No it's not a refreshing tropical drink ;)
The bow started out as a stave gifted to me by my buddy Manny Padroni in HI a couple years ago. I think it was probably wishing for HI yesterday evening, it was -3º when we got back to the truck ;)
Now I'm a little better at swinging a big hammer at hot steel than peeling thin little curls of wood off a delicate longbow but with patience and advice from friends I finally got a bow whittled out of the stave. There were a couple of defects in the back so I was pretty conservative and she wound up 65" knk and 45#@27". Not being real satified with the way any of my wood arrows flew I tried, (you purist may not want to read this) one of my AD carbon arrows with a bunch of weight up front, (total 700ish grains) it flew fantastic and hit like a ton of bricks considering.
I was hunting a late season doe only hunt with friends Walt Francis, Dave Johnson and Hunter Rung, (hope I spelled that right Hunter), at one of Walt's hot spots. Thanks again Walt! Dave and I were only 40 yards or so apart and when I shot my doe three or four others ran straight to his tree and he was able to make it a double by sending an arrow thru the lungs of a second one. The two does traveled 40 or 50 yards and died not 10 yards apart. How cool is that!! Dave was shooting his Widow longbow, maybe he'll chime in here and fill in the specs.
Guava selfbow, AD Trad shaft, 160 Griz up front, the 20 yard shot stopped in the opposite shoulder ruining the heart on the way thru.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/gotahunt/0161.jpg)
That is so cool!
Can that be improved upon?
I don't think so.
Wow, Isn't that cool!! Congrats Buddy, bet you're ready for some TX warmth :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Wow Doug, that's alright. Give you a personal congrats in a few weeks. :thumbsup:
:bigsmyl: :thumbsup:
Great Job :thumbsup: Congrats to the both of you.
That's cool bowhunting alright, grin..
Congrats to both of you, a fine hunt, indeed.
Nice job Doug!! Never doubted it the entire time at the game last night. Was looking forward to that pic..Awsome!!!.. :clapper:
Very nice Doug :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
:bigsmyl:
Doug, Sounds like a great time with friends.
I have made one bow with guava from Manny and have another "snakey" stave that I am slow to tackle. Guava makes an excellent bow and Manny sure knows how to work it. Looks like you did a fine job with your guava bow and the shot...even if it was with a carbon arrow! d;^) Pat
Nothin wrong with that!!
Well done sirs!
I have a grove of wild mature guava trees within 100 yards of my camp. Hmmmm...
:campfire:
Congrats :thumbsup:
DonD, be sure it is strawberry guava. I'm not sure the other(s) are as good for bow wood as the strawberry. Pat
Oh man! Sorry I've had to miss the late hunts this year....way to get it done, both you and Dave! Fun stuff. Congrats guys!
:thumbsup:
Double Kool :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Way to go Doug! Remember, carbon is just VERY old wood. Nice bow and shooting.
Congrats Doug! Great job on the bow.
I had to laugh cause I didn't know that I had hundreds of potential bows growing next to the house! A Big Thumbs Up on a fine animal.
Aloha,
Mark
Congrats!! I have a mulberry tree in the back yard that has a nice straight trunk just crying to be made into a bow.
Wow, thanks alot everybody, most of the credit for the deer has to go to Walt. Heck he did all the work and his generosity in sharing his spots and helping folks out it unmatched! Thanks again Walt!
Got one big correction to make, I didn't think it felt near as cold as my truck said... turns out it got changed to Celsius so that -3 was really like 20something in Fahrenheit. Boy do I feel dumb...
:smileystooges:
Doug - it is good to here from ya and about. think about what your upto everytime I use my knife :)
rusty
Cool!! Nothing like a selfbow hunt and success. Now we got work on your arrow selection but if it flys right shoot it.
Congrats!!
Mike
Will try to confirm the type of Guava, Pat. All I know is they taste good.
Doug being a native of SoCal, is there really any deference between -3 & 20 degrees LOL
Way to go, that is too cool ( no pun intended )
By the way, it's 78 right now
I don't know anything about strawberry guava as a bow wood. But I do know that if I'm hiking up the mountains in Molokai after axis deer and the guavas are ripe,they have kept me going when I would have run out of gas without them. (Pigs love 'em too.) Don
Glad to see Doug back on here. Congrats! :clapper:
:thumbsup:
Glad that knife is still working for you Rusty, does it still reach the bottom of the peanut butter jar ;)
Yea Dave, I called my buddy Jerry in HI on the way home and he allowed as it was 74º over there...
Yep Don, all those pigs can't be wrong ;) Wish I was back on Molokai myself bout now.
Thanks Sky, great job in TX!
I spent six months backpacking the Hawaiian islands, and if there was one thing you could count on if you were hungry and in the jungle, and that was finding a strawberry guava tree bursting with ripe fruit! :D
They were fantastic, but you'd soon be "bursting" yourself for their highly laxative quality! :scared: :eek:
Nice to know there's OTHER uses for that pesky (it's non-native and quite taking over) tree!
:archer:
Great job on the does too! Meat in the freezer!!!
Congrats Doug! Now you got to bring it back over her and try it on pigs :)
I called Manny and told him the good news.....he said to tell you :clapper: and then told me he's finishing up a 90# guava English Longbow. Says he will be using the trade points you gave him on the arrows he makes for it.
Hope to visit when that funny white stuff on the ground is gone.
Looking at that snow one can appreciate how far away from home that guava stick has wandered. Congratulations to you, Dave, and Manny for a really special hunt.
Just heard about this from Manny, Doug - He is really pumped about one of his "Baby" Guava staves making meat in the hi snow country for a friend - and I don't blame him. Good going on the bow and great job for you and your friend on the two doe. :thumbsup: