I visited with John Schulz once again during my annual trip to Montana to see my family. Its always good to see old friends and in this case, one of my favorite people, an icon in archery history and one of our true master pioneers in bow building. I'm happy to say John is still in good health, works out at the gym regularly and looks and feels very well for his age.
As many of you know, John retired as a bowyer quite a few years ago, so his bows are very collectible. During the course of our conversation, I asked John if he would ever build any bows again. In fact, I all but challenged him by asking him if he thought he still had the "master's touch" to turn out a few final bows. I was apprehensive at first, as I'd heard top quality bamboo is very hard to find these days and other material costs have risen sharply.
I told him I thought he still has what it takes to make and offer for sale a few "last bows" as collectible investments. Let's face it, as the clock ticks off the calendar years, very few of our pioneer bowyers remain.
I'm please to announce that John has risen to the challenge. He told me has has a very limited supply of the finest bamboo he has ever seen. He said he also has some of the most beautifully figured myrtle wood he ever bought. I couldn't help but ask myself why not use it!
The good news is that John has decided to build his very last twelve bows. Each will be carefully handcrafted and finished to become the last of the best he has ever produced. These will NOT be custom made, except for the fact that some will be offered in left handed models. These final twelve John Schulz longbows will be investment quality, signed and numbered, each with a letter of authenticity. Most will be listed and offered completely finished by way of auction. More information will be posted on his website within two weeks or so. Contact John via his website or you can contact me at
[email protected] if you need to. Thanks.