Made a 20lbs @20 inches recurve bow out of scrap wood and mancave junk

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GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
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26
1
hahaha i cant wait to see holed walls and doors!

there are plenty already my friend hahaha nowt a bit of filler and a splash of paint can't fix, can't let things like potential mess spoil the fun
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
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Looks good, nice job and very satisfying I bet.
I used to do a bit of target archery a few years ago, and if I remember rightly you need a bow with about 40lbs pull to shoot a target at 100 yards with any consistency.
The arrow length is different and depends on your reach, with the bow held at arms length the draw is to your chin, the arrow needs to be 1 to 1.5 inches longer than that for safety reasons.
Lower poundage bows are good for shorter distances, and indoor shooting during winter months is usually done at 20 yards.

lots and lots of fun but i was definitely surprised it came out so well, i knew the carving bit would be fine but kinda thought i might pull the whole thing apart first arrow, so everyone after that has been a right buzz.

I am only shooting 7 meters and the idea i had in mind was making a field hunting style bow that you would sit silenty stalking a rabbit run with, i don't even think i could draw a bow above 30lbs @ 30 inch for long without suffering, will have to work my way up, lots of new muscles i never knew i had shouting at me right now
 

Nomad64

Full Member
Nov 21, 2015
1,072
593
UK
I'm not sure how i'd deal with being on the tele but i reckon I could go for it as long as I could be myself and they didn't try to use me to sell pocket knives and survival tat

With all the "celebrity" nonsense on the telly these days (I moved house 3 months ago and have yet to connect the aerial but do watch the odd thing on iplayer) there would certainly be a gap in the market but I fear that subtitles or a translator might be needed to break into the US market! ;)
 

Sieddy

Full Member
Nov 12, 2016
272
70
Oxford uk
Great yarn and great bow mate. I bet you'll have loads of fun with that, it must have been so satisfying to see that arrow shoot off the first time!
You should share this story on primitivearcher.com the guys over there would love this! :cool:
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Wow!! That's amazing!!!
Just bloody awesome man!👍👍

That bow looks amazing bud!

Fair play mate!!! From scrap materials as well???!!!!😱

I would have loved to see that look on your face when the arrow went straight through....

😵😆

Excellent mate, you've just inspired me to have a go at some point!!!

Look forward to seeing more of this bow and how you evolve as an archer!!!


All the best mate!
👍👍
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
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Cheers folks I appreciate the feedback, the mad part is i do weird things like this all the time and never ever thought to share, it is just the type of thing i do to get through being stuck in the city it was only the look of sheer madness and disbelief on my brothers face that i thought other crazy people might enjoy this too.

I am having trouble with my video editing software and i am having to learn a new one, so i am doing lots of little vids to geta feel for it, 3 are on the instagram so far shooting the bow, you can really see how powerful it is.

Not quite sure i am ready to be scrutinised by people with archery passions so i might just ghost that primitive archery place for now :D just like i ghosted here for about year before joining
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
With all the "celebrity" nonsense on the telly these days (I moved house 3 months ago and have yet to connect the aerial but do watch the odd thing on iplayer) there would certainly be a gap in the market but I fear that subtitles or a translator might be needed to break into the US market! ;)

Yeah i have that thought too, this is why i write subtitles for all of my videos where i speak and they are published live with each video, i'm reaching out to share with the world it makes sense to me to reach with both hands kind of thing, funny thing is my biggest viewer figures are from USA, Mexico and Philippians, my Beef stew video is 70% all total views in Mexico, i have no idea why
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
My salute to your ingenuity, sir. That bow has the potential to put meat over your fire.
Stand hunting (ambush) must have been a very productive paleolithic method.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
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Thanks mate i've always been one of those folks who just likes to have a go at things after having a good think about how much i would like to have a go at said thing, you can not underestimate the learning and experiences gained from doing things wrong a few times to learn yourself how to get it right or get it to work, i wanted to approach archery this way before learning what others have learnt and passed on, I am not finished the self learning as I totally believe i have the wood working skillset needed to make a one piece flat bow, long bow and recurve bow, I just need the appropriate wood, i am already eyeing and taking note of possible trees to harvest a stave from next winter when the sap is low to store it season it and eventually make a bow from, I will have various goes at these all just for my own fun and entertainment and then at some point i will learn how other people make bows and merge the knowledge into some sort of understanding of bow making

I've had some editing problems and had to start using a new software, making little clips to get a hang of it for now and i loaded 3 onto Instagram


https://www.instagram.com/p/BSDHX0BDrb0/


https://www.instagram.com/p/BSDBETIjZax/


https://www.instagram.com/p/BSDINxkjbMb/


Real video's coming soon this is basically just to show folks it working and a bit of humour
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Only experience can teach you which questions to ask.

A common bow wood used in western Canada was any one of several species of ash (Fraxinus sp.). The wood anatomy is ring-porous.
In the proper orientation, the fiber layers then act as a leaf-spring does. My brother participated in a group of bowyers.
They engaged the services of a bunch of flint knappers for points. Considerable ceremony with each deer killed.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
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Wish we could legally bow hunt here but it is a major no, no weapon that fires any arrow, bolt, quarrel or dart can be used for hunting in UK no matter what it is or what it fires.

I reckon stand hunting would be very productive, many times i practice not moving at all not even my eyes when alone in the wild and twice so far animals have entered my space to explore what they thought was a human free area and got 7 colours of crap scared out of them and me in shock, both times members of the deer family, one time i had actually been sitting motionless looking down at the floor watching a male bumblebee build his home in a hole in the floor near my feet, i had sat there so long not moving before he came that he eventually decided he has stuff to do and came right in, as he was hovering just above the ground little dust motes were kicking up just below him like he was a microscopic Chinook helicopter, totally fascinated i watched him for what felt like hours in and out of his little hole in the ground and then there was a massive commotion of noise right off to my left and i turned in shock to see a male, a female and a kid white tail deer bust out of the bushes line on the edge of my camp, my turning shock reaction scared them as they thought i was not there and they scattered, if i had been sitting there with a bow with intent and (legal allowance) they were within 3 meters of me 3 easy targets for dinner
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
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McBride, BC
Bowhunters here in BC used to get their own head start big game hunting season, about 2 weeks, as I recall.
After that, they have to mix it up with the rest of us, even for birds.
We just need a regular license to go bow-fishing. Judging the refractive index is far harder to judge than it appears.

Might the UK ban have a lot to do with poaching? Only affects the honest people.

I learned to sit still when fishing. All kinds of commotion in the approach then nothing. Nada. I learned to sit still
for 10 minutes. Eyes only, like you. It is amazing how the environment opens up.
I can't imagine trying to hold a bow at full draw, motionless, waiting for game to come closer.

I'm very fond of bumblebees as they appear to be the significant pollinators of all of my grape vines.
Frantically busy, spiralling around each flower cluster.
The poor little buggers seem to see nothing on the approach to my mesh fences (2" squares).
From less than 6" away they become aware and must believe it's a solid wall.
So most fly upwards and go over the 6' top! The odd one stumbles through the fence.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
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I couldn't sit with a bow drawn for even 30 seconds, i knock-draw-looe in a rhythm it seems, so i would sit with the arroiw knocked and ready to draw i imagine, all just bloody daydreams over here for that area of it.

Apparently the arrow/quarrel ban has to do with it being inhumane and the animals often getting away injured to die a slow painful death, most poachers i have known in my life have went down the portable snare root, basically a snare on a long stake that acts as the twitch up power lever too (totally ilegal here in UK but hey so is poaching), set after dark and retrieved before dawn, the people i knew who poached in Northumberland when i lived there when i was younger used to favour finding the rabbit warren and mesh net bagging each active looking hole and then sticking a ferret or polecat down the only free hole and give it ten mins and you had bags full of rabbits, well unless the ferret got backed in and decide to eat it's way out, then it was leave yer ferret time or get digging before dawn
 

mrcharly

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 25, 2011
3,257
44
North Yorkshire, UK
Animals 'know' when they are being looked at. In my experience of hunting, the art of not being noticed isn't about being motionless, it is about being 'harmless'. Focus on an animal and freeze and they get wary. Watch them in your peripheral vision, let your attention expand to everything, be 'gentle' in your presence and they will tolerate you being there. You can even then slowly draw your bow, gradually come to aim at them, and only at the last second focus your attention on them.

I learned this because I was a lousy shot and the only way I could successfully hunt was by getting very close.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
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I totally agree @mrcharly my best animal encounter was again from the deer family a large stag, i was in Chopwell woods mid autumn hunting for all kinds of fungi and it was amazing, the floor of the forest was carpeted, so me and my brother were mesmerized walking in slow circles in a half stoop to full stoop examining and recording and taking photo's and collecting any premium edibles or curiosities to take home and try and discover what they were, we were totally gone lost in the world of mushrooms i have no idea how long, i straightened up for the first time in ages and looked square into the face of a stag who was also enjoying the fungi, i could have taken a step and touched it's face, i instantly looked back to the fungi trying to act just like i had been totally realising why it had happened and i whispered to my brother to look up, he did they made eye contact and the stag took 2 good leaps and was gone from sight.

We have hunter predator eyes that face forward and reflect light directly at anything we look at , prey animals have this signal encoded in their genetic cell memory as major danger, so looking for the animals is a sure way to ensure they see the light reflecting off your eyes long before you see them by looking directly for them, this is why when they teach fox walking skills to approach wild animals you are always looking at the floor using your peripheral sight and moving slowly towards the critters seemingly without purpose, i am great at the not looking bit but i walk like a rhino in hobnail boots
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Don't lift your arms. In any mirror, we appear to be the front view of an ungulate, etc.
Lifting your arms, you are rearing up into a fighting posture all of a sudden.

In the autumn, as the rut approaches, bull moose are full of fight and poisoned by love.
Walk down some isolated logging road and have a bull moose, hidden in the brush, snort at you in the prelude to a charge.
Probably unhealthy to stop walking.
Get your gun loaded, safety off. Stop. Get ready. Kick the bushes a few times. And face reality.
I'm not quite that stupid. Close but not quite.
 

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