Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Knoll on April 16, 2017, 04:14:33 am
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Few days ago I wrote this on my fb page. Mostly to explain to family why this traditional/primitive archery hobby has become such a focus of my life. Thought some of you might be able to relate and stir up some good memories not savored in awhile. . . . . .
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My current passion/hobby is traditional archery. And of particular interest is fashioning my own gear. In its most recent incarnation, this hobby is just 3 years old. So it's not surprising that friends or family members ask, "What got you interested in bows/arrows at this late stage of your life?" Well, a hint was dropped in the 2nd sentence.
My interest in a stick with string attached that could fling a feathered missile goes back into childhood. Back to the old Western movies I'd watch on Fri or Sat night. I was up way past my "weekend" bedtime. But Mom would be in bed and Dad was asleep in his chair. As long as he stayed asleep there was good chance I could see all of the movie. I learned to be quiet as an indian and I was usually rooting for them, though they always lost to the frontiersmen/cowboys in the end.
Often made own bows from a tree branch and piece of string. And cut notch in end of stick and called it an arrow.
And then, at probably 12-yrs (so would be 1959), I chanced to walk past an archery shop in Plymouth, IN ... how this smalltown kid happened to be in the county seat metropolis of Plymouth by myself is another story.
I walked in that shop. Wall to wall ..... bow upon bow upon bow. Arrows everywhere. And all the associated gear. There were some wood bows. But mostly what was on display were the new fangled fibreglass bows. Fibreglass bows made by this guy named Fred Bear and produced not that far away in Michigan! Beautiful bows!
I have no idea how long I wandered that shop. How many circles of the shop and its wares I made. But it was a long time. That was the beginning of my fascination with bows and arrows.
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So this traditional/primitive archery thingy has represented bookends of my life.
I expect there are more interesting tales within this PA community of the role archery has played in the lives of its members.
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Good story Mike.
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Wonderfully written!!! Even though our body's are not of the same age (29) here, our souls are kindred spirits.
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A good story well told Mike.
:OK
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Mike the two most asked questions I get. What made you get started doing this? And second is Are you going to shoot a deer with that? Those are the titles to two of the articles I sent to Primitive Archer Magazine. Actually the second one I just finished this morning. That's what I love about this magazine and site. Just real down to earth stories from people who share this same unexplainable passion.
Bjrogg
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Nice story
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Thanks, Mike. There is something about Bear bows that just draw me to them.
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Eddie a friend of mine borrowed me one he got for $20. He never uses it but didn't want to sell it to me, just told me to keep it for him. I don't know age but it is a very nice bow, still shoots great. I should take some pictures of it and send them to you. I'd like to know more about it.
Bjrogg
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My first bow was/is a Bear Tigercat. Bought it from a high school buddy and I still have it. I think I paid 20 bucks for it back in 73 while I was in the Navy..?
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Nice story and feel sure that is how lots of folks got started. :)
Pappy
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Nice story Mike.
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It's in the blood, I tell ya.
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That's a great story. I love how a moment or experience early in life manifest later and you get a feeling or 'it all makes sense'
G
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Yep, George.
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Allright so for me, I was raised a pacifist and was not allowed to play with even toy guns. I became a vegetarian at age 15 and didn't eat meat for more than 25 years. I stumbled upon archery at the local country fair and in one moment my whole world changed. Worlds collided and now I feel like I have come home.
-I was trained as a guitar builder but was never very good at playing, and only rich people can afford custom guitars. I remember learning that the guitar evolved from the primitive bow and then my life made sense - I could make bows ( and I am not as bad a shot as I am a guitar player)
-I became vegetarian initially 27 yrs ago because I broke into a chicken factory as a teenager to skateboard, and in the restricted area, the things I saw in cages didn't look nothing like chickens - more like tumors with wings.
-I live on a hobby farm and have raised milk goats & laying hens, have a big garden. I have no problem with anyone growing their own meat but it never appealed to me. I discovered archery and in a moment I knew I would hunt deer with bow and string and I would eat meat again!
-My dad's side of the family is from England, specifically Nottingham Forest as far back as we can trace. So the legend in the family is that we are descendants of Robin Hood (though my dad thinks Will Scarlet, I think Friar Tuck...) So as JW_Halverson says, maybe: it's in the blood
Maybe more than you wanted to know, but I have never joined another forum and this is more than most of my friends know about me. I guess this makes me weird or you all community...
Thanks Mike for giving me something to relate to,
G
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Great story Mike, I really enjoyed reading it. This is a great site and the only one I'm a member of to. if you haven't eaten any meat yet, that first bite of venison you harvested with your bow is gonna taste oh so good. Just don't overcooked it so you still have its juices. Oh man my mouth is watering.
Bjrogg
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Good post Knoll. Interesting how others got started.
I was raised in traditional archery. Dad opened an archery shop back in the 50's under his own name but then made friends with Fred Bear, became a dealer of Bear bows and changed the store name to Bear Archery shop of Muskegon. He shot for Bear Archery for 3 years and was on his advisory staff for 3 years. I spent my early years and teens going to archery tournaments every weekend in the spring , summer and fall. At the time it was my mother, dad , brother and I that competed. My mother , brother and dad were state champions many times over. Dad won or placed in over 300 tournaments winning the Midwest Nationals in Chicago in 1957 and brother Jim placed 2nd in the Nationals at Watkins Glenn, New York. A couple of things forced dad to close the store in 69. I went into the marines in 67 leaving my brother and dad run the store then brother Jim got married and then the final nail in the coffin was K-Mart arrived and started to sell bows much cheaper then dad could. People would buy their bows at K-Mart and then bring them I into the shop to have dad set them up. That didn't set well so he closed up shop. Mom , dad and brother have passed on leaving me the only one left shooting traditional. Younger brothers went on to using more modern equipment and sisters don't shoot anymore.
I still shoot with traditional archery equipment and now leaning towards primitive equipment. I have introduced archery to all my grand children and they all love to shoot.
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I like the analogy and the writing. I'd bet you could expand on this and write an article for the magazine, if so desired. :)
This hobby just keeps making more and more sense as the world gets further and further into virtual reality and insanity.
I like to think it's a real piece of culture in the present American wasteland. Thanks for sharing.
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It will be cool to read about how others came to be infected with this passion of archery. And maybe it'll be a topic of conversation round the campfires of this season's "gatherings". Am certain there's many interesting tales out there.
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This is a good post Knoll. Jeb that is stuff I find fascinating to read. Way better than reality TV. Jeb what is your draw length and what weight do you like? Just curious.
Bjrogg
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I shoot a 29" arrow and I use a 40# to 45# hunting bow. That depends on what bow I grab on the way out the door.
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I'm gonna remember that.
Bjrogg
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Mike, that is a really good story.
For me, as far back as I cane remember, I shot a bow. My older brothers shot bows, so I had to do what my brothers did. When I was 4, I remember getting in trouble for "hunting" my 2 year old nephew with arrows that had suction cups on the end. I remember telling my mom that I left the ends on so they would not hurt him too bad. I moved up to an old, small recurve after that. My first class in college was archery! Then I got into atlatls, and that led selfbows, which began the unstoppable descent into making my own arrows and flint knapping. Now I am passing on my obsession to my granddaughters. I look forward o helping them learn about shooting, hunting, and hopefully, making their own bows someday.
Neal
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Great stories. Thanks for sharing them.
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I started out about six or seven with one of those two dollar hickory bows with the rubber suction cups.it didn't take long for me to get my butt beat for shooting my sisters with the rubber covered arrows. so the suction cups came off and a lot of rubbing on the sidewalk to get the tips sharp and I was off to the vacant lot near the swamp to shoot Swamp Rabbits. These rabbits are big and really dumb. You can get within 5' of some of them and they won't move. I was also shooting at every squirrel I saw.
From there I was hunting rabbits with a Pierson 35# bow and JM Fields arrows while my Friends were using shotguns. My Mom wouldn't allow me to have a real gun since I was 13 and she was afraid to have one in the house. My friends always let me take the first shot.
From there it went to buying and trading to try and upgrade from the previous bow. I tried the compound in 1984 and that lasted about a year before I sold it and then tried making my own through trial and error. I'm still buying and trading but mostly for the glass bows I really like to shoot,I resale them to buy osage at the Classic.
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I grew up watching my oldest brother hunting with a recurve . I could never pull it back he was 10 yrs older than I so I would make me some out of the willow trees and hay twine strings and Home made arrows . Got old enough and saved up enough money and bought a recurve . Hunted with it until went to college and then I rodeoed for awhile . Then got marred and had a son and he wanted to shoot archery . Then joined 4-h archery and his archery instructer was a selfbow guy. My son would hang on every word he would say now he helps him build bows when we get a chance to go over there !!! Then
We went to mojam and his world really open up to some of the greatest people around !!! Rest is history . Thanks everybody for helping my son feed his need to build bows.
Andy
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Those are great stories guys, I just love stuff like this. Patches, I still need to do the whole Atlatl thing yet to.
Andy that is so cool your son got into the selfbows.
Bjrogg
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When I was about 6 or so my uncle Robby came to visit from California. He was probably about 12. He told me he was going to make me a bow and arrow. I vividly remember him sawing off a branch of yew from a bush in front of our house, shaving it down a bit with a pocket knife, tying a string to it, and making an arrow from the same bush. I was mesmerized.
This memory stayed with me and one day when I was about 30 or so I just decided, "I'm gonna learn how to make a wooden bow. The unexpected an amazing thing is that this determination lead to an obsession with tree and plant identification (and later mushrooms) and wilderness survival in general.
Now, my whole life revolves around this ever deepening relationship with nature, and it all started that magical day when my uncle Robby visited from California and made me a bow.
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Cool cool stories!
Ain't it the truth ..... "Life is a series of unexpected events."
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Cool cool stories!
Ain't it the truth ..... "Life is a series of unexpected events."
That what makes it so special Knoll. The surprise and chain of events all intertwined, everything effecting something else.
Bjrogg
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I've always been interested in history, medieval, renaissance, etc. as long as I can remember (must be in the blood, Dad's a Civil War reenactor) when the other kids were playing with toy guns I had stick for a sword or a curved stick for a bow etc. When I was maybe 9-10 like a lot of kids that age I wheedled the parental units into getting one of those red fiberglass kids bows. Oh man that was the best, shot all kinds of things in the back yard, foam, milk jugs, etc. Well some friends and I were playing with the bow one day shooting it in the air, now I wasn't dumb, in fact I've always been smarter than the average bear (they didn't call it aspergers back then, you were just too smart for your breeches and socially weird, lol) so I knew full well about ballistics so we weren't shooting it straight up but just a little forward and short drawing it so much it only went about 15 feet up and ten feet forward, but it was fun. Fun until someone (might have been me, I don't recall anymore, lol) stumbled when shooting and the arrow flew down the block, we all watched in horror as it landed in a neighbors hard at the other end of the block, right in front the neighbors lawnmower, while he was mowing the lawn!!!! Well needless to say that was the end of my archery days for many a year. I discovered an entire worldwide organization of history nerds like me in my late teen years, the Society for Creative Anachronism, and learned the rapier and dagger, and did that for years, no idea why it never occurred to me to go back to archery when archery was going on at every SCA event but one day I was at the Atlanta Renn Fair and fell in love with this fiberglass scythian style horsebow, covered in black leather with white stitching on the back, and suddenly the archery bug bit me again. Paid way too much money for that bow and shot the heck out of in the back yard, made myself a thumb ring out of PVC pipe and have since upgraded bows several times and certainly upgraded my technique (I can actually do khatra now, lol) and soon I was so into the archery that I put down the sword and dagger. I found this site through Dbars Home Depot arrow build along and been here learning ever since!.
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That arrow build along is what led me here too. when I was about 8, I really wanted a .22 like my friend's. My parents got me a little green fiberglass bow instead. I shot the heck out of that bow. I still have it, and my kids shot it until I made them wooden ones. When I was 11, I had a scout leader who taught me a little about flint knapping--I would shoot them and break off the arrow below the point, then rehaft until the arrows were too short to shoot. I still have some of them around too--They were with my green bow at my parents house.
When I outgrew that bow, I didn't really shoot anymore until I got into primitive archery. My son started building a bow for an archery merit badge. It looked like so much fun I decided I wanted to help the kids and give it a go myself. So I started looking into youtube videos, and I got hooked. I watched a buch of the boarrior bows how-to's, and a few others, and I eventually finished a hickory board bow, which broke after about 200 shots. But by then it was too late for me. I went to buy some arrows and went into shock over how much they cost, so I started looking for a way make my own. that is how I found this place. Next thing I know I am looking for trees to cut down, buying a draw knife, and building my own shave horse.