horn bows in the past..

[aero86]

ive been wondering about the past horn bows.  wonder what their average life span was?  owners, of course, sometimes died, wonder where they went, the person who picked them up?  since they take such a long time to make, i doubt it was like the longbows of europe, but maybe im wrong.  any thoughts from you guys?

[Josh]

they were probably passed down from family members to their kids.  From what I gather they last a really long time with proper care.  There was an article a few months ago in PA magazine about a guy that acquired a 500 or 600 year old horn bow.  The article describes how he excercised the limbs heated them and tweaked the string alignment and ended up shooting it.  I mean how cool is that? 

[aero86]

i bought that one at the store when i saw the article and didnt even read it!  i remember that he couldnt help but string it!

[mullet]

 I'd be the same way if I had it. I've bought old boys that I was told were "Wall hangers". I've excersiced them slowly and shot most of them. If they break, I'll glue them back and then they can hang on the wall.

[aero86]

thats pretty funny mullet, but true.  its a tool.  like all the old drawknifes i see.  used to be used a lot, and never now.  poor things..