Man, I had been out of the buying game for a while. I've been shooting my two bows non stop for years without considering a new bow. So, I log into the auction site to get my feet wet.
I browse like this for a few days to no avail. You know I I whet my whistle, but there was nothing that really caught my eye. There would be a Hill here, a Black Widow there, and a number of production, vintage, and unknowns. I'm sure if you've ever frequented auctions you know that you could search the same thing each day and scroll the same way and see the same listings with no change. So, that's exactly what I had been doing. That was, until something caught my eye today among the drab bows of yesteryear. There it was. A Crooked Stic at my draw, preferred weight, and a takedown to boot. Maybe the sweetest part of all was that she was just the right price.
Now I've seen Crooked Stics before, and I never had one catch my eye, but this thing? This thing screamed beauty. It was a bamboo cored, blonde Birdseye maple veneered limb, running into a 3 tone riser marrying what appeared to be a dark wenge and a grain overflowing cocobolo with that beautiful Birdseye and a black accent of glass between them for contrast. To top it all off it had buck burr bolts for the riser. Okay, I lied, it had one and the other was missing, but so what! This was a dream for me after all.
Here I was just getting interested in a new buy after 6 years (you know the feeling, I know you do), and BAM, someone nabbed it while I was cookin' dinner. I thought I was quick...not quick enough. So fellas tonight I let her slip through my fingers, no fond farewells or nothin'...I didn't even get to hold her. She was ---the one that got away.
So guys, let's reminisce on auction hours missed, failed snipe attempts, and just plain "should I or shouldn't I" procrastination. Don't forget the sweet "love at first sight" feeling either. Who have you let get away?
-Nockbroke