A story to beat all ...

[Teancum]

Back in the early 90's I lived in a small town in western Washington. I heard there was a guy in the area who made bows in his spare time, and taught school for a living. It so happened we attended the same church, so I contacted him and received a gracious invitation to visit him at home. He showed me his garage, where he made long bows, as well as his den where he had pictures from all over the world. These pictures were sent from hunters who had taken animals with his bows.

He explained that he had quite a long waiting list for his bows but happened to have one he had not sold at a recent shoot, which was the most beautiful piece of wood I had ever laid eyes on. I begged my wife to let me buy it. I spent my last dime in life, when I could ill afford it, and he gave me a couple of lessons in his back yard after purchasing the bow. I was attending college at the time and a few months later found I didn't have the time to give it the practice required ...so I sold the bow.

Years later, and and many miles away, the horror of what I did in selling the bow, as well as the honor and priceless education I missed overwhelms me. His name? Fred Anderson.

[COMPOUNDLESS IN CONCRETE]

What little small town in western wa are you referring to?  That is where I live.

[Teancum]

Shelton.

[COMPOUNDLESS IN CONCRETE]

I know where that is.  Not surprised you moved.  

[Looper]

I used to buy my Christmas trees in Shelton.

Any idea who you sold it to?

[Bjorn]

If youda sold the bow to me this story woulda had a happy ending!    

[Teancum]

Looper,

Ha! I sure would have tried to buy it back if I remembered who it was.

I remember Christmas tree farms charging $8 to to walk around and cut down the tree of your choice. They even provided the saw.

[Teancum]

Bjorn, it's all in the perspective--and it's all about me, not you. ;-D

[Mudd]

20/20 hindsight can be a remorseful thing.

However if you're anything like me and a bunch of other folks I know or have read about is that we've learned how to make good decisions but that only came to be by making bad ones 1st..lol

The really sweet part is... we can and do sometimes learn from our mistakes.

God bless,Mudd

[Ragnarok Forge]

Hunt that bow down like it's your last chance at life and buy her back.  Best way I can think of to get over sellers remorse.  If you put out feelers you may be able to find her again.

[Teancum]

Mudd,
Yes, the ability to make wise decisions quite often comes from making bad decisions. It's part of the plan in my mind.

Ragnarok, I like your thinking, but seriously, all I remember is the buyer lived in New York,  and this was between '93 and '95. I don't remember the model name, length or wood--this is an indication of how little I appreciated what I had. The only info I know is that it was 60# @ 28. I 'think" I sold it on AOL.

[mrpenguin]

We all have at least ONE we regret letting go... I have TWO!!!  But number 2 I sold for family reasons, so I can't really regret that one... but what a donkey I was for selling my Robertson... ugh... if I ever see that one up for sale again, I'm gonna have to go on my knees with the wife, but I'd want to get that one back!

[DeerSpotter]

"That's My Deer"

I've got one like that ,I got my first deer I ever shot with a bow.  It was a borrowed bow and borrowed arrows. I should have bought it !

But I've got the memories in the back pocket of my mind.  It was the best shot I ever took with a bow. I know I'll never see that bow again, But I live that story over and over , That was over 36 years ago .

Hope you find it


Carl

[Teancum]

Any other "I could kick myself" stories?

[JEJ]

No "I could kick myself" famous bow maker stories like yours Alan, not just yet anyway. Seems like every time I get to thinking about thinning the herd that's hanging on my bow rack, I read a post similar to yours. That puts me right back to "no real need to get rid of that old Pearson, Shakespeare, Wing, etc., think I'll hang on to them a little longer." Good luck with finding that bow, at least now you have a bunch of us TG buds on the lookout for it for you, never can tell when it might show up.  

[Killdeer]

Well, there was the Colt Woodsman Match Target  3rd generation that I sold for 125.00 back in the mid-eighties...

There is the silver and turquoise ring that my Great Aunt Thelma gave me, It is somewhere in the back yard of 32350 Searaven Drive in Palos Verdes. And my baby ring, gold, is behind Admiral Goodfellow's old house on NOB Norfolk. My Irish Setter and his Irish Setter were playing, and the chain around my neck let loose.

I sell things so rarely, that most of what I would be pining for is still in here... somewhere.  

Killdeer