Don,
I don’t build my bows for competitions, they are built first and foremost to hunt with, and work well for that purpose. Not that there is anything wrong with the BOM competition, it brings out some truly inspirational bows every month that I love to see and study. Many of the ideas and techniques displayed each month have been incorporated by me to make me a better bowyer. A lot of the bowyers here are able to think outside the box, which I have trouble doing, and it really helps with my creativity. But, I like to keep this bow building passion of mine a relaxing pastime and am, by nature, too competitive to allow it remain a relaxing pastime if I start entering my bows in competitions. Though this particular bow is required to be entered in a competition by the PBS, it was donated to raise monies for that organization, not to win a competition.
I made the MBA Convention on Saturday and had a great time, kept running into old friends and never did make it around to all the vendors. Luckily I made it to Jim Remph’s table that was full of his selfbows; let me tell you there were some works of art on that table. That guy builds some of the finest shooting selfbows I have handled and his finish work has evolved over the past few years to rival any that I have seen; including those I saw both times I went to MoJam. Wish I had brought a camera, taken some pictures, and shared them with everybody here. He had a 50# @ 26” sinew backed osage bow made from ¾” branch that was awesome.
