What bows would you recommend for bows to have. I plan to have RER and Black Widow make me customs but what others.
Check out the Classifieds here.
and start collecting
I am up to 17 bows.
Gosh, that's a loaded question!
Many of us are like TexMex and cannot stop at one or two. As far as having custom bows made for you, I would limit that to special or rare editions since most examples of custom bows end up in the various classified sections or on the auction sites. I have had good luck finding exactly what I want and at used bow prices. You will find your interests will vary and want to try other models.
Of course, the older Bear bows are the most popular collectible and sometimes bring unrealistic prices. Others collect Howatts or Wing or Shakespeare or....
Collecting, buying, selling and trading is just another aspect of trad archery that can be almost as fun as shooting them.
That didn't take long :biglaugh:
The only reason I'm a one bow man is my wife. She wants to spend money on stuff like remodeling the house, traveling to Africa, mounting her trophies.
Morrison bows are great. He makes longbows and recurves and has some interesting ideas on new designs.
The older Bear bows are lots of fun. I've had a few of those but sold them to finance my Morrison Cheyenne.
Peruse the classified and make some deals.
You going to be coming down my way over the holidays?
And the sickness begins!
You need to speak with the Rowan brothers.
Danny Rowan,.. better known as, it's Wednesday I need a new bow Rowan.
Donald (Nakohe)Rowan,.. I think that looks nice I'll buy it(well I haven't bought one since... what day is it) Rowan.
Seriously it is a bunch of fun and Morrison is a good one to pick up I own a couple.
i second that on the rowan boys. LOL!!!!! :biglaugh: :jumper: :jumper: and its all fun they love it.i just wish i could do it mind you i have 4 bows at the moment.
Not during the holidays BTH. Wife wants to stay home. The reason I started this thread is because I talked to my wife and she thought it would be good for me to be able to have a collection. And yes, she knows how much these bows goes for :pray: :jumper:
I want Ghostman's Chyanne but pockets are dry at this time :(
Well, if your wife thinks it's a good idea. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
hard to have a representative collection with out a Howard Hill longbow. You could probably spend a lifetime just collecting Bears, though.
I want to have a few Bears but I want a collection of bows that are very good shooting from some of the smaller names. Yes I will have a Howard Hill one day :D
Did I hear you say your wife thinks its a good idea? :saywhat:
HELLO, my name is Jack. I am a recurve-a-holic.
At the present time, I have over 80 bows hanging on my wall. Now, by collectors standards, mine is a small collection.
The best advice I can give you about collecting bows is... "DON'T DO IT" :knothead:
The surgeon General has determined that traditional archery collecting is dangerous to your financial health. "NUF SED"
Collecting is an interest and a hobby unto itself. As far as "what to collect" that is very personal, and you collect what "YOU" like. Don't spend money on a high dollarr custom bow because you think it will impress someone else. They may like different things than you do.
I like the recurves from the '60's. Mainly because when I was a teenager, I could not afford the bows that I drooled over reading Archery Magazine. Over the past ten years, I have managed to pick up a lot of my favorites. Your best source is he auction site that we must not name, pawn shops, estate and garage sales, tempered with a lot of patience.
My wife walked into my shop one day, looked at my wall full of bows and asked "how many bows can you shoot at one time?" My answer, "about as many pairs of shoes as you can wear at one time, Ms Emelda". She never asked again.
Collecting can be a very satisfying hobby; but you have to be careful. Before you know it you can have a lot invested in the collection, and in most cases, you may never recoup your investment. You pay what it is worth to you to get a bow, but that does not mean that there will be someone out thhere that is willing to pay that much when you decide to sell it. Do not do it as an investment, do it because you enjoy it.
I have bows that I paid $1,000.00 for, down to bows that I have a total investment of $20.00. I have it arranged with another collector that in the event of my going to the "Happy Hunting Ground", he will dispose of my collection. The alternative would be for my widow to have an estate sale and she may get about 5% of what my collection is worth, if she is lucky. That is why I say Estate sales are a great source. They have no idea of the value of a collectible bow. It is just a piece of sports equipment that Daddy had in the attic.
It is an enjoyment for me. Ease into it slowley, and proceed cautiously, and you should be OK.
The main thing is, enjoy it.
Jack is correct, do not do it unless ya have lots of money. I myself have owned over 100 bows in the last 7-8 years. I have bought very few and traded for most. The most I have had at one time is 15 or so. I now own only 5 bows. A Ben Pearson, Widow PTF11, RER Arroyo, Bear Kodiak Mag and an old York. Shawn
What Jack said.Collecting is a disease that strikes quickly and silently.I woke up one day and found 38 bows in my workshop.
there is no cure.(I don't think I want to be cured).
KPaul
I'll try my best to keep cost minimal and try to collect only bows that I see that I must have. This collection is to be passed on to my children and so on.
There are a lot of makers that I would love to have make me a bow.So, maybe my collection will be mostly from the small guy :) I would love to have bows that the bower places my name on the bow so that my children knows that the bow was hand made for me.
That sounds like a lot of money :rolleyes:
Collect Selfbows....there are no two alike, and there are some incredible artisans out there.
Look around and see if you can get one by Ferret, John S., Eric K.....ect...
STICK HUNTER WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD YOUR 2 CENTS?????????????????????
It is a sickness.
I seem to love Widows, Hoyt and Sky bows.
Cannot get enough.
JDS III
Beetle Guy. Kiss your wife because she is a rare member of that gender and be thankful for what you have. Good luck with the collection and I hope to see some pics as you purchase them. Dave from Nova Scotia, Canada
I started out very simple collecting Damon Howatt Hi-speeds now I have 31 bows hanging on the wall with 15 recurves, including 6 customs and 16 custom LB's that include 2 Pronghorns, 2 Great Plains, Shrew, RER, Bighorn, Raptor, Blackhawk, Thunderhorn, Tomahawk, Stewart "Slammer", Liberty, a couple Self bows, and the Griffin that just came in yesterday. It does mount up, as it took several RF/DF LB's to find just the "RIGHT ONE". [ At least that's the story I keep giving to the "Better Half".] Getting Closer!!! Good luck.
quote:
Originally posted by BEETLE GUY:
The reason I started this thread is because I talked to my wife and she thought it would be good for me to be able to have a collection. And yes, she knows how much these bows goes for :saywhat:
I do strongly urge those who have the means to buy NEW custom bows. This acomplishes two major aspects of trad bow collecting, it keeps the bowyers in business and it helps to supply the TG classifieds!
Have fun and Merry Christmas!
Oops! Must've been post happy!
Welcome to the dark side.... :help:
David
I got the bug while buying my grandson a bow for this Christmas. I had, earlier this year decided to get back into traditional archery for hunting, in part because I remember how much I enjoyed it when I started in high school (1960, or thereabouts). I was so pleased when I had finally saved enough to buy a Bear Grizzly, which I still have. Another reason was the incredible complexity of modern compounds.
After I bought matching bows for my grandson and son (PSE Takedowns), I started looking on **** (seems like a dirty word here - I did not use asterisks in my post), and discovered hundreds of recurves for sale. I decided to collect Bear bows, not because they are necessarily the best available, but because of the man, and my early association with his bows. I now have 15 and counting. Trying to get an excellent example of all the one piece recurves he made. In addition, I now have a new sample of the current models. I may have paid too much in some cases, and too little in others, but it sure is fun.
Gerry
I want to put my two cents worth on this.
Its great to collect bows; they do not make the old bear and other bows anymore; so to collect them makes logical sense.
However if it is your intent to find the most hard to find bows; the antiques of the world; the artifacts of the past; the works of art; the symbols of our heritage; the remaining laminations of history- and then take them out and shoot them - and take the chance of them breaking- well
:scared:
There. I said it. I feel so much better now :jumper:
WHOOAA!! PAUL!!
I had no idea that you got so involved so quick. Seems like yesterday the I sent you an old Ben Pearson to see if you liked Traditional. At the end of your trying it out I had the impression that it was not for you. Then I see you poping up out of the blue, and now I find you are into some serious collecting.
It's kind like someone that has never used drugs, takes a hit of something just once, next thing you know he is a "Crack Addict".
Collecting is a fast addiction and a hard one to kick. Real Monkey on your back.
BRIAN
It all depends on what "YOU" like in colleting. as I said before. Don't colelct to impress others, collect to impress yourself.
You are a luckey man to have stumbled upon a grumley". Like you, I would never shoot it. However, if some one collects Grumleys, and their interest is to shoot them, I consider that their business. I like the bows fromt he '60's, but my shooters are the later model Jack Howard bows. Personal choice.
As far as Widows go, some guys would die if they lost their widow. I've had them, and personally, I think they make great kindling. Just my personal opinion - for me.
On the other hand, to modify a phrase from Will Rogers, "I never met a recurve I didn't like"
Longbows? You can have them. But I know many guys that love them an feel that recurves are o waste of material. It all boils down to personal choice.
No matter what you have in your collection, or how many, or how much they cost, my collection is better. Why? Because it is mine.
I have made up my mind and counted to three.
:archer:
I believe a bow left unshot is a waste. (forgoing any known defects)
I rather have the experience of shooting it and hanging the pieces on my wall if it breaks then to just hang it all on the wall and wonder.
Just my 2cents.
I'm in this sport to shoot So, I will want functional bows and if someone wanted to give me a rare bird to hang, cool. But my money will be spent on those bows that still shoot :)
I did spend 12.50 on an Indian Archery '21 model. :p
I pcked up the recent copy of Traditional Bowhunter and there where a PILE of bows for sale in it. One add had 150 used bows of all sizes and prices. Might be worth checking out.
Sounds like it could be a good deal. I think I may try to go to some of the bowers, that are making bows, and start with them. This collection is for my children and there children. I would love to have bowers place my name on it so that the bows, when they passed down, myself and the bowers were the ones that started the history on it.
I am collecting shootable bows, and not just wall hangers. I am carefully trying them to be sure they are safely shootable, especially because several of them will end up as gifts to members of my family.
I did recently have a bad experience, however. Last year I took my 2 Bear bows that I had owned since the late 60s to an archery proshop for inspection and new strings. (One was a Kodiak Hunter and the other a grizzly) When I went to pick them up, he told me that both were fine. He had installed new strings and shot each a couple of times. When he turned to get them from the rack in his shop, he discovered that the Grizzly had fractured. He had left them strung on the rack for about a week before I went to get them. I have been shooting the Kodiak without problems.
You never know.
I've done work (ie repairs and or total restorations)on bouts every make model size and shape bow ever made.Compton,Art Young,aPope bow and several Grumleys to Glenn StCharles Bear Kodiak Spec.(he arrowed the moutian goat with and it later delaminated).Howard Hill originals built by Howard himself.I've owned and or shot about all models long bows and recurves,customs to the production models.I've lossed arrows from a StCharles baleen back and belly static tip to several different Grums,and some of the cheepest bows ever made.Even early aluminum lam Bears(they suck for shooters).But I have always liked them all,I never met a bow I did not like in one way or another.I archery,therefore I am............ I did not inhearit these bows from my father,I am just takeing care of them for my Childern...bowdoc
Just to slow yourself down a bit. Consider doing blanks from Howard Hill. when I am done with my all bamboo project i am going for a reverse handled Hill blank.