Curiosity Question-What do you do with your bows.

[Roy]

I'm thinking all them pictures he posts of pretty tillered bows, now I'm wondering how many of them are mine, Clints, or yours Keenan, that he doctored up the finish a bit so we didn't recognize them?

[Keenan]

  :laugh:Poor guy isn't even here to defend himself 

[Poggins]

Haven't got a lot under my belt yet , but the bows I made I still have even the broken ones ( just to remind myself what not to do ).
And yes I have the bug BAD , everywhere I go I,m looking at trees to see if they will make a bow and how hard it would be to get ( been looking at a hackberry 6" in diamiter no knots and flagpole strait at work all day and it may come home with me tomarrow if I get the chance , see I have the bug and like the cold you just have to make shavings and let it run it's corse).
Just can't pinpoint the exact cause , dad told storys about his uncle making bows and flyrods after WW1 , the look and feel of a wood bow , the meetings with other bowyers and teaching others the art of bow making ( the Oklahoma Selfbow Society holds OJAM less than 20 miles from my house so I get to meet bowyers from allover and share stories every year), or just a good way to relax unwinde at the end of the day, or maybe all the above.
 Whatever it was I got it good.

[Keenan]

In all seriousness, Mine are made to be shot, hunting, stump shooting or just plian target practice it is the life of what a bow is!  I have a few that have served well and have thier own special spots on the wall now.

[Roy]

Don't worry, Keenan. I'm sure he will shoot some flaming arrows at us in the morning:) LOL

But Pearly does make very awesome bows, matter of fact he sent me an Osage Self Bow about a month ago and it is sooo sweet looking and what a shooter it is. Quiet as a church mouse, fast and accurate. In return, I'm sending him this BBO I'm working on now.

[osage outlaw]

I carried a Pearly bow quite a few times this past hunting season     He can put a stick and string together pretty good   

Sorry Pal, I was put up to it.  I won't mention any names..........R...........O..........

[Roy]

AH Bull-Crap Clint, it wuz yer idear:)

[sleek]

I have one bow that I hunt with. Been my go to for the last 3 years. I have 2 that belong on my wall, permanently retired. The rest I sell mostly. I have given a few away. Like lots of folks, I made my first bow because I wanted to hunt but couldnt afford a weapon. Only logical choice is a stick and string, so I put one togeather and got lucky on my first try. Still have that bow too, its one of my two wall hangers. And man is it UUUUUUGGGGLLYYYY.... But, its my first, so it gets a place of honor.

[blackhawk]

Same as a lot of folks..I give some away to friends and family...but I don't have enough friends and family compared to my bow output,so I have a bunch of bows laying everywhere in the house....I need to find a way to get rid of some of that junk otherwise your gonna see me on that hoarders show buried in bows....

Pearly s got one o mine too...but I got his first static..and I do still shoot it


Hey Roy I see you put on that burly maple on the handle for a girly...i mean burly guy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Being a man of faith Im going to let all these bad words ROY started just roll off my back! Keenan, I would love to have one your creations to add to my rack of art one day. Clint isnt lying, he made me a fantastic bow and so did Hawkeypoo. Im a lucky guy to have them both, and if ROY ever gets one to hold together long enough for a full draw? I may just end up with one more that even ol' Dean would be jealous of!

Nothing better than giving bows away, especially to unsuspecting folks. Thats the best part.

[crooketarrow]

  When I started out all I wanted was custom long bow. Even then custom bows were $ 500.00 or more. So I just built one, At the time I had no idea what a selfbow was. Even though I started with recurves, shot compounds for 11 years switched back to recurves. All I wanted was a long bow.

YOUNG AND DUMB at the time. I had no idea the path building a bow would make in my life.

   Just word of mouth (no internet then) in a few years I was building and selling 10,12 bows a year. The year I stoped had made 14 that year. No big number but to big for me I did'nt get into it for the money. Watch what you wish for. It was cutting into my hunting, fly fishing and other hobbies way to much.
  I've built umteen for myself to hunt with always looking for that 1 bow. Built way to many for friends,family ,gave away others and many to kids, other causes and ofcorse traded. I never really stop makeing and selling bows but now I'm down to building 1 or 3 a year If I get the time. But I make no special effert. I have way to many of other hobbies. Now I mainly  build bows in my off (winter late summer) seasons.
  EVEN THEN I DON'T GET IN A HURRY. I AWAYS HAVE A PERSON OR TWO PISSED OFF AT ME.
 IT'S A HOBBIE RIGHT.

[cracker]

built my first cuz my kid was screaming bloody murder for a bow and arrow for christmas well I had lost my job so no dough I did have a hatchet though so to the woods made it green tillered it green it has a lottttt of set but it still shoots. Now I build them cuz i don't like wheeks to hunt with and besides what am I gonna do with all my spare time. Ron

[Sidewinder]

 I am like alot of you guys.
 I hunt with them, shoot our stuffed animal course and do 3d in season.  Matter fact that little course is a blast and probabley shoot that with Rocky more than anything else. It has become a good social event around here with our friends and even the ones that don't shoot enjoy walking in the woods with us down the trail and sharing a few libations.  I am sure it helps me be a better shooter in hunting situations as every shot is different from unknown distances and my accuracy and confidence has improved immensly.
  I have given away most of of my bows and only recentley become alot more picky as to who gets one. I've broken a couple and retired a couple that had poor tiller and just got sluggish after shooting for a while. I've kept every one and every piece of those.
 I've only sold one and that was when I was unemployed and needed the money. Guy never even shot it, it ended up being a wallhanger even though at the time it was my go to bow.
  As far as the sickness goes, I'm ate up with it as well and am always scouring the countryside as I drive to the city. My wife cracks up when I'm in new territory cuz I'm rubber necking it left and right " that looks like some potential bow wood in there".
 I would say we all are cut from the smae or similar cloth.   Danny

[JW_Halverson]

I had a hand in screwing up a marriage to a pretty decent woman, and got into making my first bow to take my mind off the ongoing divorce.  I shot the heck out of that bow until someone picked it up on a hot day and overdrew it. 

Since that first bow I have been making bows for others and shooting one that was given to me by my mentor.  This last summer, I got fed up and built one for myself.  Named her Jane, plain as she was, she was still pretty.  But even Jane ended up leaving me and now spends time in another man's hands.

Heck, maybe I am fated to be shooting other people's bows...like the shoemaker whose kids are barefoot, or the mechanic that drives a beater. 

I go to a few Rendezvous with the muzzleloader crowd, a few other events and such as well.  Always try my best to have a kid sized bow and a handful of arrows so that when they wander by to see what I am doing (making shavings out of perfectly good wood) I can send 'em off with something to occupy them.  Most often those bows don't go home with me, instead I end up with a memory of an ear-to-ear grin. 

[Roy]

JW, that was perfect:) ^5 Roy