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I had the pleasure of taking part in bow build/bear hunt organized by Ted Fry and outfitted by Weitis Creek Outfitters. A great time was had by all.
First, I couldn't have picked a better group to share a hunting camp with. My fellow hunters and bow builders, all tradgang member, were wonderful and diverse group of people. The guides/outfitter were fanastic and did everything they could to make are hunt and stay in camp memorable- they succeeded. Ted was an excellent instructor in the bow building.
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The country was beautiful and we were way, way, way .... way back in the stick.
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Got to go. More to come.
awsome
:campfire:
Wow!
Can't wait to see/hear more!
Keep it coming :thumbsup:
-Brian
www.bowyersjournal.com (http://www.bowyersjournal.com)
Oh yeh.... this is going to be good! Hunting Bears in the mountains of Idaho, a dream hunt for me.
The arrival day was rainy and chilly. But the crew had a fire going in our cabin, so we set up shop for the week.
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Soon the weather cleared and we were able to limber up our bows with a little arial shooting.
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And the ever challenging rolling rabbit shot. Oh and with this group of crack shots, one had better have a quick draw.
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GREAT pic's really like the MOOSE in camp pic
The bear hunting was a little slow, but the great companionship, beautiful scenery, and the bow building was all anyone could ask for. The hot weather and the full moon I think made the bears come out after dark. This is just my absolutely novice opinion, but I have noticed that on full moon evenings I might as well stay home when hunting deer.
As I mentioned earlier Ted was an excellent instructor on building a bow. I have built a few bows and it was great to have someone there to show me some new ideas on the process. Paul, Steve, and Andrew were newbies and boy were they excited to say the least. When we were heading out to the baits in the afternoons and coming back home late at night they were always talking about how the bow was coming along more than bear hunting.
We started out laying out the bows and then it was hatchet time. Boys with hatchets in the middle of the forest-- who could ask for anything more.
Steve, future legend in the bowbuilding business
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Paul, hatcheting wood by day, SAWING LOGS BY NIGHT.
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Me, I like a shorter bow.
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Andrew got an advanced course in "ring chasing." He was a better man for it, and so was his bow.
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Although at times I thought Ted was running a sweat shop and we were captive labor to get make bows for www.raptorarchery.com (http://www.raptorarchery.com) (little advertisement) he did let use play alittle.
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Jesse , the shooter on the left, had to give us shooting lessons occationally. That's Ted's son, a wonderful addition to the camp. 11 years old and spending 3 weeks in the Idaho wilderness-- lucky kid.
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More to come. Hopefully some of the other gang will chime in and tell there versions of the story. I will start making stuff up about them if they don't.
Slim,
Some of the best photos I have seen on the site. Really makes me long for a great getaway to a camp in the woods. Idaho looks BEAUTIFUL!
If they do it next year, GO!
It's hard to take a bad picture in such beautiful country.
I wanta go. Put me down for next year!
We met this bunch of happy campers at the trail head on the way in/out - we were the next week group and they were on the way out. How 'bout a group photo guys?
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Those look like self bows but do they bend?
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Oh yeah! Good job all around and one of these hunters took a small bear with his new bow the day he finished it!
I have to say, I have been enjoying seeing the pictures of these bear hunts. Why? Because they are taking place just around the corner from where I grew up. That sign in the background of Shaun's pictures really brings it home. You see that town Pierce, 24 miles away from the site of the pics, is where both my parents grew up. Me, I spent all summers, and most weekends the rest of the year, at my parent's cabin that is just a few miles on the other side of Pierce. Spent untold days fishing the North Fork of the Clearwater, into which Weitas Creek empties. When I was 16, I killed my first deer about 10 miles from where that picture was taken. I still get up there and hunt every year for deer and elk. Man, you guys are making me home sick.
-Fritz
PS: More stories and pics please.
:bigsmyl: Great pics guys! It was good to meet all of you, be it breif as it was. Congrats on the new bows. It's the key to real adventure when you build them yourself and then later find yourself in pursuit of game with them. Congrats again! CK
What a great bunch of guys , good job on the bows fellas. All that praying for wet weather caught up with us the next week. No moderation this spring , hot then cold and back to hot.
I fully enjoyed the week spent building bows in the mountains and good hunting with your new bows.
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I will be daydreaming the rest of the day about being there!!!!! Looks like some major fun!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!
You would not have parked your vehicle under that target if I was there with you...LOL!!!!
Jake
Here is a good shot of the Bowbuilding /bear hunters, left to right, Steve,Paul , Jesse , Ted, Mark and Andrew. And of course Teds bear
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Good pic :thumbsup: NICE BEAR
After the hatcheting we started to scrape and scrape and shape and scape somemore. Lots of curly yellow on the ground. We even acted like we didn't know how to use a scraper so Ted could feel useful.
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Jessie fashioned a atlatl while us slow pokes worked on.
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. . . and then they started to bend, oh you could see the arrow flying already.
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Oh, I almost forgot, Ted shot a bear at some point in the middle of this trip. That is not a bear sitting next to Ted, that was our fearless leader Gary.
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And then the tillering. Oh what fun. Ted had some super techniques for tillering. My bows will be better from now on-- we used a measuring tape and everything!
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Alright let's see these sticks shoot . . .
Steve finished his first, there was no doubt he was the brains of the group.
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Andrew was next, notice the arrow.
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And here's mine. 71" of pure power, really. For some reason everyone ran and hid when I drew my bow.
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For some reason I don't have a pic of Pauls first shot. You'll have to take my word for it. It shot and shot well.
And to cap it all off Steve shot a bear with the bow he had just built. That's cool!
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We left with a many great memories and for me sleepless nights-- did I mention the trio of snorers. When your fellow campers hand out ear plugs you know you are in trouble.
Well that's my version of the trip, and I'm sticking to it.
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Well the bow is FINALLY finished. Thanks again to Ted Fry for the instuction, my prettiest bow I've made so far.
70 1/2" ntn
65ish #
gembok tip overlays
rattle snake backing
wrapped the handle
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What a beauty Marc, good job on the finish work.
Man it looks a lot drier there than the mountains of Idaho.
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the many pictures. Chad
Well the last time it rained at my house I was in the mountains of Idaho.
I'm glad you like the photos.
OK guys , time to start booking for 2008 Spring bear/bow class. Due to the great time we had on the one week last year we are going to have two seperate hunts this year . The first week is May 11th-18th and the second is May 18th-25th.
We are going to take only 4 guys each week.
You can contact me for more info.
Last year was one of the best times shared with a great group of guys.
Nice looking bows you guys made for sure!
TTT
One more run