I had the privilege to meet Walt Francis and his friend, Lenny Brown, and shoot with them at the North American Longbow Safari in Stanley, Id. this past summer. I learned Lenny had drawn a bighorn sheep tag for his home state of Montana. Lenny asked if I would make him some arrows that hopefully would be used in his quest for a sheep.
Well I just got an email with these pictures...love the bow in the air and the big smile! Pretty cool! I will be calling him in the next couple of days to hear the "rest of the story". I will relay it in a further post.
Odds are I will probably never get a sheep tag. So by playing a small part in his hunt it is a real privilege for me and a great blessing to see the results.
David
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/LennysRam3.jpg)
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u31/snag23/LennysRam2.jpg)
Very cool!
Wow, a dream come true
WOW!!! That is awsome!
To think that not many get the opportunity to hunt these majestic animals..then to kill one with a longbow and wood arrows! Just makes me smile.
Bighorn shep with a trad bow would be one of the ultimate hunts ever!
Looks like that snag arrow worked pretty well!
Congrats to Lenny!
Bisch
What a hunt!!
On my bucket list.
Great job Lenny.
Good looking arrows David. Never say never on that sheep tag.
That is awesome to harvest a sheep with any bow. I also put in every year in multiple states hoping to draw. Congrats for your arrows being used snag ! :thumbsup:
Wow, very impresive.
Wow! How great is that!!
Very nice.
That is so cool for you and Lenny. Congrats both!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
AWESOME :clapper:
:thumbsup:
Doesn't get any better than that !
Can't wait to "hear" the rest of the story! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Hunted with Lenny this past November in Kansas, great person to share a camp with.
Thats awesome, my #1 dream hunt! Cant wait for the story
How SWEEEEEET it is :thumbsup: CONGRATS :clapper:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Very nice
I got to talk with Lenny on the phone today. Sounded like it was a hard hunt. He spent a total of 26 days looking for sheep. He would do 3 days solo backpack trips each time out, except for one trip out with Walt. Didn't sound like that one trip was much fun...blowing snow, white caps on the lake, etc.
It is a large unit and with only 5 tags given out for it he only ran into one other hunter. He spent many days scouting for this hunt and just wasn't seeing sheep. So with only a couple of weeks left in the season Lenny finally found some sheep. As the ewes were coming into estrus the rams were starting to show themselves.
The ram he shot he was able to get in on 4 times to 15yds all quartering away. The last time the ram turned broadside and so Lenny decided that ram was for him. The Surewood Shaft/Wilderness Custom Arrow flew to it's mark...but he didn't get a perfect shot. But he felt it was a kill shot and decided to wait to allow the arrow to do it's work.
Luckily it wasn't blowing snow so it was easy to track the ram when it came time. When he found him the ram had layed down with the arrow still in him up to the about halfway into the fletching. When Lenny saw him the ram got up and fell down dead with the arrow intact. He told me that douglas fir arrow was tough and withstood a lot without breaking!
It says a lot about Lenny I feel. Many would have become mentally defeated after not finding sheep with so many miles out in the woods alone. He kept at it and said he always felt he would eventually find them. Now that's a great attitude. Congratulations Lenny!
Incredible!!!
I called Lenny, commonly referred to as "Lurking Lenny", and he promised to put some pictures together and write a "brief" account of his hunt. Here are a few pictures when I went with him after the Bighorn in mid October:
Lenny leaving camp on the second day. Note the pretty arrows, they fly really good too.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/BigHornHunt001.jpg)
A couple of hours later after the storm moved in; Lenny is at 20 yards in this picture:
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/BigHornHunt012.jpg)]
He is at five yards in this picture.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/BigHornHunt024.jpg)
This hunt was a bust due to the weather, it socked in and visibility dropped to 10-20 yards at times; glassing was impossible.
Be patient, he may take a couple of days to put the story together.
:bigsmyl:
Cant wait to see more pictures.! But I will be patient
Looked like a rough day Walt. Thank you for posting these. Look forward to seeing and hearing more.
David
:thumbsup:
Great pics :thumbsup: Keep im comin :campfire:
Awesome hunt and awesome ram, congratulations!
That is really awesome! Congrats.
Man that is the ultimate!!!
Congratulations, That is a hunt of a lifetime!
Unreal.....and I just want to kill a deer........what dreams are made of!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :notworthy: :notworthy:
oh that is great...
I have been on many great hunts, but that would be the most challenging of all. My goodness, 26 days! That is long, even for a full-blown African safari. And what an accomplishment it is! David, you make some pretty arrows that are superior killers too. Congratulations to both you and Lenny.
Allan
What an honor it must be To have provided him with a key element to the success of the hunt! and what grit does he have .wow! that is a long hard hunt, and a well deserved animal!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Sheep with a longbow quite an accomplishment. Looking forward to the full story, thanks guys for the pics too.
That has to be the coolest hunt there is.
Wow, sounds like one heck of an adventure! looking forward to hearing a good story when it makes it to the site!
Got a text from Lenny this evening requesting help with posting. He is an old geezer (like me) and having troubles with the pictures, hopefully we can link up this evening or tomorrow and get a recounting of his adventure.
Most-excellent adventure!
Lookin' forward to pics.
Keep the wind in your face!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
Looking forward to seeing and hearing some more of his hunt Walt. Thanks, David