Got Two New OLD Bows

[islandpiper]

On Saturday i made a trade for some labor and ended up with two OLD bows. The longbow is lemonwood and may date back to the 30's or 40's. The recurve is a Shakespeare Wonderbow and shoots probably better than I can shoot it. If anyone can help me with a manufacture date for the recurve I'd appreciate it. Piper

 

[tx river rat]

That bow was out in the 70,s
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

The Shakespeare Wonder Bow is one heck of a nice bow.
I have had one since the early 60's ( ID # B2669 ) 50 pound draw weight. 1st time I used it hunting I got myself a deer with it over in the Witchlochee Wildlife Management Area.

Had a different ( make ) bow and a couple weeks before the hunt I was practicing with it and it broke ( upper limb started to separate) , went into Orlando and got the Shakespeare to replace it and have had it since then.

There are two other full recurves here that are in shooting condition besides the Shakespeare a Ben Pearson Hunter at #50 pounds draw weight and a Herters at #47 pounds draw weight both at 28 inches. I guess old hunters have old bows but I have given up hunting , especially around here , to many idiots in the woods.
Now days it is with a camera.

Chuck.
PS. You have to be an old hunter if you remember Herters. :wink:

 

[tx river rat]

The 70 marked the beginning of the compounds and the death of the recurves.
They got so cheap that I bought 4 new red wing hunters an excellent bow for 9.95 apiece.
Traditional bows are coming back in the last few years.
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

The 70 marked the beginning of the compounds and the death of the recurves.
They got so cheap that I bought 4 new red wing hunters an excellent bow for 9.95 apiece.
Traditional bows are coming back in the last few years.
Ron

"O" Lordy the Red Wings ......Drool.........

I saw one that was a really short one ( About 45 inches in length if memory serves me , might of been less in length but still at 50 pounds draw weight ) and wanted it so bad I could taste it for the tree stand hunting and slipping threw the thick brush. Been kicking my rear end since then for not getting it. That was one mistake I have made that I do regret but times were tight for me back then.

Made my spending cash off of the trap lines I was running in the swamps around here before school and after school ( Checked twice a day ) ..........We are taking the 60's folks , a gallon of gas was $ 25 cents at the best and that was with full service at the gas station. You pulled in and the attendant would fill your tank , pop the hood , check the oil and water in the radiator then even wash your windshield plus check your tire pressures and fill them if they were low.

At some stations they even give you a coffee cup or what ever the special of the day was at that particular station.

Those days are dead and gone.......... :twisted:

I can still see that Red Wing Hunter and I don't even have to close my eyes to remember the beauty of it , or the desire I had for it.

Chuck.

 

[islandpiper]

Sounds like you have a bad case of it Chuck. I don't have a REDWING, but i have a helluva red mark on my arm where i smacked it with the string and pinched it against the upper end of the arm guard. I may have said a bad word when it happened, but there were no witnesses.

No, I'd rather not post a picture of it.

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

Sounds like you have a bad case of it Chuck. I don't have a REDWING, but i have a helluva red mark on my arm where i smacked it with the string and pinched it against the upper end of the arm guard. I may have said a bad word when it happened, but there were no witnesses.

No, I'd rather not post a picture of it.

piper

Don't twist your wrist on the let off. Hold the bow to hard and there will be a twist to it with a death grip. :roll:

I like to let the bow pull against the crook of the one hand between the fingers and thumb with the fingers pointing forward and on let off then just have a finger or two move over to hold it from going anywhere. In plane language , hold it like you would with a certain two objects that are a part of your lower body...... Very Gentle.

 

[oldsparkey]

To clarify the above statement.........Not being a know it all since I am not one of them , just dumber then a bunch of mud bricks. :lol:

If you take your index finger and point at something you will be dead on at what you pointed at. It's just a fact of nature.

I used that to teach a lot of folks on how to shoot a pistol. I would have them point at something and then sight down there finger ( without moving it ) to see where it was pointing. Then it was with the index finger along side the handgun and not on the trigger to point at what they wanted to hit.
With some practice they were able to do the same with a handgun when firing it by using it as a surrogate index finger in the pointing process.

The pointing works with either hand so the one holding the bow will point at the target while the other hand draws the bow string back. Depending on the persons arm a arm guard is nice when in the proper position but with some practice it is not necessary unless a person has a long sleeve shirt on. :wink:

The obvious thing is the stance or the angle from the bow to the nock on the arrow in the bow string at full draw when the person is firing it. It can be really large or down to along the arm when turned loose.

Just a personal observation on my part and something that has worked for me along with some others.

 

[tx river rat]

I use to do a lot of coaching when I was active in bow tournaments and owned my archery pro shop..
A couple little tricks for shooting a bow.
Hitting your arm,there are two reasons for this ,being over bowed ,to much weight and you cave into the string
the second is not rolling your elbow out. Try this extend your arm have hand in the position you would hold your bow now try to roll your elbow out so you have more string clearance . you cant do it, now walk up hold the edge of a door with your hand in the same position as before, put a little weight against your hand now roll your elbow.,it will move just fine now. since this doesnt work unless you have pressure against your hand it is something we are not use to so you have to train yourself to roll that elbow out after you have pressure against your hand pulling the bow. It helps a lot
Grip of a bow should be relaxed not gripped tightly ,but you can not shoot open handed are catch the bow with finger movements, open handed you have to have a bow sling. Your mind will start anticipating the shot and grab the bow in that splity second before you rewlease disturbing your hold on the target.
The simplest way I have ever taught anyone to shoot a finger release ,is to not turn loose of the string ,just point the top finger at the target,the other two fingers will follow that top one and let the string go,if you try to open the hand you wind up plucking the string.
This is set in stoneeeeeeeeeeeeee
If you do the same thing every time ,no matter how bad the form you will hit in the same hole.
Ron