Okay.. I feel bad about not fessing up to you guys about the special bow I'll be using on this hunt. This is some pretty heavy stuff, so please bear with me (no pun intended). As a lot of you know, the late Paul Schafer was one of my best friends. Similar to many of us, when Paul went on a hunt he took a back-up/spare bow with him just in case. He specifically built this bow for himself but to also loan out to friends in camp who might need an extra. So he "only" made it #70 lbs. @ 28" so everyone could handle it. When Paul died in his accident in '93, good friend Rosey Roseland of Montana had the bow in his possession at the time. Here's where it gets heavy. Rosey had a friend from Iowa, named Mike Bentler, who had just ordered a bow from Schaf. Paul died before he finished Mike's bow. So Rosey (being Rosey) sent Paul's personal bow to Mike as a token of friendship. I moved to Iowa in '99 and although I lived only fifteen miles from Mike, I never got to meet the man. On October 15, 2006, Mike Bentler, is wife and all three daughters were mass murdered at their home in the middle of the night. Their only son, Shawn, was convicted of murdering his own family and sentenced to five life sentences without parole. Allegedly the brutal murders were committed so he could inherit his folks approximate three million dollar estate. Anyone interested can just google up Mike Bentler. After the murders, remaining relatives had a public auction of the Bentler family items. I stopped by knowing he had one of Schaf's bows. I didn't see it and inquired to one of the family members. No one knew anything about the bow. I left and pretty much forgot about it. Then last summer, while back in New Hampshire, I received a box from UPS. It was from Rosey. In it was a letter saying the Bentler family had located the bow and mailed it back where it came from. Rosey knew about my fire in '99 where I lost six of my Schafer bows. Rosey's letter said Paul would want me to have it. Yes, there are still good people in this world. So there you go. It's one of my most prized possessions. This will be the first time I've ever hunted with it. The bow was probably made in the mid '80s by Paul and obviously has a lot of miles on it. Those miles have created character and individuality in the bow. And I'm proud to share it with you guys. Thanks. bw
Topic: BEAR QUEST II Spring BEAR HUNT 2 Openings (Read 40542 times)
