Note: Most of the photos linked to these thumbnails have undergone varying degrees of enlargement. If you feel you might not want to see a larger version of a given image (such as a "harvest" pic) please don't click on that thumbnail.

 Row One: 1)Your host Bernie ("ber643")shooting the Adcock SS ACS test bow at about 27" draw, 2) This is friend Tom Anderson ("native craft") "picking a spot" with the same bow in hand, 3) starting his draw and 4) at a draw of about 30" and feeling no stacking from the little ACS, and 5) & 6) are another old man with his Adcock ACS bow - my friend "Beartracker" (Mike Gemind) from his mountain top in WV. Mike let his self-rigged trail camera take these pics of his great shooting form and sent them to me posing the pithy question - "Is this poetry in motion or just an over the hill hillbilly?" Well, Mike I think one is right and the other is funny but I ain't sayin' which is which. Nice pics of the ACS - not so many pines up there on the mountain in the background to clutter the lines of the bow.

Row Two: 1) A recent pic of the Iwo Jima Memorial In Wash DC taken at sundown - sent by my friend Ron (who used to work for me in the MC many "longs" ago and now works with the MC) - Taken by an associate of his when he drove his son by to see the memorial that still inspires all Marines (and nearly everyone else),  2) Here is the daughter of one of those retired Marines who is "real close" to me and - oh wait, that'd be me and that'd make her my daughter - Lois - also the mother of  "those two girls" on the previous Gallery, Pg7 (also the apple of my eye - even if she does persist in getting older) - she said she wasn't aware a customer of the restaurant where she works was going to take her pic so she looks like she was ready to bite someone's head off and that it also came out a little red from the lighting - I kind of like the pic - although she does usually look much more pleasant than that, 3) I guess after I posted that pic Lois was afraid she'd bite her own head off so she gave me this one with a more pleasant "puss" and including her "friend since childhood" Kim - it's good - but I still like the other one too, 4) This quiver I asked Barb (the Georgia lady archer and quiver maker from the previous Gallery Page) to make for me out of a Fallow Deer hide I traded some arrows for with "Country Girl" Dina of Florida (It was salvaged from one that died of natural causes - by a taxidermist called "Guru" and was a beautiful piece of work) - After seeing Barb's new work with hair-on hides and doing Back Quivers I knew I wanted one of those too, 5) This shows the other side with the strap and Barb's beautiful hand bead-work - in these pics she said the quiver wasn't quit finished yet (?) - I'll post another pic of the finished quiver in use after I get it - It looks to me like she has used a roses pattern on my strap, possibly remembering how well I like them and that I married a Rose - oh the beautiful red arrows are hers and won't accompany it (durn it), and 6) This from my Sis (who conquered sending a photo by e-mail - this time) depicting four generations (with an extra of number four for good measure) - starting out with my dear Brother-In-Law - Larry (who gave us all a bad scare last year with a very serious stroke - but has bounced back so much better than anyone can possibly believe - Thank you, Lord) (he is somewhere in excess of 21 - AHEM), The beautiful (inside and out) Daughter Wendy, the equally beautiful Granddaughter Jen, handsome Tyler ("North" - ha-ha) on Great-"Frampa's" lap and cutie Colby (Ty's little bro and the extra back-up) standing in Mom Jen's lap. A bunch of real winners from great stock - In My Humble Opinion. A Family Portrait to be treasured by generations to come.

Row Three: 1) This little fawn was discovered and photographed when a traditional bowman's ( handle is TXJon) wife opened the door one morning - it was sleeping about 20 yards from their door - it left about mid morning after not being disturbed, as they wouldn't let their children out to play in the yard until it was gone,  2) Paul Mullins(a cyber friend in Traditional Archery - handle "Legolas") with his turkey from this Spring and  Richard Shoemaker who owns the land where Paul got the turkey ALSO just happens to be Paul's high school Algebra teacher - how about that for a connection, 3), 4), & 5) are pics from the first shoot of our local Hubert Archers this year in which we dedicated a Shooting Lane (also Annual Shoot and Perpetual Trophy) to our honored and loved deceased member Buzz Luhm ( 3)Luhm Family - 4) Son Nick, Mrs. Luhm, Wife Deloras, daughter Christine, and 5) Nick with special Traditional Arrow Plaque presented to him inscribed in Memory of his Dad), and 6) is my (our) Grandchildren who live in Maine - the lovely and animated Dani making good fun use of the good natured love and togetherness of her twin brothers Jarod and Cody (or vice-versa - sorry again, boys - please forgive your "Away Grandpa") the beautiful (inside and out) offspring of our Son Scott (from my wife's first marriage). Under the raising of their sweet, example setting Mother, Randi and her current husband they have become real winners in so many ways - we are all very proud of them.
 

Row Four: 1) Mike Griffith of Mike's Archery Leathers in CA plying his trade at the "stitching pony" while attending a traditional shoot in Sunny CA (some of his great arm guards and other wares can be made out on the table), 2) Mike and some tradgang.com friends in front of his set-up (Mike, Uncle Charlie Brown, Stump Buster another Mike, and Mike Fletcher of FletchArrows - A hatful of Mikes - I wonder if Charlie felt outnumbered???), 3) Mike giving the attentive service he is also well noted for - no wonder he loves his trade, huh?, 4) My beautiful youngest Granddaughter Haylei all dressed up for her 8th Grade Prom with a French Braid in the back of her hair that her mother did a beautiful job on Haylei is a big girl at her age but not disproportionately so as this picture makes out (quite the contrary - she is perhaps too proportionate for my peace of mind ha-ha - as it appears in the next pic),  5) Haylei with a couple of her friends (whose names slip my old mind right now) - these are 8th graders??? - well, no, come too think of it, they are ninth graders now - congratulations, girls - Haylei did her very best to date this year and we are so pleased for her. (Oh, that is Sister Onesty's cat "Henna" lending her stamp of approval to the proceedings.), and 6) This is Friend Thunder Bill Wooster and 4 year old Grandson Dakota - who wanted to "build arrows like Grandpa - to help other kids." You will (hopefully) recall Thunder Bill is the retired Bull Rider cowboy who now devotes pretty much 99% of his time to helping Life Limited Children. If you'd like to know more about what is going on here and in his efforts (and you should want to) go to www.tour4kids.org

Row Five: 1) Here is Dakota soloing - with 236 arrows he helped to crown dip - nearly ready for deserving children through his Grandfather's life's dedication, 2)My old Bear skull in it's new place of honor in Frank  (fisherofmen1 Scukanec's living room - Frank donated top bid for St.Judes Hospital after I donated the skull for the auction at tradgang.com to help raise money for that worthwhile cause - (the auction went great and raised lots of money  because we bought high for those kids - I won some wood arrows and some home made cookies - no you don't want to know what this savvy ol' Marine and two other bidders paid for  boxes of cookies), 3) Frank likes bears and this is a pic of a bowie knife of his with a bear scrimshawed on the antler handle that he displays close to the bear skull,  4) are some shots of a small hand carved necklace/ammulate I won on an e-bay auction - it is made by Matt Lesniewski of M.L. Knives who makes beautiful knives and items of this type - he has a web site http://www.mlknives.com ,  5) I thought you'd like to see what Frank did with the pig tusks he got from me with the Bear skull in the St. Judes auction - incorporated on this beautiful (very first attempt) Lakota Plains Style quiver - nice job Frank - Barb is gonna make some bead work for his strap also (like she put on the one she did for me), and 6) Continuing in this vein here is a Elk Burr buckle that Frank made and sent to me - he carves them and this one has a great whitetail hoof print on it. I put it on a new black belt and wear it all the time now - needless to say I am very proud of it.

Row Six: 1) This is a pic of three interesting items I've picked up at yard sales lately - top is an artifact (tourist souvenir probably) I believe is from Australia and is representative of an aboriginal bow and arrow (perhaps a ceremonial arrow) - the arrowhead is made from a tiny swordfish beak - or so it would appear - middle is a necklace on the nicest piece of soft rolled rawhide of some kind - the white part appears to be bone and the dark part is a sort of small bottle carved out of wood with a screw on cap also wood - supposedly (and I believe) that it is Native American from the Mid-west - the bottom item is a belt made in Canada and is two offset layers of disks of Seal skin laced together with a red shoelace-like cord - all nice and interesting items that would attract any archer, not to mention other folks, and 2) through 6) speaking of archery is this ol' hoss tryin to improve his form and shooting in general with my Adcock ACS "Someone Special". By the way all of these pics starting with the buckle were taken with my new Vivitar Digicam (pocket size) called a Vivicam 3750. Results as can be seen by the arrows I'm pulling from my 3D targets  were not too shabby - though I'd like them to be better yet - and sometimes they are. Looking at the top of my nobby ol' head there I can see now why it was a good idea to start shaving my headbone.

Row Seven: 1) I decided it was about time to parade the "Family" again Starting off with Scamp - the old man from Maine and the senior "Critter" at 14 years of age (This turned out to be the last picture taken of Scamp before he went on to The Rainbow Bridge - see Family Page), 2) Sloopy - who is now eight and is beginning to show grey pretty good on her "magic snout" - she pretty much claimed that loveseat although she lets me perch on this closest arm most of the time, 3) Kissie (5 years) is our "Chunky Frito Bandito" Chihuahua whom no amount of dieting has ever managed to make loose weight - we even had her thyroids checked - a Marine friend says she isn't a Chihuahua but is a Badger - she still has the sweetest disposition and is the happiest gal in town, 4) and 5) are two shots of Mocha (3 yrs) and Taffy - they like to sun on the lounge chair out back - the first shows Mocha still has her "Skull Cap" type mask while the second gives a better look at Taffy's (the whitish one) face - Mocha is the smallest but Taffy is the youngest at two this October, and 6) is one more shot of Kissie's belly - "I worked hard for it and I'm proud on it - s'there!" . Hard to believe we have had them that long and yet it seems we've never been without them - check out "Bernie's Family" page to see their "Kid Pics" and bios.

Row Eight: 1) Here is Tommy Mosman our club and coalition Traditional Shooter of The Year for 2004 with his trophy - been a good year for Tommy - he also is the shooter that won the 1st Annual Buzz Luhm Memorial Shoot this past Spring. This pic was also taken with my Vivicam 3750 - Tommy couldn't be there for the Annual SofTY presentations and the Coalition webmaster asked us to get a pic of him for their site - In his "acceptance speech" (snicker, snicker) he said he'd like to give credit to my boss Dave Camp - he sold Tommy his first traditional bow and has given him some valuable tips along the way - Come to think of it....that applies to my case too - so how come I'm not doin' that good? - Duh!, 2) Here is a pic I took of a bow I recently bought in a small auction  to raise money to buy bows for Thunder Bill Wooster's Windsong Kids.- it was made and donated by John Scifres - is my first Selfbow (all-wood) - a longbow 66" and 40# @ 28" and a real beauty - with it is an ash arrow that is a bludeon crafted by Kathy (Killdeer) Collister - a favorite arrow of hers that she presented to me at ATAR and I cherish deeply - ("Have I shot it yet? No, Killie - maybe some day, perhaps with this bow."), 3) This is the small Loyd Lipert Neck Knife that I won the bid on in the same auction - for those who don't know it is made something on the principle of an old straight razor - closes into the  stag handle - is worn around the neck and it is another beauty by Loyd (who made the sheath knife I won last year and shown in these Galleries) - both are made from saw mill blades (that is not discoloration on the blade - just reflected flash), 4) Dear "Friend Girl" (Barb) who built all the beautiful quivers (a couple seen in these pages) is no longer with us in body though she survives in spirit and in our hearts - the picture seen here was the banner of the week on the great forum tradgang.com that a lot of traditional shooters haunt - she passed Friday the 10th of Sept. in a tragic car accident in her beloved hills of Georgia - I was asked by her significant other, Richard to notify the tradgang.com members - after I did that an unprecedented thread in excess of 28 pages of entries followed (at this time)( NOTE: A total of 34 pages, and then it was transfered to the "Clasics Forum" by the administrators-Thanks to them) - a fitting memoriam to a very special and talented lady and friend  - I miss you, "friend girl", 5) & 6) Shortly before Barb's death I bought an Elk hide bow case (with a Bear skin flap) for my ACS "Someone Special" - she then put a medicine wheel and two horsehair tassels on it for me - knowing I love horses - this is a picture of that beauty and little did I know that after that - she crafted another similar one for a longer bow I recently won in a raffle (it is still being built in Texas) - I dubbed that bow "Texas Slim" and referred to it as Someone Special's big brother - she left instructions to send this one to me, "for Someone Special's big brother." - Note the hand beaded Buffalo Skull and the medicine wheel with turkey feathers and red trade cloth - very Native American and traditional and her soul mate Richard said it represented many hours of work and was one of her better ones . Thank you, Dear Barb, I'm sure Someone Special and Texas Slim will love their new hand made "sleeping bags".

Row Nine: 1) This is opening day Whitetail season 2004 and my friend John who is an active duty Marine Staff NCO and is showing me some hunting areas on Camp Lejeune - he also works part time at the archery shop with me, 2) Same day this ol' hoss hiding from the deer  that never came - I just held the camera out in front of me to see if it would work - it worked better than I apparently did, 3) Here I am "unveiled" - Actually we decided it was time to get another portrait done for our family being as how we hadn't taken care of that chore since the sixties (Rose hates having a pic of any kind made), 4) & 5) are from the same sitting - I figgured I'd better get 'em while the gettin' was good! Oh, I am wearing the very nice ATAR 2004 T shirt presented to me by the Traditional Bowhunters of Southern WVA club that hosts that rendezvous - for helping promote it and the kids Dinosaur Shoot there. I am now (with the help of some tradgang.com members) well on my way to "rounding up" the Dinosaur "Herd" for 2005, and 6) Cyber friend from here in NC - Woodduck (McRae Harriss) and one of two "Apples of His Eye"(youngest - Heather) admire his first traditional whitetail harvest of 2004 - a fine Doe ("Me too soon, please, Lord!"

Row Ten: 1) Introducing "Texas Slim" - the 21st Century Longbows bow by Milton Callaway that I won in the recent Mega Bow Raffle for Tour4Kids, 2) Tex is 66" long 45#@28" Bubinga Wood riser Bamboo limb wood of tapered Bamboo core and stained Bamboo veneers under clear glass,  3) In the reflection area there you can see where the bowyer Inscribed it for me as "Tour4Kids 2004" - Needless to say I am very proud of this bow and on top of that it draws and shoots great - is handsome - quiet - smooth - and impressively fast - "Texas Slim" makes a great Big Brother to my Adcock ACS "Someone Special" - Pictures of "him" in action will be added, "Lights, camera, action," more or less - 4) Texas Slim at rest but poised for action while the ol' man gets his stuff together, 5) The grace of my 21st Century Longbow at (my) draw, 6) 7) & 8) Two things: I wasn't going to include these as the "lights" weren't there and the waning light of a cloudy day was backlighting me to make it worse - but then I decided they might be more interesting in a way - at least different - the other thing is I usually stop at Row 10/6pics and move to a new Gallery Pg  but I wanted this sequence on Texas Slim together - If you look at the larger pics you will be able to see that I am shooting the 66" Tex from my tower with the trees behind - again you can easily make out the nice curve of the bow as I shoot - in the third of the backlit photos you will see the shot has taken place and the bow is returning to rest - also if you look in the blue patch of sky forward of the "greenery" you will see the arrow on it's way to the target - I hope you find these as neat and different as I did (upon second consideration), 9) Here is the results of my shooting (a total of 5 arrows) the first three shots at a close target below the tower (set up so I can test where I have to pick a low spot on close targets - actually at their feet for me) - beyond that deer - you will see a second deer and a turkey which were the subject of the next two arrows, and 10) the results of those two shots (12 yards on the "doe" and about 15 yds. on the turkey) - right in the spot on the deer and just a tad high on the turkey - in the bottom of the wattle. "Good shooting, Texas Slim and welcome home!"