Holy cow I almost made a huge mistake, HUGE. I was thinking of moving one of my bows and while I had it up for sale, I decided to give it a last farewell shooting.......I swear the bow was out to show me how much it wanted to stay, probably had my best shooting session ever !!! Back on the rack you go.
Sounds like you weren't ready to give her up.
I feel the same way about a 65# Black Widow I took my first trad deer with. No way should I be shooting anything that heavy anymore, and I've been on the verge of selling, trading, or giving it away several times. But I always have the worst feeling whenever I start to do anything about it, so it's still on my rack, and probably will stay there until the day I die.
You did almost make a huge mistake. I know which bow you were talking about and I was looking at it real hard.
Now you should hunt it
Been there, too many times.........
... mike ...
You can bet I will hunt with it, I don't want to be haunted by it next.
They may not have a soul, but they do get jealous when you flirt with others.
Soul?... maybe not but sometimes you just know that you belong together in the big woods.
Soul?... maybe not but sometimes you just know that you belong together in the big woods.
If it's made by hand, by someone you personally know, one at a time: Yes
F-Manny
Amen to that Manny!
Any bow made by hand has one. Most have tempers and personalities as well.
(Ignore me if you want, I still thank my dinner for its sacrifice.)
I think any handmade weapon has an energy to it imbued from its maker. I'm German/ Nordic and my ancestors named their weapons and believed things like that, its in my blood.
Closest I have come to this is with my Stewart. I got the bow used, and its the best shooting bow I've ever had, I mean its just a cut above the rest. Well beginning of this year I commissioned Leon to build me a new set of limbs just how I want them and refinish the riser. During the wait I sold the old limbs. Big mistake. I was haunted by the decision and in the meantime bought so many other bows searching for something to come close to shoot with, only thing that even shoots remotely as well is my Habu, which I bought during the wait, all the while the riser sat there laughing at me. Thank the almighty that Leon called last week and the new limbs and refinished riser will be arriving this coming week. It's gonna be a great reunion, and the new limbs will no doubt be as good and even surpass the old ones. I may be selling a few bows once Brenda, new and improved, comes home Haha.
Absolutely. They have a soul.
I've let the store bought bows go, but just can't bring myself to get rid of something that a person made for me. Yes I think a bow has a soul or an energy that is created when a craftsman puts their all into creating a functional tool and a piece of art.
Bows are to me are kinda lime that old single shot shot gun my grandaddy gave me. Every little scratch, ding, nich tells a story. There is always somthing about it you may not know what it is but it just tells you to hang on to it.
Yeah, as much as I like them, name them, feel connected to some of them, I'm gonna have to go with a 'no' on that one... no souls in bows... or anywhere else for that matter.
Hell yes! If I don't treat it right it shoots high and to the right!
It is funny how a shooter can bond with certian bows. Manny makes a great point. The four bows that I keep and really enjoy are each hand made by a person that I know. I have owned and shot other bows that just did not speak to me in any way.
I don't believe bows have a soul. But often times someone put a bit of theirs into the building of one.
I think that some bows do. I hold on to my Fred Bear signed bows closely because of the mojo. I think that he is part of everything he touched. Had a new Bear "special"(red glass) TD that had a major temper with me last year. I couldn't shoot it, and missed 4 or 5 doe in one week on a hunting trip plus a buck spook when the limb hit the side of a stand while standing for a 10 yard shot. I got home from my hunting trip and immediately placed it up for trade. With the money I made back on that bow in traders; I was able to buy a 69 SK, knife and file set,a book that Fred signed with a stickbowman, and a signed Tigercat at excellent prices. I think that was Fred's way of making good on his lifetime warranty. ;o) It sure beat tossing that handle in my wood boiler; which is where it was headed after that trip.
Bows do not in any way have a soul. They can have a blessing though. The bowyer can pray for them to be a blessing to the man that they are made for and to reflect that this blessing is from God and to his glory. I pray that over every bow I build as I build it.
I believe that bow probably never got your full attention until you decided to get rid of it. As fast as some folks go through bows I believe that this may happen a lot. The bow literally never gets the time from the owner to allow the shooter to fully appreciate and get aquainted with the bow.
I am glad you had second thoughts . Perhaps you should take that bow off the rack more often.
God bless, Steve
No, they don't, but some bowyers do......
They may or may not have a soul. But mine certainly have no conscience. They shoot only where I point them. On the few times I have sold one off, It sure has come to haunt me, though.
Egad, I hope not. Otherwise when I go to heaven I'll meet up with some of those dogs I used to own.
Yup. I have a particular longbow that when I carry it, animals sacrifice themselves. On more than one occasion I have shot at an animal more than once and missed with one bow only to go back and get it the first time with my Kimsha. Call it mojo, call it soul, all I know is it feels like an extension of "my" soul.
St. Thomas Aquinas, though not an Animist, believed as an Animist does, that all living things (including trees) have a soul. So, when the tree is harvested to make a bow, where does the soul of the tree go? Does it not stay with the wood? Where else could it possibly go to?
bows are a matrix wood, glue and sweat...I dont believe they have a soul...but the person that made it for sure does...
that work is a testament for that meeting of time where that bowyer did their best to put together a means to launch an arrow...
that in itself is a bit of magic for me...
Not a soul in a bow, but Duke Ellington had soul, and in 1931 he wrote:
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That String)
Not a soul in a bow, but Duke Ellington had soul, and in 1931 he wrote:
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That String)
I don't know but some bows seem to bond with their owners.
I don't know but some bows seem to bond with their owners.
Yes!
Yes technically they don't have a soul but I do feel the bows we love the most are the bows that for some reason feel part of us an extension of us, and share our spirit for the hunt.
And for some reason we sometimes think we can find a better partner, when the best we have is right there in front of us.
well bow made from wood were ALIVE and i believe any living thing has a soul.....
All things are different forms of stored energy. This energy steps through different phases altered by the elements, the sun, and sometimes, man. Each bow follows a different path, so it's energy level, and properties are different. Shooting is about how we use this energy, how we interprete it, how we harness it, how we interact with it. When all that lines up with our own energy force, we have one sweet shooting bow. Sometimes we think the bow needs to conform to our energy pattern, when it's really the other way around. It's what you put into making the connection. The wood bow doesn't have a 'soul', but it's definitely talking to you.
** Note - The 'zen' version :p **
I love em but they are "just" worked up lumber, and petroleum products. I won't let any of my beloved bows become Golden Rams.
I think it's less about golden rams and more about being content with what you have, rather than tossing cash at the first thing to move. Contentment is a thing unheard of in our society these days. If feeling the bow has imprinted on me keeps me content, I don't see it as a bad thing.
Edward I think you nailed it for me. I've been guilty of chasing the rainbow and it's taking me time but I'm starting to acknowledge my foolishness. Maybe I needed my bow to lay it out for me.
I had a great litte short riser bow with 60" limbs 50@28 perfect wgt. in my hand and perfect draw wgt.I bought the limbs used looked brand new small taper fit me perfect.A few weeks ago bottom limb broke.I sent the riser to the bowyer for some new limbs same wgt. and length.Well I got them back but the limbs look like a recurve limb without the curve the limbs are much wider than the orginal, wgt. of bow is no longer balanced in my hand and It just doesn't handle like orginal.It has lost its soul as far as I am concerned.Kip