Primitive Bows

[ozarkrambler]

Having bowhunted most of my life with compounds, and an old takedown bear recurve, my interests having been turning towards using a more primitive bow.

Question, are these a "make your own" type of proposition, or does anybody offer them for sale?

I would like to make my own, but that will have to be in the future when I have a little more time and I was hoping I could buy one first to get a feel of whether I like the way they shoot before I invest the hours of time needed to make my own.

Thanks for any help or other comments, Ozark

[Preston Lay]

Yes you can buy self bows.There are numerous persons that make and sell.I would recommend to get a copy of traditional bowhunter magazine or the primitive archer magazine. You could find some contacts there.Also some have schools to lead you through the building process.Good luck.

[ozarkrambler]

Thanks for the info. Does anbody know anything about the bows this outfit makes?

http://www.gilalongbowcompany.com/index.html

If anybody has any other links I would appreciate it.

Ozark

[falcon]

Dean used to sell bows on his site, but I didn't see any. Still a good link.

http://www.bowyersedge.com/stock.html

[sdyotehunter]

My best advice would be to buy "The Bent Stick" by Paul Comstock and make your own. The tools needed are VERY minimal and the time needed to make an unbacked primitive bow is not as much as you might think. After buying Paul's book several years ago I had made 5 or six bows within the first year...all of them shooters.

[Bush Loper]

Ditto the two magazines suggested. If there are any traditional bow shoots or historical reinactments (pre-1840 sponsored by the NRLHF) in your area you might find vendors that sell bows such as you are interested in.

I like to put my hands on a bow before I drop any money. You can find anything from junk to a decent bow at these types of events so it helps to have someone with you that is familiar with these types of bows. Either that or do some homework.

[AZStickman]

I'd be willing to build you a self bow if you buy the stave.... ( Osage is a bit scarce here in AZ)... Or my site has instructions on how to build one yourself....Here's a link to my site showing some of my bows and the tutorials.... Terry
http://bowyersworkshop.com/index.html

[Ken]

Nice site AZ...welcome to Kifaru.

[Kevin]

http://www.homestead.com/longbows/BowBlanks.html

Here's another option.

[AZStickman]

Thanks Ken....Terry