Trad Gang
Topic Archives => Memorable Hunts => Topic started by: Shaun on October 15, 2008, 07:39:00 PM
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Whip and I donated a Wisconsin deer hunt (Whip)and self bow building class (me) for the St Jude auction. Couple of fellows named Bob from the Buffalo, NY area were the lucky and generous winners.
Hot weather and earn-a-buck zone kept the lid on the deer harvesting through this morning though they are still hunting this evening. But the shavings flew from day one and some respectable self bows were born.
Bob and Bob started from dry staves and learned to chase a ring.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt007.jpg)
The time flew with mornings and evenings on stand and yellow chips during the mid day. We made a quick trip to Howard Edwards shop a half hour away to do some band saw rough out on Saturday and the boys from Buffalo worked hard to finish their bows by Monday mid day.
Whip finished up a bow he had roughed out at BradJam a while back and I could not resist the urge to work up a new bow in the midst of all this bowyer action.
L to R: Whip, Bob Z, me, Bob B
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt048.jpg)
Most amazing to me was the enthusiasm of the Bobs from Buffalo. They not only put in the sweat and made fine bows, they set down their modern bows and hunted every moment after with their new self bows. In Bob B's case this was from a lovely camo dipped Bob Lee to osage and even more impressive was Bob Z's leap from a wheel bow to a stick. He shot that thing till it was too dark to see, like a kid a Christmas! Whip and I assured him he had just saved several thousand dollars by skipping over the glass recurve and longbow phases.
It was a great time and as fine a pair of hunters as you would ever have around the campfire. More pictures and stories after I have rested up some.
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Looking forward to seeing more and hearing more!!! :campfire:
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Wow that is Great...
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That's Great...2 more selfbow converts! Congrates to the Buffalo Bobs :) Couldn't have a better teacher or place to learn :thumbsup: to you and Whip...Doc
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Maybe you should include a knife forging sesson next year in the woods of Wisconsin...hint :)
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I've been waiting for this.Looks like a good time.
Leland
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:campfire: :coffee:
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great stuff iv also been waiting on this to see how it goes. how about a few close ups of the bows Shaun :thumbsup: :campfire:
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Top stuff! Can't wait to see more about it!
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looks like a great time. That is awsome from wheel to a stick
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Glad to see you guys had a great time.
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Great stuff guys! :clapper:
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That looks like BobCo 1965 there. Some nice bows. Hope their evening hunt went well.
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More of the story: After roughing out the bows on the band saw the Bobs used draw knife and rasps to work the blanks down to faceted bellies and get them to floor tiller bending.
Bob Zieziula applies the draw knife to cut to a 3/8" layout line
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt011.jpg)
Bob Baumet using a rasp to facet the belly of his bow
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt013.jpg)
Whip not only hunted and worked up a great osage bow but was all over the cooking. Here he heats some home made ham and bean soup for lunch. Bob Z said about the accommodations, "I'd bid on this hunt again if it was held in May, just for the food."
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt017.jpg)
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Bob Z takes a careful look at his bow on the "Merkle posts" - a pre brace height tiller method I learned from Littletree (Brad Merkel). This is a great method and can complete 80-90% of tillering before reaching first brace.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt023.jpg)
Bob B's bow is cooling on the cull after heating to straighten and induce some backset before starting to tiller. Best time to do this heat work is after floor tiller and before starting the serious bending.
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Just back myself and catching up on this one.
What a great week we had! Great people combined with bow building and throw in some whitetail hunting to boot. It just doesn't get any better than that!
I'll get to work on my pictures and try to add anything I can, but you're off to a good start Shaun. Thanks for everything Bud!
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Bob Z trying out the new bow - 52# @ 28" 68.5" NTN with a big knot in the lower limb and a tiller to make a teacher proud.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt028.jpg)
He seemed to take to a stick and string like a duck to water and the wheelie stayed home the rest of the hunt.
Here Bob B tries out his new bow - 69# @ 29" 70" NTN with a major whoop di doo in the upper limb and another text book tiller. This one stayed in play the rest of the hunt as well.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt041.jpg)
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Vance... are you out there buddy?
The food was too good! We had elk - twice! And wild turkey casserole and venison hot dogs and venison lande jeager sausage and dutch oven baked brownies and cinnamon rolls and good coffee.
The hot weather finally broke and a cold front brought drizzling rain. No problem for the chef as he fixes moose steaks and dinner rolls on the campfire and cast iron. Look like enough for 4?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt040.jpg)
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And Joe finished a fine very fast bow with lots of small knots and a 3" natural backset that stayed at 2" after tiller. 55# @ 28" 68" (?) NTN
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt042.jpg)
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Oooops, that was the first shot photo and I was a little slow - told you it was a fast bow! Here's a full draw
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt044.jpg)
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If Whip is willing and the creek don't rise, this hunt may be up again on next spring's St Judes auction. We all had a great time and I am looking forward to doing it again next year. Here a better photo of the gang and our bows.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt052.jpg)
And a taste of the area in WI where this is held, west end of the "Driftless" hills and mixed pasture and crop land.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/WhipHunt055.jpg)
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This trip was to be a combination deer hunt and self bow building workshop. The first morning of hunting started out a little slow, with only one deer seen between the four of us. But that evening showed more promise and raised our hopes. Each of the Bob's saw a dozen or more deer feeding before dark in the soybeans and two new food plots. Things were looking good!
As the week wore on, the days got progressively warmer, the moon progressively brighter at night and deer sightings tapered off.
On the plus side, October splendor was bursting out all over.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy1020114.jpg)
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The students would need a proper bench, so I put one together before the trip.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0459.jpg)
The bow building portion of the trip was the real highlight. Even the teacher got in on the action.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0420.jpg)
Can there really be a bow in there?
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0421.jpg)
Chasing the proverbial ring of gold
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0423.jpg)
File work
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0433.jpg)
To floor tiller
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0440.jpg)
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No time to remove camo - there's heating to be done!
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0455.jpg)
Bringing it in to brace height - they are bending beautifully!
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0449.jpg)
Shaping the handle
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0445.jpg)
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And they shoot!!!!
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0447.jpg)
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0468.jpg)
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Shaun really enjoyed his teaching duties, and as you can see did a fine job of instruction. I know that the best thank you he could have received came when both of the students carried their new bows to the woods for the remainder of the hunt.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/Jlasch/St%20Judes%20BowBuild/Copy_0481.jpg)
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Looks like y'all had a great time. Some good looking bow there also.
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Glad to hear it was a good time for everybody.
Leland
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Wow looks like all had a great time!!!!!
Thanks to whip and Shaun for their generocity...
Things I like in this thread 1) bow bench 2) dutch oven 3) whip's hat
You guys are awsome
blueline
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awesome :clapper: i really like those osage bows. Looking forward to seeing Shaun's again at the sweat.
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:campfire: :coffee:
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Hey, that is really cool! A great experience for the Bobs and a generous donation from Whip and Shaun. Great stuff all around...and beautiful bows to boot! Matt
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Great thread guys. I must say that we had an exceptional time. Joe and Shawn are top notch guys (they had to put up with us for a week). Joe could have let us do a bit more around camp, but I'm not complaining.
I have much more to add, but I'm still getting settled in at home after the 14 hour ride. Also have to get to the club in a few minutes and try out a few new arrows with the bow. We'll be hunting with the selfbows over the weekend.
I have to thank Tradgang, Joe, Shawn, and everyone envolved in this great charity drive.
Bob
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Great story fellas. The four of you and the kids all benefitted...
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Man, that's some fine looking yeller bows, on top of beautiful country, great hunting companions and one outstanding bow-building instrutor.
I'm also sure everyone appreciates the generosity exhibited by all four of you for the kids.
Pop
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:thumbsup:
David
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Well Bob Z almost got a shot at a doe yesterday with his new selfbow at 14 yards. Unfortunately his elbow hit the back of the tree he was in and he couldn't get the arrow off. :p
I gotta tell you, he is like a kid with a new toy. I've been trying for years to get him to try traditional but he never did. Different story now. Can't get the bow out of his hands.
Below is a link to some pictures of the event. Be sure to see my Birthday Browny!
Hit the button on the top right to advance the photo's. There are a bunch.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v166/BobCo/Wisconsin/?action=view¤t=100_0564-1.jpg
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Great pics Bob! And it warms my heart to hear that Bob Z. has caught the bug so bad! That is just too cool :cool: I can't wait to see pictures from both of you with your deer taken with the new bows :thumbsup:
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Cool pictures Bob. Thanks for posting.
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Very nice Gents. Can't believe I missed this one! Cheers all around!
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Looks like a great time was had. Thanks for all the pics and stories.