Traditional Bows Drawn, Pg15

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Row One: 1) & 2) To kick off Page 15 of these Full Draw pics, 3 months after starting in archery (shown on Row Ten of TBD Pg 13) Shamus' "True Love". Sticking to her practice with her Ben Pearson bow and improving form all the time. Welcome back here and, "You go, girl!" 

3), 4), & 5) Sylvie Q, of the NW Territories in Canada, and wife of Daniel Q, "The Knife Maker", at Full Draw with her new Brack Bow, which she loves to shoot, and does quite well with. Daniel says that she keeps him on his toes practicing.

6) Tom Bohl e-mailed this Full Draw pic to me. Tom is of tradgang.com, and the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia. He has been shooting trad bows since he was eight years old, which means 46 years of great fun. During that time he's taken numerous Deer, a hen Turkey, and plenty  of small game as well. This bow is his relatively new River's Edge, Vortex. A hybrid longbow of 62", 53# @ 29". He also has recurves and likes to mix them up but mostly shoots longbows. Thanks for sharing with us, Tom, and good luck in your seasons.

Row Two: 1) This Full Draw is "Juri", of Finland, with a Bulgarian Holmegaard-style bow he started at the Euro-shoot and recently finished. To see the flat surface impact of this unusual old style bow click here. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of one that I have personally seen pics of. It is made from an Elm stave given to Juri by Kosio at the Euro-shoot and is stained, oiled, and waxed, 62"ntn, 44# @ 27".

2) Our friend, and Vine Maple Guru of Oregon, "Gordonf", decided he wanted to see if he could make a good, short hunting bow out of a Vine Maple sapling - so - being Gordon, he did just that , and another beauty it is. He cut a small VM sapling while steelhead fishing, and made "Nanook", the name suggested by his wife. The sapling was 1 3/4", Nanook is 57" ntn, 55# @ 27", and is a bend through the handle type bow. It was stained with leather dye and given a coat of Paraffin wax. Gordon built up the handle with some leather, to grip it easier, then applied a great looking John Strunk style handle wrap and finished it off with a strip of Mink fur at each end. This guy is sooooooooo good at this bow making!

3) "medicinwheel", Frank Reinshagen (often a heavy contender himself) Posted this bow and pic for his good frien Chris Glauben, of Germany, at Full Draw with his bow that won Primitive Archers October Backed Bow of The Month. it is a Double-curved bow made up of Bamboo Composite laminates, and a real beauty. 66" ntn, 55# @ 28" Chris Doesn't have a computer but it looks like he may get one and start posting. This bow also won Laminated Bow Of The Year for 2007.

4) Another Primitive Archer BOM, this one is Self Bow of theMonth for October, and is a snakeskin (Copperhead, road kills) covered Osage, with Beaver Tail covered hand grip. It was made by Shannon Walker, "Saw Filer", of  KY, shown here at Full Draw with the 56" ntn, 60# @ 28" beauty. Congratulations to both of thesepretty much "run away" winners at Prinitive Archer for last month - and it wasn't for lack of competition - they both had plenty of really good competitors to beat out. 

5) Even "Black and White Cows" like looking at Traditional Bows at Full Draw -   Kevin Brown, also of KY, and his family out doing some week-end trad practice at his Mother-in-law's farm. Too good a picture to pass up. Clic here for a pic of the entire group of young archers that enjoyed that "cow visit". We hope to be getting more FD pics soon from the group.

6) Thimo is back at his bow bench (& his computer) and has turned out a real nice Thanksgiving Day gift to us all - in the form of a Sudbury Bow Replica. It draws about 52# @ 28" and Thimo provided the following info about it's very appropriate inspiration:

Sudbury stats:

This bow is in the Peabody museum at Harvard University. Originally it was "collected" in A.D. 1600 by one, Mr. William Goodnough who claims to have shot it's owner who was bent on "ransaking" his home, "for plunder".

The bow is made of hickory, is 65" long, nock to nock. Limbs are 1-3/4" W and 3/4" W at the tips. Museum officials list the bow as belonging to the Wampanoag tribe, the very people who greeted the Pilgrims.

So in essence what we have here, and what I am attempting to duplicate, is a bow that may very well have helped institute the 1st Thanksgiving. The natives provided the food and the Pilgrims mabey the tables.                              

(by Thimo)

Happy Thanksgiving to all TBD Pages contributors and viewers.

Row Three: 1) Dan, "wakolbinger" of the "burbs" near "Chi-town", and a fine bowyer and contributor to paleoplanet.net - here at Full Draw with one of his latest bows. A gorgeous character Osage bow with Wenge overlays, Brazos Snakeskin backing, and a Tortoise shell inlayed arrow pass. He calls the bow "October" and is now working on a sister stave named, what else, "November". This young man has graced these pages before and builds beautiful self, and laminated, wood bows - while also attending college and doing part time work. You go, Dan! "October" is 63" ntn, and 60# @ 28" and not a knot to be found in her.

On Dec 2nd, our club, Hubert Archers, held our Annual Archery Turkey Shoot to raise Christmas toys and/or funds for needy children. I unfortunately forgot to break my camera out until near the end of the day - and we had twenty some odd Traditional Bow shooters there supporting - and had a ball. Here are the few pics I did get:

2), 3), and 4) The family who "arches" together, stays together: "My Twin Brother Bernie" (our little joke), Bernie Cleckner, His Daughter Callie Cleckner, and wife Glenna Cleckner. Glenna was shooting for her first time - form was good and she got her head down into it and shot well too.

5) Hillary Williams, a new shooter and her "coach/mentor", Club Pres, Dave Bishop. Hillary showing good form also.

6) A friend/neighbor of the Cleckner family, Steven Hegarty, with a long draw and pretty darned good form too. Here they are all just practicing but everyone won Turkeys when they shot the competions targets.

Time for the Primitive Archer November BOM results.

Row Four: 1) Seen many times in these pages, because he is a prolific bowyer of fine wood bows, "Ryano", of Primitive Archer and paleoplanet.net web sites, is shown here with one of his latest bows at a beautiful Full Draw. It is a particularly beautiful and graceful looking Osage Static Recurve. Ryan ran a very close Second in the PA November Self Bow of the Month contest. 60 ntn, 55# @ 26", with Whietail antler and hoof tip overlays, a leather grip and a very unique stain job on the back, which Ryan is really inovative at.

2) Justin Blunt of IL has been in these pages before along with his Daughter. "Jbell" of primitivearcher.com took a run-away, close to unanimous First with this gorgeous Bambb Backed Yew . It came out a little light for him but fit his Nephew (seen in pic 3) to a T. The bow is 60" ntn, 45# @ 26" (Wow, that would fit me to a T too - LOL). The First place win was in the PA November Backed Bow of The Month competion, and though it was up against awesome bows was well deserved. It has horn tip overlays, a shelf of layered leather, and a Turtle shell strike plate.

3) Justin's 13 year old Nephew at Full Draw with the same great laminated wood bow, showing great tiller of the bow.

4) This is 10 year old Cody Snyder, "Codeman" on primitivearcher.com where his father (also a Justin) is well known. Father and son decided it was time for Cody to start learning what his Dad knows about building self bows, so they decided to do a well documented Build-along on the web site, under Justin's supervision and guidance, with plenty of good pics. Cody and his Dad set a very good example of Father and Son building a traditional bow together , as one person put it, in the manner that fathers and Sons have been "passing it on" for eons. On top of that Cody's  bow (his first) was voted First Place winner in the PA November Self Bow of The Month competition. The bow is a Mulberry self bow, 67" ntn, 20# @ 20", with Gopher Snake skins, a gator skin grip, and Buffalo (Bison) Horn nocks. 

Congratulations to all, and thanks for the pics for these pages.

5) A beautiful pic of a beautiful ELB (English Long Bow) of Shagbark Hickory by Adam Keiper, of paleoplanet.net. Adam made this fine bow from a 2" sapling he harvested from a woodlot about to be bulldozed. It gave him a tough time but he wound up with a bow that looks great at brace and at Full Draw. Reminds me how well i like the looks of ELBs - and fireplaces too. The bow is 64" ntn, 56# @ 25" Outstanding job, Adam!

6) Another familiar "Oldie but Goodie", The Great Archer Howard Hill

Row Five: 1) and 2) Your host (again), ber643, Bernie, Bern, B with an Osage Character Stave Bow with Canebrake rattler skins. 63 1/2" ntn, 43# @ 26" . I got this nice little bow in a trade for some wood arrows that were too heavily spined for my bows/shooting. I also happen to be wearing a shirt that was a gift from a friend. It shows that I am AKA - ATAR's "Official Dinosaur Wrangler", and it wishes everyone a Very Merry Christmas. You can see the shirt better on Gallery Page 15 of this web site, and read the story behind it.

3) "Hackman 13" provided a pic of his kids at Full Draw, that he calls (what else?) "kidswbows". A great picture of kids at archery IMO. He says the kids often ask to go out and shoot  - much to his pleasure, I'm sure. Top to bottom (left to right) Tabby - 14, Tanner - 12, Tia - 10, Tayte (toad) - 8, Taureen (pronounced Torin) - 6, and Taquoia (Tiki) - 4. Toad shoots "all the time" and Tanner is working up to a hunting weight bow. Now he is shooting a 45# Howat Bandito that Hackman says he rescued from a yard sale for $10.00, and refinished for Tanner. You go Kids - and Dad.

4) Censu, of Malta, with his latest creation at Full Draw in a great background. The Bow is an Elm selfbow made from a rather nobbt (starting out) sapling. Censu shaped it into a fine 70" (69" ntn) bow pulling 50+# Nice to "see" you again, Censu. 

5) Marc St. Louis, probably recognized as one of the best wood bow makers by many of his contemporaries, is from Ontario and has been making primitive bows for over 30 years. Here he is with a fantastic looking Deflex Recurve of sinew backed Elm. The bow is only 56" (55"ntn) and pulls 60# @ 28". Marc used some Desert Ironwood for the tip overlays. That bow makes me think perhaps I should have at least one recurve - but not that heavy a weight one - Owwwww! LOL (You and Ryano always do that to me with your bow pics.)

6) DanielAlbright, "DannyBows", of tradgang.com and NJ, sent me a couple of Full Draw pics to kick of the New Year. Thanks Danny and Happy New year, 2008 to all. 

Row Six: 1) DannyBows other side. The bow Danny is shooting with is a Jeff Findish Hybrid Longbow of 56" length.

2) "Jawge", of NH and most all of the trad forums, plus his own very helpful web site on making bows and arrows. Shown with one of his recent creations at Full Draw - a, "lumpy, bumpy Hickory self bow, with a significant propeller twist." The bow is 66" ntn and 52# @ 26". George did some fancy work with rit dye dissolved in alchohol  to color areas, and paint characters on the back of the bow, in the fashion of Achumawi bows. He used brown, green, and yellow. The bow under "Jawges" considerably talented hands became a good shooter in spite of his description, and shows a fine tiller arc, both, at brace and at full draw.

3) This is Chris Halsey of VT (and, newly, "GrnMtnTradNut" of tradgang.com) who recently decided to seek advice on switching from compound bows to traditional bows, to renew the feel of challenge that he seemed to be loosing. After seeing Chris' post about that subject on tradgang.com, "Vermonster13"  notined that he lived close to him,  Dave, or "VTm" as I often call him, is a well known poster and Guide/Instructor and "doer of good deeds" from that same state. Dave contacted the young man to see if he could help his quest in any way. The outcome was that Dave provided (at no charge, as folks who know VTm would expect) the used Browning Wasp , 43# and 56 inch long Recurve bow That Chris is already showing good form with at Full Draw here. Dave also provided an arm guard and tab and some shooting tips. What does Dave get? Something we all love to get in our chosen sport, a new friend/shooting buddy, and the good feeling of introducing a new devotee to the pleasures of shooting traditional bows. You go, VTm, and good luck, Chris.

4) Back again is J D Duff, with another winner at Full Draw. PA's Self Bow BOM for Dec. is a wild Character bow of Birdseye Crabapple with about 60 knots.66" ntn, 70# @ 28". J D is from Oregon and did a masterful job on this gnarly stave, to coax a bow out of it - one that shoots smooth and accurate too. 

5) Backed BOM for PA in Dec., hails from BC, Canada, and was made by Bruce Pack, shown with it here at Full Draw. This is a Cotton Backed Hickory with canary bellies, lashed on with jute to the Purpleheart Recurves and riser. What a work of art, Bruce.

6) This is Michalea, ("Arwen" on tradgang) from S.E. Ontario, a beautifully happy young lady just starting on her new path of traditional archery. "Big Dog" (formerly seen on these pages), Cary Gibson, and his wife and daughter have known Michalea for about 7 years of close friendship with their daughter. Now, through some rough times, and some kind heartfelt deeds, Michaela lives with them. It was natural to follow that some archery hints were asked for and given , as well as some trad gear from generous tradgangers. See next pic/row.

Row Seven: 1) Michalea here launches an arrow, out and away, at the suggestion of our friend, Killdeer, "Just to watch it fly." We give our best wishes that Michalea's new life will soar like her arrow. Blessings on her and the Gibson family, as well as the generous tradgangers. "Arwen" is shooting a Wing Gull of 64" and 30# here. Her "new" bow is a gifted 56", 35# @ 26" Northern Mist Pelkie from one of those tradgang members. Welcome to our "Gallery" and, "You go, girl!"

2) Big Dog provided us with another Full Draw of Michaela - to prove she does have a face - and a mighty pretty one it is too, especially with that bright, happy smile she now wears, in the home with her new family and archery mentors, the Gibsons.

3) Thimo our "intense", artistic, bowyer friend from PaleoPlanet with his latest Holmegaard bow. (Remember, Thimo builds and draws those heavy weight bows.) He made this one of Elm ( what the original was made of) and worked it out using only primitive tools - mostly stone chips. What a great job and the more I see of these old style Holmegaards, the better I like them. Great picture too , Thimo. Only thing is the angle doesn't quite show the real shape so distinctive of the Holmegaard - but THIS one does. Thimo says the wrappings on the bow help protect the knotty areas.

4) & 5) A special posting for the Primitive Archer Bow Of The Month for January, a couple of "Old Bow"'s fine collages (containing Full Draws, of course). Gordon Ferlitsch has been seen often in these pages, and often with winning bows (his bows are always winners to me). This month Gordon, of Oregon, has out done himself though - he has taken top bow in both catagories. A Hazelnut, (half) snake backed bow (4) took Self BOM out of a booming class of 20 plus bows and (5) his beautiful Bamboo Backed Lemonwood Was tops in a field of  top notch Laminated Bows. Gordon, you are a treasure in the world of primitive bowyers IMO.

6) Meet "Boomer", Bret, of MN and PaleoPlanet.com. Here he is at Full Draw with a fine bow made by "Badger", Steve, also of PP, and of CA. The bow is a Crepe Myrtle, 62 3/4", 55# @ 28" It just so happens that Boomer has donated this particular great bow to an auction currently (Feb + of 2008)  being held on PP to sponsor a lucky bowyer (or two) from the US (to be selected by draw) to go to The EuroMeet in Bulgaria this year. A lot of other bows and fine hand made archery gear will be put up too - (as well as one of my Wing Bone Turkey calls). Check it out and meet a lot of bowyers like Bret and Steve - (and maybe pick up a great wood bow).

Row Eight: 1) This is "robslifts", Robert Jones, of MI and tradgang.com, and is pictured here in a Full Draw that he sent in response to a request from me - along with the following one of his fiance. Rob is shooting a 58" Whisperstick Mojostick of 45# @ 28" (about 49# at his draw). The bow has Osage limbs and he shoots 2018s with it

2) Donna Coates is Rob's lovely fiance and is starting out with fine form in her Full Draw pic, with a Whisperstick Voodoostick of 60" and 38# @ 28" (about 32# at her current draw). Donna is taking to archery real well and shoots custom Cedar arrows made for her by Rob. They are spined at 40-45. Thanks a bunch for the pics and may you enjoy your archery times together throughout your lives.

3) This is "Cowboy" of Primitive Archer site, Paul Wolfe of TX, back to these pages with another Bow of The Month (BOM) winner for February's Self Bow class. It is an Osage recurve with a full sinew backing and another layer of sinew down the center, and then backed with Chicken Snakeskin. It is 66" ntn, 40# @ 28", and the tips and rest are of Mescal Bean Root, which Paul says is very hard and pretty wood. Congrats, Paul.

4) While this is a little unusual for these pages, it is still a Traditional bow at Full Draw. It also is the winning Laminated February BOM for PA. Built by Adam Beck of Canada, "adb3112" of PA.com. Adam made the bow for a friend and didn't put himself in the FD pic. The bow is a Bamboo backed Ipe, 72" ntn, 57# @ 29" and has a Poplar handle/riser. However, Adam did kindly provide a pic of his "excellent" wife holding his winning bow at brace for us. FWIW I happen to think "excellent" is an excellent descriptive for a man to ascribe to his wife. Adam knows his bows and his wife, it's plain to see. Congratulations , Adam.

5) Steve Gardner ("Badger" of paleoplanet and CA) shown at Full Draw with a Black Poplar Self  D Bow,  crafted by Tim Baker. This bow was featured on page 51 of the new Bowyers Bible, Vol 4. (and later auctioned off by Tim for a good cause on PP). The bow is 76" long and draws 50# @ 30". It only weighs 17 ounces and was light bow experiment to prove a poinbt. Tim said, in the book, that he "bravely let Steve Gardner take the first shots - just in case it blew." Pretty bow to these ol' eyes (and I bid on it, before my budget got out distanced, as I knew it would - LOL)

6) Here we have the wife of Andrew Vincent (Drew on tradgang.com), of Michigan at Full draw with an older, venerable Bear bow. The other morning she surprised Drew by saying she would like to shoot her bow. It was only her second time out so Drew wisely wanted to make it a fun shoot for her. He tossed a plastic bottle out in their back yard and she proceeded to group around it at 8-1O yards. Then her first hit really had her going. By the end of their outing she was getting hits at 18-20 yards. You go, girl.

Row Nine: 1) Again at Full Draw, Drew's wife ended up her session with what we all pretty much do, you know, "One more round and then I'll quit." - LOL  After that enjoyable afternoon with her husband, she acknowledged that she could see where stump shooting would be fun too. Drew figures she is hooked now. I think they both did great, don't you - and more power to them.

2) 8 year old Brooke is the daughter of an old trad friend of mine, Tom "Native Craft" Anderson. She wanted to get into archery so Tom is helping her, and got some others to help too. Her Hill Chipmunk Slayer bow was the gift of a father who lost his young son/archer way too soon, bless his heart. Her arrows from "Vermonster", Dave, and she wears an arm guard supplied by our "Friend in Archery Leathers", Mike G. of CA  Young Brooke also has a great smile for us and her archery fun too. You done good, Tom, et al.

3) From Sweden comes 3 year old Filip, son of "Redhorse" of PaleoPlanet. A horse trainer by profession, Redhorse is also an accomplished and prolific bowyer. This small Horn Bow he built for Filip for his third birthday. It is 38" has an Elm Core with a belly of Buffalo Horn and is backed with one layer of Moose sinew. Draw weight is 15-20#. Great job on the bow and the Picture, Redhorse, and thank you for sharing.

4) & 5) This is Jos at Full Draw (from both sides), of Holland. His friend and the bowyer of this fine looking bow is "V Archer", Arnold Smit, also of Holland. Arnold sent the pics to me, and Jos is drawing Arnold's latest bow, to 30", at their outdoor range - it is an RD bow with antler tips and riser overlay, with finger contours. Arnold said it was a hard job but came out well. Sure looks good, Arnold, and thanks for the FD pics. Arnold also tells me folks are beginning to ask about, and order, bows from his V Archery shop. He also says he is happy to keep it, "not too many," as it is supposed to be fun. Good outlook, Arnold, and the best of luck to you and your friends in Holland.

6) Here is "DustyBaer", Marius Fara, of Germany, at Full Draw with the winning Primitive Archer Self Bow BOM of March '08 Marius traveled to the USA and attended the 10th TN Classic last year, where he started this bow, and got it far enough to shoot during that gathering. He later, back in Germany, reworked the bow to match his draw weight, etc. more to his liking. Also, while at the Classic, he got many US bowyers, friends, and shooters to sign the back of his Osage self bow - and that he didn't change. This is truly a bow that Marius will treasure all his life. It is 61" ntn, 52# @ 25" - Osage backed with - Signatures - LOL. Congratulations Marius.

Row Ten: 1) & 2)  March '08 Laminated BOM accolades at Primitive Archer were shared by two very talented Bowyers and previous winners. 1) is Marc St. Louis, of Canada, with his Hickory Backed Osage and tip Overlays of Brazilian Ironwood. The bow is 55"ntn and 62# @ 28" Marc got my final vote but I was really torn between the two winners and the tie shows that a lot of others were too. Marc shared honors with 2), "medicinewheel", Frank Reinshagen , of Germany, and this is Frank with his hybrid Japenese Yumi and Hornbow made of Bamboo, Black walnut, and Purpleheart. It is 70" ntn and 58# @ 29" Congratulations to both of these fine bowyers. 

3) & 4) This is my local friend and bowyering instructor, Mike Brooks (Retired USN), followed by myself (Retired USMC - and, yes, we get along fine - LOL) both at Full Draw with one of his many self bows of Osage that he does so well on and with. We are shooting this one because we love to shoot but also because it is what I have based the outcome of the Osage self bow, that I am currently building, on. Mine will be a couple inches longer and has a little more character "whoopties" in it - but I hope it will perform somewhere near as well as his does. The one we are shooting is 58" ntn and 56# @ 28" and he calls it his "Painted Bow". As you can see, I cannot pull it as far as Mike can but by using my thumb nuckle as an anchor point it behaved very well for me. I really like the fast and accurate little bow.  

5) This is Arnold Smit, of Holland, "himself" (as we Irish like to say) at Full Draw, with one of his bows, at a recent shoot held at Drunen, in South Netherlands. This was during the 3D Animal portion of the shoot, and Arnold was shooting at a Bear, 45 yards out. BTW He took Second of 48 contestants. Congratulations, my friend. 

6) Meet the Wife of Keenan, of PrimitiveArcher.com, at Full Draw with a unique and beautiful bow that her husband made for her as a Valentine's Day gift, albeit a bit late in completion. Keenan said Lulyn was very understanding of the tardiness and appreciative of his effort. So much so that while she is normally a little camera shy she got up a special archery related outfit to do her Full Draw in. Very nice job on both of their parts. The really special bow is a Sturgeon Skin backed Cascara (sometimes known as "Buckthorn"), with Mule deer Tips, and 59" ntn, 41# @ 25". Keenan says that Lulyn is his favorite hunting partner, and they love hunting Elk, with all that is a part of it. Thanks for sharing, Keenan and Lulyn.

This is the close of TBD, Page 15 and we hope you'll join us on TBD, Page 16, which will kick off with a very special Birthday Party pictorial that everyone should fall in love with.

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