My wife Staci has been hunting with me for a few years now. Although she started her archery endeavor with a recurve, she's been hunting with a compound over the past few years. She's had a blast hunting and has recently decided to begin a new chapter by hunting exclusively with a stickbow.
Over the last month, I've been struggling to decide what weight to get for Staci's new bow. I wanted her to start off with something that was heavy enough to hunt with, but not too heavy where it would affect her shooting form. When she first started shooting a stickbow, she was shooting 29lbs with no problems. Currently, she's shooting 36lbs but it seems to be her max comfortable weight at this point. I'm sure that she could work up to 40lbs, but that would be too quick of a jump in my opinion. Because Staci and I don't have the luxury of buying a bunch of different weight limbs, I tried to get the first set as "perfect" as possible. This caused me to call South a bunch of times, switching the weight from 38lbs back to 35lbs, then to 40, etc...
Once again, South came up with a great idea! He told me "What if I had a "grow with you bow" program for women and children?" I was all "ears"at that point. He said, "Just purchase one complete bow (riser and limbs), then when your wife works up to a higher poundage, send back those limbs to trade for limbs of a higher poundage granted that I have a set in stock". He continued by saying, "If I don't have one in stock, I'll just add a small fee of about $50 and we can still do the trade." I thought that it was an excellent idea and I was all for it! This made life easy and I ordered a bow at 35lbs for Staci, knowing that I could trade them in for 40lb limbs in the future.
Staci's the first one to order this "progressive" riser and South hasn't worked out all the details, but this will be an option for women and children in search of a bow that will "grow" with them.
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_2408.jpg)
Feel free to post any questions here or for additional details, you may contact South Cox of Stalker Custom Recurves.
http://www.stalkerrecurves.com/
For the story on my wife's transition back to trad, check out this link.
http://strictlysticks.com/category/a-greater-challenge/staci-sanpei/
Aloha Gang!
Ryan
Great idea, and great looking bow brother! Luv the way South "girl'd it up" a bit with the stripes :thumbsup:
Looking forward to Staci's adventures with her new "stick" :campfire:
Great idea for us old people that have to go down in wt. from year to year also.
South has come up with a great program I hope many will take advantage of it.
Nice looking bow. I like this program too.
THAT is a great idea! South is as good a fella to deal with as there is. Time to order a new bow for my wife...she told me yesterday that she wished she had a bow to shoot when me and the children are shooting. Read over your thread. Glad she loves her Stalker!
Awesome idea! Way to go South!
The way you guy's get on them goats and pigs, 35# should do the job for her. Can't wait to see a story and some video or pics.....or both!!
Thanks Bro! Yeah, Staci said it's a "pretty" bow. :D
Great to hear from you Mike! Awesome to hear that your wife wants to join you guys! BTW, how's the filming coming along?
Thanks Ron. Yeah I'm hoping this weight works out, she's really comfortable shooting this bow right now.
Happy Father's Day!
Ryan
Great idea! Coulda' used that when adam was young-although he is still moving up in weight! LOL
Ryan,congrats to Stacy,she looks to be a very determinated and challenging huntress.
South once again shows to be a great and illuminated guy. :clapper: :clapper:
im definatly going to have to take advantage of that program. Ryan, is that riser different from the regular stalker recurve riser?
Thanks Felix! Yes she's a very determined individual.
Yes, the riser is contoured for the smaller hands of women and children.
Gang, please remember, this program is for women and children who are just getting into traditional archery. South can't feasibly offer this program to everyone. We don't want him to go out of business. :D
Thank you!
Ryan
Ryan thanks for this info. I am going to contact South this week! As far as filming...let's just say my first turkey down with my longbow looked alot like a mix of the Zapruder film and the Blair Witch Project except more grainy. Got lots to learn :)
Looks like someone's a little excited! :D
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_2423.jpg)
She got in a few shots before Father's Day Lunch. She even wore a matching blouse. :biglaugh:
Rigged to Hunt!
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_2399.jpg)
SOLID! Work hard play hard... good luck to you and Staci... I know you guys will be successful... cheehoo (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/808grapplemonkey/shakasmile.gif)
Kawika
Aloha Kawika!
You found the smiley shaka!!! LOL! SWEET!
Thanks for the kind words!
Take care bro!
Ryan
Great idea and very nice bow. Hopefully some others out there will start a similar programs. It would really benefit people coming into the sport.
Very nice, Glad South is willing to help Traditional Archery Grow!!
Cool program. That is a really nice looking bow too. Have fun, and can't wait to get my wife into shooting the bow with me.
Thats a great idea. Leon Stewart has been doing that for years with his bows. I hope it works for South too.
Staci's first hunt with the Stalker.
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_0362.jpg)
It was a great afternoon filled with spot and stalks and still hunting. In the beginning of the hunt, we closed the distance to a few hogs, but they were all too small.
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_2063.jpg)
Next we tried still hunt them in the thick stuff. At times we were only ten yards away but there were absolutely no shooting lanes and the swirling winds made it difficult to make a final approach.
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_2071.jpg)
Right before sundown, we spotted two hogs that were on a "mission". We actually had to jog a little to close the distance. Finally the hogs found a place to rummage and Staci made her approach. She hunkered behind some brush and watched as they scurried back and forth in search of food. As soon as the boar started to feed, Staci inched her way closer. She got to about ten yards and froze. Her arrow was nocked as she waited for an opportune shot. The boar was head on and feeding towards her. She had no shot. The boar was now under 10 yards, but quartering to her, still no shot. While I was watching the events unfold, my heart started pounding. I think I was more nervous than her! All she needed was for the boar to turn. Just when he started to turn, he spun 180 and was now facing completely away from her. All of a sudden, the hog picked his head up and trotted off. It was either the swirling wind or the loud thumping of my beating heart! LOL! :D
Soon the sun went down and it was the end our hunt. It was Staci's first hunt with her Stalker and although we didn't harvest any hogs, we had a blast! Hopefully we'll get a crack at them next week! :pray:
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t142/rysanpei/IMG_0727.jpg)
Sweet Ryan!! That is as great a program as a guy can offer!! Way to go South!
Looks like great fun, I keep missing out....heard some loud thumping that afternoon too while stuck in my office, gotta tie some cat whiskers on that ticker! :D