Dave Johnson! Great guy! Great bow..and story...

[Russ Clagett]

This is a story about a cedar longbow, made by a guy named Dave Johnson...and it really begins back in 91 when Dave originally made the bow for a man who was going to Africa...

Many of you know who Dave is, in fact there was a thread about him on here not too long ago.

This will take some reading, but if you read along I think you'll appreciate Dave, his bows, and the true essence of the people like him who do little things greatly.

The bow is a red cedar longbow, finished in clear glass....it pulls 81 pounds at 27 inches.

On the lower limb Dave has signed the bow, and if you dont have a longbow with this signature on it, then I truly am sorry......those of you who own them know what I mean.

I have pictures of this bow, just waiting for someone to help me with the posting...hint.

For me the story actually begins (though I didn't know it at the time) back in 2006 when I returned home from a year long tour in Afghanistan. I was new to traditional archery then, and still am really...aren't we all?

An amazing group of people put a hunt together for me at a place called Brush Country Bowhunting, down in Freer, Texas, and I had an amazing time. Since then Smitty and I have become close friends and we talk often. I was brand new then shooting and learning about traditional bows, and the kind of people who shoot them.

I can honestly say that I witnessed and received a measure of humble friendship and generosity that I can not recall at any other time in my life....from complete strangers.

In the bunkhouse at Smitty's there was this obviously old Hill style longbow, unstrung, sitting in the corner. You could see it had stories it could tell...but it was dusty and appeared unused. I have an affinity for old things like bows and rifles, and the history they have lived, but at the time I wasn't interested in Hill style bows cause they were "slow".......and I was trying to get ever ounce of available speed out of the recurve I was shooting.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Hopefully someone will reach out and help me to post the pix of this bow, and the journey can continue.....

Happy Easter, everyone

[el greco]

Hey Russel.First things first.Have you signed in in Photobucket?It takes a couple of minutes to do that.Once you 've done that I ll guide you to the next step.

[Danny Rowan]

Russ,

email the pics to me at [email protected] and I will post them for you.

Danny

[Danny Rowan]

By the way Russ, it is now 04:48 on Guam and I get off at 06:00 so If I do not get the pics by then I will not be able to post them until tonight so also send them to my personal email at
[email protected]

[Russ Clagett]

[Russ Clagett]

If your longbow doesn't have this....you're wrong.

[Russ Clagett]

Dave even put my name on the bow.....

[Russ Clagett]

See the silencers?  No...? That's cause it don't need any........

[Russ Clagett]

Dave Johnson Red Cedar Longbow...81 @ 27...

[Russ Clagett]

It looks like I have figured out the photo thing...hopefully. Thanks for bearing with me on that....

And I have already given part of the story away...

[Canyon]

There it is!! While at Smitty's I watched a transformation occur.

Each time Russ would launch an arrow from that bow he would look down at the bow and then back at the target bag which was still rocking from being hit with such authority. Then he would smile.

Russ had just purchased a very fine and new to him R/D longbow before the trip. Once the dust came off the Dave Johnson bow I don't think the other bow ever came out of the bunkhouse.

[DannyBows]

That's one sweet bow right there!

Waitin' on the rest of the journey....    

[Russ Clagett]

So...I tried and shot several bows over the years and still looked on those Hill styles as old, slow bows. My buddy Canyon has a couple, and is always talkin about his Hill....

So Canyon and I put together a hunting trip just a couple months ago and we went down to Smitty's to hunt up some hogs and javelina.......always a good time.

I hadn't seen Smitty in some time so we had catchin up to do, and some introductions. After a while Canyon noticed the old longbow leaning in the corner and Smitty said....."you ought to string that up and shoot it......that was my daughter's old bow"......we laughed. As Canyon headed out the door Smitty leaned out and said..."wait till he pulls it......."

Then we took it outside and strung it up. It had an old ratty string on it, and the nock point was clearly not set right, but we shot it anyway.

The first time I pulled that 68 inch longbow back and settled into it, I fell in love. Ol School was there with us, and suddenly we all decided this bow needed a new string....

A new string later, we strung it back up and set a new nock point....

Canyon had some arrows that might spine right for it, so we tried 'em......and my first two shots out of that old bow hit in the center of the bag target, almost within two inches of each other......

I was kinda marveling at that point, for two reasons. One was this bow shoots like it was made just for me, and two was I had never shot a bow this heavy before.

We took turns and just kind of enjoyed our time and company with this old bow. Smitty was saying he got the bow from a good friend who couldn't shoot it cause it was too heavy.

That man had been good friends with the original owner, who had passed away. So the bow ended up down at Smitty's and had been there for several years......

The finish was old and the handle leather was worn and dark....

[Russ Clagett]

So I had decided a couple things.....one, I had been wrong about "those Hill bows" and had no idea how much fun it was to shoot a heavy bow too.

I was seeing first hand how totally shootable a long Hill style bow was...and did it ever thump the targets.......our arrows were about 650 grains and they flew like rockets...

No silencers on this bow either....and it didnt appear to need any.....

We shot for several rounds (I could only shoot a few arrows at a time) and I had already decided I was going to own a heavy Hill style of my own..

Smitty was just saying how he kept the bow in the corner as a conversation piece until maybe someday he found someone who could shoot it..

Then Smitty gave me the bow.

[Canyon]

Watching you haul that bow back the first time was something...but watching how you and it became friends over the week was SOMETHING ELSE. I couldn't believe how you started stacking arrows together.

It just fits and I think Smitty having those years of watching bowhunters knew it would.

[Russ Clagett]

At first my draw was kinda short, but the more I shot the bow the more I "got into it" and my draw increased...

[Russ Clagett]

See the arrow on the right side of the pic? This bow is anything but a "slow Hill style..." The 81 pound draw weight has something to do with it, but still......

[Russ Clagett]

Unbelievable.

No, not really.......I've known Smitty since 06 and it doesn't surprise me that he gave a bow away. Sure surprised me at the time though...

So now I've got this new bow, and I'm headlong into a new journey with my very own Hill style heavy longbow..

So Canyon and I head back to my house to visit, and just out of curiousity we look up Dave Johnson Longbows........

Canyon told me he was the man back in the day and his bows were superbly crafted, and we were seeing that first hand, but he was now out of business and not making bows anymore.

Reckon how surprised we were to see a website and Dave back building bows again........

Now I just need to email the man and see what he could tell me about this beauty.....

[Brianlocal3]

that is an amazing story. you dont hear that with a wheelie bow.  The stories to be made now, let the journey begin.

[Brianlocal3]

oh, forgot to add, a beautiful bow also.