The Old Phartt, The Big Bad Wolf and The Three Little Pigs
A Continuing Saga…
Once upon a time, down in West Texas, there lived three little pigs, Oinky, Snuffy, and Herman. These pigs were fat and happy down there, living on a ranch called “7th Age Bowhunting”, where there was enough water and plenty to eat. There were gullies and brush to hide in, and they figured they had it made.
However, up in Seattle, WA lived a weak, out of shape old man called The Old Phartt. In a very unlikely combination of circumstances, Old Phartt got a chance to go down to West Texas to hunt pigs with 7th Age Bowhunting in late October. In an even more unlikely set of circumstances, his wife not only agreed but said she’d finance the trip! The happenings were made even more incredible by the fact the OP wasn’t a hunter! He had never even seen a wild hog, never bowhunted for deer, hadn’t even bowfished for carp! In spite of this, he set his mind on Oinky, Snuffy or Herman.
Unfortunately, OP knew his chances of success were diminished by his circumstances, particularly the fact that his normal draw weight was only 27#. He wanted very much to get Oinky, Snuffy or Herman with a bow of his own making, but the heaviest one he had was still only 32#. He started his walking program back up and did some light weight exercises, to get into slightly better shape in a month, or at least as “good shape” can be defined for a more than 70 year old retired desk jockey and storyteller.
Another of OP’s problems was that he wasn’t really a good shot. Oh, he made it around many a 3D course and hit most of the targets, but he’d lost a lot of his form when he was weakened by health problems and wasn’t as consistent as he wanted to be. Plus, he’d been so busy building bows he had neglected his shooting for several months. Of course, he started practicing, shooting at a javelina target. He even put screw in broadheads on the 1716 arrows he used with his 32# bow and made sure they flew well. He settled down and started doing better, in just a few days of serious effort.
In spite of some improvement, OP was still concerned about the bow weight. If he did get a shot at Oinky, Snuffy or Herman, he wanted to get a good solid hit, preferably a pass through. He tried some heavier bows he owned, even though he hadn’t built them, bows in the low to mid 40# range. He became satisfied that while his weight was limited when going out to shoot a good practice session in the yard, or a 3D round, he could get a few good shots off with a heavier bow, and he did like the fact that they let him shoot a heavier 1916 arrow that hit the target with a good bit more authority.
OP decided that what he needed was some mojo… some serious mojo. What he needed to deal with Oinky, Snuffy and Herman was a Big Bad Wolf! However, Big Bad Wolves are kind of hard to find in a North Seattle neighborhood. There was no choice, if he wanted to shoot one of those pigs with a bow he’d made, he’d have to make a Big Bad Wolf! While the 40# range he'd tried was a strain, maybe about 38# would be doable.
Fortunately, OP’s wife was going on a trip and he’d be alone for ten days. Not only would this let him eat real man food, like jalapeno hot dogs and hot chili every night, he’d be able to work in his shop all day every day, with no one around waving a daily errand and chore list! “Oh, boy,” he thought, and headed down to the shop to look over the wood and glass supply. After the first day’s work, wood rustling and decision making, he had cut billets, resawed out lam blanks and cut out a riser for The Big Bad Wolf.
BBW will have a zebrawood back veneer, two tapered lamboo cores and a belly of honey locust, with a zebrawood riser. With a little luck, it'll come in at close to 38#.
To Be Continued….
Topic: The Old Phartt, The Big Bad Wolf and The Three Little Pigs (Read 532 times)
