Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: H Rhodes on June 20, 2015, 08:58:03 am
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We all joke about what an addiction bow building can be, but seriously, it can become a problem if you let it. I had noticed that there were several projects that were getting dusty around my place. I have a big pole barn that I intend to intall electric service to, trees down on the back ten acres from a storm, brush that needs clearing, home improvements, deck to be built, etc......... and on and on. I had to box up pretty much everything archery related and get it out of my sight so that I can get a few things accomplished. I told the friends and relatives that there is going to be a six month halt to bow making - you would have thought that I had slapped them! ;D I am going to limit myself to a couple of practice shooting sessions a week and then focus my efforts elsewhere for a little while. I will need to get a vicarious thrill from looking at the creations posted on PA to get a fix for the next few months. I will be back before too long - that pole barn is going to be a better bow building shop than I have ever had, so some of these chores I am working on will lead me back in the right direction. ;)
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Pull a Huck Fin on them. Tell your friends if they do your other chores for you that you will be able to continue to build bows. ;D
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Man Howard, that is rough! Fully understand though. During this intervention, can you mentor others, say Tommy? You need to get him addicted to the self bow >:D good luck !
Tracy
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Pat, wasn't it Tom Sawyer who was the savvy one? Either way, all this stuff is staring me in the face. I have to get to it and I am short on helpers. In the last three days I have already buried 100 ft of wire to an outbuilding, and cut up and box blade hauled off and burned three big trees. It is amazing how much you can get done in just a short while, when you aren't rasping on a bow stave like a tweeker!
Tracy, I do have a few friends to talk bows with, so that is easing the withdrawal symptoms.
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Can you come round and look at my roof for me? O:) I'm still busy buildin' bows >:D
Del
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Thanks Del! That reminds me to add cool sealing the barn roof to my list...... number 74.
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Howard, I understand exactly what you are talking about. I had to build decks, patio covers , rewire the house, landscape you name it. I made a rule that I couldn't work on bows if I had things on my to do list that I could do. The exception was weekends or if I put 6 hours on projects I could spend the remainder of the day on bows. It worked! I have been doing it for years. My "to do list" has hundereds of completed projects on it with not one singe on incomplete.
I turned the bow building addiction into a positive force by making it a reward for finishing work I may have otherwise put off. Good luck!
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Good luck with the chores Howard. I have to do the same thing every now and then but not for 6 months. I don't think I could go that long without making some shavings.
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I'd go crazy if I had to go 6 months without making a bow. When I first moved into the city to start college back in the day it was only a couple months before I had build a work bench on my apartment balcony :P
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Howard, that must be why none of my projects get done. ;D :-\
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Bow tweaker hahaha that's rich. Moderation is key in all aspects of life so they tell me.
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I don't know if I will make it 6 months but I think I need to try it for a while if only to remind me to stay sane with it. ;D Steve, you may be on to something. I will try working on them at that pace after I get some of these big chores checked off my list. It is amazing how much bow building gets to be a part of you. Hell, even last summer when I was wrapped up after the shoulder surgery, I made a pile of arrows! This is the longest I have spent away from it in a long time. I feel like I have gone cold turkey.
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My familys but me in bow rehab so many times. They realized long ago that I'm a lost cause.
Like my old lady says. As soon as we all get into ROYS world the better off we'll be.
So I'm left alone to do as I want. And I do, unless the job just has to be done last month.
I leave it untill I get to it.
It was'nt planed this way. It just worked out that way through the years.
ROY'S world I like that.
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This is where my wife guides me back down to Earth. If I neglect something too long she has very effective ways of letting me know when I am getting "too obsessed"
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My obsession comes in spurts where I build like a "bow tweaker" (love that!) for a month or two doing usually a bow and a set of arrows. Then I just shoot a little and catch up with the rest of life for two or three months until I get the hankering...
But then again, I work way too many hours, have two young children, am pursuing a masters engineering degree, and have the wife, house, dog, and all the other responsibilities to balance.
We need 48 hour long days. That'd be about right I think :-\
Catch up with life man. Balance makes building bows an even richer experience as you won't feel guilty about neglecting other important things :D
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I have two ex wives who thought my bow building and arrow making and hunting was a problem.
Hence the EX part. >:D
Maybe I should find a "Hippie type cave woman" next time.
It's pretty rare to find a woman who appreciates the primitive lifestyle.
But the upside with all my free time, I finally got to build that Pirogue I always wanted to build. :)
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I took a gal on vacation with me one time and somehow I ended up in a bow wood paradise. She flew home, LOL.
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Yep, been there done that, I still love it but it don't consume me like it use to. It is still on my mind daily but I think about it more and work on them less than is previous years. Good luck with you addiction, you can over come it, one day at a time. ;) ;D ;D
Pappy
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"How many bows do you need????". I love that one....heard it more than a few times. :laugh:
I think taking a break now and then is healthy and when you get back to it it will feel like coming home and "new again" all at the same time. At least that's how it has been for me.
Get after that other stuff but don't stay away too long. You make this place better for everyone. ;)
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Thanks Arrowind! No way I can set it down permanently!! One of the trees that blew down in the storm is an ancient pecan that has so many future bows in it that I am putting some 6 and 7 foot lengths aside while I am clearing the damage. I am casting an eye towards the cooler weather and planning on some self-reward bow building time before the year is out. I am getting a lot done so the wife can't complain much when October rolls arouund and I go back to the woods.
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ALMOST relapsed.... I fletched a few arrows the other day. That was one of those triggers that I should avoid.... This morning I went to the shop and I picked up a seven foot long, completely seasoned, straight clean osage stave from out of the corner of the shop and moved it over near the workbench.... I was feeling a little flushed and my heart started pounding a little. I put it down and walked out. That was a close one. It has only been two months!! At least it is time to plant the food plots, practice shooting, and hang some stands. Who am I kidding? I will never make it six months. :-\
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I have two ex wives who thought my bow building and arrow making and hunting was a problem.
Hence the EX part. >:D
Maybe I should find a "Hippie type cave woman" next time.
It's pretty rare to find a woman who appreciates the primitive lifestyle.
But the upside with all my free time, I finally got to build that Pirogue I always wanted to build. :)
Well egads man dont tease..... pics man pics!
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as you get older it is easier to pace yourself :) :)
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as you get older it is easier to pace yourself :) :)
An old bull and a young bull standing on a hill when the rancher opened up the gate to the pasture where all the cows were. Instantly the young bull was off at a run shouting, "I'ma gonna run down and service me one of them cows!" The old bull started sauntering down saying to himself, "You do that son. I'll walk down and service the rest."
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You have more willpower than me Howard. I have to have a few scrapes on some wood just about every day even if only for 10 minutes. Doesn't help that my bow bench is at my shop where I go at the start of my day before heading out to a jobsite and return to at the end of each day before heading home.
Hang in there buddy, sounds like you got it under control for the time being. :)