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Youth Mentors

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JW_Halverson:
I have a tiny little scrap of osage 48" tip to tip that is tillered out to 60 lbs at about 16 inches of draw. When someone scoffs at the bows I am making at a Rendezvous or whatever, I just pull that one out.  To string it, I hook one tip behind a knee and throw my upper body into the other tip just to get it strung.  I give it a few test pulls of 10-12 inches, unstring it, hand it to the scoffer.  I have never had one of them be able to string it YET!  They huff and puff before I take it back and string it for 'em.  Then it just gets funnier when they pull on it!  Usually, I make a comment that most of my bows are built with reasonable draw weights designed to effectively take game at ethical distances.  Funny how so many of the skeptics never realize none of us would be here if these bows didn't work so well.
 

upstatenybowyer:
Well put JW, well put.  ;)

bjrogg:
Yes in all honesty I probably would have been skeptical before I built one for myself. I'd never seen another selfbow until then. When I told my brothers I was going to hunt with one they thought I was nuts. When I actually shoot a deer and they saw the blood trail they were impressed. Honestly I was even a bit surprised and impressed. It's funny how people often think they could throw a spear faster. I also took my Atlatl and explained how it works and how it's cast like a fishing lure. Towards the end of the event my buddy took a small group to demonstrate and cast it. You should have seen the looks on their faces as the dart sailed through the air. Sometimes you just have to experience things for yourself to really believe. Yes these tools  have been used and depended on from many many times longer and harvested many more animals than today's modern compounds but for some reason people just seem to think that they are just toys. I always enjoy shooting a arrow and watching their expressions. You can tell they were expecting a nice slow arch, not a fe-thuumppp. I guess all of this is just another reason I feel the need to pass it on and let people experience it. I feel it's important and besides that I have a lot of fun doing it.
Bjrogg

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