Just got back from the Kalamazoo expo. Wow so much to see. I look forward to going every year . Great time to meet the venders. They are all such great people. Shot many bows that where all very nice. I ordered my third Northern Mist. I made a mistake and shot the new Ramer. Wow what a fantastick bow. I already have a whisper that I really like,smooth dead in the hand , and very smoooooth. Sooo I ordered a new Ramer. Now the wait. :campfire: Steve is a top notch guy very helpful and a master of his craft. Thanks to all the venders for there time . Many of them are sponsers on Tradgang. Anybody else spend to much money? :archer2:
Congrats on your new bow. I just got home myself. Picked up a really nice 1958 Bear Polar and a 4 bags of 100 full length feathers. I actually shot a couple of those Bearpaw bows. I was very impressed. Very smooth and pretty quick. Great time
Went to the expo Friday night. Bought a Asbell wool haversack,shooting glove and a case for my longbow. Re-upped for another year to Michigan Tradional Bowhunters. Shot a few bows and visited with a lot of fine gentlemen that I have met over the years at shoots,rabbit hunts and the traditional league that I shoot in. Good Times :thumbsup:
I just finished my 28 hr turn around trip. Great time. I was hoping to whittle down some bow choices. I did, I liked three of them. A widow PCH, stalker wolverine and a zipper with z4 limbs. I have to start a pro and con list and place a order.
Wait you say you went to a great trad. show but I don't see any pics. :-) Thats not fair oh by the way good for you.
Hey Donald. Those Ramer's are real shooters, aren't they. I dropped my Classic off to Steve, Friday night for a weight reduction and the first thing he did was put a 66"49#@28 Ramer in my hand and said take a few shots. Good grief! One of the sweetest bows I've ever shot. You made a good choice.
Yep my buddy his son and I went today, it was a great time! My buddies son took 1st place in the 15/17 year old class with his Stalker Coyote. Then he went to South's booth had South sign his bow took a few pictures and added it to his web site I believe. He was really excited and is a great shoot! I bought a new selway strap on quiver, a new tab a great northern coffee cup and some other stuff. I also had the pleasure of meeting bowcrazybrad it's really nice to put a face with a name. As always we had a great time.
Steve Jr
Thanks to all of the vendors that made the trip!! Great people and awesome products
Hey Vesty, Steve is a great guy and he did me a faver by putting a Ramer in my hands. I just didn't want to put it down. The nicest smooooothest bow I have ever shot. Can't wait to get it . :bigsmyl:
I just got home, what a great Expo!
The first year I went to the Expo , it cost me over $1000.00 to get out the door .
This year was less than $200.00 .
I must be getting better at it . :rolleyes: :archer:
I always enjoy the show when I can attend. It was a pleasure to meet South at Stalker. I already own one of his older wolverines, but his new static recurve and slimmer risers shot amazing and are an improvement over previous models. Both the coyote, and wolverine that I shot were exceptional. His grips are also among the very best that I have ever shot! And that is saying something.
And as always, the Javaman collection is worth mentioning. This year, I shot Gregg's recurve models. I continue to be impressed by his bows! Everything about them screamed "shoot me" and quality. If I had the money, I would own one of each of Greggs models because they are all so unique, beautiful, and shootable.
But again, I'd have to give my vote to best of show to Hill Country Bows! Roman's bows continue to wow this discriminating archer in every way. While there were some bows that excelled in one category or another, the Hill Country line up remains the standard that all others are compared to. There are no areas where these bows fall short, and their price is a bargain considering the quality and shootabilty that Roman builds into each of his bows. If you have never shot a Hill Country Bow, you have no idea what you are missing!
I had a great time at the show as usual, Steve Ramer was the first bow I shot, and the last one I shot before I left. And as said above a super great shooter! Unfortunately I go side swiped when I stopped at Java Mans booth and shot a 56" Elkheart he had there 42# @ 28"....it's now hanging on my bow rack. My oldest daughter came home with a really nice St. Joe longbow, also great people to deal with. Stopped by the PBS booth and talked with Mike Vines and signed up for a membership, and a chance for those Motor City Machettes he made. I tried to shoot as many bows as I could before I left and still didn't get to them all, but there is always next year. A great big thanks to all the people who make this show happen every year, and to all the vendors who brave our ever changing Michigan weather.
The lucky winner of the Patriot arrows went to Mr. Bill Dunn of Zipper Bows.
(http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab28/miklvines/829B88BF-3687-4F94-9143-9BA0CEDDBDEA.jpg) (http://s846.photobucket.com/user/miklvines/media/829B88BF-3687-4F94-9143-9BA0CEDDBDEA.jpg.html)
Thank you all for stopping by and talking hunting with us.
I'm seeing a possible bias here for the arrows Mike! Wish i could grow a sweet beard and be part of the club!!
Congrats to Bill on winning those Patriot arrows!! They'll look good flying out of one of those Zippers!!!
The expo was absolutely fantastic! Had a ton of fun testing out bows, but even more fun watching my dad shoot. Was nice to see him enjoying them instead of criticizing them. Of all the bows there, I kept coming back to a 45 pound Black Widow longbow. It felt super natural and I ended up breaking a nock with it. To bad my budget is so tight. :D I ended up making it out pretty cheap: a dozen GT nocks and a shooting glove for my brother.
The 3D shoot was a ton of fun. I ended up shooting with a guy who came all the way from the Netherlands just to go to this expo. It was interesting talking to him. I ended up shooting a 217, but only had one miss so I was pretty happy.
I'll definitely be back again next year!
I didn't make it out without ordering a Black Widow. I kept shooting a lot of their PSA and PMA models. I kept going back to the PMA, so I ordered one! The show was great and had a lot of fun.
I had no idea that I needed a blacktail recurve until I saw that Sierra Verde maple burl that they had at the show. Now I just need to save the cash.
I really enjoyed the Expo this year. So many good friends to visit with. I especially got a kick helping a buddy locate a first hunting bow for his young son. This is my favorite event of the year.
WOOHOO!! I was lucky to get some incredibly nice new arrows. It could not have come at a better time either. I'll be trying to put them to good use in GA this week.
Ryan, A beard is a blessing and a curse.Chicks dig it and sometimes it gets old trying to keep them all fought off. You know the old saying with great power comes great responsibility. :D
Maybe this is a dumb idea, but that's what most of my ideas are.
This weekend was also the weekend of the big Huntin' Time expo in Grand Rapids, which I was able to stop at and walk around on my way to Kalamazoo. As I walked around, there were probably 12 different vendors selling crossbows and lots of others selling compounds. There was nobody to represent the traditional side of bowhunting.
I know that it might be difficult, but what if the Kalamazoo expo was bumped a week one way or the other? Then some of the vendors could just stay a week and hit both expos. It would expose traditional archery to a lot more people. The Grand Rapids expo was packed, so it would be a great way to reach a lot of people.
Like I said, it's just an idea. I know that it would probably be difficult to do.
We had the best show there ever! Great crowd and saw lots of great folks. We loved it and appreciate all the work that goes into making such an event happen. Great job Bob and crew!
Many many Thanks to Bob for all the hard work he and his crew put into this show.
We had a great show and got to meet lots of great people and see some old friends! Thank you to everyone who came out!
Trenton, or Hunting Time expo could change their's.
QuoteOriginally posted by The Whittler:
Trenton, or Hunting Time expo could change their's.
Yes, either or would work. Like I said, probably just a dumb idea :knothead:
My wife and I had a great time coming out and chatting it up with all of the people that stopped by the booth. I loved being able to visit with the other vendors before the show opened also. It's not often I get to rub elbows with a bunch of other bowyers. I'm continually impressed with the level of design and craftsmanship that comes out of our industry. A lot of beautiful bows under one roof! If you missed the show, you missed out!
My dad and I went Saturday. I shot a few very nice bows, and all the vendors I talked to were great! I wish I had enough money laying around to buy all the bows I tried out, but I ended up coming back with a Slick Stick from Bear Paw. It's fast and quiet. Now I know what people mean about shorter bows being a little more fussy about your form, but I've been shooting it well. Fortunately my dad had some extra arrows laying around that match it pretty well. I'm loving it!
QuoteOriginally posted by Bivyhunter:
My wife and I had a great time coming out and chatting it up with all of the people that stopped by the booth. I loved being able to visit with the other vendors before the show opened also. It's not often I get to rub elbows with a bunch of other bowyers. I'm continually impressed with the level of design and craftsmanship that comes out of our industry. A lot of beautiful bows under one roof! If you missed the show, you missed out!
Golden age of bow making is right now. There are some 'classic' bows of yesteryear out there, but what's being put out now is incredible.
What a great weekend, the weather was great for Michigan. A great crowd right from the start on Friday. Was so good seeing so many great friends wish there had been more time to visit. Thank you for all that did stop by our booth to shoot and purchase bows.
First time there for Farr West Leather, great time, looong trip! It was great to see some old friends, and meet new ones!
Thanks,