Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Rusty Hatter on January 27, 2008, 02:31:00 AM
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I would love to have a job that was archery related... Like maybe be in a Archery shop like 3 Rivers or Kustom King... Maybe just getting kids into shooting bows at schools or something... Just wish I had a job that had Traditional Archery in it alot!!!! I love to just be around bows and arrows.. My favorite thing to do is shoot my bow. You guys ever feel this way? Thanks
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Yep,, sure would like a job like that,, how about being given a workshop,, and you just had to desing and make now bows,, :) would like that job,, and then you got to test them,,,
But instead,, i just work hard,, and make sure i have plenty of free time for my bows,, and try and have a little extra chash for them as well,,
Work Hard ,, Play Hard..
James
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Yeah... I am just happy that my dad got me into shooting my bow!!!!! If it wasn't for him I may have never got into shooting a Traditional bow.
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Bows I want to keep as a hobby or passion. I have found that anytime I take something I really love and try to make a business or profit then the passion is lost and it becomes work. Not that I do something because I want or love to but I have to do something because it is a business. Nope, don't want to work with archery. I just want to enjoy.
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working in a bow shop or workshop would be good i think if you could keep the passion for it, i think i would rather spend my time guiding hunts.
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One of the big reasons I don't sell my knives...a passion not a job and I don't want to reverse that. Also maybe cause they aren't that good :eek: Doc
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When I had my shop and web-biz I totally enjoyed it but had to work full time. Not a whole lotta money in this business. I was offered a job as a department head in an up coming hunting store in central ohio. I would have taken it but there is no way he could have payed me enuf to cover insurance. Thats the kicker these days. To pay for insurance is thru the roof.
I miss dealing with folks alot. had more fun than was legal. Never had a bad deal from a Trad-Gang member.
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Guiding would ..... IS my Dream Job. It doesn't matter if I get to hunt, just helping other hunters is a way to feel the rush of someone taking game.
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It's easy to get burned out when a passionate hobby becomes your job. I'm lucky, since my wife has a great job, I'm able to be a full-time guide and rodmaker. I still work a part-time job in the winter, but I'm one step closer to owning my own small hunting and fishing camp in the Northwoods.
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I gotta say,I really enjoy this gig.I work on mostly older bows everyday,repairs to complete restorations,buy sell and trade a little.I just love to look at bows,handle em,I've even talked to em...I've restored lots and lots of bows over the years and built half dozen or so recurves and a couple long bows here and there,never made much dough,you could ask Mrs Bowdoc.But man I love it,can't wait to start training my grandson this summer to take over for me in about 10 years.....bowdoc
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What's that old saying...
Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
Guess if things get out of hand, it can become a drag, but if you stay focused as to why you chose the route you did to begin with, and stay within your limit's, you'll be alright. I would imagine to make a decent living in traditional archery, your gonna bust your hump. Relativity small pool of costumers to pull from. Y'all that found a way to do it have my admiration!
JL
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Become a Bow Hunter Safety volunteer and you can serve the sport you get so much enjoyment from and help others get started.
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Workin weekends gets old...fast...
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Three Rivers Archery started out small and look how big they got. Kusto King is smaller but do alot of business. Just talk to some of these guys and I'm sure they will tell you the + and - of the business. I know a few guys that opened a small archery shop in my state. None are in busines today. Some had to do with peoploe they were in business in and getting along and money mismagement. Some was the slow time between hunting season when less than 10 guys would stop in all day.But they had to be there even though it was the most boring time ever.
Alot of bowyers will tell you they spend almost all their times at shoots setting in behind a table and never get to shoot anymore and even less time hunting due to building bows.
So alot of the things we love like shooting and hunting with bows doesnt realy have anything to do with being in business.
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I work with bows every day at work. It's not all it's cracked up to be. For every friendly customer there are about 9 that are jerks. It's still a lot of fun, but not everything you would think.
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Well, I guided hunting/fishing full time for 14 years. I loved the work, but it paid squat. Longest/hardest days I ever put in.....having said that, if I was younger, I'd gladly do it again.
Fishin'
There was a time long ago--before I became
"civilized"--when I made my living guiding bass fishermen and
duck hunters in Florida.
The work days started about 3am to get the boat
ready, find bait-usualiy wild shiners about 10" long-- mend
tackle and attend to the seemingly endless tasks necessary to
make the day go well for my clients.
They paid for and got a full day--daylight till dark-- on the water.
By the time the fish were cleaned and all the good-
by's said, it was around 10pm and time to hit the sack.
That was the hardest work I've ever done and some of
the most rewarding, if you don't care about money.
Something always needed fixing or was worn out and
it took most of what I made to keep the boat and tackle In good
shape.
But the good part was I got to watch the sun rise and
set EVERY day, and learned to recognize the lake's changing
moods by little things like a slight shift in the wind or the flight
pattern of the gulls. That lake and I became friends over time
and she confided in me.
What's it worth to watch an Osprey dive from 60 feet
and come off the water with a half-pound shad in it's claws,
turn it head forward as easily as you could while shaking the
excess water off itself, only to have it taken away in mid-air by
the sheer power of a bald Eagle?
Apple snails as big as golf balls laying their lavender colored eggs on
the marsh grass and being picked off by the Everglades Kites
flying as silently as owls, or Purple Gallinules out for a walk on
the carpet of weeds a mile from shore, the grunt of pig-frogs
and 'gators, the sweet piping sound of a flock of shorebirds as
they all turn on a dime or the rowdy, incessant calls of giant
Sandhill cranes.
The marsh itself, living and ancient, with a complex
and self-sustaining matrix of plants and animals formed over
centuries.
I dislike the word "ecosystem".
It sounds too scientific and catagorical.
A marsh is a place of the senses! There are sights and
sounds and smells found nowhere else on the planet, and it
has the feel of the original cauldron we were mixed in.
It is an antidote for the blahs of modern, air conditioned living.
Guiding was a fine and honest way to make a living,
but it changed. The sportsmen and women went out less and
less for a natural experience and more and more to just catch
fish.
I saw the developement of the "Tournament
mentality" which dictates that to have been fishing, you must
have caught a limit of fish.
Later, this was amended to mean
that if you hadn't caught a BIG fish, you'd wasted your time.
There is a genetic flaw in mankind that causes our
competitive nature to reduce a wonderiull sport like fishing to
a game of pounds and ounces where the winner can brag
about making a thousand casts in a day.
Guiding stopped being a lifestyle and became work.
Fishing shouid be about kids and home-made tackle
tied to a willow pole.
It should be done with bait you caught
yourself and put in the old Prince Albert can you kept for just
that purpose.
Or about the sweet meat of bullheads and the
one that got away, leaky old green wooden boats with
groaning oar-locks and home-made anchors made from old
paint buckets filled with cement.
Or farm ponds in the evening
with casting gear and a Jitterbug tuned just right to make the
"plop plop" sound when slowiy reeled or about a bluegill bed
and a fly-rod with a tiny popper--and it should be respected.
I still miss the Marsh and get out on one as often as
time and circumstance will allow.
I always take a rod or gun,but as often as not it isn't baited or loaded.
I like to talk to the ducks on the old reed call and pretend they understand.
I tell them how much I miss them and express my envy of their
beauty and how I wish I could fly wild too,
and they fly by for a look at what's making all the noise.
I never forgot those first lessons the Lake taught me:
If you try hard enough NOT to fish, you'll always catch
something worth remembering.
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John Nail ed it.
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John could not have said it better. Ran my own charter business on Lake Ontario for over 10 years so I know what he says is true. Turn your hobby into a business and it soon becomes work; still enjoyable but not the same.
Disagree with Tippit: they are that good!
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OK....I don't make bows.
But I try and make some passable Leather goods.
Yes it's fun to do what ya like, I do like to make leather goods it's kinda theraputic, I try and make something most everyday....
Things I like about doing what i like.
I like a satisfied customer.
I like a e-mail telling me how much they like what I made for them.
I like getting Post Cards from around the states and the world that my Leather craft go to.
I like to see Hero pics with the Hunter wearing my Leather goods....
I like going to a shoot and almost every group that walks by almost everyone in the group will have my stuff....
And yes I do like the Money, I like to eat, by Arrows and a Bow now and again....
Things I don't like about it....
I don't shoot in as many shoots as I used to....
I don't like it when I get a few orders for Quivers and I call my Leather supplier and they don't have the Leather in stock and I have to wait for the Leather and my customers have to wait for their Quiver....
I don't like it when a customer orders an Item and 2 days later e-mail me and ask if I sent it yet....Remember all my stitching is done by HAND.
Not as many dislikes as Likes, thats good....
Sorry if this come out wrong, I just felt I had to answer this posting....
Now I got to go and Make some stuff......
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Mike ya left one out..........
I don't know if it would go in your "like" or "dislike" list but:
I feel another thing you have to be willing to do, which is what makes Trad folks really great, is when you get that job, or trad archery trade, be willing to pass it along!
Mike G really helped me a year or so ago, telling me the type punches I needed to do leatherwork with, and types of rivets, leather, etc.!
That taught me a great lesson. Mike knew I sold stuff now and then, but he was still willing to help. So now, if someone needs help, I try my best to show them the same kindness Mike G showed me.
That's whats most rewarding to me. Is when I can really help someone!
My hats off to Mike G! He's a great guy!
hnh
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I sell fishing equipment in a retail store. I fished more when I didnt and had a better time. Ive worked in retail for about 15 years. Gotta say its made me appreciate my dogs. Could be worse though I could be working swing shift again or outside.
With that being said Tradgang is my escape. Everyone here is top notch! Best site and people on the web regarless of your hobbies or interests.
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What you guys are saying makes alot of sense to me. I agree if you turn something you love into something you have to do even if you don't feel like doing it right then it could make you not like it as much. I just wish that more schools would have archery in them. Any ideas of how someone could get that to happen. I am not looking to have teaching job or anything like that, but I wouldn't mind one bet trying to get younger people the future of Traditional Archery into shooting these kind of bows...
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"For every friendly customer there are about 9 that are jerks."
Gee, Jacob, what kind of bows/people do you work with?
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JN got it and is a heck of an orator. I love to guide, I'd do it even if I never made another nickel at it. Same with the bamboo rods. I don't feel good unless I get some shop time each week.
When someone asks "What do you do?" I reply "I'm a Registered Maine Guide and a bamboo rodmaker." It becomes more than what you do, it's a part of who you are.
I've made up my mind to make a bow or three, and I'm sure it'll be the same. I like to fish/hunt with gear I made myself. Plus it's a real kick when someone asks me whose rod I'm fishing and I say "Mine.". "No," they reply,"who made it." "Me." I really want to do that with my bow this year. Not the fanciest or flashiest out there, but nice, clean lines and the knowledge that I made it happen.
The key is to go fishing, camping, hunting, whatever recharges you. When you make the choice to work when you have the opportunity to go out and enjoy the outdoors, you're on the slippery slope to losing your passion that made you want to do it in the first place.
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aNYTIME YOUR TURN YOUR HOBBY INTO A BUSINESS, YOU DON'T HAVE THAT HOBBY ANYMORE. Traxx and I volunteer at our friend's archery shop, and we get to teach, make strings, arrows and fix/tune bows. Plus we get to be around archers...
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Rusty, Look around and follow your dream. It might take some time before the right thing comes along, but when it does, you'll know it.
How was Alaska? Tell your dad I said hey.
Brutus
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I'd never tell you not to go for it, but... do look at your options and maybe talk to the people who are doing your dream job now. See what they like and dislike, what they would do differently if they could start over.
I only say this because I have friend who works in an archery shop. He works on/sets up probably 30 compounds to every stickbow he sees. It gets real hectic a couple of months before season and lasts that way throughout. He works from can to can't and hardly has any time to enjoy his own bows. Like someone said earlier, everybody is more important than anyone else and some are real jerks about it. His job is not "the one" but if you look hard and are flexible enough, the right opportunity WILL present itself. Then go for it!
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I love fishing and hunting,But i want work to be diffrent,when you get a day off all you think about is hunting and fishing.Im a correction officer love my job, but cant wait for the rut or bass spawning.
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Rusty,
See if your county has a 4H shooting sports program. You can help out with the archey and at least at my club trad is the way most kids want to shoot. Of course I have alot to do with it when I show them I can outshoot them with trad gear and do things thier compounds can't like aireal shooting.
Its a blast youd love it!
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Wow JN you hit that one right on the head...I have not had 9 jerks as customers the whole time I been in business.Fact is,I don't think any of my 600 or so plus customer base are jerks.I like them all...But food for thought is,I am certinly glad guy's like Glenn StCharles Fred Bear Damon Howatt Gail Martin Larry Hatfield,I won't go on.But sure happy they never burned out at what they loved....we may not have so many old bows around!!!!!!!!! bowdoc
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I really miss working outside,Im stuck in A factory, which ain't so bad It pay's the bill's. What is nice though is coming home to A wonderful wife and kids,they can make even the worse job seem worth IT.
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I've often said my job would be much more fun if it was a hobby, I would hate to make my hobby a job and regret it.
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Not all its cracked up to be. You never have time to hunt except gun season and who wants to be in the woods with a bow with all of the gun toteing crazys. You never get a chance to shoot your bow. Even if your not helping customers your constantly fletching arrows, fixing bows, ordering,...... Its actually very taxing on your love of bows. Because your there 10 hours a day dealing with bows and archery equipment. Your there late every friday night for the 3D shoots and there till mid afternoon on saturdays and by the time you get off your not in the mood to rush home get suited up to get in 2-2.5 hours of bad hunting in.sunday is your only day of rest if your a store thats closed on sunday. So try to remember the old adage of keep your hobby your hobby and your day job your day job because theres nothing that will take the fun out of a hobby like making it work. Matthew George volenteer part time employee fairfield outdoors
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I am a Landscape Architect that focuses on Ecological Restoration. I create wetlands, forests, etc. I think this is the best job in the world because I am creating habitat for the hobbies and passions I enjoy so much.
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I do work in a bow shop, well sorta to speak, we have 4 traditional bows, and the rest have wheels, and working weekends, and it's supposed to be every other weekend, but I have worked the last three Saturdays in a roll, so they're right about the weekends, it stinks, and as far as working with the customers, the best thing is when I get an uncle, or a grandma or Grandpa that wants to set up their grandkids with a bow, that's the best.
And I do send them to www.3Riversarchery.com (http://www.3Riversarchery.com) every time I get a chance when I get young kids and parents that want to get kids started.
and I tell alot of people about Tradgang.com
I've been archery tec. And worked on bows longer than some kids been alive that I work with, but I had some manager thinks he knows more than all hes never worked on bows, tell me that I was not a tec, so now I get the choice, where I can hang the bow on the rack and let that tech work on it LOL, or work on it myself !
It's not what it seems, a get old after a while, the only thing that makes it worth it. Is I get the chance to talk to people and sometimes we talk more than archery. If you catch what I mean
Pastor Carl
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While I was in the Navy (20years) Stationed in San Diego. I went into my local archery shop and asked if I could work for free. I just wanted to learn all I could about archery. I worked weekends and after work when I could. After a couple of years doing that, a friend wanted to open an archery shop cross town and asked if I would help him build it. From 91-98 I worked between the Navy and the archery shop, Life was great.... We had the largest Traditional stock in southern California. We also sold other bows and items to support all type of archery.
Mark
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the proplems i encontered were i was working was all the pulley jockys none gave treaditional bows a chance. about once every 2-3 months there would be some people come in interrested in getting a bow to enjoy archery now all the other guys in the shop wanted to get them compounds and out the door. but i have yet to see a compound shooter that can take his bow out for a day in the outdoors and have a good time and not be hunting. thats what archery is about being able to enjoy all aspects of the lifestyle. most people see all the fancy gizmos on compound and think traditonal bows must be completly out dated. and other compound shooters make them think this way too. when i go in to the local 3D shoot at the shop i work at mind you. all the people there look at me like im dumb for holding a stick when i walk in the door all there concered about is hitting that 250-290 on there score card there are very few there to enjoy archery. please take this with a grain of salt im not bitter about compounders i just wish more of them actually enjoy archery and the great people in it. instead of concentrating on there score cards. working in a shop that is compound based is very taxing. people just dont give trad guys a break. because we dont hit the 14 99% of the time