Operation Selfbow : Mission Complete!

A while back, my buddy Rob Green started building selfbows. It has always intrigued me how guys can take a stick and make it into a functional bow that is hunt worthy! Anyway, Rob is a great friend, and as such I began to pester him to build me one of his selfbows. He started on a bow for me that was supposed to be 70" long, and come out somewhere around 50#@29". I also requested that there be a shelf on the bow, but he said we would just have to wait for the bow to tell him if that would be an option or not. He got the bow built, and even cut a small shelf on it, but it came out way under weight. I tried it, and liked it just fine, but just felt that it was too light to hunt with. Rob said he would come up with another at closer to the right weight. Months went by, and while talking to him on the phone one day I asked out of the blue "Hey, when are you going to get one built for me?". His reply was "Stand by! I got something in the works.".

A few days later he called me up and asked if I could come over his place and try out a bow. Well, it was the same bow as before, only he chopped 2" off either end and retillered it. The bow shot great and the draw weight was up to 48# at my 29" draw.

Here is a few pics of the bow:

 

 

 

 

I really started liking this bow, so much so that I took it to the Texas State Longbow Championship shoot in May. I did not win the selfbow class. Heck I was 4th, and did not even buckle, as they only buckle the top 3 places. But I did shoot the highest score I have ever shot at that shoot; higher than I have ever shot with a laminated longbow. To say I was pleased would be an understatement.

To be continued...

After I got the bow and shot it a little, I knew I could take animals with it. The problem was that there were no pigs hitting any of my setups. I also knew that Rob only has a few bows he built out there, and really wanted to be the first to kill a critter with one of his bows.

Fast forward to last Saturday. Rob Green (Green on TG), Tim King (TexasKing on TG), and myself got together for a 2 day pig hunt. The hunt started Saturday afternoon, and Rob and Tim both got a nice eater pig.

Here is Rob's pig. I was really happy for him because this was his first bow kill in many years!

       

And Tim's pig:

       

I was happy for both of my friends! We woke up Sunday morning to nice cool temperatures, a welcom change from the regular Texas heat! I ended up in an area where I could do some stalking. As I snuck around a bend in the road, I saw a pig up ahead. He looked to be moving in my direction, so I found a spot to hide in the brush and waited for him. After a little while he ended up right in front of me at about 11-12yds. I drew back, settled in, and released. The arrow smacked into the side of the pig in what looked like a great position.

Then the waiting game began. After 20-30 minutes I began to trail the pig. I found first blood within just a few yards of where I had shot him:

       

And after just a few more yards I found the back half of my arrow:

       

Comparing it to a full arrow out of my quiver told me that I got quite good penetration!

I kept going, but the trail got sparse fairly quickly. This made me wonder if the shot was indeed as good as I had thought. I backed out and called the landowner to bring out his tracking dog. It was another 45 minutes before they showed up, but the dogs figured it out in no time, and found my pig stone cold dead about 100yds from where I shot him. It turned out the shot was good. I hit him right where I thought, but because I was shooting uphill at him, the exit hole was a little higher than is desirable.

Anyway, here is the first critter ever taken with a Rob Green selfbow, and only my 2nd selfbow kill ever:

       

       

Rob had to go home to watch his grandkids, so he did not get to hunt the second day. Tim got another nice eater pig though on the second evening hunt:

       

I absolutely love traditional bowhunting, and all the friendships that I have made along the way. It is really satisfying when you set a goal and actually get to achieve it!

Thanks for reading along!

Bisch

[CRM_95]

Congrats!! Looks like a fun hunt, and I like the looks of that bow too.

[sttawb]

Nice!!
Congrats

[Fletcher]

Way to go, Bisch, and thanks for a great tale!

[KAZ]

Well done Bisch... Great hog & wonderful accomplishment  

[jamesh76]

That's great Bisch!  Well done!

[Matty]

Nice Bisch. Bucket list item of mine for sure! And great work Green!  

[RC]

Congrats Sir. Nice cutters on that one. RC

[CDK]

Nice shootin guys!  Good looking selfbow ...thanks for posting!!  

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Congrats.....

,,Sam,,

[Pine]

Very nice , thanks for sharing .

[Matabele]

Great story, and congratulations!

[ozy clint]

     

great work mate.

i can smell the BBQ pit from here!

[Jwilliam]

Way to go Bisch !!!  

[Jayrod]

Awesome job as always bisch thxs for sharing and a neat self bow rob built for you there!!

[frank bullitt]

Cool!    

[Tater]

Congrats to all on the pigs..!

    Nice shooting with the self bow...  

[Chad Orde]

Love those self bows and that's a beuty!! That pork is mighty tasty nice shooting guys!!

[EWill]

Nice! Hunting with a selfbow is something I would like to do also. I shoot with a friend at the local range who shoots selfbows that he makes and am amazed at how quiet they ALWAYS are.
He said I could get a stave off him which I would like to work on through the winter. Good winter project.