CO to MO and turned up goose eggs only. When I got in Iowa I found on Craigslist a broad axe priced 35 dollars and it was on my way home. So the pole vise only ran me about 20 dollars. These are great finds for the work we are a going to be doing.
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Looks like a fun week in beautiful country,bird or not. Not sure about the company
but I guess JW is a OK guy. ;) ;D ;D ;D Why does everyone pick on JW, Well I guess it is because he is such an easy target and takes it so good. :) Plus he throws it out pretty good his self. :)
Pappy
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Very cool stuff, Greg gave me a vice just like that at the Classic,got it all cleaned up and mounted,works like a champ. nice find. :)
Pappy
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;D ;D ;D Love the pic of Jdub lovin on that decoy. ;D ;D ;D freakin funny, dp
John, you forgot the third reason you didn't get a bird....you missed in on the first day you were there. :o
again, "Another Shot in the Dirt" by John Bybee. Soon to be at a book store near you. ;D ;D ;D
Did you have to bring that up again? Lol
My theory, Mr. Bybee, is that our bowtarist friend has a "dirty" mind.
One thing about our Iowabow, he has never failed to recover a Black Hills turkey that he has put an arrow into. >:D We laugh, we tease, but iowabow and I feel the same about the whole thing. It is about the opportunity, it's about getting out there, time spend on the ground....even if it is sitting on a hillside thinking of how we can snap funny picture with the upper jaws of a deer for a prop.
As for the photo of me lovin' on the decoy, we were just trying to make the gobblers jealous! Turns out they could not stand up to competition such as me! They all folded their fans and went home. Sorry John, I guess I am just too much of a strutter.
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That looks like it was a great time in beautiful country. Thanks for sharing the laughs!
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Truth be told never thought we would get close enough to take a shot. This was a great trip and hope to do it again someday. JW did a great job calling and brought in a number of birds. If we were gun hunting we would have taken a bird but for me that is just to easy
I think the bowgnome should join us next time.
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IS THAT AN INVITE!!! Sounds great to me! Make sure you give me some time to talk the wife into it and I'll be there. That is unless I come to hunt in Iowa...then I won't be able to do two trips to hunt. ;)
Bowgnome....I like that, may have to change my handle. ;D bowgnome...hehehe that's a gooder!
Looks like you guys had a great trip!
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Good pictures and fun to read. Glad you guys enjoyed.
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IS THAT AN INVITE!!! Sounds great to me! Make sure you give me some time to talk the wife into it and I'll be there. That is unless I come to hunt in Iowa...then I won't be able to do two trips to hunt. ;)
Bowgnome....I like that, may have to change my handle. ;D bowgnome...hehehe that's a gooder!
Looks like you guys had a great trip!
Hey wife's aren't invited hehe I know what you meant though...you need a kitchen pass >:D.
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Yes John, a kitchen pass. I don't just run willey nilley all over the place at my free will. That stopped when the kids came into the picture. ;)
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IS THAT AN INVITE!!! Sounds great to me! Make sure you give me some time to talk the wife into it and I'll be there. That is unless I come to hunt in Iowa...then I won't be able to do two trips to hunt. ;)
Bowgnome....I like that, may have to change my handle. ;D bowgnome...hehehe that's a gooder!
Looks like you guys had a great trip!
Hey wife's aren't invited hehe I know what you meant though...you need a kitchen pass >:D.
I've never met Mrs Bowgnome, but she is more than welcome to come. As for the ambulatory yard ornament, I have made no such offers. ;)
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Little behind posting on the path due to work on my up coming art show but last weekend Paul and I had a couple hours to do soom bow fishing and we had a blast . Sorry no other pictures we were just having too much fun and no time for pictures
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I have been posting a couple pictures of this up coming art show so here is a picture of another work. I created the pieces about 6 months ago but just now figured out how to display the work. The shafts are nocked at both ends and crested at both ends it is kinda like an inward identity concept.
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Nice display,been wondering where you been. :)
Pappy
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Hey JW, just caught up with those great pics. Gave me a good chuckle and a great deal of jealousy, we don't have any scenery that big over here >:( Well maybe in Scotland (shrugs)
Del
(you can put your teeth back in now)
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Paul and I made a few more fishing arrows today
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Them look deadly John. :)
Pappy
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Work is continuing in many areas here in Iowa. Yesterday we had people out to participate in an experimental electric conversion to a propane gas fired raku kiln. This is a way to get a little more life out of an old worn out electric kiln.
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Paul came out the other day and dropped off his 3 point post hole digger. This should make building the shelter a much easier process.
I am coming to the end of my art show projects for the show in July and looking forward to finishing work on my mentor bow once that is done.
Pipe for the over flow was dropped off the other day so maybe that can be dug in by fall.
Another ongoing project is our bee operations. We now have 4 hives up and going after a 4 way split from a colony we bought this year. We ordered 2 queens (for hive 2 and 3) and introduced a frame of freshly laid eggs (for hive 4) and they produced a queen from the frame. I think we are just very lucky that the weather is cooperating with cool days and rain every couple of days. This is keeping the flowers in bloom. It is great to see all four hives packing pollen.
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Thats some nice looking stuff,sounds like you are going to be busy. :)
Pappy
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I was going to ask how the propane conversion went, but then I saw the finished pottery. Duh.
Looking at that group of people, I come to the realization that I had made the same error of judgement that I have famously made all my life. I got into Rendezvous and muzzleloading to attract women....FAIL! Then Primitive Archery to attract women......FAIL! I am sensing a pattern here. but I think I can try again and maybe get it right. I'll get into pottery. Yeah, that's it, pottery! And then to add an air of mystery and such, I will let my hair grow and let my beard get all "Pat Brennan". That way I can be known in the art circles as JW, the hairy potter.
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Hey hairy potter, have you thought of going gay? ::) Maybe it's just the women. :-\
Nice pottery, John. Is the hedge hog a foot scrubber?
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Hey hairy potter, have you thought of going gay? ::) Maybe it's just the women. :-\
Nice pottery, John. Is the hedge hog a foot scrubber?
Not going to speculate on the foot thing don't want JW to get any ideas.
@ JW yep my late wife was a potter and meet her in a pottery studio .....I fell in love and and would tell you more but it's just a dirty story! Hehe
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Just finish another vertical piece for the art show. This one is made from willow and dogwood
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Here is what the look like together
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Beautiful work,you are making some really nice looking stuff,bet the folks that get to see it up close are loving it. :)
Pappy
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Thanks Pappy. Here are a couple of pictures of the bee hives. I am being kinda risky with the 4 way split but the weather is good for now and better than last year.
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Fresh honey,yum. I have thought about starting that myself,just seems their
is a lot to it so I have put it off. I use to have a guy that set up 8 or 10 on the far end of my place and would share the honey and wax when he pulled them out,he would leave them until early to mid summer and then take them to east TN. the farmers paid him to set them up around their bean fields,they must do a lot of good for most any crop. :)
Pappy
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Fresh honey,yum. I have thought about starting that myself,just seems their
is a lot to it so I have put it off. I use to have a guy that set up 8 or 10 on the far end of my place and would share the honey and wax when he pulled them out,he would leave them until early to mid summer and then take them to east TN. the farmers paid him to set them up around their bean fields,they must do a lot of good for most any crop. :)
Pappy
I am going to have to see if anyone needs hives setup. Sounds like a great way to make a little extra cash.
Went tame mentored JB's bow building and it went great. I went over to Matt's house yesterday and helped on the final tiller. We settled for a bow at around 45-48 pounds but amazing in other was that I will let Matt tell you about.
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That looks like a really cool vice. :D :D Do you have any info or more (closer) pictures. Is it normal vice mounted vertically or is it made like that? :) :)
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That looks like a really cool vice. :D :D Do you have any info or more (closer) pictures. Is it normal vice mounted vertically or is it made like that? :) :)
it is normal vice mounted vertically
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Art show is just about done. Went for a walk tonight and Annette took this nice picture of me with this really old Osage she likes.
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No that is a nice old tree,cool picture. :)
Pappy
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On Tuesday I did a flint knapping demonstration for the Native American Art and Literature course for our south campus. They had a field day at Iliniwek Village State Historic Site. This is a very cool site and we were guided through the site by Earl Walrath treasurer of the Iliniwek cheaper of the Missouri Archaeological Society. When I make it back to the office I will post more pictures.
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Things are really starting to come together now. Picked up a bush hog on Craigslist and it should make clearing the shelter area much easier. My first try at a corn food plot is interesting and it was planted by hand. The pile of wood is from a friend who tore off a back porch which also had a deck. This scrap and the wood cut with the mill this winter puts us on a forward path. After a long conversation with JW I just combined my two weak bee hives into one so now I have a total of three.
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The corn is getting taller each day and the blackberry patch is coming on strong. We just ran out of blackberry jelly from last year's batch. So I am looking forward to blackberry jelly at breakfast again. The bees are working hard and starting on the second deep hive body. We are down to a 1/4 of a jar of honey and looking forward to the honey harvest as well. The weather has been cool this summer with light rains every couple days these conditions are keeping flowers in bloom longer than in the past few years.
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Looks like you are making head way,you look like you have gathered enough supplies to get that shed started. Corn is looking good,blackberrys are just starting to come in here also. :)
Pappy
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Mmmm, blackberries! Once when on vacation out in Washington state, I fed my way into a blackberry patch like an old boar black bear. I quickly learned to only eat 'em if they FELL off the bramble when I touched them. I ate until I was full and didn't want another berry. I was 13 at the time. Luckily I have the digestion of a cur dog, I can about eat anything and do fine. I imagine most people may have had a little 'distress'!
Checked our swarm hives, iowabow. They are going gangbusters! At this rate they are going to surpass the two package hives we installed two months ago.
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Here are a couple pictures from the Art Show in the Burlington Art Center. This show was a collaboration with my friend Jared. You should see in this work influences from the primitive materials we all use.
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Picture
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Nice work, John. You do some really cool art. 8)
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Very nice stuff,and you say I stay busy. :-\ compaired to you I would say I don't.
Pappy
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Here are photos of the pond project. Lots of hours on this project. Enjoy.. this is one year before and after.
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How do you keep the duck weed off John?
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Well not completely sure just yet because this is my first year working the pond. So this will be a long answer. In the spring I bought 6 grass carp and a variety of others like bass bluegill etc. ...and I noticed that one had died so maybe there are 5 now. But the carp did not do the trick so I started to net the duck weed. You might ask why? and the answer was to remove it so light could reach the bottom of the pond so that plants in
pond could produce the oxygen needed for the fish. It took me a week to figure out that the duckweed can produce as fast as I can remove it. So I decided to treat with chemicals. My rational was that the pond was out of balance due to nitrogen and phosphate run off and all the trees litter form the surrounding banks. Now the water shed has been placed in crp set aside. When i started this project last year there were no fish in the pond. The fish had died off so the eco system needed to be re-balanced. So it hit it with bacteria to decompose the leaf matter and copper crystals to attack the submerged plants (I know this is counter intuitive but I am trying to reduce the work for the young carp) and weaken the strength of the duckweed. Then I hit it with an aquatic herbicide called tsunami dq. It was almost all dead on day one then it came back and I retreated it and it all just about has died. Now I only need to maintain control with spot spraying till I can order some Koi fish. If these actions don't neutralize the issue then I will move toward a bubble system to introduce oxygen and water movement to help reduce black mud build up. The crp and removal of trees from the dam and cutting all the walnut trees from the surrounding banks should go a long way to re-balancing this economy system. I fully expect it to take a couple years to put it back in check. As you can see in the picture many of the cattails died off with the rise of the water level after the dam was repaired. So I am seeing some natural balance and that is good. I hope that the fish can rebalance the pond so it requires very little work from me in the future.
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Sounds like a good plan. Sometimes you have to give nature a boost. ;)
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Nice snake found at the pond
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I'd love to have a pond; still water. We do have a nice creek with waterfall but our land is too steep or it would be ridiculously expensive to have a pond here. Water attracts all sorts of wildlife and I love it all. ;)
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Good job treating the symptoms, but missing the problem. The problem is that your pond is eutrophic, or over fertile. The weeds in the water are what are stripping the excessive nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus). The water plants were what were putting oxygen back into the water. Without them, oxygen is stripped by aerobic decomposition until the pond becomes hypoxic, and anaerobic decomp takes over. (Stinky stinky!)
Numerous water treatment plants are now using the duckweed as the nitrogen strippers in order to release clean water back into the environment. The duckweed was helping. By skimming it almost daily and dumping the plants in a compost heap will help remove those nutrients from the water. Same with aggressive harvest of any water weeds. Think of the water borne plants as nitrogen and phosphorus sponges.
By introducing plant eating fish, you simply add another step in a closed circle, i.e. the fish eat the weeds that are feeding on the nutrients and pooping out more nutrients for more weeds.
There are two short term ways of fixing the pond; A) the old adage, "the solution to pollution is dilution", but maybe you don't have access to a lot of fresh water to add to the pond, or B) carbon sequestration de-nitrification, let the plants do the work and remove the plants on a regular basis. The only long term solution is to reduce ag runoff, something not likely to happen in Iowa until the collapse of civilization as we know it.
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Jw thanks for the input. As I stated in the post the influx of nutrients has been address two fold by placing the tillable ground that is part of the water shed in crp so the influx of new ag material has been stopped and now acts as a filter for that water shed.
Second I have started the process of removing trees that add to the current condition.
Third the decision to remove the duckweed was to introduce light to the equation. The light will provide the energy to oxidize the nutrients.
Fouth Bacteria specific to breaking down these materials were introduced and are natural.
The issue is a stagnant ecosystem that can't break down the accumulation of material on the bottom. The duckweed is preventing the light from interacting with the rest of the system.
True that the duckweed if removed would help but including other parts of the equation I hope to bring a balance back to the system.
The water has to generate movement and that is not possible with duckweed covering the eco system and choking light out from the other players.
As stated the other plan is to introduce oxygen to facilitate the breakdown of material.
So yes I am treating the symptoms but I am also addressing the cause at the same time in an active and passive process.
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Let me more clearly state that ~all of the high ground above the pond is in set aside and is a clean water filter with an additional catch pond/basin just to the east of the pond.
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The catchbasin above the pond will certainly help "pre-treat".
Is there a foodplot crop that could be planted just above that margin as well to help strip the inflow? That would give a double benefit, too.
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Can't put a food plot on the crp but here is a Google Earth image of the water shed. Outside the line basically flows away. I will see if I can find a topo of the same to check the lines. Ant way you should be able to see the catch to the east. North is at the top as normal.
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What is crp ?? is that some kind of program ?
Pappy
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What is crp ?? is that some kind of program ?
Pappy
Yes it is called a conservation reserve program. This is mostly to prevent soil subject to erosion from washing away. Most likely when this pond was built a program was use to built it and many others like across iowa.
There are many different crp programs to enroll in and mine is a quail boarder plant seed mix.
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They have some stuff like that in TN. how long to they have control over what you do? Some here are for a few years 2or3 ,and some are long term. :) I have thought about it but hate the thought of someone telling me what I can and can't do,I would have never made a good soldier . ;) ;D ;D ;D not sure what trouble you are having with the pond but sure looks better to me. :)
Pappy
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They have some stuff like that in TN. how long to they have control over what you do? Some here are for a few years 2or3 ,and some are long term. :) I have thought about it but hate the thought of someone telling me what I can and can't do,I would have never made a good soldier . ;) ;D ;D ;D not sure what trouble you are having with the pond but sure looks better to me. :)
Pappy
I hear you on the control issue. Basically you have to be pretty sure that you are not going to change your mind about your goals for a particular part of your ground. Then if your goals and the government are in line then I would move forward. They are investing in the concept of conservation and soil retention. There is a value in this idea so they pay you to conserve. There are are also contract management practices that you need to follow which you are also reimbursed for. I had planned to do this anyway so it is a win win for the government and me. The catch is you must pay it back if you change your mind and want to do something else with the ground. It becomes a zero lost on my end.
The real kick in the teeth was when I bought my first ten acres that I wanted to build my house on... After I bought the ground the government told me I had to buy the ground back from them...it was enrolled in crp and I had to pay out about 700 dollars before I could build on the ground. That was a win for the farmer who sold the ground to a non-farmer ...I did not understand the crp game.
I have learned a lot since then and understand the issues so it's a real individual thing for each land owner. As I drive around I see that most farmers here have ground in various programs the trick is to make sure you don't trap yourself with these programs.
So I have some stuff in and some stuff out. The 2 acres to the east of the pond sits in a 10 year program but it was rolled over to me at my request and so it only has 5 or so years left on it.
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The main issue with the pond was nutrient accumulation from years of ag activity and tree litter. This accumulation creates conditions where duckweek thrives. So I am just trying to rebalance the current conditions with many approaches. Cutting all those trees off the dam for example was to allow the wind to blow the duckweed to shore so light can enter the pond and create oxygen this will help the stuff on the bottom of the pond to decay. The trick is to do things so the fish don't die. The fish are the "cannery in the mine" so if we have fish we have oxygen. It is a real mess but it is slowly getting better. I don't like using chemicals but if I don't the fish die due to lack of oxygen and then things don't decay ether. It is the chicken or the Egg issue.
JW is right about dilution being the solution. The overflow I dug is doing a good job also in flushing the duckweed out every time it rains. But it took years to get to this point now it may take year to repair it.
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That's cool, and what I thought,don't quite understand it so I have oped out of any of them so far. ;) I have been told to be SURE to read the fine print. ;) ;D ;D
Some of the bigger farmers around here almost make a living off them programs,they have learned the ropes and work it very well,alto most of them are year to year deals. :)
Pappy
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That's cool, and what I thought,don't quite understand it so I have oped out of any of them so far. ;) I have been told to be SURE to read the fine print. ;) ;D ;D
Some of the bigger farmers around here almost make a living off them programs,they have learned the ropes and work it very well,alto most of them are year to year deals. :)
Pappy
I hear ya. I make only enough to put gas in the tractor for the most part. I did it to help with the overhead because I am doing the conservation part already.
I do a lot more with the trees and that has been very informative and rewarding work. I do all the labor so the cost share goes in my pocket. This cash so far has covered the cost of the chainsaws. I am very honest with my bills and they ask me why the bills were so low and I told them I was not going to rip off the government just because there was extra money to be had.
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They need to enroll you into the Last Honest Man Reserve Program. So nice to see someone doing the right thing for the right reasons.
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I very much Agree JW refreshing to see. Pappy
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They need to enroll you into the Last Honest Man Reserve Program. So nice to see someone doing the right thing for the right reasons.
I don't know jw that was really nice to read but there sure are a lot of people on this website that do good by God and country and of course that includes you for one.
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On another note JW and all you other bee keepers my bees just hate me. I get anywhere near them they go crazy now. I guess I have invaded there territory just too many times. Even with the bees suit they sting the heck out of the gloves. I guess I am going to have to smoke them just to take a peek through the top cover.
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Hey, just wanted to say hi, I live in Newton and I've been getting into primitive archery over the last year. Spent some time last week down at MOJam and I've really got the bug now. :laugh: Glad to see there are some other people in the area, your get togethers look like a blast - as well as your IAJam event!
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Iowabow's group is unofficially known as S.O.A.B.O. (pronounced So Abo) for Sons of Archery Bo'dark Originals.
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Hi Chas I will keep you up dated on the activities here and you are welcome to join us at our next get together.
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Iowabow's group is unofficially known as S.O.A.B.O. (pronounced So Abo) for Sons of Archery Bo'dark Originals.
JW is a nomad!
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Finally back to working on the shelter project and the pond dam project. This week I will install an overflow pipe at the dam. So all the logs that were left at the dam had to be removed. Annette and I had time yesterday to move most of the large ones. Only a couple small piles remain.
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Why do racoons lick the post on my porch? Every night for a week .... just weird. We started seeing foot prints on the post so we set up a trail camera.
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It's the raccoon version of being a window licker. He's special, leave him alone.
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Was going to take a canoe ride but.....Holy buckets of snakes!!!
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After a year of working on the pond the project is just about to the end. Fish and wildlife folks came out and shot a level line for me today. We have a mini excavator on reserve for next week. Next week the drain will go in and the dam will be leveled with dirt. This year's work consisted of removing 50 or so trees, a repair to the breach in the dam, digging an emergency over flow and of course the building of the road to the pond. Wow it has been a hard year.
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Was going to take a canoe ride but.....Holy buckets of snakes!!!
...aka - Raw and as yet unprocessed bow backings!
OneBow
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Hope you guys are not too bored with pond pictures by now. Anyway today is a big day. We lay the tile in for the main drain and raise the center of the dam (the section that washed out during some past rain event). The center needs to come up about a foot across the center. The mini excavator was dropped off last night and I had a chance to get use to the controls as I worked in the barrow pit. After today the pond project will come to a close.
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Looks like it is all coming together,wished I one of those for a few days,I could find all kind of stuff to tear up with that. ;) :) :) :)
Pappy
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Looks like it is all coming together,wished I one of those for a few days,I could find all kind of stuff to tear up with that. ;) :) :) :)
Pappy
You would surprised how cheap it was to rent. I checked around at rental cost, most wanted 300 dollars for 24 hrs but you could run it only for 8 hrs plus 50 insurance and delivery and pick up between 150-200. Wow very costly but true value rented it to me for 210 for a full 24 with delivery and they took a certificate of insurance from my home owners agent. So the cost was about 1/3.
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Jumping between the loader and excavator 1 guy can get tons of work done in an hour.
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You have worked very hard to make this place become a dream come true and I would really like to see some pictures when the pond is full of water and fish and the vegetation has recovered. I can only try to imagine how much work there really was beyond the pictures. You have my respect for the work you have done. Joe
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You played with Tonka trucks when you were a kid, didn'tcha?
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Wow, John your hard work is really starting to pay off!!
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Yep Scott it has been quite an undertaking. Here are a couple of pictures from today. I regret to say I have a half a days work tomorrow to finish. Just as I started to top the dam with the bobcat the track came off. I managed to push the cat to the top of the dam but for the next 3 hour I fought to put the track on. Because of the bad situation with the cat on the pipe and close to the water using the tractor to push back the roller was not an option. So I hit it with a five pound till it moved in enough to get a lever on it. This was my fist time on a mini excavator and one has to be very careful on that very steep angle.
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Other than seeding I think it is done! Enjoy the final pictures and again note the angle on the back side that the excavator went down and then back up....I must be crazy.
The final picture is of the area we took dirt from. This area is now tent camping.
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Well we are back at it! Evan, Tyler and his friend stopped by and split wood. They left a couple to pass to the next new guys.
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More
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Guess what JW sent to our family in the mail. Hint it was a sweet gift.
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Today my back felt strong enough to pull my bow. I took it easy and only fired 10 shots. I damaged my back at the beginning of the summer and after physical therapy all summer I think I may be able to shoot again. I don't think I will be able to build a bow for a few more months but happy to get to shoot after so much time. It's going to be a couple more weeks before i try knapping.
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Great news! Keep doin' what your PT says.
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The weather held out great and we completed the bush hoging. Paul and Isaac helped put up deer stands and we got the post hole digger and back blade cleaned up and painted. That should be the last of the projects till opening day.
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Glad to hear your back is doing better,equipment and pond are looking good. :)
Pappy
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With the post hole digger painted and oiled it's time to test it out this weekend. Woke up this morning and had visitors in the front yard
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Looks like the post hole digger is going to work fine. I helped an rc flying club next to our archery club put in their fence.
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What is a rc flying club ?? Looks like it has cooled a bit up that way. :) Equipment looking good. :) Good to see you can do some shooting again. :)
Pappy
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Yep the temp has dropped off a bit. The rc stands for radio control. Isaac and I went out and checked the pond last night on the way home I climbed an old stand that needed the straps replaced. I am a little stiff this morning but in no pain so I think things a getting much better.
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John, hope your back gets better and the pond looks great. That was a lot of work. Did I tell you the company I work for designs and builds earthen dams? :)
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John, hope your back gets better and the pond looks great. That was a lot of work. Did I tell you the company I work for designs and builds earthen dams? :)
Thanks Eddie. That's cool how big are the dams?
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Real big. Some inpoundment areas are over 100 ' deep and 3 square miles. In some of the phosphate mining areas they are made out of all sand.
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Real big. Some inpoundment areas are over 100 ' deep and 3 square miles. In some of the phosphate mining areas they are made out of all sand.
Wow those are huge! No wonder you travel everwhere for work.
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What the heck do you do for overflow release with an earthen dam made of sand?
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John, just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading this 31-page thread this morning. I wanted to learn something more about Iowa, as my daughter is working on her Ph.D. in genetics at ISU in Ames.
So many things to absorb here. First off, I found your art pieces fascinating and very lovely. Are you an art professor?
The pond work is most impressive. Until a year ago, I had five acres of pasture and timber land, and even with my little diesel Mahendra, cutting and processing oak and Pacific madrone was exhausting -- especially for an old get with two lumbar fusions. So I have great respect for all that you accomplished cutting, moving and processing timber near the dam.
Really look forward to seeing how your pond responds. I hope you bring it into balance much sooner than later.
As far as bowyering, you guys are so fortunate to be in osage country. Wow there are some nice staves and bows in this thread -- and some very, very fine knapping.
I am not much good at either, but hope to get back into it. Here in Oregon, we of course have our wonderful Pacific yew -- and hazel and vine maple as well. I cut a vine maple stave just a week or two ago -- first stave I have harvested in years.
I am also a two-hour drive from the Glass Buttes, which provide obsidian in a number of colors and which are the location for the annual Glass Buttes Knap-Ins in March.
Anyway, enough gab. Suffice it to say I will keep my eye on this thread and your fine bunch of friends.
Bill
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Came across this thread and very happy I did, awesome stuff. I wish I had something like this! Good luck to you!
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I am really glad you enjoyed the post. I have a lot of great help bringing this club together.
I am an Art Instructor so it fits well with whole primitive making part of this adventure. Thank you for the complements on my work I never know if people are going to really get the ideas or not.
It really is so interesting to see the wide range of people who take the primitive path to archery. I have meet a lot of really great people on here.
Genetics wow what a great career for these times that is a very interesting and expanding career field!
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Here is a picture of the first fish caught at the new pond. I had caught a bunch of fish from my small pond and put the in the new one. This is a great way to end the summer.
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John, is that a small mouth? nice one if it is.
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Haven't caught up on here in awhile, John. Sorry to read about your back, hope you will be mending quickly now.
Fun to see the progress. Looks like you've accomplished a lot, none the less.
Hope to see some nice fall pictures on here!
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What a wonderful environment you've created! Catch looks enticing too.
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That would be a Largemouth Bass. Bob
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Very nice catch,love to have a pond like that on my place. :) I got one but much smaller. :)
Pappy
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Thanks guys happy to see the pond supporting fish again.
Check out this little guy I saw on my way home from work. Must be this year's pup.
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Nice picture, corn still green up that way ? most down here is already picked. :)
Pappy
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Cool stuff John! Glad to hear your back is on the mend! Josh
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Thanks Josh. My back was killing me in the stand the other day so I switched to just sitting in a lawn chair off the side of deer trails. I went to the pond and hunted the road we made for the tractor . I sat right in the open and when this buck walked up I loose my arrow just as he turned to run. It went into the femoral artery and he only made it 40 yards. My camera was dead so no photos of the setup but here are a couple of the deer and arrowhead I hit it with. The larger arrowhead I used to field dressed it with. He was a very large 4 pt.
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Congrats,Very nice deer,got to love that femoral,it will put um down in a hurry. :)
Pappy
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Congrats! Your back musta been thankful it didn't have to help hang that deer up.
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Remember a few years back all those stories Farmer John told us about shot after shot after shot and him never connecting with a deer? That man planted more arrows on his land than any other farmer in Iowa planted corn!
Yeah, well, now he comes up with some cockamamey story about hitting this deer in the femoral artery. FROM A FLIPPIN' LAWN CHAIR ON THE SIDE OF THE TRAIL!!!! Here's ol' Farmer John sitting in a lawn chair, beach umbrella at the table beside him. In his left hand is his osage bow and in his right is one of them drinks they serve in a coconut shell with umbrellas and skewers loaded with tropical fruit and what-have-you. Probably listening to Jimmy Buffett, too.
Now we are supposed to believe that he was able to put down his boat drink, nock an arrow and in one smooth motion draw, release, and clip the femoral artery that was only a half inch wide???
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have another theory! I am betting that he was half asleep in his lawn chair in the yard where his lovely wife (the one that is capable of bringing home LARGE deer racks, mind you) had brought him a cocktail. He was half thru the drink when the deer wandered out of the treeline where John has spent years strewing arrows at random. The poor animal had the bad misfortune of walking into one of those arrows and it had stabbed him in the leg. He just happened to bleed out 40 yds from Farmer John.
Mind you, this is one of MANY possible scenarios that I offer for your consideration. The OP (original poster) is welcome to deny all he wants, he may stick to his guns on his own story, but I leave it up to you, the reader, to decide which is the true account. The defense rests.
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Don't let them brow beat you John. At least you tell of your misses, and mistakes, Others, such as that pseudo lawyer, harping to the jury, probably just keep their mouths shut, and not let others learn from their mistakes. congrats on darn nice sized deer! That would have made for a real wall hanger, in a few more years, but much more tender, and tasty now. When you were painting your post hole auger, I thought at first you had yard art. I was going to suggest that you put big eyes on it, and some long skinny wings. Sort of a big yard skeeter. Nice pond, and nice deer. You have a very nice place there. As for the lawn chair, that is fine, as there are others who hunt from them also. There was a guy in Montana who brought a folding aluminum lawn chair with him, when he hunted, and he killed quite a few deer, and elk. I guess they thought he was an Eco tourist, and no threat. One of our Medics hunted in South Carolina at a small farm his Girlfriend's Brother had, and her Brother had been trying to get this particular buck for a couple of years, and had all the latest camo, all the non scent soap items, etc. The Medic gets directed to a stand, and his Girlfriend's brother goes off to get that big buck, he had been scouting for the last week or so. Well the Medic goes to the stand, sits for a while, climbs down, takes a dump, goes back up the stand, smokes a cigarette, and five minutes later kills the big buck his Girlfriend's Brother had been after all those years. So sometimes it is the opposite of what we have been taught, that gets good results. ;)
Wayne
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Don't let them brow beat you John. At least you tell of your misses, and mistakes, Others, such as that pseudo lawyer, harping to the jury, probably just keep their mouths shut, and not let others learn from their mistakes. congrats on darn nice sized deer!
Probably jealous because he didn't draw ANY tags this year.
All kidding aside, Wayne points out the glaring truth behind John's buck....that's the wild card opportunity. Face it, those deer are not watching the hunting shows or reading the books/magazines that the hunter pores over every night.
Look at it this way: YOUR bow, YOUR arrows, YOUR lawnchair, YOUR land, YOUR opportunity. Like we talked last night when you were bringing the deer in, maybe it was the treestands that were your problem!
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Jw you are the funnest man alive hands down. I think those deer are so use to my scent after working out there for a whole year that he thought nothing of my presents until he saw me. You are likely right about the tree stand and I never had that heart race thing going like in the past. Got love the work a stone point can do! I did do the opposite of anyway I ever hunt. Maybe that just messed up their game.
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You messed up his game!
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Congratulations John! He'll make some fine table fare! Josh
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Don't let them brow beat you John. At least you tell of your misses, and mistakes, Others, such as that pseudo lawyer, harping to the jury, probably just keep their mouths shut, and not let others learn from their mistakes. congrats on darn nice sized deer! That would have made for a real wall hanger, in a few more years, but much more tender, and tasty now. When you were painting your post hole auger, I thought at first you had yard art. I was going to suggest that you put big eyes on it, and some long skinny wings. Sort of a big yard skeeter. Nice pond, and nice deer. You have a very nice place there. As for the lawn chair, that is fine, as there are others who hunt from them also. There was a guy in Montana who brought a folding aluminum lawn chair with him, when he hunted, and he killed quite a few deer, and elk. I guess they thought he was an Eco tourist, and no threat. One of our Medics hunted in South Carolina at a small farm his Girlfriend's Brother had, and her Brother had been trying to get this particular buck for a couple of years, and had all the latest camo, all the non scent soap items, etc. The Medic gets directed to a stand, and his Girlfriend's brother goes off to get that big buck, he had been scouting for the last week or so. Well the Medic goes to the stand, sits for a while, climbs down, takes a dump, goes back up the stand, smokes a cigarette, and five minutes later kills the big buck his Girlfriend's Brother had been after all those years. So sometimes it is the opposite of what we have been taught, that gets good results. ;)
Wayne
Thanks Wayne you're hired as my council in the future.
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Thanks Wayne you hired as my council in the future.
[/quote]
You might consider ol J.W., he can put a spin on just about anything. Rumor has it, that hillary ( the B@#ch who would be queen) is trying to get him on her spin team, to push Benghazi under the rug. he must have developed that skill, by trying to get funding for his bird group, by sweet talking to rich widder women. ::) :P Again, nice buck, no matter how you got it, you got it. And that is what matters in the freezer section! ;)
Wayne
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Flint knapping at the historical society
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Didja bring your lawn chair to do a Primitive Skills Hunting Seminar, too?
Good work getting out and representing our sport, John. I really appreciated and applaud your missionary zeal.
Sons of Archery Bo'Dark Originals! (S.O.A.B.O. = So ABO!)
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Thanks jw been working all morning on the homeless shelter project. Plates are the theme this year. I reached 70 plates out of 100 today. I should finish up tomorrow. Tonight it's back to the historical museum for more knapping.
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You can really dish it out, but can your back take it? Go easy there, big guy!
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Annette took this picture. She is great with a camera
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The historical society had showcase type event the last two nights that I have been demonstrating knapping during. Here are a couple more pictures.
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Looks like you got some ABO fans that got your back!
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See I am not the only dummy that does ABO
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Congrats on that fine deer John, looks like he was well fed on that Iowa corn and beans all year. Very cool that you were able to take him from the ground with a stone point. :) All the pottery work and the primitive skills demonstrations are impressive as well, looks like there is no time for boredom around your place. :)
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Great update, congrats on the buck!
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You've been a busy boy lately, John. Nice plates and nice deer. 8)
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Love the plates,very nice work. :)
Pappy
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Love the plates,very nice work. :)
Pappy
Thank you pappy.
Back at it trying for deer #2
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Looks like we had the same thought, John. :)
(http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s670/cotton7611/BFD89F93-7CE1-44AA-A430-EC26E6F7ACFF_zpsrkfdesqm.jpg) (http://s1311.photobucket.com/user/cotton7611/media/BFD89F93-7CE1-44AA-A430-EC26E6F7ACFF_zpsrkfdesqm.jpg.html)
Good luck on your hunt.
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Looks like yall are ready,all you need is the deer to show up. :)
Pappy
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Sure was a nice day yesterday. Here is a picture of some of the 100 plates I am making for the homeless shelter fund raiser.
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Very nice plates, John. And, man, I need to get in the woods.
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tIm stopped by and showed me his new Bow. he painted the snake on the bow
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I did not have time to do a full draw photo had to run out the door
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Now that's cool. 8)
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That looks nice,nice job on the painting. :) Pappy
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I thought he did a great job on that painting of a snake.
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I have not posted a lot lately. I have been busy finishing up the homeless shelter plates for the fund raiser next week and helping Paul and his daughter get her first deer and his first primitive deer. The weather is changing and we have temps in the 30s and snow in the forecast.
Big thanks to all you vets that read this post.
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Wondered where you been. :)
Pappy
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This year's donation to the Fine Arts League for their fund raiser is a 15 inch ceramic bowl that I made. Their fund raiser generates about 40,000 to 50,000 each year to be given back to the community for arts related activities.
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Very nice John. What do you do in your spare time? ;D
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Like the paint job on the bow and the bowl.
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Very nice John. What do you do in your spare time? ;D
I know I can't stop doing thing Pat But to answer your question i work for 15 mins every morning on one of my long time hobbies. I like building radio controlled airplanes. I slowly build them during the winter and fly them in the summer when hunting season is closed. This plane I restored and made air worthy again.
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Cool. Made from scratch?
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Cool. Made from scratch?
Nope, made from model airplane parts!
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Very nice John. What do you do in your spare time? ;D
I know I can't stop doing thing Pat But to answer your question i work for 15 mins every morning on one of my long time hobbies. I like building radio controlled airplanes. I slowly build them during the winter and fly them in the summer when hunting season is closed. This plane I restored and made air worthy again.
This flying 'DRONE' technology ain't all that scary when I see stuff like this! :D :D :D
- OneBow
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Pat some of my plane are made from scratch. I have a computer that helps with the math. Many are built from kits.
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I have be very busy hunting like crazy! We have an 11 pt on trail cam that keeps showing up but things have just not come together yet. I took a shot at 17 and shaved his hair on the belly and Paul had him a couple days later at 10 but could not put a shot together. Now we are talking 11 pt but keep in mind this is Iowa so he is a heavy deer. I just spent the weekend hunting hard ....I mean in the pouring rain morning & evening. I saw more deer than I thought I would and the gear held up better than expected. Heck one morning I could hear deer walking in but with the rain it was real dark for about 15 mins so I could not see them till the morning light made the leafs start to glow on the forest floor. My stand is about 4.5 feet from the the ground and the deer magically appeared facing toward me at three feet from the stand. Her nose was level with my feet and with the light coming on we must have noticed each other at about the same time. She did a 180 and ran to 10 yards and melted back into the darkness. That was more fun that seeing the 11pt.
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Sounds like fun, yep takes a lot of small things to come together for a shot with Primitive gear at a deer, good luck on the 11 point. ;) :)
Pappy
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Sounds like fun, yep takes a lot of small things to come together for a shot with Primitive gear at a deer, good luck on the 11 point. ;) :)
Pappy
Nah, save him for me. >:D
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Well we have to get ya here first.
The rain has turned to snow and the hatchet Jack cold weather hunting begins.
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A letter to JW Halverson
In response to your text the other night regarding page 68 of the holiday issue ....death and the archer.....and your mocking comments. ..The following is to you sir.
I take umbrade in regards to you finding humor in the primitive archer magazine where I am featured during a typical hunting excursion. You fail to appreciate quality news reporting all be it crude and primitive in its execution. It may be your age that has caused you to forget my vocation as an educator and as such you have clearly missed the content of this fine work. An enlightened prospective might reveal a deeper relationship with death which brings the viewer to a greater understanding to how a juxtaposed duality of reaper iconography viewed in a our modern context clearly demonstrates not the failure of the archer but the duties of the reaper himself. Simply stated.... I SEE NO PALE HORSE!!!
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Will be starting winter break on Friday and bow season opens again on Monday. I have been so busy with work I have had little time for much play so looking forward to some good times ahead.
On another note the museum downtown has commissioned a real nice project from me that will utilize my ABO skills. They ask if I could produce a donor recognition board for their supporters. I pitched the idea of an archeological dig site with different layers to represent different time periods. Each time period has large and small flint tools that would stand to represent various levels of donations. Each arrow head would have the name of the donor on it. Also donors from outside the area could be represented by knappers who trade points with me to represent the idea of how points and materials may have been traded. All of this would be on a display with a dig kinda feel.
I got the idea from a donor wall in South Dakota at a conservation facility last year hanging out with JW Halverson while taking a break from turkey hunting.
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I got the idea from a donor wall in South Dakota at a conservation facility last year hanging out with JW Halverson while taking a break from turkey hunting.
...Where Farmer John buried an arrowhead in the Black Hills shooting at a turkey! He has created a whole new science called "Reverse Archeology".
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I call it "impact archeology".
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dig it!
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Cool, love to see it when you get it finished and set up. Dang JW you just won't let it go, a man misses 1 Turkey and he is a miss er for life. ;) :) :) :) Better to have shot and missed than not to have shot at all. :) John hope you and yours have a blessed Christmas. :)
Pappy
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You too Pappy ! Bob
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Cool, love to see it when you get it finished and set up. Dang JW you just won't let it go, a man misses 1 Turkey and he is a miss er for life. ;) :) :) :) Better to have shot and missed than not to have shot at all. :) John hope you and yours have a blessed Christmas. :)
Pappy
Thank goodness I never told Farmer John about the bad year I had once while muzzleloader hunting for deer. Missed four deer all under 30 yds. As in, not a hair was touched. When asked what happens, I answered "Missed'er clean!" Hence my nickname for a good long time was Mister Clean.
But we'll just keep that between us, Pappy, right?
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Paul and have been very busy primitive hunting this winter. This morning it was -10 windchill so we decided to rabbit hunt instead. I hit this rabbit at a full run in the brush at about 12 yards. How I can hit a rabbit with such accuracy and miss deer 100 times bigger is amazing to me.
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Aim small, miss small! ;)
John, I hope you and your family have a Very Happy New Year.
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Aim small, miss small! ;)
John, I hope you and your family have a Very Happy New Year.
Thank you Pat and have a good one! ...check out the dish!!! Wild rabbit fresh from the Iowa woods.
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Sweet are the fruits of your labor, DirtKnapper!
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My favorite food would be a wild rabbit that had deer back straps. Happy New Year John.
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"How I can hit a rabbit with such accuracy and miss deer 100 times bigger is amazing to me. "
You must have just flinched. ;) Danny
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"How I can hit a rabbit with such accuracy and miss deer 100 times bigger is amazing to me. "
You must have just flinched. ;) Danny
Yeah (snicker), accidents DO happen!
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Ok mistake or not I feel pretty good about the deer or rabbit hunt which ever was not a mistake lol. Anyway with a 100 degree fever and wind chills down to -30 the deer hunting is on hold. The actual temp is -3 right now.
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Nice shootin', Tex!
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When the temps are in single digits, what's the use of even counting 'em?
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Here is the news from Iowa. Isaac's wrestling team went to state yesterday and won 3rd in State for team dual. Isaac wrestled 106. I did not get to go because of a scheduled school visit/flint knapping demo with an area High School Art Class.
Also about two weeks ago we had a sap run that produced a couple bottles of syrup but the weather returned to bitter cold shutting down the sugar shack.
Just started work on a year long ABO project for the history museum in Burlington IA for a large display.
Two days ago I bought tags to turkey hunt with none other than the Master Calling, Bird Huggin (rapture only), BOW BUILDING (arrow making hater), and Black Hills Pontificater of all Subjects Foreign and Domestic .....yes its JW_Halverson. This will be ROUND TWO!!!!
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Good to hear form you John and an update.Thought yall were all froze in, it has been so long. ;) :)
Pappy
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Good to hear form you John and an update.Thought yall were all froze in, it has been so long. ;) :)
Pappy
X2
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Heard hens yelping yesterday on the west side of town! Friend south of town says he saw gobblers strutting the other day when the sun was beating down good and hard at 60 degrees!
Heck, even I am flying down off the roost earlier in the mornings!
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The weather in Iowa finally rose above freezing. Annette and went out and cleaned out the maple sap buckets and walked out to the pond. She took a couple pictures along the way. Enjoy!
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I have been working in the studio on bowls for a charity auction. This is a picture of one drying before being fired.
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Nice vistas, John and more nice pottery too. I'll bet you guys are ready for spring. ;)
No ice skating on the pond?
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Beautiful pictures John. Looks like you are staying busy this winter. :)
Pappy
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COOL
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A little fun on the pottery wheel
https://youtu.be/6j1s0figQhM (https://youtu.be/6j1s0figQhM)
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Very cool John, looks like you about got that down pat. :)
Pappy
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Just a little up date. I have been hard at work and little time to play lately. So here is the news....I have been building sets for the musical that the college puts on every year. I just finished glazing and sent to a charity auction a huge ceramic bowl that brought 800 dollars. These funds go toward the foundation of the college. These kinds of events are very rewarding for me at this point in my life. I plan on making it to the classic and trying to encourage a few others to join me in the trip. I look forward to meeting all of you again and working on the spirit station.
Turkey season is just around the corner and hope to see some in the near future. Planning a trip also for turkey hunting in the black hills with JW again this year.
Annette and I have expanded our bee keeping operation to 6 hive this year and hope to have a little honey for our efforts.
I made it out to our new pond and caught a couple bass and saw a few of my grass carp. Looks like they made it through the winter with out a winter kill and that's a good thing here in Iowa
Work on the bow shop will most likely start this summer because more of the puzzle pieces are coming together.
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Good to hear the pond came thru! I look forward to beekeeping notes this coming season, too!
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Good to here all is well out there!
See ya in Tennessee!
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Glad to here you made it throught the winter sounds like you been busy Pappy
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A year and a half of planning is now starting to come together. The shelter project was started this weekend. This structure is going to house many activities. I am moving the wood fire pottery kiln to the site and my black Smith equipment. The rest of the space will be set up for bow building. When you start moving dirt it starts getting real.
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That's exciting, looking forward to watching the progress.
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Looking forward to seeing it start coming together. :)
Pappy
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I'll bet that having so many talents and intrests is a challenge to know which one to work on each day! I am feeling kind of guilty in asking you to decorate the buffalo skull at the Classic as I know you have lots of other things more important to do there! I am pleased with the way the skull cleaned up. Maybe Wewicki (sp) and your other "Station" friends will pitch in to help. I am planning to bring my pipe to bless your efforts there! I am disappointed that JW had to work as it would have been a hoot to travel with him! Joe
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I'll bet that having so many talents and intrests is a challenge to know which one to work on each day! I am feeling kind of guilty in asking you to decorate the buffalo skull at the Classic as I know you have lots of other things more important to do there! I am pleased with the way the skull cleaned up. Maybe Wewicki (sp) and your other "Station" friends will pitch in to help. I am planning to bring my pipe to bless your efforts there! I am disappointed that JW had to work as it would have been a hoot to travel with him! Joe
Joe I am honored by your request to be sure! and looking forward to hanging out with you and the gang. I just don't sleep very much and have a lot of ideas that I want to see happen.
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Just got home from taking to the tax assessors office. I think I know what it will do to me tax wise....that's all I'm saying.
I got a couple guys that are going to help with concrete now.
I gotta check on electric and water now.
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Yep been there done that. :( Tax folks love it when you improve. ;) :)
Pappy
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Yep been there done that. :( Tax folks love it when you improve. ;) :)
Pappy
Yes they do!
And insurance folks too
What a racket!
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Ya back in the day I would just build stuff and not tell anyone or get a permit, now they have aerials, ??? :o I still do it but they usually pay me a visit from time to time and remind me I need to get permits to builds anything, I just pay the fine [ usually small, about the price of the permit but less trouble] ;) and ask forgiveness. :) of course property taxes will go up the next year. It's really funny and kind of sad I pay more every year in property tax than my family gave for the farm when they bought it. :) Go figure and the Gov. is always broke. Sorry for the rant it just gets to me sometime. :) :) Good luck John you are moving forward and that is what matters. :)
Pappy
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Ya back in the day I would just build stuff and not tell anyone or get a permit, now they have aerials, ??? :o I still do it but they usually pay me a visit from time to time and remind me I need to get permits to builds anything, I just pay the fine [ usually small, about the price of the permit but less trouble] ;) and ask forgiveness. :) of course property taxes will go up the next year. It's really funny and kind of sad I pay more every year in property tax than my family gave for the farm when they bought it. :) Go figure and the Gov. is always broke. Sorry for the rant it just gets to me sometime. :) :) Good luck John you are moving forward and that is what matters. :)
Pappy
AMEN
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Electric pole location
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More clearing work.
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After working on the shelter project I decided to do a little fishing in the pond.
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John, is that a hybrid? It's a heck of a bream.
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John, is that a hybrid? It's a heck of a bream.
Yes I put them on the pond about 6 years ago and they just keep getting bigger
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Hi everyone been gone here taking care of family stuff. My father pasted away this summer. This loss was expected as his heath had declined over the past couple of years. I was lucky to be with him the day he passed.
Now I move forward with projects unfinished . Today I dug in the drainage pipe under the new road to the workshop area and recieved a load of rock for the drive. The truck fell off the side and got stuck. My 30 minute project turned into hours but after much work we got him free. After the road was done he drove in and off the road with lime fill for the concrete floor and got stuck again. A 30 minute project turned into hours. It's now 2:00 pm and I started at 7:30am wow sometimes nothing is easy.
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John, sorry for your loss. It was good you could be with your Dad at the end.
Been wondering where you've been.
Hopefully for you that Mr. Murphy is done with his pranks. ;)
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It has rained in Iowa almost every two days making construction almost impossible. Bringing in a concrete truck is just out of the question at this point and it will be for weeks to come. It rained again last night pushing concrete day further back yet again. I can only clear brush as I wait for inches of ground water to evaporated. Compounding my frustration is a greenhouse effect of a cooler summer and lots for rain that has converted my yard into a sod farm on steroids. I mow almost every three or four days when the ground hardens just enough to bring the tractor out.
On a positive note blackberry jelly time is just around the corner then the honey harvest.
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Topping a tree had to be done before I could drop it. If you look closely there are power lines in the fall area of this tree. Another load of lime showed up so this afternoon I will start forming up the sides.
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Well, at least you are staying out of trouble, John. ;) Has it quit raining?
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Pat it was going to rain on Saturday but they changed the forecast so I just might get a weather window to prepare everything. I dug a trench running away from the site to speed things up if it does rain in the short term.
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Hope it holds out for you.
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Isaac preparing forms while I get a cool drink
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Time to pound the ground and then a couple more dry days then a concrete truck might make it back here.
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Moving right along John. Its good to have another strong back with Isaac there.
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Huge amount of effort ( & bit of frustration) to realize your dream! Best of luck with the rain clouds.
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Sorry about you Dad John,that is always tough. Looks like you are coming along on you shop,rained here a lot also ,but sounds like not as bad as where you are. Keep us updated.
Pappy
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Starting to get major things done each day now. I started the day by moving the remainder of the lime pile located on the road so I could get the truck to the job site with the plate compactor. I cut a larger path on the lane so the concrete truck can back up to the site.
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The day begins with a shovel in the hand and day dreaming about deer hunting on opening day to pass the time.
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John, you sound like a state worker with the day dreaming about hunting season while you work. ;D
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Hehe you forgot I am one . Got it done
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I stand corrected! ;D When will the concrete truck come?
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Concrete on Friday but tying rebar together tomorrow and relaxing on Thursday.
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You'll need to relax on Thursday after tying steel. ;)
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Aerial picture showing all the improvements you've made would be impressive, I'm sure. 'Course wouldn't want that picture to make its way to the assessor's office!
Hope all goes smoothly.
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No rest for john ...rain comes friday my buddies can't make it tomorrow so today we pour today. Good thing I spent time in the military. I am running about 1 hour ahead of schedule and taking a short break.
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...and miles to go before we sleep! ;)
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Good idea to use the blade to smooth it off...
>:D
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Funny Scott. This was the begining
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I will post more pictures tomorrow because I just fell in bed after a very long day
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Couple more photos
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Well we made it through the night without deer running across the pad!
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Well we made it through the night without deer running across the pad!
Appropriately called a MISSED opportunity! You could have ordered your "quick drying concrete" from Acme Products (a subsidiary of Roadrunner, Inc.) and caught a deer running across the concrete. Then, having that deer stuck in the concrete, you would have plenty of time to draw, anchor, release, repeat as necessary until you actually HIT THE DEER!
Foundation is a big step, John. This project is moving right along now! Wish I lived closer and could spend weekends out there working on it with you!
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I see a modern form of the La Brea Tar Pits well JW does that sound ABO to you?
I think you should move to Iowa and start "CORN" the Community of Raptor Nerds.
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:! Bob
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Looking good John, very good start, looking forward to seeing it moving forward. :)
Pappy
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I see a modern form of the La Brea Tar Pits well JW does that sound ABO to you?
I think you should move to Iowa and start "CORN" the Community of Raptor Nerds.
GO HAWKEYES!
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The cuts for control joints were made yesterday. Annette and I cleaned up the job site so that we can move on to the build stage without foot tangles everywhere.
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I spent part of the day cleaning up the garage floor when I almost turned an ankle on a scrap chunk of 2x4, foot tanglers indeed!
I know it is kinda late, but you should have set anchor nuts in the concrete so you could bolt down a honey extractor to the floor! Oh well, rent a hammer drill and set some redheads in the concrete later on.
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While concrete hardens I have turned my attention to gathering and cooking rock for a winter storage. I went to the creek the other day to do a rock run. I spent the afternoon today spalling that stone out. I redug my old fire pit and prepared it for stone but needed more sand. Annette went with me on the four wheeler to get a couple buckets of sand but she when we got to the creek she started rock hunting for landscaping rock. She found a couple nice sized pieces of basalt and one piece of flint. We returned to the backyard with rocks and sand. After preparing the pit with flakes and sand we started gathering wood. I walked through the woods breaking dead fall into campfire sized pieces while Annette drove the wheeler so I could stack wood on it. After a number of trips the piles was high enough to build up the fire. As I started stacking wood for my box fire Annette made another landscaping rock run on the wheeler. Riding the wheeler around on the trails has become her favorite past time. The photo below looks like any campfire but it represents a rockrun, an afternoon of spalling, and a couple hour hanging out together and having fun down by the creek.
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Memories of a good day - priceless.
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The photo below looks like any campfire but it represents a rockrun, an afternoon of spalling, and a couple hour hanging out together and having fun down by the creek.
You got a good thing going there, son!
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Yep great day that was and now two and a half days later the fires still hot. I snuck one piece out from the side and it burnt me. I like these long cooks that makes for a good stone. now I just have to wait for it to cool down maybe I can pull it out tomorrow.
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After years of struggling with hunting deer and developing good habits through hours of practice I have finally perfected a release and bow hold that is probably as good as it gets. Now I have found a way to build on those years of practice and tested hunting skills with my new targets arranged in the photo below as a challenging 3d course. This course provides the primitive archery with sight pictures similar to mine and guaranteed to produce the same results.
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I've always wondered how you could so consistently hit dirt with your arrows. Practice makes perfect! ;) >:D Josh
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This spring Mr. Iowabow was practicing by shooting at a random cow pie. He was spraying arrows to the right and to the left, both high and low. He collected his various arrows and wiped the dirt off and stepped back to the shooting line, albeit much closer this time. And again, the arrows scattered like so many partridge before a springer spaniel pup. He did not become despondent, it is just not in his nature. But again, when he squared off with the offending cow flop, he did so from just a few feet away. And yet again, arrows everywhere but in the cow pat.
Proving once again, he can hit dirt EVERY time with an arrow, but the man cannot hit sh**.
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Josh, John, why would anybody be proud getting Poop on their arrows?
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The truth of the matter is that John is a pretty darn good shot. Don't tell him I said that though. Lol! Josh
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The truth of the matter is that John is a pretty darn good shot. Don't tell him I said that though. Lol! Josh
..with a rifle?
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So whereabouts in Iowa is this path? I'm right in the middle here, looking. ;)
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The truth of the matter is that John is a pretty darn good shot. Don't tell him I said that though. Lol! Josh
..with a rifle?
Nah.....with rum. One shot....and he's down! >:D. Josh
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So whereabouts in Iowa is this path? I'm right in the middle here, looking. ;)
we are over here in the southeast corner of Iowa
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The truth of the matter is that John is a pretty darn good shot. Don't tell him I said that though. Lol! Josh
..with a rifle?
Nah.....with rum. One shot....and he's down! >:D. Josh
this is true I am a cheap date.
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The Lumber that we removed from the dam has dried. I pulled it all out and rough trimed the sides. Maybe it will save me a couple of dollars on the shelter project.
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Board.
Board.
Board.
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This year's project for the Homeless Shelter. Today I made 100 cups for their fundraiser with the help from the community. Handles will be added tomorrow.
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That's a lot of throwin'. Good on ya'. :D :D
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Cups look great! Yes, good on ya.
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Cool John. Good for you. 8)
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What I gotta do to get one?
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Nice looking stuff as usual John. Pappy
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Update on the building project...all of the building martials have been ordered and now waiting for trusses to be shipped. I seem to always have a few projects running at once. Here is a list of a couple of them:
1. The project shelter that will consolidate most of my scattered projects into one area.
2. The 100 cups ceramic project for the Homeless Shelter fundraiser raiser.
3. The 200 Arrowhead display project
The cups are all made and waiting to be glazed
The shelter project is on hold waiting for materials
I have completed 90 of the points for the display so I am calling it halfway complete.
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Dang John, you are busier than I am. ;) Hope you get the roof on the shop before winter sets in. I love Trusses,it sure make the job go easier and much faster. :)
Pappy
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Here are the 100 finished cups (15 maybe not in photo) for the Homeless Shelter fundraiser.
With 100 arrowheads done just 100 more to go.
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very nice work John!
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Nice John and for a very nice cause. 8)
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I would love to have one of those cups to go with the bowl. Thanks for being the stand-up guy and doing this, brother.
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I would love to have one of those cups to go with the bowl. Thanks for being the stand-up guy and doing this, brother.
Thanks JW hey here are a couple of the ABO points for that display. They are a pinetree group I am trying to figure out.
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This will be part of the display I am working on. Provided by a grant from The University of Northern Iowa. This is an example of big blue stem prairie grass. The roots are 6 plus feet long. This sample was preserved by the University this year and was delivered Thursday by their staff. The explanation of the grant and how we are part of it is kinda long winded. It will make more sense when it is completed.
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Little update. This picture was taken last week so we are a bit further along now. We will be placing the trusses tomorrow if the all goes well.
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Looking good,you should be under roof soon. :)
Pappy
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Coming along nicely, John.
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Well after doing it twice the trusses are set
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This afternoon's work continued with Annette and I as we finished corner braces and pulled off supports
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Looking good, where is all you help ?
Pappy
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I have been snapping pictures at the end of the day with my phone. Annette's been taking pictures with hers that have helpers in them. I just have not blue toothed them to my phone yet.
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Paul and I had the last part of the day to drop the purlings on half of the roof. We are starting talk about how fun this is going to be once completed.
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Looking good John. What will the roof material be?
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The roof will be made from metal.
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Nice future shed John.I know you'll like it.You got to have room to grow I say.I've always liked out buildings just as much as a house.We finished an addition to the top of the burm home here too doubling our living footage.A livestock shed and a green house too yet.Nice thread you got here.
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Well now I should of been paying more attention here.You've been a busy fella.Read and looked at the whole thread here of the Iowan path.Your sure shaping up your place there besides all of your other activities.Are you having fun yet?.....LOL.
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Looking great!
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We set the others tonight!
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Thanks Ed we need to visit each other's projects in the spring. Fun that's the thing YES it's a lot of fun.
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Sounds good.That'll take about 2 days.Seems like we hav'nt had winter yet here in Iowa but it'll come.
So looks like your about ready for steel.Good your out of the wind in your location.Should go fast.Gonna insulate it?Got your screwguns ready?
Robin my woman here has turned my farm into an Old Mcdonalds' farm.Lots of critters....goats,horse,pigs,chickens,cats,dogs,parrots,finches,arachnids,turtles,geckos,bees,and our house has over 100 plants in it too......lol.Hence the greenhouse.She's into orchids.That's all fine with me.She's happy,and has a lot of chores....lol.You guys need a nice terrier?
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Sounds good.That'll take about 2 days.Seems like we hav'nt had winter yet here in Iowa but it'll come.
So looks like your about ready for steel.Good your out of the wind in your location.Should go fast.Gonna insulate it?Got your screwguns ready?
Robin my woman here has turned my farm into an Old Mcdonalds' farm.Lots of critters....goats,horse,pigs,chickens,cats,dogs,parrots,finches,arachnids,turtles,geckos,bees,and our house has over 100 plants in it too......lol.Hence the greenhouse.She's into orchids.That's all fine with me.She's happy,and has a lot of chores....lol.You guys need a nice terrier?
Ed it's going to be open for now like a park shelter. I was thinking of extending the roof next year and in closing that area for a warm space to work during cold the weather months here in iowa. Hey I drop my drill the other day and broke it almost in two parts. Any subjection guys of best quality replacement?
Annette's allergic to dogs so we can't have them around. The dander of animals makes her wind pipe close and she breaks out whenever she is contact with it. I have never seen anyone be so reactive. I cleaned a dear and washed my hand and touched her face and she broke out. So we have to be careful about contact especially when I tan hides.
Ed you really are living the dream it sounds like the two of you compliment each other well. What most impressed me on my visit over there was the research you do into your bows. I was blown away by your bead work and perfection and creativity in everything you do. I really learned a lot about pouring all of my heart into my projects from you. You seem to be in the moment on every detail. Can't wait to see the changes you have made to your place.
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The top of the post are cut and stainless screws fastened to the plate and post. Now facia boards.
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I'm gonna guess here and say your shed might be 25'X15'?10' headers?Plenty of room to play in.....lol.I need to put up 1 more shed here too someday.
I've gone cheap before on screwguns and it's a pain.Especially if you really gotta make them work.Constantly going dead batteries are a pain.I was and still am going to buy the old millwaulkie screwgun package.When we built here I was impressed by them.They are'nt cheap.Let the word out for Christmas....lol.
You've got enourmous potential with your place there which I'm sure you know and are doing.
I keep regretting not going off the grid with solar power.Getting a little long in the tooth to make it feasible.Iowa has a whole lot of that going on.
That's nice of you to say that about me but your interests and artistic ability are setting new standards for everybody.That's what's cool about this site.
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I'm gonna guess here and say your shed might be 25'X15'?10' headers?Plenty of room to play in.....lol.I need to put up 1 more shed here too someday.
I've gone cheap before on screwguns and it's a pain.Especially if you really gotta make them work.Constantly going dead batteries are a pain.I was and still am going to buy the old millwaulkie screwgun package.When we built here I was impressed by them.They are'nt cheap.Let the word out for Christmas....lol.
You've got enourmous potential with your place there which I'm sure you know and are doing.
I keep regretting not going off the grid with solar power.Getting a little long in the tooth to make it feasible.Iowa has a whole lot of that going on.
That's nice of you to say that about me but your interests and artistic ability are setting new standards for everybody.That's what's cool about this site.
close 20x24 headers 10 I am getting closers to tin time. I just might squeeze into a finished building before this cold front comes through if the metal arrives on time. If it does not I will be working in 37 degree weather late in the day after the frost melts. I don't like climbing on icy lumber.
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That's nice of you to say that about me but your interests and artistic ability are setting new standards for everybody.That's what's cool about this site.
Yup, building off each other's contributions, learning from other's mistakes (and being willing to share those mistakes fearlessly), and standing shoulder to shoulder in this odd and unusual anachronistic lifestyle in a world that increasingly wants the easy way out. Yup. You said a mouthful, Ed.
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Another update. The Lumber yard loaded the wrong material I only figured it out after we set out the remaining wood to make sure things were working. So we had to stop and make a trip to the lumber yard but managed to get facia boards up on one side. Other good news the order of tin is in so looks like sat morning after we hunt the party is going to put up the tin. We should finish gables on Sunday before gail winds on monday
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Looks like you are moving right along, hope you get it all closed in before winter but what the heck I always like working in cold weather, get a little fire going and Life is good. :)
Pappy
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Hopefully we will be almost done Saturday. We are going to hunt rabbits at 7 am then move to putting up tin once it warms up a bit. Thought I was done with all the woodworking but still have gables ends to frame out.
Anyway tomorrow is my first day of vacation so i should get the gables done and then pick up tin and accessories at the lumberyard.
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Your a good boss John...Mixing a little fun with work.
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Crazy day started a 3:30 am doing final calculations on the material I picked up and found some major shortages. I was short 4 panels from the material bill and other tin not included. So we worked with what we had untill sunset. The extra material will not be in till Tuesday so I think I am just going to relax. I am not good with just doing nothing so maybe this is a blessing. After loading the truck and eating breakfast the guys started showing up to rabbit hunt. We kicked up alot of rabbits but for many funny reasons we all missed. Then we started work on the building and worked the rest of the day. We were able to get all the tin panels on hand up.
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Forgot to mention craig showed up with arrows he made for each of us.
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Looking good John. Mixing work and play is good for both.
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John that is looking very good, hate it when I want to finish something and come up short. I have had that happen to many times to count. ;) :)
Pappy
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Yep...I bet your a liking that shed more and more are'nt ya?Just wait till the weather gets nice.
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Can ya see that dog in the shelter? He is the family pet next door to 5 wonder kids and he let's them jump all over him and he seems like a very nice dog... but he has an illness! He has a sticky mouth.
I thought I was getting really tired and forgetful as my tools seemed to always be in a different location. What was happening was he would wait untill I climbed to the roof top and when I was not looking he would carry my tools into the woods and this is the list of what he lifted yesterday: my 2 bottles of water he got off the picnic table, the battery to my drill, the tape measure, a new package of drills. His name is Goose but I have renamed him Jesse James.
The tin came in yesterday and we got the roof tin all up. I also got the raking corners on one side.
After deer hunting this morning I am going to install the corners on the other side . Maybe the Ridge cap can go on as well. In the photo you can see a half wall for tillering bows.
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Good luck this morning. :)
Pappy
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Got heavy rain this morning hunting came home dried off and had another breakfast. The rain stopped so Isaac and I installed the raking corners and went to lunch. The roof dried kinda so I climbed top side a installed the ridge cap and now we have a roof. Came down off the ladder from the peak and then it started raining. Forgot to add it was 63 degrees today in iowa.
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That is the same color and material as the roof of my house! Good choice.
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63 in Iowa in December. At least you can get some outside stuff done. Will you put snow dams on the roof?
That is about the size of my barn, also open, where I have the camp-o-rama in July. Mine has dirt floor. Concrete would be nice.
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That's looks great at least now you can get out of the rain, ya it is in the 70's here and some very heavy storm last night, weird for sure for December. ???
Pappy
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63 in Iowa in December. At least you can get some outside stuff done. Will you put snow dams on the roof?
That is about the size of my barn, also open, where I have the camp-o-rama in July. Mine has dirt floor. Concrete would be nice.
I am not sure I know what they are?
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The snow and ice will slide off of your roof. Basically they are like little sections of angle that you put up on the edge to prevent that. I need to put them on my roof over the garage, its a bummer when you have a 3 foot snow bank right outside the garage in the morning.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM IOWA!
With coffee in hand and the tree lit I'm waiting for the family to wake.
So here is the latest update with the wall for the electric and tillering of bows up the gables are the only thing left.
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The Southeast Iowa Primitive Bowyer's 'Compound'!
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The Southeast Iowa Primitive Bowyer's 'Compound'!
I am considering reporting this to the moderators for inappropriate language. Jw, children read these posts and your language can influence young minds. I really would appreciate it if you would revisited your use of the word "compound". >:D
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almost called him on that too John B. ;)
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almost called him on that too John B. ;)
Oh great, gang up on me!
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Had a chance to start thinking about phase 2 for summer. This will give me time to do some of the hand hewn work with the adz I have bought.
Paul is coming over to hunt in the morning and we should get phase 1 done afterwards. It's been a long road and I have learned a lot along the way. On phase 2 I hope to use all of that Wood you saw us cutting from the damm and boards cut using the chainsaw mill. It has been a couple years sitting in the garage so by spring it will be good and dry.
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Wow John it's been a few weeks since I checked in an look at all the work you have done
The prodgect is looking real good
Take care and hope to see ya in the spring
Merry Christmas !
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Wow John it's been a few weeks since I checked in an look at all the work you have done
The prodgect is looking real good
Take care and hope to see ya in the spring
Merry Christmas !
That would be great.
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We worked real hard all day so could finish the building before monday. We have ice storms predicted. Anyway we finished phase one today and it's now time for us to take a break and enjoy the rest of the hunting season. We can get back to making bows now.
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Wow just read we could get 1 inch of ice Sunday night into Monday. We have been very fortunate to have had such great weather to complete the shelter during winter.
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The storm has started and falling trees become the issue.
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Very nice shed John.Racing against the weather paid off.We are getting a fair amount of snow here now.It's a winter wonderland.Nothing to do but wait till it quits.Got the chains on the Oliver and waiting.
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Very nice shed John.Racing against the weather paid off.We are getting a fair amount of snow here now.It's a winter wonderland.Nothing to do but wait till it quits.Got the chains on the Oliver and waiting.
That's a cool old tractor. Going to hunt this morning. Everything is white and should be fun. It sure was a race but old man winter did me a huge favor by waiting. This was a very unusual start to winter. I will post a picture from the stand later this morning
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Oh yea old Oly gets the job done yet.Good luck a hunting.It'll be chilly.I'm not out there lately.Got my deer back in October.Ground beef is 4 bucks a pound yet here.I should try to get a doe yet.We'll see once.
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Very cold wind chill 17. I dressed light for long walk so I am working isometric to stay warm. Had doe come in to left and went down wind.
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Can't see the old girl but'll take your word for it....lol.Time for the hand warmers heh!!!!!Always hate getting stiff waiting.We lucked out with only a few inches of snow,but we'll get our turn sooner or later.Something about being in the woods after a good snow that's always mystical .Very quiet and your senses just seem to just perk up.Beautiful really.
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I'm sorry Ed this was a shot of the view from the stand showing icy cold weather. I couldn't get phone out in time to get a good photo of the doe.
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Cold sunrise
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One more
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Need to see blood in the snow! ;)
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This time of year I would be happy to just see tracks in the snow. I just don't see a lot of tracks.
Got a text from neighbor on the other side of road about 100 yards with this picture.
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This deer was 30 yards from my stand 20 days ago.
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Looks cold bud at sunrise.Nice deer.Yep a person gets to know and recognize those suckers.I see them too over here.Just out of my comfort zone.Got a muzzle loader?Bring that up with ya in the stand.Late season is still on.I thought about that too you know but hav'nt. They sure are louder than a bow......lol.At least it won't be too hard to trail in this snow now.
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Looks very cold, got to love that. Nice Buck. ;) The price we pay for hunting with what we hunt with. ;) :)
Pappy
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My neighbor Luke killed this small Iowa buck. This deer is not considered large in Iowa but it was huge to me. I helped him clean it an in tern I got the hide and head (these antlers are not considered big so he did not want them), back strap and leg sinew. Check out the lengh of this back strap. He Hunts about a 1/2 mile up the rode where the crop was corn so my fields with beans are covered with ice and not a deer to be found. Funny how these deer migrate to food source areas during deep cold periods. I have been knapping for the last two days and giving the woods a chance to thaw as this warm front moves in. Made this nice 8 inch blade but it is too thick so going to push it a little harder and try and thin it down tomorrow. I have to think on it a bit.
Going back at hunting in the evening.
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For perspective this was a shed a friend 2 miles away gave me. Amazing the side of that boy.
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That one antler weighs more than our deer! :o
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Pat 3 years ago we talked about dogwood shafts and natural finishes. One of those arrow killed a deer and it was coated with a pine pitch finish and another one with egg yoke applied very thin and left to dry a year. Well it's been about three now and I just finished this arrow. It has stayed striaght and still has its finish but some kind of bug tried to eat the coating off but not in a bad way. Here it is finish and I will let you know how it holds up
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Cool John. 8)
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The progress looks great, John.
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Thanks Steve
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Another deer season past and starting work on arrows for next year. I have three shafts finished and two more to go. I am going to shoot a little lighter arrow this next time around as I focus on tapering the end a little more, shortened the length and lighten the spine. My goal is 6 with. A practice arrow. I am going to rebuild the old shafts by cutting the them down and sanding to lightening the spine. This should save me a considerable amount of time.
Life tends to move so fast if I don't do it now I will wake up and it will be hunting season.
Maple syrup time is coming and we got all the equipment out and gave it a good washing so we are a little ahead of that ball.
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John I envy your ambition and skills! JUoe
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(I dont envy his wife - this guy never sleeps!!) :o
Good idea reworking the old shafts. Have you noticed any of them lighter in spine than originally? I wonder if the season worth of humidity and use has lightened them at all.
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Thanks funny Scott you know I don't sleep much.
Now I did check the spine on the arrow I made about 2 or 3 years ago and it was still at 60 lbs. That arrow was was made for that short flat bow I shot at the devel's hole knap in. Anyway it held up well and cycled quickly to the 50 lbs and cut to the shorter length.
I can weight them this time Scott when I get them build and we will reweight them this time next year and see what happens.
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Four are done plus 1 practice arrow not shown.
Joe thanks for your kind words I think you were very busy at my age also from what I know of your travels and adventures.
If we get a warm snap these bees are going to need some attention also. The boxes shown are empty and waiting for me to store them away for a couple months.
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From what I've noticed John the mass weight does'nt change much from year to year with dogwoods.
Hopefully our bees have enough food to make it this winter.We weighed our hives in the fall.They should be ok.I bump them once in a while to hear if they are alive and kicking.Bee keeping is on the rise in Iowa.
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Looks like a nice set of arrows in the works. I love making and tuning them when I just take the time and do it. :) How is the shop coming along ?
Pappy
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John....Do you remember the requirements of Colorado for mass weight on an arrow to hunt elk with?If I remember right they are around 520 grains.Plenty to kill a deer with too.I believe you are right doing what you are doing with your shafts.The extra speed will help to shoot flatter I think.
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Pappy the shop is on hold untill we get a break in the weather. I want to get started on phase 2 a soon as possible. The ground is frozen solid but looks like 50 degree weather at the end of March.
Beadman I should between that 559 and 600 mark. I could make them spine even less but they get so thin after 50 lbs. Currently they are 5/16
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Have you ever tried the grooving on the side and heated on these dogwoods yet.So they stay straight.I hav'nt.Some of mine stay straight and some don't.Can't really figure out why.Made them from older age and thicker to near dimensioned starting points too.I believe I got either the flowering or gray dogwood here but they do turn red in the winter too though.
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Have you ever tried the grooving on the side and heated on these dogwoods yet.So they stay straight.I hav'nt.Some of mine stay straight and some don't.Can't really figure out why.Made them from older age and thicker to near dimensioned starting points too.I believe I got either the flowering or gray dogwood here but they do turn red in the winter too though.
I think the bark on mine are gray. I have not tried the groove but I keep reworking them when I drink my coffee and they seem to be staying straighter longer each day. I used tung oil one one and it seem to be doing well. Yesterday I finished cutting in the nocks.
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Yesterday I spent half the day watching Isaac wrestle (he pinned a kid in 24 sec). In the afternoon Paul and I went to the pond and pulled up a walnut tree log I left on the dam project a couple years ago. We were testing out the winch on the wheeler. Then we raced wheelers and cut cookies on the pond ice that was good fun.
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Annette and I hiked out to the pond this morning . She hiked around and took photos and I tried my hand at that log Paul and I pulled from the pond dam. We decided to walk so I brought just one axe and the adze. It went easier than I thought to flatten one side considering it was my first time really doing this.
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It's nice to have those one sided axes on the opposite side from your legs. ???
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Nice straight walnut there and putting your tools to good use.Some bows and arrow shafts in that log you know with that straight grain....lol.
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Real busy putting the display together now. Here are a couple pictures that will make more sense when the finished product is done. Really hitting it hard today. The two pictures of wood show some sanding of red elm that I cut 3 years ago and now using as trim. I have never used red elm before but it looks real nice after it is sanded
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Back now from classic and the first load of rock was delivered about 10 mins. ago. Things are starting to come together as we have been working on the place for the past couple of nights.
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Little more gravel
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The first parking area!
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That is looking good Jon, you are moving right along. :)
Pappy
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I had a lucky break and picked up some lumber on clearence. 70 buck and now i have the lumber to complete everlything.
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Boy, what a deal. Good for you John. Now, get to work! >:( ;)
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Nice buy, I love them kind of deals. Pappy
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After playing at the museum today I came home and dug the foundation for the raku pad. We are pouring Concrete on wedesday
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Forgot the photo
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Nice John. Will it have a roof?
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Man it's going to be a very busy summer for you John.Looking good there.A fella's got to have his out buildings.
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Nice John. Will it have a roof?
Yes Pat it will have a roof.
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The concrete pad is finished and curing. Isaac and I build the trusses yesterday.
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Sweeeet John.I'll have to come down to see your expanding yard sometime.Hey..... who needs to go to town for excitement huh????Nice work.
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Nice job, looks like all is coming along nicely around there. :)
Pappy
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After teaching this morning Isaac and I did a little work and then got rained out.
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I'm gonna guess 12'by12'.
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12x14
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Perlins go up today
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Next step is to get the tin up.
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Tin is up ...few more screws to go and it will be done today. I picked up the tin and trim at that menards for cheap before they moved. Time to start thinking on that tool room.
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That's looking good John. :)
Pappy
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Looks fantastic.Your sure staying out of trouble these days.Retirement will be an enjoyment for you for sure.
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Looking real good John. What kind of kiln or oven will you have in there?
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Pat this will be a Raku kiln made from brick donated from an old kiln that an art center no longer wanted.
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A friend of ours did nonfunctional raku ware. He used a chest freezer to do his raku; filled it with all sorts of combustible materials for different affects. My wife was his studio assistant one summer and saved his arse from falling in when he was inspecting his ware he was making for a show at the Navy Pier in Chicago. He gave Marcia a few pieces that didn't make grade for the show.
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On to the next project. Lots of rain over the last two weeks. Should get this poured tomorrow.
This will be a storage room for tools and a place for the electric to come in. It has been hot so it's work 15 mins drink 15mins then back to work. Should have this one done in three weeks then we will be set to start running and funning. Cant wait to build my first bow
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Coming along nicely, John. You are going to have a nice set-up when you're done.
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Man, looking good, John. You've been busy.
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Thanks guys it has been a lot of work and with that menards closing it really helped me keep cost down a lot.
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Man you are coming along, looking very good so far. It will be nice to get it done and start enjoying, problem is you will always be wanting to add more. ???
Pappy
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We got the concrete poured and in this picture we pulled a stick out of the mix and smoothed it back out.
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Good thing he trusts you John. ;D
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Wow! Looking great, John. Will be fun too see you all tucked away when it's cold and snowy!
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Looking good John !
gonna be some good times there for sure
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Progress
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The cool part about this is all of the wood minus the treated cost 70 dollars
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John, is that gonna be a flat roof? Any pitch to it?
You've surely gotten a lot done. I know you'll love the work space when done.
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There will be a pitch to the roof. It will be a lean-to up to the vertical tin. I have to pull the tin and cut it back a couple inches. It will drop a couple of feet. I am decking the top of ceiling joists so I can have some storage space above.
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All work stops when the nephew from 6 hours away calls and ask to spend a couple days to build a bow.
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Put the respirator on... and have fun with that yellow stuff! ;)
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Looking great John
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Looking really good, John!
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Considering how that golden wood does you a dirty trick, you must be mighty fond of the boy!
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We finished his bow and sent him back south with a new bow ,target arrows and a couple with hunting points.
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Yes that bow dust does a number on my sinuses and makes me sick for a week.
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Now there's a slick stick done well!
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Great work John and nephew. Way to pass it on
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Well done John. Good for you for passing it on! 8)
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Thanks everyone and now it's back to the tools shop with paul at 6am tomorrow morning. Hoping to get the roof up by the end of the day.
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Good work done the am before dawn. Me Paul and Isaac really went after it and will hopefully have the roof on before nightfall.
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Moving right along!
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More images
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Home of the future Iowa Classic!
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Jw i dont know about that we dont have that kind of parking. Just have tin to do now and then electric!
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Man, that looks great John. Can't wait to check it out for myself. ;)
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That picture gives great reference for your overall layout. You've done some really nice work there John.
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John that is looking really good, looks like a very cool set up. :)
Pappy
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Man, that looks great John. Can't wait to check it out for myself. ;)
yep hope you can make it to one of the events in the future
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That picture gives great reference for your overall layout. You've done some really nice work there John.
Thanks Scott, it's fun to see it actually coming together.
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Looks like a set of sturdy buildings. Congrats!
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That's a sweet setup you got in the making 8)
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Looks good John! I'll come visit. I've got a pile of rock I don't know what to do with. It seems to turn into dust every time I touch it.
Your pm box is full by the way.
Tattoo Dave
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Looks good John! I'll come visit. I've got a pile of rock I don't know what to do with. It seems to turn into dust every time I touch it.
Your pm box is full by the way.
Tattoo Dave
Thanks guys, and dave your welcome anytime.
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Today is my last day of summer vacation then back to work for me on monday. So todays chore is to install vents for the storage area and maybe install that door permanently.
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Next week the extra tin shows up and once up the outside will be done. If they could ever get around to installing my pole I can schedule the electrician in to get my panel in place. Once thats done we can finish up the inside. I have had a lot of help but my buddy Paul has been busted his hump all year with me. We can't wait for the first bow to get built here ...its going to be cool.
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It's gonna be sweet.
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John, you've done a great job. It's been cool watching the progress of this build.
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Wow John
that is sweet!
got me wishing it was closer to me
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What a beautiful and serene looking place to get lost in primitive activities, you did a fantastic job pulling it all together.
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Thanks for all the positive comments! Still waiting on the tin to show up so I spend time doing the less fun stuff like cleaning up the brush piles and picking up sticks. I have picked up more sticks than you can shake a stick at during this last year.
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Thanks for all the positive comments! Still waiting on the tin to show up so I spend time doing the less fun stuff like cleaning up the brush piles and picking up sticks. I have picked up more sticks than you can shake a stick at during this last year.
Well, stick with it, and you will get it done. Then you can branch out to other tasks and leaf that one alone.
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The rain held off a little so got the panels up. Now the end wall and trim is next
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We broke ground in mid April 2015 and today we will be putting up the last peices of tin on the outside. We have the inside of the tool room left to complete. The electric company finally can an placed the pole so we can start trenching the electric after the gas company places their tank. After trenching all that foundation work by hand for the concrete this shouldn't be be too hard. I just hope to be done before October 1st would be nice to sit in a deerstand and relax after all this.
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You have earned a little relaxation in the stand! Good work, brother!
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Maybe halfway there? Half dug with loader the other half with the trenching shovel.
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That's not near deep enough ;D ;D ;D
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3' at least!
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Iowa code 22 to top of pipe
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What you guys are not seeing in picture is first 10 inches was dug with loader so it looks only 8 inches
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This is about where i am going.
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You sure are short, John. ;D
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Now that's a ditch ;D
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Looking good, but as for rest , you never get done. :) Nice ditch. :)
Pappy
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Looking good, but as for rest , you never get done. :) Nice ditch. :)
Pappy
pappy i just want to have a day to make bows knife etc...without a deadline.
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So much happening today. The tank came today set and is now full. So our Raku parts are all here...shelter, kiln, and gas. It is not all hooked up but is ready to be done. The ditch was finished 5mins before it rained so it will be full of water but thats ok for now.
With the gas issue finished now the electric becomes my main and most important goal.
I went to the Dr and got meds for flu so I can rest now while the rain passes.
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So much happening today. The tank came today set and is now full. So our Raku parts are all here...shelter, kiln, and gas. It is not all hooked up but is ready to be done. The ditch was finished 5mins before it rained so it will be full of water but thats ok for now.
With the gas issue finished now the electric becomes my main and most important goal.
I went to the Dr and got meds for flu so I can rest now while the rain passes.
Ah, I see...clever use of the rain to test for leaks in the gas line!!!
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Here is a picture Annette took after i installed the last piece of tin today. All of the main exterior construction is now finished
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With some scrap treated material Annette and I built a bride over the emergency overflow at the pond.
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Amazing progress. I can't wait to see it in person down the road. :)
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The flu is no excuse to be laying down when there's work to be done! ;D ;D
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The flu is no excuse to be laying down when there's work to be done! ;D ;D
it only got me down for one day but it is still kicking my butt.
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The flu is no excuse to be laying down when there's work to be done! ;D ;D
cant wait for you to see it Steve. Loading bow wood into it tonight
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Lots of things are getting done but not real exciting suff just landscaping out dirt piles, cleaning up brush that was pushed back for construction and sorting out what construction materials to keep.
I started moving staves over and storing some in the space we created above the tool room. Going to try and move the workbench over this weekend and a few more items.
The breakerbox gets installed monday so next weeks project will be filling in the trench and getting seed down before it gets cold.
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The cemetery in town cut down a tree and it had bees in it so they called me to help out. With it being so late in the seasone I could not rehive them so I cut the section out of the tree then baged the opening of the log and brought it home. In the picture I am wiring the logs to a tree untill spring. I know this is a little crazy without the bee suit but it was 90 degrees yesterday. I did put it on while removing the plastic.
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Also the electric was installed yesterday and the trench filled in. Lights and outlets will be installed next week. This means we can have the inside finished before winter.
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Free bees are always a crap-shoot, even at best. However, they are far better than no bees at all!
Here's hoping they winter well and can be moved to a hive come spring.
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Free bees are always a crap-shoot, even at best. However, they are far better than no bees at all!
Here's hoping they winter well and can be moved to a hive come spring.
Swarm of bees in may is worth a load of hay
swarm of bees in june is worth a tune
swarm of bees in july aint worth a fly
>:D
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Free bees are always a crap-shoot, even at best. However, they are far better than no bees at all!
Here's hoping they winter well and can be moved to a hive come spring.
Swarm of bees in may is worth a load of hay
swarm of bees in june is worth a tune
swarm of bees in july aint worth a fly
>:D
Lol yes yes but that's a saying about catching a swarm right? This is about the kit and caboole.
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"A loghive is September might be something to remember" it's the best hive got hehe
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Well other than waiting for grass to grow and moving equipment over the outside is done for now! The bow wood is now in the house!
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John, the place looks great. You done good, son! That circular drive will be very helpful and cut down a little on the mowing. ;)
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It looks really great!
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Thanks guys, Going to be testing some of the systems out this week and friday we have our first event planned with a blacksmith, Raku firing, and a guy that can do some cool sculptural welding stuff, and some flint knapping.
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Ton of planning must have gone into this facility. It shows!! Hope get to see in person one day. Congrats, Mr John.
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Lookin GREAT John! You've done wonders with that place. dpg
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Congrats John, you've done a heck of a job!
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Place looks great John, you've done a lot of work there now hopefully you can have some time to really sit back and use it and enjoy it.
Bjrogg
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I wanna see a deer or 2 hanging from the trusses this fall. Good work mr bybee
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Man! oh man! John that sure looks great.Love that self entertainment center.An instructional facility to boot.Who needs to go to town.Looks pretty professional and diverse.
Oh yea...I agree with Scott about the use of those trusses!!!
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Ton of planning must have gone into this facility. It shows!! Hope get to see in person one day. Congrats, Mr John.
I had a lot of input from a lot of people and took elements "on a micro scale" from twin oaks. I had a lot of help from neighbors, friends, Bowers, ceramic potters and many others during the last 1.5 years. I did a lot of drawing and ask lot of questions.
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Congrats John, you've done a heck of a job!
thanks arron and bowtarist
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Place looks great John, you've done a lot of work there now hopefully you can have some time to really sit back and use it and enjoy it.
Bjrogg
really looking forward to the gatherings and trying to get the atlatl world involved
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I wanna see a deer or 2 hanging from the trusses this fall. Good work mr bybee
yep Scott almost forgot about those blocks you suggested i install. Going to the hardware store today for a hook.
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Make it a pulley, your back will thank you!!
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Make it a pulley, your back will thank you!!
Check Craigslist for a couple of used garage door openers and grin like an idiot using the remote control!
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Make it a pulley, your back will thank you!!
Check Craigslist for a couple of used garage door openers and grin like an idiot using the remote control!
ooooh, now that is a great idea!
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Man that place is looking good, very nice work all around. :)
Pappy
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Place looks great John, you've done a lot of work there now hopefully you can have some time to really sit back and use it and enjoy it.
Bjrogg
really looking forward to the gatherings and trying to get the atlatl world involved
Gathering?
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Place looks great John, you've done a lot of work there now hopefully you can have some time to really sit back and use it and enjoy it.
Bjrogg
really looking forward to the gatherings and trying to get the atlatl world involved
Gathering?
well I would like to do another IJam in the spring and try to involve other primitive groups that may not be connected yet.
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its always a big guess on the weather but with cold you don't have mosquitos.
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Keep me posted. Make a family vacation out of it. ;D ;D
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Keep me posted. Make a family vacation out of it. ;D ;D
will do
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As I was putting together the plan for the site my friend lillian told me the location where she fired her pottery was closing so I expanded the site so she could continue making and teaching her craft with a dedicated space. I always planned a raku aspect but not so developed. So today was the first time the kiln was tested and her work was the first to be fired. So here is a picture of her work.
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I blinked twice and now you have the place ready to go!!! It's truly AWESOME to see this work coming around sir. I'm sure you'll have some AWESOME times there.
OneBow
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Wow, that is some beautiful pottery!
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Love that black and white pot. Great stuff all around.
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Wow John !
it all came together well and is just so sweet
Good job
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Gregory Malone came down from Des Moline to do a blacksmithing demonstration during a session held our at the site for the Art Educators of Iowa conference. I did a little Raku thing and we had a welder doing a demo also. This gave me a chance to see how people would flow in the space.
Gergrory is a pretty cool guy in addition to his blacksmith stuff he is a knapper.
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This Bill White guy was amazing with his foot operated welder. He made dragon sculptures during the event.
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The lady on the left is lillian she is a pretty cool potter and says things the way it is lol.
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Cool....Looks like you got 220!!!Many more memories to come I'm sure.
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Ed I think we had about 90.
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Looks like the place is working out well, the more you do the more you will figure out how to accommodate more folks. You have a very very good start, much better than our beginnings at TwinOaks. ;) :) I am very impressed. :) I could tell when I first meet you , you were a planner and would think things through, I ant and just fly by the seat of my pants. ;) :)
Pappy
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Looks like the place is working out well, the more you do the more you will figure out how to accommodate more folks. You have a very very good start, much better than our beginnings at TwinOaks. ;) :) I am very impressed. :) I could tell when I first meet you , you were a planner and would think things through, I ant and just fly by the seat of my pants. ;) :)
Pappy
In my case I had the benifit of your setup. I think you can see elements of twinoaks in the design. The one thing that surprised me when we talked was gravel. This becomes a real expense even on a small scale as I have found out.
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Yep, baby steps, you have to start with what you have to have and then add a little every year. We started out with one small single drive from the road to the cabin door then just added each year, we still add each year as we see more of what we need. We have grown every year and thank goodness it has been a gradual growth,[ been there 26 years this year] so each time we have an event we can see what we need to do to make it more manageable. Their has been a lot of adding to and some redo's over the years as we see our needs. Not sure of you plans but if you plan on putting on events and do a quality job as I am sure you will ,you have to keep in mind growth, because it will grow. ;) :) Some say we look like a well oiled machine at our events, but if they only knew what goes on behind the scenes, total chaos most of the time ;) you just have to make it look like it isn't. ;) :) Again you have a very good start and looking for big things out of that place. ;)
Pappy
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Yep, baby steps, you have to start with what you have to have and then add a little every year. We started out with one small single drive from the road to the cabin door then just added each year, we still add each year as we see more of what we need. We have grown every year and thank goodness it has been a gradual growth,[ been there 26 years this year] so each time we have an event we can see what we need to do to make it more manageable. Their has been a lot of adding to and some redo's over the years as we see our needs. Not sure of you plans but if you plan on putting on events and do a quality job as I am sure you will ,you have to keep in mind growth, because it will grow. ;) :) Some say we look like a well oiled machine at our events, but if they only knew what goes on behind the scenes, total chaos most of the time ;) you just have to make it look like it isn't. ;) :) Again you have a very good start and looking for big things out of that place. ;)
Pappy
Ducks on a pond. From above water, peaceful and graceful, simply beautiful. From underwater, paddling like a whole marching band of banjos started playing "Dueling Banjoes" on your canoe trip.
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nice to see you can finally enjoy the place a little. looks great Iowabow, you should be very proud. I'm sure you will do good things there
bjrogg
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nice to see you can finally enjoy the place a little. looks great Iowabow, you should be very proud. I'm sure you will do good things there
bjrogg
thanks, we are getting a little rain and that should help the grass and also bring some cooler temps. I think i will start hitting the woods next week.
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I meant 220 volt for a welder.Your time clock is working out for ya.Nice to see it come along like that for people including yourself to enjoy.
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Very pleased for you all John. Looks like it was a great event.
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I meant 220 volt for a welder.Your time clock is working out for ya.Nice to see it come along like that for people including yourself to enjoy.
yes on the 220 lol.
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I meant 220 volt for a welder.Your time clock is working out for ya.Nice to see it come along like that for people including yourself to enjoy.
yes on the 220 lol.
220, 221, whatever it takes.
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It is great to see other Iowan's with similar interests. I am just starting down the path of traditional archery myself. I have wanted to make my own bow for years but just never got started. A year ago a close family friend that had been a bowyer passed away and his some gave me some of his gear so I decided it was time to start. I am working on an ash flatbow and I started to tiller it the night before last. I will post a picture if it turns out. Keep up the good work!
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It is great to see other Iowan's with similar interests. I am just starting down the path of traditional archery myself. I have wanted to make my own bow for years but just never got started. A year ago a close family friend that had been a bowyer passed away and his some gave me some of his gear so I decided it was time to start. I am working on an ash flatbow and I started to tiller it the night before last. I will post a picture if it turns out. Keep up the good work!
thanks for the PM I will keep you informed when we get bow builders together.
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Rumour has it some young lovebirds are out there right now toasting marshmallows and flirting their hearts out!
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Rumour has it some young lovebirds are out there right now toasting marshmallows and flirting their hearts out!
Well i dont know about all that but...there was a fire.
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It is that time of year again to mass produce for the homeless shelter fund raiser. This year it is small bread plates.
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As usual, you are not loafing!
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Paul's daughter just got her first deer. We are so proud of tracy.
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That is great!
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Congrats to the young lady, very nice buck.
Pappy
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That is a really nice picture, all smiles there congratulations Tracy I'm sure your dad is very proud and will always remember this moment
Bjrogg
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Satisfying ending to a successful hunt.Congrats.
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I took my first deer with a bow this weekend. My goal was to take a deer this year with a bow I made myself, however my first to attempts broke. Instead I used a Samick Red Stag 50#@28" that was a gift from a very close family friend right before he passed away from cancer. I took her at 38 yards just behind the right front shoulder about 2" above the heart. The arrow penetrated the ribs and shoulder muscle on the far side, but not the hide. She ran about 70 yards. I have taken a lot of deer with a flintlock over th years, including some respectable bucks, but this was my best trophy to date.
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Good work!
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Nice deer, WOW 38 yards with a stick and string is quite a shot. Congrats. :)
Pappy
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Congratulations, like Pappy said heck of a shot. I'd still be waiting for her to get closer lol. Glad it all came together for you. Good Luck with your bow building you have a very worthy goal.
Bjrogg
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That's amazing great job!
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Hey John, you all still operating? Where is our update?! :)
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Wondering the same thing Steve. ;) :)
Pappy
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Me to.
Bjrogg
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I correspond with John, he is taking a little time after having a few bumps with loss.
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Hope he gets back soon we miss him
Bjrogg
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Sorry about the long time out guys. I had things to sort out. So whats new here? Do ya remember those smoking deals I got when that home improvement center moved. Well we had scrap left over from the shelters and tool room. so I ask the construction trades if they wanted a project for their class. This is a win win because they dont have to use their budget to teach basic ideas of construction. Anyway that scrap and the windows and roll up door were got for pennies on the dollar. So whats a guy do with a new building after he has already built a bow shop? He gives it to his wife for a "she shed". In the fall I dug holes and put in tubes in and poured concrete.
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Now the trick will be moving the building over to the pillars seen on the right and to the back of the yard.
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Glad to see you back Iowa, that's a dandy looking she cave. That should earn some brownie points. Is it on skids?
Bjrogg
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Yes it is on skids. I hope so on the browie points
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Being on skids should make it easier to get on those pillars. Around here it also makes it not considered a "permanent dwelling" so no property tax.
Bjrogg
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There ya go John.Looks really nice.I'm sure she'll like it.
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That looks great, she should love that. We have a guy in the club that use to teach building trades and they built some might fine projects over the years, good for the youth and good for the person getting the project built, as you said win win. ;)
Pappy
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Knowing her, she is very appreciative of your efforts. She's what DPGratz calls a "gooder".
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Thanks guys and yep she is a keeper
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Glad to see the post, John.
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I have been want to learn this queen raising thing so I built a couple nucs.
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Forgot to mention that most of the queen nuc is made from the package that the bees come in.
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Good! The queens will feel at home. :OK You've been busy this winter, John. Hope to see you and Isaac at the Classic.
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Good! The queens will feel at home. :OK You've been busy this winter, John. Hope to see you and Isaac at the Classic.
Isaac will not be heading to the classic this year but Annette will come with me this time.
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Cool! :OK
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That's a very exciting project. I'll be interested to see what you learn. Want to do that someday in the future.
Sorry to read Isaac won't be making it but look forward to meeting Annette.
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Cool project John, I've got a few neighbors here that raise bees. One takes them all over the country as pollinators. The honey from local bees is supposed to be good for allergies to.
Bjrogg
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Awesome project, really cool hobby to get into, can't wait to see the pics of when you pull out a comb full of honey.
Kevin
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Cool project John, I've got a few neighbors here that raise bees. One takes them all over the country as pollinators. The honey from local bees is supposed to be good for allergies to.
Bjrogg
Any excuse to put a pan of biscuits in the oven and get the honey out of the cupboard. Whatever gets you through the morning, bro!
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Cool project John, I've got a few neighbors here that raise bees. One takes them all over the country as pollinators. The honey from local bees is supposed to be good for allergies to.
Bjrogg
Any excuse to put a pan of biscuits in the oven and get the honey out of the cupboard. Whatever gets you through the morning, bro!
I like a little bit in my tea.
Bjrogg
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Annette uses it on salmon as honey glaze. Soooo good.
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I like honey and Guilden's mustard as a glaze for salmon.
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Full weekend of projects; helped Paul paint his remodeled house, then off to another friends house with my tractor to dig postholes and move dirt for a hot tub area, then home to move Annette's shed into location on the concrete piers. Now as I type this I am enjoying a tall glass of water.
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After the clean up
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Another nice job Jon
good to hear from you
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Is there a reason you put Annette's shed out on the back 40, Jon. :o
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Annette's reply, "I wanted it to have its own little space".
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Nice shop, and good response, what Annette wants she should get. ;) :)
Pappy
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Trying the swarm catch thing this year.
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Why up a tree? Varmints?
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I am hoping it is easier for the bees to find/see. Also, scent left in a queen cage from a recent package of bees might carry on the wind for a greater distance.
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following your bees tales
for swarm catching they say lemon grass oil or even lemon pledge work well
also read in this book:
gutenberg.org/files/34063/34063-h/34063-h.htm (add www. )
that they heated a large stone and placed old honeycomb on it to attract scouts bees
How the raising queen nucs going?
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I've got lots of lemon grass growing. If it helps, let me know I'll send some off to you. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.
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following your bees tales
for swarm catching they say lemon grass oil or even lemon pledge work well
also read in this book:
gutenberg.org/files/34063/34063-h/34063-h.htm (add www. )
that they heated a large stone and placed old honeycomb on it to attract scouts bees
How the raising queen nucs going?
Thanks for the help. The nucs from the split seem to be doing well and the equal split looks strong. I placed an excluder between the couple brood boxes so I can isolate where the queen wound up.
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I've got lots of lemon grass growing. If it helps, let me know I'll send some off to you. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.
Thanks Steve I found some lemongrass essential oil at walmart of all places and put a couple drops on a Q-tip.
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Bee keeping is like some kind of crazy Voodoo to me.
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Citranilla (sp) is made from lemongrass and it is an insect repellent. ???
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John, used to see an ole bee keeper at the local watering hole and he always said he read the" ABC and the XYZ of Beekeeping" then went from there. Quite a small town character, I believe he could have learned :o (A) me a thing or two.
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Thanks Bob! I am waiting for another book to show up.
Yesterday we built a screen for Annette's "She Shed". Today she is hanging in with me on chores even after two bee stings.
As for activity here on site, we have had two high schools over for clay projects and a bunch of guys are wanting to start building bows again, plus we have 4 more events scheduled for clay stuff. We have just a little more work on the inside to do and things should start hopping.
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I wish I had a spot like that!
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That place is looking very good, now for the fun part, using it and keeping it up. ;)
Pappy
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Your newly constructed area looks pretty nice John.
Robins' been stung a few times here too by the bees.They get caught in her hair.Even with a head net.
Doing work on them on nice warm days when most of the hive is gone is the best time to work on them with a smoker of course.Colder cloudy days most of the bees are home and ready to protect the hive.
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The splits I made are looking great and queen cells are looking like they have potential.
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Your newly constructed area looks pretty nice John.
Robins' been stung a few times here too by the bees.They get caught in her hair.Even with a head net.
Doing work on them on nice warm days when most of the hive is gone is the best time to work on them with a smoker of course.Colder cloudy days most of the bees are home and ready to protect the hive.
Thanks Ed, Paul and I are thinking about getting together in late May if you want to come over. I can call ya and we can set something up.
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You bet.Sounds good.I'm always up for a mini vacation trip.
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Quick sketch in acrylic of the shelter
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Nice, you do good tree :D
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Very nice, John. 8)
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I like that paint alot :OK
is there something you're not good to do?
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Beautiful painting, you will cherish that in years down the road , wished I had taken more pictures of my place when it first began. :) Hard to remember now what it looked like. :)
Pappy
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That is a really nice painting John. At first I thought it was a picture looking out your window. Very nice.
Bjrogg
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Beautiful painting, you will cherish that in years down the road , wished I had taken more pictures of my place when it first began. :) Hard to remember now what it looked like. :)
Pappy
Thanks Pappy. It has changed a lot in the last couple years and hope it keeps growing. We had another high school group out and a college group out this week doing ceramics. There was lots of rain but everything worked out fine.
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How quick life can change. Annette was walking across a parking lot and was struck by a car. She was taken by ambulance to the ER and checked out. Luckly no broken bones but she is real sore from being banged around. We hope for a fast recovery this week so we can still make it to the classic.
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That is a really nice painting John. At first I thought it was a picture looking out your window. Very nice.
Bjrogg
Thanks bjrogg
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John, so sorry to hear about Annette. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
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Wow Jon
Things sure can change big and quickly
Glad they say she will be ok but will pray for quick recovery
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Sorry to hear that.Wishing you guys the best.
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That's terrible. Parking lots are dangerous and people are oblivious. I hope ya'll are still able to make it.
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Hoping for a quick recovery John. The place looks great
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Hoping for a quick recovery John. The place looks great
thanks and she is up and moving so we will be headed to tn
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So glad to hear that, brother.
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Had a great time at the classic this year and returned to Iowa and did a demo at the youth jamboree this weekend at our county conservation area. Isaac volunteered at the archery setup.
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The electric is being completed this week..next week is insulation and drywall in the shed part.
This Saturday is our first bow building event with a couple guys. It has been a long project and is just about complete for a while.
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Last week we finished a cedar pole gate to the bee yard. We had a teaspasser drive on then they got stuck in the mud and used beehive parts to put under wheels for traction and did couple hundred dollars in damage. We did file a report.
After the gate was completed the next morning I had cow prints in the mud from the 4 cows that broke out of the neighbor's small farm. Really glad they did not walk in and knock hives over.
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I don't think that gate will keep many bees in. Good seeing you again and meeting your better half
Roger
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Yes that's aggravating.I've experienced the like before too.Nice use of the local cedar for a gate.Usually it's some kids.
I've got an ITBS rendezvous to attend this saturday by Eldora but look forward to seeing your new digs over there sometime.
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Ed we will get together sometime this summer.
This week the electric was finished. Next is to finish the inside of the tool room so we can have a heated area on site.
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First pot of coffee!
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Neighbor's pig stopped by and wanted to dig up the newly seeded dirt....called them to come and retrieve their pig.
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That pig would have made fine BBQ for your grand opening, John. :OK
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That pig would have made fine BBQ for your grand opening, John. :OK
...with some of that wonderful Johnny Harris bbq sauce!
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:OK
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Delivery bacon!?! Does it get any better?
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So much got done this weekend and we are moving on to insulation and drywall this week. Once this is done then cabinets and shelving will be indtalled and then it will be time to move stuff in! No pictured this time I was to busy finishing little details for the next phase to pull the phone out.
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Going to get a few guys getting together on the 24th this month Ed if you can make it over. Anyone else in the area is welcome to stop in also. Just let me know.
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I wish!
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Right now that time looks good John.I'll mark it on the calendar so Robin can see it....lol.
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Awesome Ed and JW wished you were closer it would be cool to have an owl or hawk presentation in this location.
Last night Annette and I camped out and today I am going to start painting the tool room area. I call it the tool room but it will be a multi purpose kind space.
Yesterday Paul and I continued work on that stave. I think we can get two bows out of it.
The whole site should really start taking shape this week. If the painting goes well on tuesday we can put up those discount / mismatched cabinets that we picked up at Menards when they moved their store. We have been doing events without really having the site put together; moving things all over with a setup and tear down as we move from hosting events and back to construction. So its going to be a lot less work as we move forward.
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My goodness.Looks like a nice warm winter work shop to me.A man cave sanctuary I'd say.It's nice your willing to share your facilities.
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My goodness.Looks like a nice warm winter work shop to me.A man cave sanctuary I'd say.It's nice your willing to share your facilities.
Spoken by an Iowan who knows the power of old man winter for sure.
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That place is starting to look like an upscale campground where they have rules and everything!
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Got a lot done today with Isaac's help. We put together some recycled shelves after they were painted by lillian and then cleared brush alone the drive in so we would have more parking. Paul stopped by after work and we got the cabinets hung.
We had a visit from leroy the other day who has now taken a job in town and will be back out making bows. Ed I think you helped him on his first bow.
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Tim stopped out and dropped this off!!
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Man that place is shaping up. Looks very nice and ready to be used and enjoyed. :)
Pappy
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Man that place is shaping up. Looks very nice and ready to be used and enjoyed. :)
Pappy
thanks Pappy and today was another long day of checking things off the list.
Got the cedar post moved and a dirt pile moved and pushed a little more dirt back. Then in the afternoon Paul and Tim came over to set the LED light up.
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Yea I think I remember Leroy.Is he married to that chinese woman?She's a good cook.He always brought some delicious eats to the gathering.
LED lighting.Man that's right up town.
I was wondering.Are your plans for the gathering through all day sunday?
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Yea I think I remember Leroy.Is he married to that chinese woman?She's a good cook.He always brought some delicious eats to the gathering.
LED lighting.Man that's right up town.
I was wondering.Are your plans for the gathering through all day sunday?
originally just for the day but if you want to camp for the night and work on stuff on sunday thats cool. I know I will be doing that and I bet others will as well
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The lights are just the cheap, on sale, farm king 4 foot garage and shop lights.
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Looks great John, we went with LED in our new construction also , they are a little higher but put out lots more light, and much cheaper to use. We plan on changing them all out over the next year or so. Elect gets high around my place and the more you add the more the bill seems to grow. :-\
Pappy
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I already PM'd IowaBow about this, but I'm hoping to be up there for the weekend gathering on the 24th. I have some work to do in the area and thought I'd make the trip have a double purpose! :) Really looking forward to meeting some of the guys up there and getting to see this beautiful facility. I'll bring some smoked brisket to share if anybody gets hungry.
OneBow
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Sounds great guys and bowmo might make it over as well.
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Yesterday I installed the light on the small shelter, moved bricks, (Isaac calls my bricks the A to B then B to A ...then repeat project.) 2 years ago we disassembled a gas fired kiln from an old art art center. In a month we will reassemble it into a woodfired kiln and forge. I am in the cleanup and organizing phase today.
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Got a lot picked up and much of the construction mess removed today. Paul stopped out after work for 30 mins and we got the tillering board up and painted. Maybe tomorrow I will get the kiln bricks removed. Lillian was out all day laying pavers for more room behind the Raku kiln.
Early this morning just at day break I had time to work the bee hives and make some adjustments. I have been building out the bee project in a new area away from our front yard.
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Looks good and looks like y'all are kicking it off right
Have fun
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Looks good and looks like y'all are kicking it off right
Have fun
Thanks Buckeye
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It has been a long couple of years with lots of help from many freinds and family. Annette and I are blessed to have so many good people around. We started planning on this project three years ago. The idea from the start was to create a main structure that could be expanded on down the road as we could afford the materials. Those plans were axcelarated by the moving of a Menards store that placed dearly need materials at giveaway prices.
My knock out list should be completed today!
It has been a lot of fun but...
I am not going to miss digging rat trap foundations through root filled ground or digging out trenchs for electic!
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It's been such a pleasure to read your regular progress postings.
3 years! Doesn't seem that long, but may seem longer to you!
Congratulations on what's been achieved in such a seemingly short time.
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Looking good! Just took a few minutes and glanced through this thread. Not sure how Ive missed this. But im really happy you are putting this together to pass it on.
Patrick
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It's all looking so good, John. I can only see one thing you are missing in the bow building area and that is "Osage is King" on the backboard at the tillering tree. :OK
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Thanks guys here are a couple pictures now that the bricks and wood have been moved.
Annette put her touch to it as well about 30 mins ago.
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It's all looking so good, John. I can only see one thing you are missing in the bow building area and that is "Osage is King" on the backboard at the tillering tree. :OK
Yep going to burn it into a piece of osage :OK
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beautiful place
relax inspiring :OK
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Great work John! This place shaped up into a class A structure. Must feel good to have it at the "enjoy" phase and know how much effort in and money saved.
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Thanks Scott.
I have been working hard this summer to build out the beekeeping project, this is a lot more involved and demanding of my time than I expected. However, after this week I should be able to step back for a couple weeks and let the bees do their honey production thing.
The weeks ahead are filled with fun activities and knapping opportunities, on Saturday will be doing a demo for the Burlington community and on monday for a Native American college course and I might do a knappin in mo thats coming up. On saturday afternoon Paul and I will continue work on the bows we started and I hope to start building hunting arrows for the points I have made this year. On the 24th we have a gathering of people and that should be great fun. It feels good to set the project list aside for awhile and slow down.
The garden is starting to come up real good next to the bees. I am hoping the bees will help keep the unwanted creatures at bay. We got a little rain yesterday but the ground is still really dry. The blackberries are looking real good this year and the bees most likely had a hand in their success.
Looking forward to deer hunting, the population has recovered well from the blue tongue disease that swept through this region a few years ago.
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Everything looks real good John. Those bees should help keep you cupboards stocked between the honey and pollinating your garden. Love your work shed
Bjrogg
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That is looking great, time to set back and enjoy some of yall's labor. I can tell you from experience you will never be done ??? so you just have to take some time to enjoy from time to time ,also enjoy the process of seeing things come together and improve, at least that is what keeps me motivated as I am sure it does you. Great job John. ;)
Pappy
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Pappy you are so right no sooner did we get the pavers layed on the little shelter we expanded it to twice its size.
Had a great couple days here at the place. Went fishing yesterday at the back pond that we repaired a couple years ago. I caught a crappie and did not know they were in there so that was a surprise. While there I had to place a trap on the dam. Something big is digging a hole into the backside of the dam.
Today was demo day for family fest. A hunting point was the goal for an arrow that I am working on. I had a good group of kids and they ask some really fun question this year. I tried someting new this time. I arrived early and knocked out a biface and saved the flakes. I used the flakes and and biface as a puzzle for the kids to put together. One young kid spent an hour studing it and just about finshed it before he had to go.
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Very cool John love seeing all those kids.
Bjrogg
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Good job :OK ! Bob
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Nice point and looks like you had the full attention of those kids. Ya unless you intend it to be your personal work shop, and even then you need to think about expansions as you build, it will sure make things easier in the future, Wished I had thought of that way back when. Always a bunch of banjo work that has to be done when we add on to something because we didn't think about it when we first started. That place of yours is really looking nice, yall have done a great job and will get years of enjoyment out of it. :)
Pappy
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I literally CANNOT WAIT to see this beautiful place in person this weekend. I'm sitting here at working just imagining it. :)
OneBow
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We had a real nice gathering this weekend with a great group of guys. This was our first official bow gathering for our small band of bow makers. Eric was able to combine a work travel week with a weekend at our new site. He was our first guest to camp out and set up his own workshop. It was impressive to see him produce wooden spoons one of which he gifted to Annette and an atalatl handle that we all took turns launching a dart at a deer target.
We got to see how the space functioned with everyone working on different projects at the same time. Paul came in early and worked on his bow, Tim and Ben started new ones. Sam came with his bow and did a lot of target shooing. I even sat my butt down, worked on my bow, knapped a hunting point and built two arrows for fall deer hunting (I almost never have a full quiver on opening day). We all had a nice cook out on the fire and great tasting smoked brisket that Eric brought. We had about 9 or 10 people flow through and that was perfect for a first run on the place.
It was good to see people using the place.
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The spoon found its way to the "she shed" Eric.
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Looks like a great weekend John.
Bjrogg
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Glad to see the place In use, ;) there will be lots of good memories made there I feel sure. :)
Pappy
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I had a great time this weekend. John and Annette are very gracious hosts and we could hardly have had a better weekend to enjoy the place they have built there. They have taken so much care to make it a comfortable and inviting spot to visit. I had a primo camping spot nearby to the central pavilion. It is not nearly so far from my home as I had imagined previously, but at least on this visit I was able to incorporate the travel into a work trip I had to take anyway. Extra bonus points!
Here are a couple of pix I took while there. I don't know why, but it never occurs to me to pull out the camera till I've already missed the chance to grab some pictures. The first one was John and his wife Annette. She's apparently helping John figure out how to knap a piece of Pedernales stone. The second one is a Plant I found out I needed to stay away from called Poison Parsley. Apparently it acts like an ANTI sun screen and causes your skin to blister and burn badly when exposed to the sun light. YUCK!
OneBow
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Sure it was satisfying to sit back and observe bunch of like-minded folk using/enjoying a facility/environment ya brought into being. CONGRATS!
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Hey Eric, that parsley plant(Poison parsley, water parsley, goes by many common names) is spreading south fast. It is here in Missouri so watch yourself when you are out. Nasty, nasty stuff.
Neal
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Looks like a fun time! Im going to have to make it up there sometime!
Patrick
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Good times!
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Looks like a fun time! Im going to have to make it up there sometime!
Patrick
that would be awesome.
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Good times!
Would have been even better with you man. The first time you came out was a lot of fun.
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Sure it was satisfying to sit back and observe bunch of like-minded folk using/enjoying a facility/environment ya brought into being. CONGRATS!
it was very rewarding and look forward to seeing it growing.
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Sure wish I would of made it.Looked like like a blast.I can see your not going to have any problem having things to do after retiring.
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Retirement!!??!? He won't retire. Annette may reassign him, but she won't ever let him just sit around! -C- :BB :KN )-w( )F( (AT)
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Retirement isn't about sitting around. It's about not having to go to work so you can fill your day doing what you want to do. Or in some cases trading two bosses for one.
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Retirement!!??!? He won't retire. Annette may reassign him, but she won't ever let him just sit around! -C- :BB :KN )-w( )F( (AT)
She is asking me to slow down. Isaac is complaining that I am always working so I am trying to do more fun/play and not so much work like type activities. I would retire now but insurance is so high I have to wait a few more years unless they offer it in an early retirement type of deal.
On the same note I worked my butt off pulling these bees from a house yesterday. I did manage to catch the queen. This only took me 6 hours without a break.
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I'm pretty sure extracting that Queen and her drones was a very BIG project from what you described. Mo honey is Mo bettah! - OneBow
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Kinda interesting read...What a hunter-gatherer diet does to the body - CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/05/health/hunter-gatherer-diet-tanzania-the-conversation/?iid=ob_mobile_article_footer_expansion
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Good read. Thanks!
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Gooood going getting that hive.A lady approached me the other day at a farmers' market about getting bees from a home they were buying.I said there could be damage to the siding.She said I can't have that.So I said I could'nt do it...lol.
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We lost a real good guy on Suday. Tim Julison (in the blue) passed from a heart attack. He was a great guy and help a lot of guys learned to build their first bow with him. He was a good friend and a student of painting (damm good one) that I taught at the college. I'm really going to miss this guy.
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Sorry for your loss, John. It's hard to loose old friends,
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Hey there Jon. Condolences on your loss. We recently lost a Pit River weaver here. Seems like there is something in the air....
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Very sorry for your loss John. It sounds like he passed it along before he left. Those kind of people are truly special and hard to come by. I'm sure he will be fondly remembered by those he helped.
Bjrogg
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Sorry for your loss John, good friends are hard to loose. :) Gets worse as you get older. We now have our class reunion once a year instead of every 5 because we are loosing so many. :( That's life I guess.
Pappy
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John, Is Tim the fella that was there when I visited? I'm terrible with names, but I recall that he had been one of your students and was driving that small-ish red pickup with a wooden ladder rack on the back of it. My sympathy to you and your friends over the loss...
OneBow
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I'm sorry I wasn't able to come meet all of you for the shindig, and even more sorry that I missed out on meeting your friend. He sounded like a great guy, and I'm sorry for your loss.
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I'm sorry I wasn't able to come meet all of you for the shindig, and even more sorry that I missed out on meeting your friend. He sounded like a great guy, and I'm sorry for your loss.
Well we will meet him again at a different time, he is just leading the way now.
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I have been busy put Tim's Art show together. In addition to being a bow maker and outdoorsman he was a real good artist and student of my for the last 5 years. Below are a couple pictures from the opening. The event was well attended and spilled into the hall.
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Been kicked hard but I'm on my feet and fighting back. Time to continue down the path. Don't want to focus on the past here but death of friends and health issue knocked me down hard but I have always been one to hit back. So look for more of this thread to continue my friends.
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John, sorry to hear about your health problems and the loss of your friend.
Will you be coming to the Classic in a few weeks?
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Missed you for sure, glad you are back at it. Was thinking about you just the other day and wondered where you had been. Sorry for your loss and hope your health is improving. You have been in my thoughts. :)
Pappy
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Been kicked hard but I'm on my feet and fighting back. Time to continue down the path. Don't want to focus on the past here but death of friends and health issue knocked me down hard but I have always been one to hit back. So look for more of this thread to continue my friends.
ok have to see how the need few weeks go.
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Missed you for sure, glad you are back at it. Was thinking about you just the other day and wondered where you had been. Sorry for your loss and hope your health is improving. You have been in my thoughts. :)
Pappy
yep improving by the hour. My heart beats per min seem to be my only limiting factor at this point. It could be the rythem meds making it hard to push forward. Hopefully that will be gone in 2 months
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Missed you To Iowabow. Hope your health keeps improving. Sure good to see you back for a visit.
Bjrogg
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Hey Iowa
Glad to find you back on the trail :OK
No more bees stories in your absence !!
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Not surprised this was what it took to get you to slow down for a bit. After all, your hallmark move is to put your heart into whatever you do.
Love you, brother.
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Good to hear your on the mend John.Was wondering the whereabouts of you too.Sometimes it takes a while to digest such things.
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Took three weeks to plant but I got it all done today.
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What did you plant there John?
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well we planted potatoes, onions, peas, beans, Swiss chard, lettuce, watermelon, cantaloupe, summer, squash, broccoli brussel sprouts, different kinds of peppers, and few more things I can't remember.
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Nice to see the post updated, John.
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We just planted our garden too today.Just before a nice rain.I sure hope we both get our fair share of it through the summer.
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That looks like a huge garden John. That's gonna keep someone busy this spring, summer and fall. Here's to a bountiful harvest.
Bjrogg
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I hope it works real well. I like waking up early and working in the garden as the sun comes up.
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Sure makes the coffee go down nice :D Forty years ago I would have said coffee and a smoke. Never goes away does it.
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@ DC You got that right!
The sets are coming up. Kinda funny when they do this. Looks like they have hat's on.
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That's cute!
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We have potato plants now. This is my first time growing them.
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Looking good John. We missed you at the Classic but looks like you have been busy. Good to see you on the road to recovery. :)
Pappy
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Farmer John.
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teach the kids to teach each other
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Great pictures John.
Bjrogg
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+1.Work for a teacher is never done.
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Thanks guys
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Little update, the garden I struggled to put in after my surgery is pumping out food like crazy. Work on the wood fire kiln continues as well.
Annette and I have put on two Raku pottery classes over the past couple of weeks for a Master Gardener group and a 4h group. When the weather brakes Paul an I will get a bow group together. I am going to start knapping again in a couple weeks now that I am off all those heart meds. I hope to hunt this fall with a new set of arrows.
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Can't keep a good man down! :OK
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Good to hear things are on the up and up.
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Looking good, glad all is going well with you. :)
Pappy
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Good to hear and see your back at it
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Isaac and I spent the whole day making and weilding parts for the wood fire kiln. Paul came by a couple days ago itching to finish bows real soon. 4h comes in tomorrow morning for Raku firing and a cookout. It should be a good time. The garden is keeping our plates full and the black berries are starting to fill the bowls so maybe jelly on Sunday afternoon.
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Living large on Burlington Acres!
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Northern Iowan here!!!! This guy is dying to get a real bow!!
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Was not sure if I was going to hunt this year but good weather and a short walk brought it all together
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Congrats John, looks like ya ABO him also. Shot placement looks real good, we need more details? Bob
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Excellent! Well done. :OK
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Well I was sitting in this stand seen in the picture here. The deer in the picture was the second one that can in just after my shot on the 4pt. It came in from the right just up to 15 yards and was just starting to wind me when I released the arrow. He ran a couple yards and started walking then a slow run into some brush. I left him for 2 hours and then retreived him with some help from my good neighbor.
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Very nice deer, congrats, good to see ya posting again. :) Been wondering what you been up to, now I see. ;)
Pappy
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Good going John....Glad for ya.Congrats!!!
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That'll teach that deer to get between you and the ground!
How much of your missing garden produce do you expect you are getting second hand in the meat? Post this pic next to your garden next spring as a way of discouraging their thieving ways.
Many happy meals, congratulations John.
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I think JW I was having a lot of heart trouble over the past few years. When ever a deer would come in my heart would just run super irregular and would get me kinda jumpy. This time with the heart repaired things were smooth and different. Kinda hard to explain.
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Also dont feel dizzy in the stand anymore. When a deer would walk in my heart kinda went nuts and I would not get good oxygen and was getting dizzy. Lucky I didnt faint in the stand like I did a coulpe times on the ground.
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Glad the ticker is keeping more regular John.
Good weather ad a short walk may have put it all together, but it looks like a good shot finished it off.
Bjrogg
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Glad to hear such a good report and good job getting a nice deer!
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What with getting your carburetor re-tuned and all, I am just plum happy to see you doing what you love, whether it is beekeeping, gardening, throwing pots, hunting deer, or futzing with RC stuff. All my love to you and the Mrs (you know, the one that can actually bring home a decent set of antlers).
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I have been working hard all summer to get the woodfire kiln built. I am just about done with iron still needed on the chimney and fire doors attached.
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Hey John. Glad to see you are still around and keeping busy. :OK
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Yep good to hear from you and nice looking work.
Pappy
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Nice shot! Keep the ticker working!! Congratulations!
Hawkdancer
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Everything is done and really to fire. I need to make some pots now. But first I need to finish my arrows before deer season.
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Very nice work John, you have been busy. :)
Pappy
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We finally fired the woodfire kiln today. Our target was cone 9.5 (around 2300) and we made it. It was really fun learning how to control the rate of climb.
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Nice jet out the chimney!
Bet you could probably do a pizza in there, too, right?
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oooo, a 2 minute pizza. :P
Nice work on the kiln, John. Looking forward to seeing some pots coming out of your new oven. :OK
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With this new kiln, I am afraid John is just going to pot.
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@ Pat we will open it on monday. Much of the ware is from a friend. I tjink I have 5 test peices in the kiln.
@ JW it was so very hot loading wood on the chimney side of the firebox soooo you could say I got baked during this firing.
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That looks great John, looks like you been busy. :)
Pappy
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Looks great
Be waiting to see what comes out of it
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Long time since I have been on here. I am still enjoying primitive archery. I took up another challenge to add to the fun. I spent the summer living in an appartment above a hanger in southern IL and took flying lessons all summer and passed my checkride last Friday. I wanted to learn to fly because driving to all these hunting spots is to dang far. It takes like 15 hours to get to SD to turkey hunt with Halverson. I have had a few more invites across the country that would be great fun. So I am a pilot now! I rebuild/repaired a 1946 Taylorcraft this spring. She is not super fast but she is really vintage. It has no electric system it's all "steam" gauges. I really can't wait for next year's hunting adventures to begin.
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Very nice John!
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Great to see you around again, John. Looks like fun. We all need a new hobby these days. ::)
Don't be a stranger.
Hope all is well with you and yours.
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Love it John
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He just "went big" with his remote control airplane hobby!
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Great to hear from you again John.
Whole different perspective of things when viewed from a small plane. I still remember my first ride probably close to 50 years ago. I was hooked. After I got out of electronics school a old timer I knew gave me a little help. He was the one I got my first ride from when I was a kid. He got me to where I was pretty close to ready to solo. Then I took lessons and got my private pilot single engine fixed wing Aircraft rating. A few years later we flew his plane to Florida and he got his sea plane rating. I went up with his instructor in a J-3 cub on floats. Man still puts a huge smile on my face every time I think of it.
I you ever get a chance to fly on floats don’t pass it up.
Bjrogg
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That's funny. I worked for the telephone company and travelled a lot by small float planes, Beavers and 180's mostly. I've got hundreds of hours as a passenger but I've never been in a small plane on wheels.
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That's funny. I worked for the telephone company and travelled a lot by small float planes, Beavers and 180's mostly. I've got hundreds of hours as a passenger but I've never been in a small plane on wheels.
They certainly are two different birds DC. I have mostly taken off and landed on grass. Which is quite different from pavement, but not nearly as much so as water. Just taxi alone is totally different. Was a unique experience for me.
Bjrogg
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Very cool John, been missing you and wondering what you have been up to, I see now you been busy as usual. :)
Pappy
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My first trip was in a Beaver and I was sitting in the jump seat at the back. As we were taxiing out of the river mouth the pilot was testing the controls but he kept looking out the window at the back of the plane. After a little of that he throttled back, turned around to me and said," Right behind you there's a compartment. If you look in there you'll find a parachute. If I give you the nod will you pass it up to me." Then he hit the throttle and we were off ;D
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DC thats a funny story.
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Just trying to make you feel comfortable DC
Bjrogg
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Another pilot picked me up and as we taxied away he mentioned that the plane felt a little heavy. We taxied for about a half mile and finally he said, "Well, I guess I'll just have to make it lighter." He reached forward and pushed a button on the dash that said "Lighter" and the plane popped out of the water. Funny guys these pilots ;)
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Just checking in.....I found this thread today and I can see that I have some serious reading ahead of me to get caught up! I live in Iowa and have been flintknapping and building primitive bows for about 30 years. Just made some new wood arrows and some chert points this past week that I am planning on assembling over the weekend. Planning on using a new maple bow that I built this spring.
Matt
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Just checking in.....I found this thread today and I can see that I have some serious reading ahead of me to get caught up! I live in Iowa and have been flintknapping and building primitive bows for about 30 years. Just made some new wood arrows and some chert points this past week that I am planning on assembling over the weekend. Planning on using a new maple bow that I built this spring.
Matt
Good luck with the new maple bow! Start a thread in the Bows section and post some pics and details, we always love to see what others are doing!
Iowabow does not come in often these days, but he's still live and kicking! I am hoping to nag him into doing an event at his new workshop come spring, if it is sensible to do so. He's come out to the Black Hills for my camp often enough, I need to head his way for a change.
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Been real busy but thought I would pop in and say hi everyone. Just to catch everyone up on my life: finished my pilots license and as negotiated with Annette, I remodeled the house (new roof, siding and new interior). I hired some of the work but did all of the interior work including real hardwood floors. I am still hunting, Knapping , and developing out our creative space (park). Just bought more land to the west and dismantling the three really old mobile homes that were no longer inhabited. It’s more work than I thought to take them down with the tractor. I really need a backhoe with a finger thing on it. Just got off the phone with JW and might fly down if the weather cooperates to the classic. Lots of project with the woods this spring coming and planting potatoes next week. Bees are going crazy and dogwoods are blooming here in Iowa. Plan to do a few outdoor adventures with the plane this summer like the one in this video landing at lake Showme in Missouri https://youtu.be/t7pYO68gI9s?feature=shared (ftp://youtu.be/t7pYO68gI9s?feature=shared).
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Great to hear from you John, glad to hear all is going well. :)
Pappy
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Great to hear from you, John. Hoping to see you at the Classic in a few weeks. :OK
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Thanks for popping in John.
Bjrogg
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I have been getting a few more things done these days and just fired my wood kiln. I thought I would share a project I have been working on. Pictured is a sample of a glaze I made using materials from my property.
Materials:
1. Chert
2. Shells
3. Ash
4. Clay
5. Mud rock
6. Basalt
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Nice John, wondered what you had been up to. Keep us updated on you projects, always enjoy seeing them. :)
Pappy
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Looks like Neapolitan Ice Cream!
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I have a “bushhog” which is rotary brush cutter attachment for the tractor. The yoke that holds the wheel broke in to two pieces. I wielded them back together but the sides were no longer in the same plane. So I built a make shift forge and was able to easily bend it back after heating it up. Now back to the chores of keeping the brush cut back.
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Yep that will do the trick, always something when bush hogging, my old uncle use to tell me any day bush hogging with out a flat or something breaking was a very good day, ;) I will have to agree. :) :)
Pappy
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BUSH HOGGING! I kept up 340 acres with a 4' bush hog for 12 years, you can imagine what all went wrong. The most challenging was when the pin on one of the lift arms got jerked out by the thick brush and came disconnected, I was going downhill in rutted out ground. One side of the bush hog was down on the ground and one side was on the lift arm, 450# of dead weight to lift a foot or, center the bush hog hook connection shaft with hole in the lift arm to hook back up and I was alone. Seems like I ended up piling up dead logs to make a ramp and dragging the bush hog up the ramp to raise the side that came lose.
I bought a set of Pat's lift arm quick clips after that, easy off and on.
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I need some easy on/off arms
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Trying something new to me (others may have done this). I have attached a wt to the bottom of my dogwood shaft. I am hoping over a year or so it finds its way to straight. It will not be hanging on the garage door but from my bow rack. Any just an experiment, let me know in the comments if you have ever tried this?
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I'm not sure it can works for two reasons
the weight would work quite well for a very pronounced curved shaft but as it straightens and get more dry the downward force act less and less
And the other problem I see is the rope is not aligned with the center of the shaft so it may actually contributes to induce a slight bend in the knot area
interesting test anyway. let us know if it works!