I recently acquired a Dan Quillion Canebreak. It is a fantastic bow! Is anyone making bows like Dans? Did he pass his business on to someone else? If he didnt then it is a shame. I swear this recurve is as quite as any longbow I have ever shot.(And I have had a lot of bows) It goes where you look! I just cant put it down! RIP Dan!
I had a Canebrake and it was a sweet bow,but I'm more partial to the Longhunter's,I still have a Bamboo Longhunter and a Red Elm Longhunter.I believe Dan's bows were built by Jeffery Archery.
I dont think he passed his business along. I have a Quillion Patriot and it is an awesome bow the most bullet proof bow I have ever seen. It is about 12 to 14 years old and has been through the mill and still shoots great, it is my go to bow when things get serious.
Its a dang shame that no one has picked up on making these bows... I would really like to find a back up. If any of you guys run across one please let me know!
Yes, Tom Jeffery is the builder of the Archery Traditions bows. Dan was the mind behind the design. If I'm not mistaken Mr.Jeffery buildt bows for Fred Bear back in the day. If you wont a bow designed like the old Bears look at a Preditor recurve. I had a Archery Trad.long hunter "WOW" what a bow. I still have a LH Canebrake 57 lb. This thing will shoot a carbon arrow like a bullet. It has a straight small low heel grip which I like. The Patriot recurve is a jewel if you can find one. I've only seen one in 20 yrs. You just have to keep looking and going to the Trad. shoots and swap meets.
Canebrake is a one piece recurve. Jeffery and Martin Archery built the majority of Archery Traditions bows. Jim Kenney bought the business from Dan and carried that bow line for years. He's still open! I spent many an hour in that shop shooting those bows. Dan is missed but not forgotten.
I bought a longbow from Dan about 10 years ago. He said if I had any questions about the bow to give him a call. I did, and he spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me.The only thing I remember was that it was the first time I heard anyone talk about the effect a thinner string could have on the performance of a bow. I think this one is a red elm longbow. It is about 69" long.
Gary
Anybody know how to get ahold of Jim Kenney? Do you think he would build this bow again? I am telling you boys, I have shot a lot of bows over the years and this one puts most of them to shame. What about Jeffery do you think they would build this bow? Thanks for the help.
Scott
For some reason I couldn't get good accuracy with a Canebrake, but the Patriot TD and Longhunter were perfect for me. My brother and my son loved their Canebrakes.
Jeffrey made the Bamboo Longhunter and the Patriot TD recurve. Martin made the Red Elm Longhunter, and I'm pretty sure Martin made the Canebrake, too. After Dan sold Archery Traditions, the new owners changed the bows and I lost interest in what they were doing. They didn't understand bow design like Dan did, and started making bows differently. Dan disdained what he called "cabinet-maker bows", made by folks who stressed looks over performance, or who just didn't understand how to design for performance. Dan's bows were never made for show, but they were beautiful to me because they performed beautifully!
Owen Jeffrey did build bows for Bear. Dan and Owen went way back, and although they didn't always see eye-to-eye on bow design, Jeffrey did make them to Dan's design. For instance, Jeffrey wouldn't use FF strings on their bows in those days, but Dan designed his tips for them. Dan also changed the orientation of the limbs to the riser slightly, to get more power from the bow with the FF strings.
Dan also altered the shelf design in the last couple of years, and the last Patriots and Longhunters that he sold had the shelf reduced for better arrow clearance under hunting conditions, when form may not be perfect. I still remember clearly the day in the Superceder plant when Dan took MY bow to the belt sander and sanded off most of the shelf, so that the arrow was supported only by a small rest on the back side, and the rest of the shelf tapered off to the belly side. It allowed better arrow flight when the release was sloppy, and also allowed a wider range of spines to shoot well. After our test work, he had his production bows made that way. He went so far as to actually extend the rest on his personal bow so that it projected past the back by building it out with putty. It worked beautifully, but it looked so strange that he didn't try it on the commercial bows.
The new owners of Archery Traditions didn't like the look of the cutaway shelves, and changed them back. Looks won out over performance.
Wish I could find me LEFTY Bow Like Mr. Dan sold ...I use to talk to him ,he is the one that got me on longbows!! Mark#78
hey Don....close your eyes for a second.........Can you see Dan now stringing those heavy longbows with only one good foot!!.......he was one cockstrong rascal.
I had a Canebreak years ago it is a great bow. I made the mistake of getting a 62# which ended up being a little too heavy for me so I sold it. Yes I beleive they will shoot with any bow out there. The Jeffery bows although a little on the plain looking side are also great shooters.
Quick story. When I went to the shop in Athens my daughter about 6 or 7 went with me. While I was looking at bows and talking she picked up a little fiberlass compound and some arrows and was shooting it and wanting me to get her one. Well I told her that if she hit the bullseye I would buy her one (this was shooting from about 15 yds.) Well a while later she came over excited and asked it this would count, she had a line cutter on the bullseye. At first I asked her if she went up and stuck it in but realized that if she had done that she would have stuck it in the center of the bullseye not the edge. I bought 2 bows that day the Canebreak for me and the little compound for her.
Mike
Joey, did you ever see the dinosaur foot he had Jeffrey make for him after his foot was amputated? It was made from bow limbs, and he designed it for walking over rough ground, for hunting. The footprint he left behind looked like you had stumbled into the Lost World!
!@#$%&* I didn't see the foot but i saw the limb.! Dan always had a couple of college kids in his shop working. One of them had a T/D Martin or something another. Well Dan got to toying around with it and cut some wedges and slipped under each limb between the riser to increase String tensions.............Bammmmmmm..it smoked!...The Patriot was born.....Matt Schuster finally retired his Canebrake...I think he killed over 130+ hogs with his.
I get goose bumps listening to these stories , is that normal...enoying it all. :wavey:
My go to recurve is a patriot. When I decided to go back to stickbows I drove to Dan's shop and bought a used longhunter in 91. What a great bow! I owned a canebrake too, put never quite got the accuracy with it as I have with the patriot or longhunter. I sort of wish I had it back so I could see what I could do with it now. I think it was his best looking and fastest bow.
The bamboo longhunter was the most indestructible bow I have ever used. I still own mine but it has since been retired. I still carry it on a rememberence hunt every year and still take an occasional deer with it. My son has a Canebrake and I haven't shot a one piece recurve any better.
Thanks for all the stories guys. I called Jeffery yesterday, no chance of getting one made. I really wish we could find a bowyer that would try to reproduce his bows. Its a shame that these bows will never be reproduced!
I to was very Impressed with Dans service. I bought a ufinsh from him shortly before he died and he was more than helpfull to me. I wish I could have known him better. Great Guy!!
I'm curious about this cutaway shelf. Do any of you guys have pictures of this cutaway shelf?
The patriot is one tuff bow, I called Dan a few times for tuning advice,he was always helpful and talked to ya like he was an old friend. (http://images.imagelinky.com/1236020360.jpg) (http://images.imagelinky.com/1236020360.jpg)