Post by: Kirkll on October 30, 2024, 01:34:21 PM
Once upon a time, a fellow Trad Gang member from Norway reached out to me while anxiously awaiting the birth of his granddaughter 9 years ago….He said he would love to see her born with a bow in her hand, and asked if this is something I could do? I told Trond I would be delighted to build something special for his new grandaughter.
So I rolled up my sleaves and built a little self bow from maple. I had so much fun with the project, I had to build arrows and a quiver to go with it. It’s 24” in length nock to knock.
The day a proud Grandpa Trond was looking forward too finally arrived, and he presented baby Thea Louise her first bow on the day she was born…
Well little Thea Louise didn’t take long to start growing up……Here she is at 1 years old getting a feel for her first longbow…
Here Is Grandpa Trond showing her the stump shooting trail ….
Another year passed……… and little Thea at age 2 she needed something a bit more practical than her first longbow to consider using for her training to come…. In 2015 I had just come up with a miniature Recurve design that I thought might fit the bill nicely. I designed this little bow to replicate the old 60’s design recurve, and these run 37” nock to knock in length.
Here is Thea at age 2 checking out her first recurve bow…
And here she is trying to figure out how this thing works…
To be continued shortly….
Post by: Duker on October 30, 2024, 01:47:07 PM
Post by: Kirkll on October 30, 2024, 01:47:49 PM
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Here is a good one at almost full draw….Her form is starting to shape up now but the bow is starting to come to its limits.
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Here are a couple of other Sasquatch Junior bows I have built . so you can get a closer look at them.
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To be continued.....
Post by: Kirkll on October 30, 2024, 01:56:33 PM
With that decided we talked about draw weight requirements that would let her shoot the bow right away, but would increase in draw weight as she grew, and her draw length continued to lengthen. We decided a draw weight of 30 @ 28” would be perfect….
Then Trond asked about building a heavier set of limbs that he could shoot? I recommended rther than building extra limbs , we build a Sister bow using the same wood and they could both have a hybrid longbow to shoot….
Well it didn’t take long for him to decide…. Sister Sasquatch’s it is!
Here are the finished products…. The lighter colored Maple bow has a small diameter grip at the throat to accommodate young Thea’s hand that should work very well. And the darker colored bow is Grandpa Trond’s….
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to be continued....
Post by: rastaman on October 30, 2024, 01:57:53 PM
Post by: Kirkll on October 30, 2024, 02:02:21 PM
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Here are some in action shots for you…
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Thea is a lucky little girl to have her Grandpa get her into archery so young. I sincerely hope I get more photos as she grows up watching her progress. I’m a lucky man to have these folks share their pictures and the joy they have in sharing precious time with their granddaughter and introducing her to archery…
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This makes it all worth while to me… Thank You Trond! I cannot believe 9 years has passed since baby Thea Louise was born…
I hope you enjoyed this story. And thanks again for letting me share it with folks all over the world….. It means a lot to me…
Sincerely, Kirk Lavender
Post by: Bowsey Wails on October 30, 2024, 03:03:57 PM
Post by: Pine on October 30, 2024, 05:01:28 PM
Thanks for sharing. :archer:
Post by: Trond on October 30, 2024, 05:05:13 PM
I can thank you all here on Tradgang for inspiring me to get into archery in the first place, enabling me to introduce it to Thea. Thank you, Kirk for being such a good man and an excellent bowyer. And a thanks to Arne Moe, who’s instructing videos and good advice has got me where I am in archery today.
Again… The Gang is a great place to hang out.
Trond
Post by: Captain*Kirk on October 30, 2024, 08:46:03 PM
Nice work, Kirk. We need more generous people like yourself and Trond helping to keep passing the torch. :archer2: :archer2: :archer2:
Post by: PrimitivePete on October 31, 2024, 05:55:51 AM
Post by: Homey88 on October 31, 2024, 08:31:03 AM
Post by: supernaut on October 31, 2024, 09:00:29 AM
:clapper:
Post by: Deno on October 31, 2024, 09:06:50 AM
Post by: Friend on October 31, 2024, 09:07:38 AM
Post by: glenbo on October 31, 2024, 04:00:59 PM
Post by: DannyBows on November 01, 2024, 07:56:19 AM
Post by: Burnsie on November 01, 2024, 10:01:25 AM
Post by: highcountry on November 02, 2024, 11:21:59 AM
Post by: Trond on November 03, 2024, 07:03:07 AM
Post by: Kirkll on November 03, 2024, 03:39:41 PM
At age 10 i started taking her hunting with me, and started her training on woodsmanship, and tracking. She wasn't squeamish about field dressing deer and elk at all, and she loved climbing mountains with her Papa. But.... she didn't like the idea of killing an animal herself. So as she aged, she still hunted with me from time to time, but she never carried a bow while hunting, or even bought a tag......The all of a sudden Poof! she was off to college, and had her own life going.
She married a great guy i'm proud to call my son, and they gave me a grandson 4 years ago. I'm going to try and get Arlo interested next summer, as he just turned 4 in September. I think he may be ready for an introduction this year, but i'll play it by ear and see how he develops. "Fearsome 4" is a challenge and constant test of wills. We'll see how it plays out, but he's just not ready yet.
Kirk
Post by: Sant-Ravenhill on November 03, 2024, 11:45:26 PM
Post by: Trond on November 04, 2024, 03:08:28 AM
Best post I've read in a long time. When this election season seems never ending and the news is always negative, it's things like this that reassure me and give me hope that no matter the craziness on line or in print the world is full of good people lifting and blessing their families and friends!
Amen to that :pray: :clapper:
Post by: Terry Green on November 04, 2024, 03:31:26 PM
Post by: Bowguy67 on November 04, 2024, 04:35:43 PM
Post by: Trond on November 05, 2024, 02:43:23 PM
Post by: Bowguy67 on November 05, 2024, 03:12:31 PM
Post by: Kirkll on November 05, 2024, 09:49:12 PM
Trend nothing about time and fine motor skills change eye dominance. It’s a super cool story either way and thanks for sharing that with us.
I think a lot of guys place way too much importance on eye dominance. I've been shooting right handed, left eye dominant for many years and it hasn't effected my ability at all.
When you get to the point where you don't shoot groups of arrows anymore to keep from blowing your nocks off and ruining arrows at 20 yards, id say eye dominance has very little to do with shooting ability.
The most important thing about training young kids to shoot is to keep it fun and give them lots of encouragement. Get a large foam block so they can see their arrows sticking in the target. Also get them a shooting glove that fits their fingers and an arm guard that protects them. Most beginners grip the bow too much and have string slapping the arm. it takes awhile before they learn to open their hand up on the bow. Even regular small leather gloves make a huge difference. Most shooting gloves are too large for young kids.
Keep it fun and you'll keep their interest... Kirk
Post by: Bowsey Wails on November 06, 2024, 04:58:59 AM
Post by: Kirkll on November 12, 2024, 09:30:39 PM
The funny thing is..... There are a lot of adults with very poor form struggling with consistency issues too for the same reason....Lets face it, consistency is the key element in archery. With kids if you keep it fun, they shoot more. The more they shoot, they better they become. Kirk
Post by: Rob DiStefano on November 29, 2024, 07:16:36 AM
Mr. Hill was right handed and left eye dominant and he sorta did okay with his longbows. :saywhat: :goldtooth:
Post by: McDave on November 29, 2024, 11:00:23 AM
Post by: Trond on December 10, 2024, 04:06:32 AM
As you may notice, she is not shooting the Sasquatch... went for a lighter bow to shape up her form.
Post by: MnFn on December 10, 2024, 09:18:59 AM
I have introduced all nine of my grandkids to archery. They are all heavy into sports right now and don’t have much time for anything else, but we will see if any of them show interest in it in the years to come.
It doesn’t help that none of them live close enough for regular practice with me, but that is the way it is for now.
Post by: Kirkll on December 10, 2024, 07:08:57 PM
She has sure turned into a beautiful young lady. :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Post by: HARL on December 10, 2024, 10:26:33 PM
Post by: Trond on December 11, 2024, 07:17:41 AM
She has sure turned into a beautiful young lady. :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Thanks from a very proud grandpa :clapper: