A handful of weeks ago, I got a call from RC. As you may remember, RC spent a month with Hope & Faith--actually just one of them. In a short month, RC managed to fatten his freezer. It seemed every time I checked, he had another animal on the ground. When the phone rang, he informed me he was ready to order a Stalker of his own. Though he yearned for a sister to the twins, he decided a grey actionwood 3 piece longbow would better fit into his budget. We visited on the phone for a while, lamenting about how our season was going. Neither one of us seemed to be able to get much going in the way of filling tags. It seemed the luck he'd enjoyed with H&F seemed elusive this fall.
Some of RC's work
When RC's # came up, I was reflecting on our conversation and his change in luck. What if it was the bow? What if, more specifically, it was the mojo in the wood??? I checked just in case. Yeah, I still had some of the H&F material, the same boards I had cut the twins from. I pondered the situation, the pattern for his riser already marked out on the grey actionwood panel....what if I built his bow as ordered and it didn't have the same magic? Would I be responsible? I decided I couldn't risk it. I went to cutting on the H&F wood. I've never changed a customer's order without OK'ing it first, but this was an extraordinary circumstance; I just couldn't risk it. I didn't give it too much worry, I figured RC would be pleasantly surprised when he opened the box and found the "upgrade". But, by the time I got the bow finished and in the box, I've got to admit, I was sweating it a bit. What if he really wanted the grey actionwood after all? Oh no, what have I done? The box went out Friday and by USPS's estimate, it should be there on Monday (probably a bit optomistic with the holidays).
What do you think? Early Xmas present or a bowyer in the dog house?
Here she is, presently captive in a long white box