Here’s my hunting bow quarantine project. I like them to be shortish and pretty heavy, to compensate for my short draw length. I also like to darken the limbs for camo. (I can’t bring myself to cover up all that yellow Osage, but it’ll darken up soon enough, and the bow will be pretty much invisible in the woods.)
This was a stave I harvested about twenty years ago. It had some knotty issues, so it languished in my shed all this time. Once I started carving it, though, it wasn’t so bad after all. I dodged the worst of the knots, and the twists and curves were workable. It just ended up with a few lumps and wiggles. I used dry heat and my caul to get the profile I wanted.
I had a scare when I got it to full draw for the first time. I heard a heart-stopping “TICK,” braced myself for a “BANG,” but thankfully, it was just a small splinter that lifted near one of the pin knots. I got some good advice from y’all, and decided to bind the spot with a small wrapping of D97 to be on the safe side. At first, I thought I saw a weak spot at the wrap, but I think it just appears that way because of a pin knot lump on the back just below it.
I added deer antler tips, a tanned cobra skin wrap (with a layer of linen underneath to keep it from tearing) and a snapping turtle scale at the arrow pass. The string is 10 strands of D97 plus 4 extra bits at the nocks. I used black aniline dye to fade the limbs, and finished with tru oil.
The has a smooth draw that starts out strong. After a couple hundred arrows, it’s still in one piece (whew!), and is holding its profile nicely. It shoots straight and packs a punch.
Specs:
59” NTN
65# @ 25”
1-5/8“ wide @ fades
7/16” @ tips
1-1/2” back set at nocks
