Wow life really does go in circles! I started out as a kid bending choke cherry trees into bows strung with heavy tip up line (that really tough line dad had on his ice fishing tip ups). Anything that was straight and not tied down made an arrow back then and my targets ranged from frogs to bunnies in the surrounding country side. Oh I eventually laid hands on a fiberglass recurve bow and begged incessantly for those 15 cent arrows with the tin tips every week. My brother and I shot that bow until it could no longer be strung without flipping inside out and we were pretty dang good with it at that point. Alas the allure of the fancy gadgetry associated with compounds caught both of us by the time we hit our teenage years and before long we had a nifty old wood riser, energy wheel bow that would practically sizzle an arrow to the target at 180 + FPS!!! We shared that old Browning Nomad until he finally bought some other random compound that I cant recall anymore and it passed on to my sole possession. I still finger shot that bow even though there seemed to be a movement to go to even greater gadgets called releases. Wow the gadgets came at us in a never ending stream of technological goodness it seemed could never end and could only enhance our bow hunting experience. We followed blindly on and enjoyed a lot of sucess with several different bows and gadgets too numerous to list here but it came to pass that I felt like something was missing .... not quite sure what that was I trudged on with my archery endeavors. As sometimes comes to pass an unremarkable moment in time revealed to me what had been missing in my bowhunting for the last several years. A fellow from work who also enjoyed archery was in a pinch after somehow breaking his compound bow asked me if I knew where one might find a "cheap" bow so he could hunt that year. Well his idea of cheap was a little unrealistic but he did managed to secure an old Browning Safari II 60" recurve that pulled 51#. He was delited to get his hands on that bow just so he could hunt but I could tell he had his reservations. I assured him that it would indeed kill a whitetail deer but he would need to practice obsessively in order to be ready for deer season. To be honest just seeing that bow brought back a flood of fond memories for me and I was actually jealous that he had found it for such a good deal. Once again fate choose to intervene with my best interests in mind and the same fellow came to me and said he had located yet another fantastic deal on a bow but since he had already purchased the Browning he was a little short on funds. A bit of haggling later and I now held my brand new old bow, I was elated. It had seen some bad times, someone had tried to install a set of sight pins as far as I could tell from the holes drilled in the riser or maybe a quiver, but for the most part it was a very good little bow. I didnt shoot it right away in fact it languished in my closet for the entire season and into the spring. I finally took it up to the local sports shop and got a string for it while I was having my compound worked on. I started shooting it after practicing with my compound since I found it a pure joy to shoot. I can only shoot my compound so many times, the concentration I put into that perfect shot with all my gadgets takes a toll on me, but the little recurve it seemed I could shoot all day. I found it was the best possible bow for bow fishing and took it out a few times in the deer woods after I had determined that I could consistently group my arrows at 20 yards. I even shot at some deer which was an utter thrill, I got the 2nd best shot I could hope for on both deer I shot at with that bow ... both clean misses. Well Im not too hung up on the kill when I hunt so that didnt bother me but something just wasnt right, I had shot at so many deer in all those years since switching to my gadgets and I hadnt felt this way. I didnt realize it immediately but it finally dawned on me that I was truly excited, excited to have attempted and missed my game with such a simple and joyful device. It was a revelation and set me on a course that would take me full circle and somehow in my excitement it seems my brother has gotten sucked into the same vortex, Im glad to have the company.
My brother and I have just ordered two 74 inch Yew staves this evening, I plan to make a pair of longbows capable of time travel this fall. Nothing fancy really I dont need to travel all that far back in time, maybe just 30 years or so. Back when archery was pure and simple and joyful for a couple of ragged haired country boys content to just be outside with a bent stick in our hands.
Feels good to be back.
Topic: Greetings from an old born again traditionalist (Read 837 times)
