Traditional Bows Drawn, Pg9

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Row One: 1) "Paleoaleo" Tom with his Special Copper Age Bow. We saw this picture on the previous page but Tom, Founder of PaleoPlanet.com, was amidst a covey of green picnic tables. One of the members, James Hobbs, felt that since the bow was such a prime example of a real "Primitive" bow the picnic tables were a tad distracting and detracting - so he did a beautiful job of retouching the photo, sans tables. Looks great, James, and Tom, having donated so much to the trad world in general with paleoplanet, makes a perfect picture to start of Page9 of these pages - nice and clean, so to speak. All our thanks to you, Tom.

2) & 3) This is your host, "ber643", Bernie at Full draw on the first shooting day with his first self-made bow. It hasn't had Finish applied yet as there is still a shoot-in period and minor shaping to be done first. It is a laminated wood bow of Hickory Backed Beefwood (Massaranduba), with Brazillian Cherrywood Handle and Bloodwood nock overlays. 67" and at this time 44# @ 27" I give my gratitude to Mike Brooks for design,  teaching, and overseeing my progress, in the making of this sweet shooting bow.

4) & 5) Rich Saffold, even while in the process of moving his household in CA, still finds time to make a bow. Full Draw with his latest and biggest Bamboo Backed Ipe. this one is 70" ntn, 72# @ 30" in a r/d elb style and has Imbuia wood grip and power strip. I would say these are a bowyers Full Draw - to use the shadow to quick-check his tiller progress. Pretty lines on that bow, for sure.

6)"rossfactor" of Paleoplanet with his Primitive selfbow of rawhide backed Western Red Cedar , with a Wild Cherry bark handle. The bow was 50" and 35#  Unfortunately, while he liked the bow a lot, and it did well for over 500 shots, it finally failed. However this Full Draw picture will last, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more fine bows from rossfactor.

Row Two: 1) "unstrung", Zac Juhl of Spokane, WA and paleoplanet.com With his first Yew elb. Zac usually works in hardwoods but was fascinated by the Yew's characteristics. This elb is 72" ntn, and 60# @ 28" and of course has plenty of character, and looks great at Full Draw.

2) & 3) Ryano sent me these Full Draw pics this AM of his latest beautemous static recurve Osage selfbow, with deerskin wrap handle. This one is 62"ntn and 48# @ 28". He also sent me the links for a two part Teutorial on the building of this bow - it is on leatherwall, of stickbow (boy, been a long time since I was there). A fine and informative teutorial with outstanding pictures. Wanta build a recurve? It could help you a whole lot. Thanks again, Ryan.

4) Tracy Cannon, "losthawg", of Texas and Outdoorcore went out and had this neat, new Full draw pic taken for us , in some tough looking Texas terrain. Thanks, Tracy, and whatever you do, don't back up!

5) Another of the Young Lion Bowyers, "Sebbishop" of paleoplanet and England, (Kettering, I believe). Seb is 18 and making beautiful bows. Here, at Full Draw, with his Oregon Yew selfbow of 72", 54# @ 27", with Buffalo Horn nocks.

6) In this Pic Seb Full Draws his graceful recurve of Black Locust, 50# @ 28" and sporting Python Skin backing and Ipe nock overlays. Love to see these pictures from across the waters, with the shared interest of archery. Thanks a bunch, Seb, for sending them. Nice looking Spaniel in the first pic too.

Row Three: 1) "nate", Nathan Ricard of Canada with his first Full Draw for us this year. Nate has made a "bunch" of board bows but decided to try his hand at a stave bow - looks great too. It is a split stave from a River (Burr) Oak that he cut by the river. He says it has more knots than he cares to count and plenty of "Character" but it worked up well for him. Then he went out and froze in the snow to pull it - wouldn't we all? (Even me, and I hate the cold - love the scene though.) BTW Nate is another of the Young Bowyers (at 19) and making his bows while Dairy Farming - also in the cold - Brrrrrr. This bow is 66 1/2" ntn and 60#@30".

2) On the distaff side - this is Kristen O', the wife of "ryano" at Full Draw with one of his Osage bows that he made for her (with her help). It originally turned out too heavy and stacked a bit, so Ryan turned it into a recurve, lightening it a little - and decorated it with a faux snakeskin pattern painted on. Great job!

3) This young, determined archer at a great Full Draw is the Grandson of one of our nearby shooters (Wilmington, NC), Hugh Overstreet. He is Conner Scott Peterson, the son of Major Robert Peterson of the USMC. Currently Conner is living in France with his Dad, Mom (Andrea), Sister (Catherine), and two little brothers (Owen and Aiden) . Hugh hopes they will be returning to Camp Lejeune, here in mid-summer and maybe see us at some of the local shoots. Keep up that good form practice with your Martin Rebel recurve, Conner.

4) A color manipulation by the photographer who took the picture in the row above. Our Friend Tracey at Full Draw in Green. Color of money! That's gotta be good mojo, Trace!

5) & 6) "LJintheUK", from England and paleoplanet, with two very nice Full Draw pics. Also displaying a fine Yew (American) Flat Bow he made some time back and then recently piked to 62" ntn. It now draws 56# @ 27" and Luke says it now draws smooth and shoots pretty quick. You'll see in the first pic, just below Luke's bow hand a small twig sticking out of the back of the bow - neat!

Row Four: 1) "bullcreekboy", Shannon Howard,  back, at Full Draw, with another of his great bows, and this one is a very special one. Not only is it one of those nice Bamboo Backed Ipe, but also he made it especially to donate to the RMEF (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) banquet doings in a couple weeks. Also it uses lams of Paduak and Osage on the Handle, and Osage tip overlays - makes for a great looking bow from MO. The bow is 70" ntn, 42# @ 28"  The bow is tillered & crafted in such a way as to make it compatible for a winning woman with a 25" draw up to a Man of 30"draw - keyword is versatile.

2) Alyssa is the 5 year old Daughter of Shannon Howard and his wife. Here the Cutie is at Full Draw with a bow he just made, especially for her. It is a Bamboo Backed Osage, 48" tip to tip, 12# @ 20", with Paduak and Brazilian Cherry  in the riser, and Bloodwood Tip overlays (kinda like mine in the top row - LOL). Shannon also put Pink Ostrich skin on for a handle wrap, to match her quiver. Jaro labeled her, "Longbow Barbie" - cute nickname. Alyssa says, she loves the bow and Shannon says it shoots real well too.

3) "Yew Archer" whom we met on the previous page. Steve Junior Moore, out in the snow and at Full Draw with his beautiful  new (long) Yew ELB. It also incorporates his first horn nocks. 72" ntn, and  65# @ 31.5". Great bow profile and fine pic, Steve.

4) Another beautiful bow creation of Vine Maple by "gferlitsch", Gordon F. This one Gordon built for a good friend, Dave, who will be (no doubt) converting from "wheels" to traditional/primitive. The bow is fashioned from spliced sister billets and Rattlesnake over rawhide backed, with an elk hide handle wrap. The beautiful color was done with a reddish brown leather dye. 65" ntn, 50# @ 27" and Gordon shows it to us at Full Draw.

5) Another little cutie in pink that I missed earlier. This is Anabelle, niece of "Toxiophileken" - automatically adopting the same type of flight draw as her brothers, Luke and Zack - seen earlier in these pages. More of the future of archery - we certainly hope.

6) "Andrea S", Andreas (Andrew) Stoter, of Germany, and primitivearcher.com forum, is kind and generous enough to add extra interest to these pages with his talent at bowyering and some pics of him and the lucky recipient of one of his bows (next row). Here Andreas is at Full Draw with his personal, favorite bow, an Osage with 3 layers of sinew and then a layer of goat rawhide. The decoration are Choctaw as described in TBB. Andreas also made the bow quiver of beeswax hardened leather. The bow is nicknamed "Marsipulami". It is 56" oa, 54 3/4 ntn, 60# @ 27" and quite quick. Andreas has won several 3D tournaments with this beauty. This bow even made a trip to Canada, on loan hunting with a friend last year - hunting isn't allowed in Germany, basically.

Row Five: 1) thru 4) Melanie, also of Germany, in Andreas' words, "a very nice young lady," and lives about 200 miles from Andreas. Here she adds her great form, interesting attire, and full draw pics to our pages, with a bow Andreas made especially for her. It is a character, Elm Flat Bow and 32# at Melanie's Draw of 26". It also has a tempered belly, shows great tiller, and shoots very well. Many thanks to both Andreas and Melanie.

5) & 6) "Asiertxu" of Bilbao (Basque Country, in/near the Pyrenees) and paleoplanet strikes Full Draw in  some great meadows of his country for us. This is the "Full Compass" Dogwood ELB Asier recently made, and what a beauty it is. The bow draws approximately 63-66# @ 28".

Row Six: 1)  I choose to start the second half of this page with a very special picture, from a special friend, doing a special Full Draw for us. This is Tom "Swampbuck" McAndrew, of NY and tradgang.com. Recently he joined in a group "Bunny Hunt"  that is an annual affair held, in NY State by a growing number of tradgangers and friends, to raise funds for St. Judes' Childrens Hospital. Tom wanted to keep two promises to me on this particular hunt; to supply me with a Full Draw pic for these pages, and to launch a "memorial arrow" for our dear friend, the late Barb Dumas. In preparation for that, he made up, not only the arrow for Barb, but also one for me (in the future - distant future, we hope ) and took us along on the hunt. Much has been written about the hunt, and the small, but very special, ceremony on tradgang. A number of witnesses to the arow launching said that Barb's arrow seemed to sail ever upward until it was beyond all sight. BTW, for those who know the story, the bow Tom is using is the tradgang "Hope" bow of last years St. Judes' Auction.

I made this post on tradgang.com after reading about it: 

"Tom (Swampbuck), ya done good! More than that, you did yourself, my dear friend girl - Barb, me, and everyone that was/is touched by what you did, PROUD, very proud. Many folks are and will be touched to varying degrees by it - but I expect none will be Touched any deeper than I. It's taken me awhile to "adjust my eyeballs" so's I could post my thanks to you, Guru, Shawn, and all those dear friends who have made comments about this part of a great hunt that Barb and I were proud to be "taken along on". I also know, not only because you told me in a message, but because I have come to know your ways in the last four years or so, that you truly hope to carry and hold my arrow for quite some time to come. Bless your heart, Tom."

2) Those California bowyers, arrow makers, knappers, etc. were at it again this past weekend and here is Sal back again with a fine looking Ash bow (that Ken says Sal's been working on for four years - off and on - looks to me like it was well worth the effort, Sal).

3) This is Greg Mundorf, "Greenchile1", at Full Draw with his Guava bow - (a thing of beauty, Greg), while others of the group are preparing to join him in a little shooting, between building bows, etc. A very active, talented, fun-loving group. Greg got the guava stave from Manny of Hawaii and the bow he made from it is, 68", 47# @ 26", with hemp string handle wrap and light brown leather dye finish, sealed with beeswax.

4) A beauty of a backlit Full Draw of Skyler Wilson (son of Don), with his new Lost Creek Bow that was a most welcome Christmas present. Wearing shorts and hunting Turkeys in NE Alabama - already this Spring - Really! Rub it in, guys!

5) & 6) This is the well known :Guru", Curt Cabrera of Tradgang, taxidermist, Bowman, hunter (also a newly published author in TBH) taking us to Full Draw back in the cold snow of NY again.

Row Seven: 1) & 2) "Guru, you quit playing in that snow and get in the house, this minute - oh, your doing Full Draws for Bernie. OK, neverrrrr miii-iinddddd."

3) Guru's Dad, Bob Cabrera and Bob's Grandson, Cade - yep that makes the "younger" Curt's son. They are at Cade's first Bow Shoot.

4) Cade at Full Draw on big Goat

5) and on a big "cat", of the jungle variety - looks serious doesn't he? Cade that is.

6) At the Walden Shoot, Cade stayed focused.

Row Eight: 1) Grampa Bob kept him company again.

2) Because they sent us so many nice FD pics we give it up to Cade, in the form of one of those "Youngster's Results Pics",and accompanying big smiles, that we slip in amongst the Full Draws, here and there. Thanks, Cabreras!

3) Luke Vander Vennen, of Canada, Found and sent us some more FD pics from this year's 2nd EOBH (Eastern Ontario Bunny Hunt). First is the "First Volley At The Bunny". L to R are Phil, ("Big Dog") Cary, Tom ("Harl"), Sergio, and Jesse.

4) The next one at the "Swingin' Bunny", as they called it, showed the guys at Full Draw - and looking into the sun - rough!

5) This is Tim at Full Draw - upside down, no less.

6) Last one is of Cary, "Big Dog", twisting on the hay bale. Behind him L to R are Frank, Phil, Theo, and Gary. Dedicated "Snow Bowmen", these boys! Thank you, friend Luke.

Row Nine: 1) Another FD pic from EOBH - "Thjalimr", Jake, in what he calls his "Friar Jake" outfit. Luke took a pic of him in it so he could show his tailor that he does wear it. Jake said he would have worn it with leggins too but the guys were looking at him askance enough as it was - LOL. C'mon, guys, it's wool, after all - whatever keeps ya warm. Besides, everybody loves the Friar! Like quite a few of a "Northern Neighbors" up there, Jake is Drawing a Mississippi Lake Longbow. This one is 64", 65# @ 27", with Osage limbs, and a Desert Ironwood riser.

2) Kelly Gillespie sent me this pic of him at Full Draw with one of the donated bows in Iraq. Oooo-rah, Kelly. He says he's a little late, as I was starting up these pages (back in Oct.) when he was gearing up to rotate back stateside. Never too late for a fellow serviceman, Kelly, and never too late for a Full Draw. Kelly told me the lady Soldier is Captain Donagan and she also is holding one of those bows. They do use 'em when they get the chance, folks. Semper Fi, to both of you.

3) New guy (I believe) with the Pasadena Boys in CA worked up this beautifully tillered (and Full Drawn) Pyramid Bow. This is Jonah, or "Jonahhh" on paleoplanet.

4) "tomasaf24", Andy of the Air Force, back with a gorgeous Rawhide backed Eastern Red Cedar (ERC). Bendy Handle, Osage tip overlays, and latigo handle wrap - 68", 54# @ 28". Don't you love the contrasting colors of that Cedar?

5) & 6) This is my young friend Cal, oldest son of Chuck Sinclair, currently of Texas. He is Full Drawing the ACS presented to him by OL Adcock, and sporting a custom back quiver his Dad ordered for him from Mike G. of (CA based) Mike's Archery Leathers (Great job, Mike). I can't say enough good about this youngster, and his Dad's influence. If you met him you'd know why in short order. If you'd like to see how Cal shoots,. check this out, (Row Seven, Pic 5)

Row Ten: 1) "aussie yeoman", Dave with his umpteenth (read as "many-many") fine bow but his first successful completion of an unbacked Board Bow. A very welcome accomplishment to him. This beautifully tillered Spotted Gum bow is 68" ntn, 30# @ 28", bend through the handle and with a nice oil finish. Great look, Dave.

2) & 3) "tpoof", Terry, of Saskatcewan, tradgang, and paleoplanet made this great looking Elm Flatbow recurve, sinew backed it, and then snakeskinned it with Garter Snake. It also has Bob Cat paw fur silencers on the limb tips and Ebony tip overlays. 54"ntn 44# @ 27" - And on top of all that he learned how to post great pics like these in the process. Quite a learning experience, and ya done great, Terry.

4) & 5) "Pappy", Mark Baggett, of TN and primitivearcher.com at Full Draw, with his beautiful Snakey Osage. The bow is deer rawhide backed and Prairie Rattler skins over that, with cowhorn tips and a 7 coat Tru-oil finish. 60" ntn, 53# @ 26". In the second picture Mark is using the mirror to check the bows tiller, as a lot of bowyers do. That is also a good way for bow shooters to check their own form. Really nice work, "Pappy".

6) To finish out Page9, Here's "Thimo" at Full Draw with a grand little primitive bow he made from a Holly, with only his jackknife and the barbeque grill. Well, he did strap it to a shovel handle to dry after whittling it and helped it some more with the grill from time to time. One of thje guys said Thimo would fashion a bow out of grass clippings - he might at that - LOL. Later he backed it with rawhide. Nice results, eh?

ON TO PAGE10

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