Okay... I must start off by saying that I am very blessed. I'm blessed to have a family that loves me, and that truly embraces how much traditional archery and hunting is a part of my life.
The journey began almost 1 year ago at the 2012 Kalamazoo Expo. My brother / Dad / Uncle drove up from PA to check out the show for the first time. My brother and I being die-hard Bob Lee fanatics, couldn't wait to check out their new line-up that was released since the last time we saw them at Denton Hill. That fall, the Envy / Smoke / Blaze / Natural line-ups were released and we were excited to check them out.
More exciting though, was the opportunity to handle the Legacy Show bow they had at the booth that sported the state of the art Stabi-Lock Attachment system.
The show was everything that we expected and more. The "more" was the opportunity to shoot the new "Bob Lee Ultimate", Rob's personal hunting bow, which also utilized the Stabi-Lock system.
The bow was 60" 51# @ 28", with a solid black micarta riser with bubinga veneers and accents. (The same bow pictured on the Bob Lee Ultimate WebPage)
I'm not certain, but I think that the facility janitor was called to the shooting range to mop up all the drool that my brother and I were puddling up on the floor. Never in my life have I had an experience like that while shooting a bow. Pure enjoyment, pure accuracy, pure bowhunting attitude... What else should I have expected from the Bob Lee Crew?!
Since Kalamazoo is perfectly placed smack dab in the middle of "cabin fever" season... the next couple months were rough. I dreamed of owning this bow, I searched to no avail for any information / reviews / pictures outside of the Bob Lee Website which I think I visited 100 times those months. So.... If anyone out there is like me, drooling and searching for information to read and then re-read as you dream of putting in your order for your ultimate, here is some more info and pics to drool over!!!
Okay, so let's fast forward to the June 2012 time frame. I decided to go for it. I'm buying an Ultimate. Phone calls and e-mails back and forth with JJ led to the agreement that I would wait until the end of July to finalize the build plan after a new stock of unique veneers arrived back at the shop to choose from. That time had come and gone, but when I closed my eyes, I pictured a pure hunting / stealth / killing piece of equipment... The bow from my dreams screamed Cross-Cut Camo Veneers!!!
The Bob Lee Crew had never had the need to source and utilize camo cross-cut veneers before, but that didn't stop JJ, Rob, & Bob!!! They dove in head first with excitment to help me attain my dream bow. A couple pictures back and forth of the sample veneers from his supplier, and the green light was given! I threw a decent down payment on the table and away we went!
60" - 51# @ 28" was the target... Just like the bow I shot at K-Zoo. I left the accent options for the riser and limb tips / caps up to JJ and Rob's imagination. I knew they'd tie it all together nicely, and a lot better than I could try to describe / picture in my head.
So now the wait began... The build was up and running, JJ was feeding me information, and I was chomping at the bit for that next picture to pop up in my e-mail. I was scrambling to try to raise funds to get the bow paid off, but with Christmas around the corner and two little dudes (4 and 2 years old) at home, money was tight coming into November / December.
I received a couple pictures one day of the camo-crosscut veneers all wet out during the glue-up phase... oh boy...! Into the oven already!!!
Then a couple updates on the limb taming / poundage... no pictures... dang-it.. its okay...
Then a confirmation that the limbs hit weight and are straight, a true works of art. "Perfection" as JJ put it... no picutres... dang-it...
Then confirmation that they probably would be in the spray booth soon.... still no pictures... dang-it... its okay...
Then a question asking if I'd want anything special written on the bow... Wait a minute... There has to be a couple coats of finish on the bow already if we are at this phase!!! Hell yeah!!
I asked JJ to write "Shemawnee" on the bow. I named the bow after my late father-in-law. He would use this term when describing a whitetail doe that he'd seen on stand. "I shot a big Shemawnee tonight"... He had a big influence in my life and hunting, I thought it was fitting.
Still no pictures...! Come on! Throw me a bone please!!!!!!
At this point, I still had not paid the bow off, so I wasn't wanting to be pushy asking for pictures or any information of the bow.
Side Story Alert:
Now we are 2 weeks out from Christmas. My brother-in-law falls in love with a stock bow on Bob Lee's site. His mom decides that it would be a great Christmas present for him. So she has me coordinate with JJ to have the bow purchased and sent to her house. Little did I know, 6 weeks prior she had my wife call JJ and pay off my Ultimate too!!!
JJ and Rob were in on the secret, and since I let them run with all the accents and overlays, they weren't dishing me pictures like they typically would to make the suprise that much greater! I couldn't picture what my bow looked like at all. Those dirty dogs!!!
Christmas morning, Travis and I are sitting watching everyone opening their gifts. I am anxiously awaiting Trav's turn because I know how much he is going to lose his mind... little did I know...
Two presents are pulled out from behind the couch... Identical shape and size boxes... One handed to me, one handed to Trav. "Open them together" my mother-in-law says..
Wait... what?!?! What the heck is going on!!
I literally lost it. You would have swore Trav and I just received our Red Rider BB-Guns... Wait... These are 10x better than BB-Guns!!
We were hooting / hollering / Hugging / Jumping around / Tackling our mom....
We frantically assembled our new toys, and out the door we went. What a morning!!!
First Off, My Wife and Mother-In-Law are saints. I couldn't thank them enough for this dream come true... I am truly blessed.
Secondly, JJ and Rob... I can't say enough about what they pulled off. They truly embraced this build with excitement, and got heavily involved with my dream bow christmas suprise... They pulled the wool over my eyes and played it so cool during all my questions... They are Dirty Dogs!!!
To make it even better, I opened a Great Northern Quick Detach quiver from my wife at my house Christmas morning before heading over to my Mother-In-Laws for our gift exchange. But the bezzles were missing?!
"Dang-it! I can't use it this weekend" is what I was thinking.
She ordered it from Bob Lee directly, so you can imagine my confusion as to where the parts would be...
Well JJ took it a step further and pre-assembled the bezzles on my bow prior to shipping it!! It was set up and ready to hunt!!! Did I mention they are Dirty Dogs?!?!
Thanks for allowing me to ramble here guys... This was just so special that I had to share. I can't begin to describe how much of a top-shelf operation the guys at Bob Lee are running down there. Truly phenomenal on all accounts.
Here we go... Camo Cross-Cut Limbs... First ones to be built on Bob Lee Presses...!
The beautiful limb tips. They did a great job bringing the limb tips all together with the limb veneers:
Limb Logos:
Topic: The Ultimate Review... Bob Lee Ultimate that is! (Read 1513 times)
