"Homemade" Bows......

[Arrowind]

So the other day my buddy at work came in to the office and was excited to tell me that during his time off he visited his parents and brought back his compound bow.  He proceeded to tell me that he was planning on going to a range near his house and get back into shooting.  He was obviously really excited.  Then he asked me if I had any bows.  (He knows I've been making bows).  I told him Yeah dude I have like 20 bows.”  Then he said “Yeah but do you have any…”  He stopped and I could tell he was about to say “real” bows then instead said “you mean your home made bows?”  “Yes.” I said.  Then he said “but I mean do you have any bows?”  I replied. “Yes, I have more than 20 bows.”  He then said “yeah but do you mean the ones you made?”  “Yep.”

Now he knows full well that when I have said I’ve been making “bows” that I have not been talking about “hair bows” or some such thing.   He was also not being disrespectful.  He was using the word “homemade” as if that meant low quality or a poor imitation of the “real” thing.  He was obviously trying to be polite but it became clear to me that there is a real lack of understanding of what a “homemade” bow can really be.  It was actually pretty funny and I wasn’t offended because he genuinely doesn’t understand.
Guess I need to show him.   


Have any of you had any similar experiences?  It would be fun to hear them. 

[kid bow]

yep

[Weylin]

I see that sort of attitude down at the range a fair bit. Like you said, most of those guys aren't really trying to be rude, they just don't really know exactly what they're talking about.

Though I have to say, the other day I experienced a refreshingly different opinion from your seemingly stereotypical compound bow hunter. He started setting up to shoot and some little kid next to him said, "wow! cool bow!" The compound shooter said, "yeah, this things not really a bow, it's pretty much just a gun." I laughed and clapped him on the back and told him that I was glad that he was willing to admit that.

[ionicmuffin]

Get some pics together of all the guys on the hunting part and show him just how effective they really are! at first a bunch of people i have encountered have said "but you cant hunt with it, because it wouldn't have enough power right?" I proceeded to discredit this misconception in their mind and make solid the fact that making bows is just as effective if not more so than buying a bow and killing a deer. I was in my local lumber store buying white oak and hickory boards and explained to them that i must get them that day because of their near perfect grain because when you make a bow that's one of the requirements to make sure that it will last. If it were me i would show him the kills of all the people on the hunting forum because of how bold it is, its clear to me that he thinks they are inferior and that you cant get any better than a compound. However, if you think about it, compound often will shoot right through the deer and such, also they try taking much longer shots and miss. I know a guy who bow hunts but has never gotten anything with a bow of either compound or traditional! so basically i think that if you practice with a trad bow you stand a better chance than anybody with a compound, you become more disciplined that a compound hunter, take for instance a guy who buys a machine gun, but doesn't really learn to shoot it well, while he may do some damage, by that same token a well trained military soldier can take a pistol(provided we assume hes been practicing) and kill with almost a 9-9.5/10 accuracy. Its not the bow that will get the deer its the person behind the bow  GL and hope you can help your friend see sense!

[vinemaplebows]

Put sand in his release, shoot and laugh 

[twilightandmist]

I entered a local archery competition with one of my 53 inch recurves once, and was scoffed at by the wheelie shooters there. they inquired as to whether or not i actually intended to compete with my "toy" or if i had another bow in the bag. all i did was smile while they examined my equipment, including my hand fletched, sinew bound arrows. they commented on how short the bow was, how they didnt think it would even make it the 25 yards to the target, that kind of thing. i had to laugh when one of them asked me why the bow was so weak, when it wasnt even strung. he was pulling at the string, which had been set opposite of brace on the nocks to keep it with the bow. so when the shooting started, me and the one other primitive shooter just chuckled while the wheelie bow guys took forever and a day on their shots, only to miss. then eventually my turn came, and i put all my arrows in the target in less time than most of them spent on one or two arrows. i outshot a majority of the wheelie guys, and watched their jaws drop when my "toy" (which draws 51 pounds -NOT a toy) outshot their matthews and hoyts with their sights and releases and scopes (one guy even had a laser dot attached to his bow) then spent another 45 minutes explaining how i did in fact make all of the equipment i was using and that it was in fact possible to take any game on the planet with a wooden bow (i guess they dont realize that for thousands of years people could and did take all sorts of game with wooden bows and atlatls, NOT the matthews Monster) just trikes me as odd that all these "archers" dont know the first thing about archery. when you have to pull a trigger, is it really archery?

[steve b.]

I passed a compounder on a trail whilst elk hunting.  We had a nice chat but he did giggle at my recurve.  The next day I shot an arrow diagonally through an elk at 8 yds..  The next year, in the same spot, I shot through another elk at 25 yds.  4 hrs. into the hunt.  I had that elk in the cooler and was back at camp hunting deer when, believe it or not, I bumped into that guy again.  He had already heard from another hunter who was camped there that, "that guy with the recurve shot another elk today".   The stunned look on his face was priceless and, of course, I played it all down like it was an everyday thing for me.

[bow101]

Ok so this does not relate to bows, it is another fish story. BUt thought I would post here just to make a point how Ignorant some People are.
Years ago I was fishing at a local hot spot on a wharf. I was walking down the wharf as 2 younger guys were heading my way. They looked at my Rod and could see that it was a Big-Box store fishing rod. They both sneered and giigled under their breath.
About 1/2 hour later I caught a fish, nice one 10 pounds. The sad part was they missed the catch, oh well. What goes around comes around I say. 

[soy]

Don't be haters be educators

[Rick Wallace]

Oh yea,one of my huntin partners told me my bows were to big to use in a tree stand,    I havent killed one yet but neither has his 800$ whatever it is! AND none of the guys will let me shoot arrows out of my "toy" bow at them!   

[bow101]

Oh yea,one of my huntin partners told me my bows were to big to use in a tree stand,    I havent killed one yet but neither has his 800$ whatever it is! AND none of the guys will let me shoot arrows out of my "toy" bow at them!   

Kind of strange as well because a lot of Compound Bow hunters are dead against anything under 65# for hunting, and they think that the animal will Suffer needlessly at the avails of A Primitive type bow because of its inacuracy and low weight.

[ionicmuffin]

sometimes the deer will suffer anyway weather its a compound or not, also, suffering has to happen, if we were to free everything from all suffering that would mean no hunting, what they really mean is they think that its highly unlikely that you will EVER get anything with a dinky little bow like yours.... not true at all... I even saw a vid of a guy that killed a deer with his homemade bow and arrows 2 in one morning from a treestand! and they were upwards of 60-80 ft out.

[Weylin]

While we're talking about this... I'm wondering what concrete objections some of you might have against compound bows/shooters/hunters. I don't mean why YOU don't want to use them but why you think others shouldn't use them. What is it about them that we find so much of a threat? I know some of you will say that you have no problem, if that's how they want to enjoy archery the more power to them. But clearly there are those among us that feel compelled to turn up our noses at them or put them down as rude, unsportsmanlike, cheating, lazy, etc. I guess what I'm getting at is if there is something tangible that they are doing to cramp our style other than hurting our feelings occasionally, what is it? I ask because I too am guilty of the occasional smarmy comment about compound shooter/hunters and I've been called on it. I wasn't able to produce very many convincing arguments that they were really hurting anything except my pride. So, thoughts?

[soy]

I have multiple thoughts on it this is a topic that always gets me fired up the wheelies don't like the primitives the primitive don't like the trads if for some reason it seems everybody don't like the crossbows I for 1 love archery I try not speak of anything other than primitive wooden bows because that is what this site is dedicated to I do however like listening to each side state their case
 I could go on a raving tangent for 2 pages But it would fall on deaf ears I own and shoot everything each having its own area of enjoyment, and drawbacks butto imho they are all considered archery the progression from the wooden bowl to the fiberglass to the wheelie Bowes there has always been haters on both sides........ why?

[ionicmuffin]

i wouldn't despise them in any way, i would just point out that when bow hunting wasn't commercialized there was less restrictive laws about bow hunting, because the deer weren't just for sport, i believe a large group of compound or modern bow hunters do it for sport or just for the meat, that's such a waste if they don't use the tendons, bones, hide, hooves, ect ect ect. i really think that they become more impatient and don't care as much for what the wildlife deserves as respect. I also believe it makes them essentially gun hunters... because they are able to have "accurate" shot placement. The origins of traditional hunting have been around for thousands of years, and in fact traditional archery was one of the most effective weapons of its time! and on top of all that how cool is it to hunt with something that could have been used thousands of years ago. if you ever have to live in the wild for whatever reason, bowyery is an excellent skill! could save your life, just sayin! plus all young boys are ingrained with a desire to make and shoot a bow lol. i remember my many attempts at a powerful bow that i might kill something with. i was really into it then, and i still am.