i started shooting trad in February 2008. dad's old recurve had been sitting in the cupboard for over 25 years. he never got into it a big way but he did take a pig with it one time. dad has told me the story dozens of times and the place where it happened is right near home where pigs aren't overly common and they are extremely hard to get onto with any bow, let alone a recurve in that type of country. it's a bit of a legendary story to me and it's a feat i'm not likely to achieve myself, so the old man will always have that one on me.  

one day rifle shooting and crossbow hunting lost it's allure and challenge for me and the recurve seemed to be a logical choice for the next weapon. dad's recurve got dusted of and i started practicing. now i can't imagine not hunting trad. it's become my passion in life.

turns out the bow was a martin mamba or a copy of one since it looks just like one but never had daman howatt or martin marked on it.
i got my 1st bow kill with it, a sow pig. i was stoked. from crossbow to tradbow in one step and i've never looked back. i also shot a nice trophy boar with it before something bad happened.
while practicing one afternoon the bottom limb broke off. i had my 1st two piece bow. the old girl got retired and i was just glad to have shot something with dad's old bow.
RIP-


5 years later i kicked around the idea of trying to have it repaired. i posted on the bowyer's bench here on tradgang to see if anyone thought they could rebuild it for a reasonable price.
this is where jamesv comes in. he said he could do it for a price i thought was crazy. trust me for what he charged me he did it for the love of it. thanks jamesv    

   

Wow that's great! I know if my dad passed a bow down to me I'd do whatever necessary to keep it going just as you did! Looks perfect!

Thats awesome....looks like he did a great job!! Congrats!

That's too cool.

Awesome  talent right there!

Good stuff, mate.

Wow, He did an amazing Job. I am excited for you to hunt with that old bow again.

That is some fine work reparing the damage shown in the before picture.
    Hats off to Jamesv.....  

Very nice job Jamesv!     That's a pretty looking bow!

Good shootin to ya, Ozy! Game pics are sure to be posted, soon!

That's amazing!  Incredible repair job!  

Bernie

Nice work JamesV, that looks perfect.
-Jay

That's the best kind of hunting bow... one with a story or two.   .

I've got a custom recurve that my grandfather had built in the late 40's.  My idiot cousin "played with"-dry fired-the bow and pretty much destroyed it.  I showed it to Frank Scott at Bear Archery.  He said it was hopeless!!  I would love to kill a deer with the same bow my grandfather killed a deer with.