Traditional Archery - A Family Pastime

About a year and a half ago I decided to make a longbow out of a piece of black locust I'd been saving for years. I tillered it at 50 lbs, but after 3 months it began to develop a hinge, so I retillered it to 35 lbs and gave it to my wife. Shortly after making the bow, I took my 7-year-old son Conner stump shooting. Here are a few pictures from that day.

I have since upgraded to a very nice 60 lb Turkey Creek longbow, but still have plans to hand-craft another bow out of hickory, bamboo, and epay. I just have to find the time somewhere between forging knives and arborist work. Here are some detail pics of the locust bow that Lydia snapped today. The riser is black walnut.

Building the bow was a great idea because it led to archery becoming a family pastime. My teenage son Jacob purchased 45 lb Bear Montana last year, and Conner got a 40 lb Greatree recurve for Christmas. Bonnie shoots too when she's here, and we even got cousin Sarah out shooting over the holidays.

Conner modeled the locust bow with his EMc knife that he got for his birthday in December. He's grown a lot in the past year and definitely needed an upgrade from his beginner bow.

Lydia and I built a new target over the holidays, and we've had a lot of fun practicing. She's a good shot and beats me more than I'd like to admit. Putting together a new deer stand for fall hunting season is next on the list.

Well, back to the forge.

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