Why is Primitive archery so popular?

[whitewoodshunter]

This is a question that will have many answers, but I would like to get everyones opinion.Why is Primitive Archery so popular these days? My opinion is that with everyones busy and hectic lives these days this is one way to slow down and enjoy life. Also the thrill of a successful build is awesome!!!The internet helps to,with new ways to get new people involved.

[Badger]

     I have wondered about this myself quite a bit. I know lots of men including myself who once they picked up a piece of wood to make a bow couldn't stop. I have talked to a few people who said they never felt such a feeling of accomplishment. I suspect for a lot of us who are not true artists it gives us an outlet for our creative side. Pretty much a man thing for the most part. After about 11 years of making bows I still feel the same excitement when I pick up a stave and try to find a bow in it somewhere. Outside of testing out my bows I don't even shoot much. I want to open up a coffee shop next year with a yard out in the back for making bows and other primitive related things. I can't think of a better way to retire than just sitting around making bows. If it gets too popular their may not be any good bow trees left after awhile! Steve

[knightd]

I think in the last few years the internet has give us as a whole a chance to give something back that we all seem to get from primitive archery. Not to many years ago with out the internet there was allot of time that there was just you and maybe your friend siting and building or sharing info now its you and thousands of on line friends siting and sharing the love and skills of what we do..for instance Jacob in the thread Jacobs new bow with out the internet I would never even heard of the event much less end up there to meet him or the young man that won the bow that day.. I'm not very good with explaining things but I think you get what I'm trying to say..

David

[orcbow]

I believe that primitive archery is so popular because we as humans were designed to make things with our hands, and we thrive when we are faced with challenges. So much of the modern world does not require us to act in this way. We are on the verge of not needing these skills to live day to day.

I'm honored to sit around the big bonfire called the internet with you fellas! It's great to share our stories of success and failure.

[Dane]

I too have thought about this a lot. I think every one of us has some thing in our past that points to where we are regarding making primitive bows. Love of history, maybe hunting for some, using tools, making "stuff" perhaps. I have always been into creating things, model railroading when I was a kid, kites, model tanks and planes, carpentry and helping my dad when he build things around the house. Don't forget pinewood derby in Cub Scouts, lol.

Part of it is love of history, and being a "romantic" when it comes to trying to recreate a long-gone past. I've loved history since I was old enough to read, and having parents who had lots of history books around helped there.

Another part is making something unique that is rare in the world, and wood bows clearly are.

Remember too that bows are simple machines, so maybe that is part of why it is a "guy" thing?

And last, using the internet and this forum makes the journey that much better and more fun. We all live all over the world, but this is kind of our backyard, our local pub, and our classroom.

Dane

[whitewoodshunter]

All good responses guys. Thanks for the input.

[Jesse]

I cant say it any better than you guys. Having all of you on this site makes it that much more fun for me. I was into it before but no one cared or understood why I would bother when you can buy a compound and be a good shot in a half hour. There were a lot of us out there with no connection to each other and the internet has brought us together. Once others see how much fun we are having they want to join in on something they may have thought to be too complicated or maybe it just didn't occur to them to try it until it got in there head from the internet. I still think its not as popular as we might think. Most people I know would not know what a selfbow is let alone how to make one.                                   Jesse

[Hillbilly]

I think that one of its big satisfactions is that primitive archery is an island of reality in the middle of a sea of modern disconnection from everything natural and actual. i believe that it's also one of those latent things that's buried somewhere inside of a percentage of us, one of those things we don't even realize is there until we are exposed to it. After our ancestors spent thousands of years of living certain ways and making certain things, maybe some of these things are genetically programmed into us, who knows. Plus, it's just fun-and you don't get the same satisfaction shooting an arrow or taking game with some gadget-laden bow/machine that you bought in a sporting goods store.

[sailordad]

well i cant speak for anyone other than myself.

for me i was fastenated with indians as a young kid and always trying to make my own bows and arrows to play with, used tree roots cause they were flexible,didnt have a clue what i was doing back then,not sure if i have a clue yet.

as i got older,being a guy i like technologicaly advaced stuff ( gadgets,come on who doesnt right ) so i got into wheelie bows because they were modern and had technology built into them ,cool right.
well a few years ago i picked up a magazine at the local news stand, it was called PRIMITIVE ARCHER. well thats about all i needed to get my head back on straight and get my interest back into the indian style bows, or as we call them selfbows. well another hunting season or two went by and i was wanting a new bow.
i went down to all the big box type stores and priced out all the new wheel bows and the things they call long bows. holy crap you damn near need a second mortgage to buy one of these i thought out loud,the guy behind the counter smirked. i walked out all disappointed because not only could i not justify that kind of money on a new bow, i just plain couldnt afford it either.

then i got to remembering that first and only issue of PA that i bought a couple of years earlier. i remember seeing pictures in there of bows that readers made.
i thought to myself " hey i bet i could do that too",even though i have never been good at wood working,thats why icbecame an auto tech and not a carpenter lol

so i did a little research. since i dont have access to trees that can be cut i purchased a floor tillered stave on line,then another and anonther. now i have been succesfull with four or five bows. i am damn glad i couldnt afford that new bow.

so for me the popularity came out of the lack of $$$ and the want of a new hunting bow, now i can afford a new bow several times a year. i have a nice little collection of staves that growing like,well like a small forest. the pleasure of knowing that i made that, and now i have friends who want them too,but they dont want to go thru with the manual labor of making it for themselves, i tell them what kind of wood i want they cut the tree,i make them one bow out of the tree i keep remaining staves

well like i said,cant speak for others but this is what got my intrest

                                                                             peace,
                                                                                  tim

[DanaM]

One reason I like it so much is I like to be different I've always been the black sheep in a flock of white ones

To quote Hillbilly "An island of reality in the middle of a sea of modern disconnection" to me this means I feel sane and normal
when building bows or doing other paleo things.

Wife and I went to the UP State fair the other day, yes she made me go I didn't want to but ya have to give a little sometimes,
we walked around saw the sites ate greasy food etc, well the wife could see I was getting antsy, did I mention I don't like crowds, so she suggested we go take in the
old village that has been built on the grounds. As soon as we got to it my blood pressure dropped and I relaxed, this village is based on pioneer days, one room schoolhouse, black smith, candlemaker, steam tractors and sawmill well you get the idear. Point I'm trying to make is I felt at home there
Same thing happens when I get to making a bow, knapping, or whatever, blood pressure drops, time slows and and good energy flows

[Pat B]

I have to say that Hillbilly and I are on the same page here.   We(modern man) aren't that far separated from our hunter/gatherer ancestors and I'm sure all of this "need" for primitive archery, etc is part of that connection. Steve came from a back ground where these things were more pertinent to his and his family's lifestyle. I grew up in the city and didn't get really introduced to hunting and other outdoor activities until I was almost 30. It didn't take me long with all the bells and whistles to realize there had to be a simpler way. Now my goal is to see how simple I can make my equipment and still be effective...not easy but simple.   This addiction of ours is an escape from our high tech, fast pace world and we are fortunate enough to realize its necessity and to take advantage of the opportunities available to us here on PA and a few other sites. 
   I built bows for over 10 years before I had anyone else to talk to about it. PA has given me access to the best wood bowyers in the world and I feel fortunate to be a part of it all.       Pat

[burn em up chuck]

in one way or another everyone so far has voiced how building bows has effected my life. so theres not much else to say. the first thing that came to mind when i saw the cover of TBB-1 was art and function. it is amazing to me how deeply this process has effected me to my core. thank you, starting this subject,forgive me for not being able to articulate myself better.

                                                                                                  chuck

[FlintWalker]

Everything everyone else has said.  I also like not depending on the "middle man" for things I can make myself.
  I killed a doe last season with a bow that I had all of $6 invested in. I have friends that spend more than that on peep sights.  Saw Filer

[Kegan]

Money has always been a big limiting factor for my family. Don't really have alot of extra cash to throw around, and besides, "do-it-yourselfing" runs in the family. So, when I becaame interested in wilderness survival and hunting, it is only natural that I took to making my own bows and arrows. I tried buying the fiberlgass longbows and recurves, but after two bows, I realized the only thing I was giving up to the "modern bows" was acceptance by the modern mind set and crowd. Oh well, there was always Primitive Archer! Better people there anyway . A wooden bow gives nothing up but a few fps to it's fiberglass look-alike, and I get alot more fun building a fully-functional longbow myself than working for weeks at a broing job to get the money to buy one without a soul !

[Traxx]

To Add to whats been said allready,Primitive archery,makes the archer more personally involved with their archery and or hunting.Provideing that they are do it yourselvers.