In compliance with requirements, here are a few pix of my new J. D. Berry Viper, which arrived this afternoon.  As Tony the Tiger used to say, "It's greeaat!"  I have some special needs due to health and age and J.D. built a bow I can shoot smoothly without pain... Did I mention that it's gorgeous?  All the wonderfully complex inlays and laminations that he's known for.













I uploaded a lot more pix, including shooting results, to the bulletin board of my personal site at:

http://dickwightman.com/bulletinboard/berryviper/berryviper.html

I hope you enjoy my new bow... I'm gonna!  :^)

Thanks, J.D.

Very nice  

That is a Beauty Sir!!!

Wow! Another work of art here on the Tradgang.

Dick,

I'm happy for ya Brother!, Nothing like a new bow and better yet one that you shoot well!.
Congrat's.

 PS- It is as you said Gorgeous!.

All Good;
  Don

Hey Dick, she sure is beautiful.  Love the pictures.   Thanks for sharing, Jack

His bows are works of art. I had one for a short time that was made for Paul Brunner. It was a shooter.

Congrats Dick! She looks real nice good luck with her!

Dick,
You have a real looker there. I hope she gives you a lifetime of pleasure
Prarrie Dog

Great looking bow! Congrats!

Simply beautiful! How long is the bow?

Dick can you tell me what was done to the bow to make it more shootable for you.My brother has arthur in his hands that makes shooting certain grips impossible.

Very nice...Glad to see JD is still doing great work.

Nice looking longbow. I have a second 66" Blacktail TD recurve on order and it will be 2 pounds heavier in draw weight than your longbow. Should get my bow next September.

Looking good Dick. Hap

A couple of anwers:

Curveman:    the bow is 66"

Warning:  The following is in answer to Ray, and gets long.  I hope it helps your friend, Ray...

I guess the best way to describe why the bow is good for my draw is to say simply that he tillered it well by my standards :^).  My problems are two-fold... I have greatly reduced physical strength due to reaction to statin drugs.  I have gone off of them, telling my doc if my choice is between being a feeble old man and dead, I'll take my chances with dead.  How much of my strength I will get back now is kind of up for grabs, but I have gone back up to 35# after being down as low as 23#.  A year ago I was shooting over 50#.  I also have, as noted, some arthritis in the shoulder that causes pain if I overdo.

I have found that working in the roughly 35# weight window (at my 25" draw), there are bows I can shoot, and bows I can't.  The difference is much less in weight than in draw... how the power curve is structured.  

I can draw a 50# Super Kodiak (43# for me) for an afternoon, but I have to lay off for a day or so afterwards.  I can draw a 45# Super Kodiak OK at 38# for me.  However, a 40# SK.... aaahhh.   The old SK's have the smoothest drawing power curve I've found in manufactured bows.  I have been selling off all summer a bunch of 45# bows I got to try, but just can't shoot comfortably.  The power built up too fast and by the time I reached anchor (if I did) it was as if they were 5 to 8 pounds heavier.  

I recently bought and had to resell two Predators... They were great bows and they should have been within my weight, but the power curve kicked in way early.  The end weight should have been OK, but if you think of it in terms of pounds per inch of draw, you end up hauling back a lot more weight with an early rise in the power curve.

So, why do bowyers build that way?  Simple... speed.  Today's shooters want speed.   Now, I have a short draw and I'm into old vintage lemonwood longbows... can you say "glad to get 145 fps"?  I gave up on speed long ago.  I don't hunt and I'm happy to limit my shots to 30 yards at 3D's.  If I occasionally make a longer shot, well, heck, that calls for an extra Starbucks!

So, having had a long conversation about this, JD gave me a bow with a power curve that builds evenly and hits its weight right at my anchor.  And, the bow is plenty fast.  I don't have a chrono, but believe me, shooting every day on the same range, I can move out to 30 yards and tell within a few arrows if that bow has the speed to let me shoot instinctively at that distance of if most of the arrows are going to get off the train at about 25 yards out.

Another thing that might be a factor is that JD builds the most severely trapezoidal limbs I have encountered.  When I had to really drop the weight on the Hill blank I worked up, I used that shaping method to make sure I reduced some of the weight in the lower limbs rather than off the tips.  As a concept it worked well and I like the blank I made... again, because it pulls nicely for me.

So, if your shoulder is a problem, either get an old Bear Super Kodiak or work with a bowyer who will listen to you and accept your limitations.

As a side note, the sun is shining and "Enchanter" will get its first outing up on the mountain this afternoon.  We'll see how that tillering translates to shooting stumps and hunting trash in the woods.  (Someday I have to write something on trash hunting... the rules and whyfores thereof...)

Thanks Dick,im glad your still working at enjoying a passion.

That is very good looking bow I wish I had one like that

Nice looking bow Dick.