Trad Gang
Topic Archives => Memorable Hunts => Topic started by: Osagetree on July 01, 2007, 09:24:00 AM
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First, I want to thank "Bowmofo" for creating the "OHIO MEMBER" thread. This gave us Buckeye Tradgang members a chance to see who may be living close by. Just so happens, I found that "Bowhunterksb32" lives about an hour away from me. He hunts some of the same woods I hunt and we began chatting via PM's here on the site. Yesterday, we decided to hook up at the wildlife area we hunt to get to meet, get to know each other, swap stories and do a little frog gigging with our bows and gig's.
During our chats here, I found that Bowhunterksb32 had a 6 year old Son (Soon to be 7 years old!) That has been shooting bows since he could draw one back. His Father recently gave up the wheelie bows for good and has gone traditional. His Son Easton now wants a bow like his Dad's longbow. Easton has been shooting a compound for a while and I thought this boy needs a selfbow. and I am the fellow that could hook him up with one to help inspire his interests in traditional archery.
It's great that here on the tradgang, what comes around goes around! See, I have had many people on this site offer me good advice and that has encouraged me, helped me through tough times and has unselfishly gave me gifts to help keep the traditional archer in me thriving. For instance when I was down and had surgery "the Ferret" Mickey Lotz went well out of his way to come for a visit to cheer me up. Without thought he and other sent me items to help me through the recovery and gave me the confidence that I would shoot bows and build bows again. Now it is my turn to give something back to the sport of traditional archery and our great site the Tradgang.
Knowing I was to meet Bowhunterksb32 and his Son, I wanted to give them something when we met, this seems to be the tradition of traditional archery. I had a low weight self induced Mickey L. snake bow and thought I could cut it down for the young man of 6yrs (going on 7 yrs!). I cut about ten inches off each end of the snakey osage and retillered it to about 20# @ 25". This way he could grow with the bow and still be able to shoot it now.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/JustforEaston.jpg)
The bow is now 47" and is the same hieght as 6 yr old Easton (soon to be 7 yrs old). No the best tiller job I've done, but when I shot the little reclaimed bow I was impressed with the performance. I could not wait to see the boys face when I would give it to him. I added in a hand twisted flemish string that I made and some muskrat string silincers donated to me by the Ferret during our recent visit together.
Profile of the osage selfbow I named "Lil' Snake"
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/JustforEaston4.jpg)
Braced
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/JustforEaston5.jpg)
Full draw
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/JustforEaston6.jpg)
I meet the two at the wildlife area a couple hours before dark, so that we could meet and get to know each other before dark. It was a real pleasure, the two were real fine people and I was impressed how Scott had raised his boy to be polite and respectful, as well as a good archer by the age of 6 yrs (going on 7 years).
After talking a bit, I handed Easton the Lil Snake bow and he said "This is a small bow." I asked him to read the writtng on the bow and he read " For Easton". A big smile came across his face. He was the proud owner of his first traditional bow.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforEaston22.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforEaston23.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforEaston21.jpg)
His Dad and I set up a water bottle for Easton to shoot at and I could not believe at about twelve yards the boy hit the bottle at least the first 4 shots that he took. I said WOW! We took a couple pictures and off we went to hunt some frogs.
Easton and new friend (Me!)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston31.jpg)
Stay tuned for the rest of the story,,,,,
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: way to go!!
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Here are some pics of his first few shots.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston33.jpg)
Score!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston32.jpg)
Easton and his Dad bowhunterksb32
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston3.jpg)
Because of the long dry spell, some of the swamps were dry and by looking at the foot prints around the waters edge, we deduced that someone had already gigged frogs were we were at. We hit two different areas and had some luck, though not alot. Agian I was impresed that Easton was not a bit scared and went into the tall weeds and swamp just like the big guys. He never complained and was very eager to get at the frogs. Because Easton had taken frogs last year with his compound bow and since it was set up for fishing, he decided to use it for frogs rather than his new selfbow. I did not mind as all I wanted was for him to remain interested.
Dad getting ready to stick'm with his custom longbow
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston34.jpg)
First frogs in the bag
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston35.jpg)
Easton blinded by my light.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston36.jpg)
And the all famous trophy picture
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/Osagetree/justforeaston37.jpg)
All in all it was a fun time. We a got a few frogs and gained a new friendship all inpart and due to the well respected TRADGANG site.
Thank you all!
We plan to do this again real soon and the guy's are going to let me tag along on their next 3D archery shoot.
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That is Cool!!
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Very Cool Joe!! That's what its all about! Thanks so much for sharing...
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I to would like to thank "Bowmofo" for His Ohio member thread. I have been bouncing back and forth between my compound and longbow for about 5 years now. My lack of being able to shoot consitently kept me going back to the compound. The compound was never the same after shooting the long bow. Oh I had fun and still enjoyed bowhunting,but shooting in the yard and 3d was never the same. I dont remeber which one of the Wensel Brothers said that when they shoot "traditional bows" It's like they lauch with the arrow and wtih a compound the bow just goes off and the arrow heads toward the target. I felt that from the first shot with the longbow and the compound was never the same after that.
I would like to thank "Osagetree" again for gving the bow to easton. I'm sure you could tell last night that he was excited about the bow but I dont think you understand how much it meant to him. I broke down yesterday and told him about the bow and was extremly impressed that he let Joe show us the bows and stuff he brought and never once aske where's my bow.
WE had agreat time last night,and when we got home he wanted to sleep with the bow. Mom read the thread to him this morning and she got a kick out of the going on 7 part.Everytime somone ask how old he is ,he's alwasy says his age then adds but i'malmost the next age. He's getting impatient with me now he wants His Arrows made so he can shoot. Now if i can just turn a 5/16 dowel into an arrow all will be well.If i can find a new battery for the camera i'll post pics of the arrows and eastons shooting later today.
I had tried to make a bow a few years back and all attemps failed. I'm going to give it another goand see what happens.
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Joe first let me say it's get to see you back up and starting up your great threads again.I really enjoyed this one as usual. You sure made alot of folks happy all around.Keep up the good work.
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That's what it's all about Joe!! Good on you!!
Congrats to Easton on the new bow!!
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Good pics, i love to see those kids outside were they belong. My son and i were chasing woodchucks and eating raspberries this morning, we did more eating than chucking :goldtooth:
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I got easton 2 arrows made and he shot most of the day. The arrows fletchings look awful ,but he had a blast with them.
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That is COOL guys!! He'll never forget his first longbow!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Good on ya Joe, looks like you made a young man very happy and made a couple of friends and possibly a new huntin bud. How cool is that?
BTW how's the wrist doing?
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Yea, that's what I am talking about :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Thanks guy's. But, I am telling you that kid is a natural. His Dad Scott, Pm'd me today and said they were going again tonight. The big story was that Easton wants to use the osage selfbow this time. His Dad made up a couple arrows for him. Easton had practiced all day yesterday and I guess his confidence is up! He'll soon discover the extreme satisfaction of taking a trophy bull (frog) by wood bow and wood arrow.
Mickey, Kenny, Tom and the others; FYI - the wrist is doing good. As you can see I am building and shooting again. That is until Sept. they may want to remove the metal plate if it keeps bothering me. For now, it makes a nice stable platform for my bow hand!!!! It may not be good for deer season.
Hey Easton,,,, are you 7 years old yet? You did say you were going on 7 years old. :archer:
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:bigsmyl: :clapper: Great Job All.
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Easton got several frogs last night with his li snake bow. He had a blast. Most were small but he did manage tog et three nice ones. pics to come later.
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YEEHAAW! :archer:
Now, come on with them pic's! :coffee: :jumper:
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Ahhh the sheer joy of being a little boy with a wooden bow and a couple of arrows. :clapper:
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Ok this is my first time posting pics here so if it works more to follow. This is a pic of the bow and the poor ecuse for arrows that i made.
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3154.jpg)
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ok a few more. upclose pic of first time trying to tie flecthing on. and a pic of arrow with stain from walnuts in the yard.these will be the last 2 til i know if i sized them right then i'll post pics of frogs last night
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3155.jpg)
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3155.jpg)
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oops messed up sorry about double pic hereis is up close of tied flecthing. It looks awfull,but by the third one they were starting to look better. I was impressed that they didn't come off last night in the water.
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3156.jpg)
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One more to see if the size is better.
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3157.jpg)
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Pic size looks good. Post some more scott!
I'm sure proud of that boy Easton! Sure is a frog kill'n and frog eat'n machine!
When he is old enough for a deer hunt, the bucks are in trouble!
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Now to last night. We pulled onto the road to the pond we were going to and this is what we saw.
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3161.jpg)
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We were early so we picked some berries and for some reason i done all the picking and easton done all the eating.lol
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3165.jpg)
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Scott, tell them what he said about the "Nutters" he used to take the frogs with!
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After we got our bellies full or i should say his bel (http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3164.jpg)ly full we decided to shoot a little since it still wasn't dark
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It was getting close to dark so i took a pic of the pond and we got our gear ready
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3166.jpg)
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After a few misses he got a small frog then was able t (http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3171.jpg)o hit 3 or 4 in a row. Most of the frogs at the first pond were to small for a pic here is one from the first pond.
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I'mnot sure what frog is what but here are some more frog pics. Like i said early most were to small for a pic but he did get 3 nice ones. He told me beofre we went that he didn't think the nutter arrow would work and i told him I didn't know for sure but we'd see. Most of the frogs he hit just went lifless and he said the nutter arrows were awsome. they actually worked beter than the fish tips we were using.
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3173.jpg)
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another one
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3172.jpg)
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a couple more
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3183.jpg)
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ok last one. Thanks again to Oasagetree for gving the bow to easton he still hasn't stopped talking about his bow. Joe anytime you want to 3d just pm me. You have to promise to shoot really bad though so I can atleast beat somebody.lol
(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/bowhuntindad/100_3173.jpg)
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and so it begins ;)
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OUTSTANDING thread and pictures!!! Good on both you guys, that boy is bein' raised RIGHT!!!! Nothin better'n a muddy pond in the summer time...
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TTT for my cousin to read
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Gotta love those pics...
You'll find blunts of most kinds just seem to do a better job of slaying frogs than fishing points do...