i woke up this morning with this thought in my head. what is it about a beautiful piece of wood, (which shoots another piece of wood) that tells me i just gotta have it in my possession? i am constantly perusing "traditional bows" here on the site, see what is to me a gorgeous hunk of wood, and feel i just have to have it. logic seems to go "south." (i can only shoot one bow at a time) the bows i do have shoot just fine, yet i feel i just have to have another piece of cocobolo, or tamo ash, or red elm. i may have to check myself in to the 3rd floor at st. mary's and start going to 12-step groups to get help for this affliction!! :knothead:
i'm right there with ya, in the room next door to ya.
i was bad and bought yet another longbow yesterday.
uh oh, here comes the attendant with today's round of meds ......... ;)
Same here Gary! My 3 bows will probably outlast me, but always think to myself "if I only had this one".... Where in WI are you at?
Yup, you're nuts. Welcome to the bowl with the rest of us.
Probably. . . join the crowd, aren't we all ?
Enjoy
ChuckC
Hey, I just thought of something you'll understand. Not only do I have the bow/wood sickness but also just the wood sickness. When I couldn't afford to buy bows, I started buying WOOD to build future bows out of. I have a bunch of gorgeous hunks of exotic, heavily grained woods stashed away that I've barely touched.
Any room on that 3rd floor?
yornoc; PLEASE don't send me any pics of the wood!!
QuoteOriginally posted by YORNOC:
.... Any room on that 3rd floor?
oh yeah, lotsa room at the trad archer's looney bin! :D
4 doesn't seem to be enough for me either I've got the Hill bug and it's getting really bad. The little lady says I have to sell one to get one. She definitely thinks I'm nuts. I'm trying to sell a shot... so I can keep my bows. Admit one more to the bin.
Keeping the Faith!
Magnus
Get in line! Always admired the guy w/1 bow.
Hi Gary, my name is Mudd and I am a "bowaholic". I am telling you this just to let you know that there's hope(NOT!) for you...lol
Enjoy the insanity, it just gets better or worse? (depending on your own personal take)
I think that I'm a lost cause but I am trying to give it some direction(Hills or Hill styled) instead of just trying to own one of each of everything...lol Even this is hard!!...lol
Good luck and God bless
Proud Tradgang and B.A. member, Mudd
PS: I don't think I'd care to be locked into any room unless there is room to set up a range of at least 20 yds.
Watch out for Squirrels! They love you!
First, as soon as someone asks "Am I nuts?", the default answer is yes.
After reading your post, the answer is still yes. But anyone who has found their way to tradgang is right there with you. I didn't think they made loony bins this big until I found the site.
I've only gotten back into archery in May. At that point I had a couple of my grandpa's old bows. I've since bought two bows, made a couple bows, have a couple more in various stages of construction, I'm stockpiling staves in the barn rafters, looking to possibly buy a Hill, thinking about the next bow I want to build, and spending my lunch hour shopping for more arrows.
On top of that, it's contagious. All three girls got new arm guards and tabs for Christmas, the youngest got her own new pink bow and wooden arrows.
they're going to have to add another wing to the floor----. :scared:
I'm not going to call the kettle black.
I've gone on a rampage this year hunting up the perfect curve. I found the perfect one, the one to end all searching....several times...so far.
And you know, the bow I'm shooting that I like most of all doesn't even belong to me!
Dont feel bad im looking on the classified for another HH .Get another room ready.
Embrace the madness and be glad the entire world doesn't have the same one or you couldn't afford another bow. Read the definition of obsession and compulsion in the dictionary. It fits all of us crazies here.
I've often thought about why I have/keep all my bows - you can only shoot one at a time right? If one sits back and applies that logic to collecting anything, it never really makes sense. But I just love the lines and curves of a recurve or the symmetry of a simple D shaped long bow. I love the beautiful pieces of wood bowyers get the hands on to shape into functional tools. Collecting isn't suppose to be logical, its suppose to be enjoyable. My dad collects old scales and clocks, not my cup of tea, but he really enjoys finding and refurbishing them. My brother-in-law has more guns than most gun shops. No need for that many, but he just really enjoys buying, trading and shooting guns. The list goes on, I quit trying to justify why I need so many bows and just enjoy the ride.
Well, at least I have it under control to the point where I really only want one final bow... well... maybe two...
Got room for an escapee to come back? I thought I had a cure. I started building Hill styles and sure enough stopped buying bows like a madman. Was really patting myself on the back for finding a cure... till i realized I'd build 30 bows in two years! OK.... that's a creative outlet, that's not the same thing, right? Then Craig (Hill Archery) announces the Robin Hood and I, who have so many bows they're tripled up on the pegs, and who just finished a new form to build more, had to have one. Now my new Robin Hood is hanging on the wall.... What's with this!?
Ok, had to look it up at Merriam-Webster.com (after looking at Craig's site again)...
Obsession
a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling
Compulsion
an irresistible persistent impulse to perform an act (as in excessive bow buying)
So, really, it depends on your interpretation of unreasonable, right? (My wife uses the word obssesive way too often when talking about my hobbies.)
That dont soundd so Crazy to me.
QuoteOriginally posted by FerretWYO:
That dont soundd so Crazy to me.
Amen brother.
I bought my frist bow that wasn't a production bow used this fall...WOW! I loved it instantly. Now I wonder what other bows may shoot like. I'm already looking at selling off some stuff to try another one.
I am right there with ya all...
Just got back from Nixa... Yep, another bow. Thats not bad enough, cause I already know what the NEXT ONE is gonna be. They had a birds eye maple PL X that I could not hardly put down...
Here we go..... again..... still ????
I don't know what you guys have but I think it is catchy!
It's a 12 step process to recovery!
yup--step 1; i am powerless, and my life has become unmanagable!! :help:
Appreciate Beautiful wood, it's a gift from God!
Even though a magnificent tree may be reduced to lumber and built into a bow,when you admire and appreciate the beauty of it the tree's soul lives on.
Great post.... I'm not alone!! there are other "squirrels" out there gathering their "Nuts" just like me !!!.... Any more beds on that ward :laughing:
Gene
Nnnnn ne na nnnn nan nen na nana nope! Nannnnenennannnaannnnnan not me! Bbbabbbbabbb bi ba bbba bb ah bb Right!
If I had the money, I'd probably be content with one of every bow.. Lol
Just sold a G& L Mantis last week......Bought a Northern Mist this afternoon. I think I'm back up to 24 bows......I'm sorry! :dunno:
Thanks for the G&L Ron, been thinking about a take down version :banghead:
I'm in the same house as the rest of you.
Maybe we should all sneak out of here catch a bus and go down to the coast and rent a charter boat for a day.
John
All you fellas are nuts! Why don't you all just grow up and stop at Ten Bows like me?! Or is it Twelve? I forget..... Anyway, what was I sayin'? Yea! It don't matter that I have over 150 arrows either. :p So Back Off! :mad: I think I have a dozen different quivers too. :rolleyes:
* Point is we all have a good addiction. Beautiful bent bows are as graceful as... Well... An arrow in flight.
... mike ... :archer2: ...
QuoteOriginally posted by camoman:
It's a 12 step process to recovery!
Here you go guys! Maybe this will help you all.
THE TWELVE STEPS OF BOW-AHOLICS ANONYMOUS
1. We admitted we were powerless over buying bows—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.(My wife thinks she has such powers! HA-HA)
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of credit card balances.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our bow purchases we "really had to have"..
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character (before our wives disown us!)
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. (I think that means TRAD GANG gets yanked off the net. Not sure!)
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. (Fancy way of saying "suck up to the wife!)
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.(Doing more chores!)
10. Continued to take personal inventory of our bow collection and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to other bow-aholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Sorry guys- i'm bored!!
Rusty
I'm suffering the same disease lately.. got my eye on a mohawk
that's great, RUSTY1!! but i still can't come to "grips" (pun intended) with step 1---!!
just go with the flow,you'll get used to it.i gave up resisting a long time ago.
It is fastest addiction that I know of also. I just got my first trad bow for Christmas. I got just before leaving to go on R&R and I mean I got it before dinner, and left just after breakfast the next day. SO I strung it and stroked and dreamed of shooting it. Went on R&R and left it tucked in my room. I get back just yesterday and get all my back briefs and jet lag takes hold plus it was raining. Today it is still raining, so I have a strung long bow on my desk just wanting me to shoot it. When I am not thinking of shooting it, I am here on the bowyers bench looking at all the bows being built and am chomping at the bit to get my care package I sent myself so I can start building some. See only owned a bow for a little over 3 weeks never shot it and that is all I can think of. Did the world end and I did not make the cut for heaven?
Lord help me.
Bowwild: "I found the perfect one, the one to end all searching....several times...so far"
Ha! Ain't it the truth! Gotta love it! Gotta have it! Stark raving mad and truly happy.
hey, kelly; hang in there-it gets better!! and thanks for your service. gary USAF 1969-1973
I have been shooting trad for less than 2 yrs have 3 off the rack bows and had 6 custom bows built in that time. Wouldn't call that an addiction. Well maybe?