South east iowa?

[Iowahedge]

Not really sure where to post this was looking to see if theres anyone/club. Just starting into making/building bows and was wondering if theres anyone with in a reasonable distance that wouldnt mind showing me the "ropes." 

[Aaron H]

Iowabow is from Burlington, IA.  Look him up in the members area, John is a great guy

[bowwood]

where are you at in southeast iowa? I actually grew up southeast iowa/west central ill. anyways where I live now wright city mo takes me 2hrs to get to Keokuk. You should check out the thread wright city mo gathering and think about coming down that weekend there will be a lot of knowledge.

[bowwood]

that thread is under the shoots and events topic

[Iowahedge]

Thanks for the invite Bowwood. Ill have to see if i can get away from work for a little road trip. I say south east iowa but not really sure. Bout 4.5 hours from your neck of the woods.

[BowEd]

I live 1.5 hours straight south of Des Moines.10 miles from the Missouri border.I could be available.

[Iowahedge]

Thanks Beadman working on some backed bows right now. Kinda refuse to purchase any osage staves being that we live in iowa and most farmers consider it a weed. Just dropped a bunch of hedge out of the fence row and sorting through it to burn it, billets, or staves. Know a couple logs that will go 4' billets but gotta wait till i get the rest cleaned up and start spliting to see if the one is gonna be clean enough for stave length. I live about 8 miles east of knoxville.  My goal is to get some staves/billets gather up so i can start in on selfbows.  Thanks again for the offer. 

[BowEd]

Sounds like your doing the right thing.Getting wood ready.I usually always have a bow or two in the works over here.

[bjrogg]

Iowahedge, Beadman is fantastic bowyer among many of his other talents. I live along way from him but some day I'm gonna visit him. Like so many other here just a great guy. Also highly recommend Tennessee Classic, or almost any of the Primitive Archer gatherings. They are all great and very family friendly.
Bjrogg

[Iowahedge]

Thanks for the replys. Certainly gonna have to make it to a gathering in the near future. Got quite a few decent billets of hedge drying and once i get the tractor and loader out again got a rather large piece of fairly straight hedge to attempt to split out for some 65"+ staves. Not to mention my rather poor attempts at smashing rocks to eat up some time while i let the hedge dry. Really thinking about MOjam...

[BowEd]

Well bjrogg is the nice guy Iowahedge and coming into his own already making bows.I should be asking him for advice.
I should be at Mojam too.Got a tear drop camper now too and I should use it to stay overnight.It's about 3 hours south of me.Introduce ya to some people I know there from my home area that are'nt too far from you in Iowa.If you got a bow going bring it along.Dvshunter works tirelessly helping people there with bows amongst others.You've more then likely got the same type of woods around you that I do here.
My osage here has red streaks in it occasionally.The missouri hedge most times is just a yeller wood.Great range there and overall great gathering for all.

[Iowahedge]

Yup the more i think about the more im going to Mojam. Might/might not have a shootable bow by then. Got a few hickory backings and different type boards to chop up and glue together. One of them should survive and be fast enough to stay stuck in a target. So far the journey into bow making has been a lot of fun. Just the wait to season/dry wood at the start is a little rough. 

[BowEd]

Iowahedge...There's a shoot at Pine Lakes park north of Eldora sponsered by the Iowa Traditional Bowhunters Society [ITBA] last saturday in March.The 31st.I'll be there.Come on over if you get the time and shoot with us.Everything is free.Meal/shoot/and there's an auction too.