Birthday present for a friend

dhaverstick · September 14, 2019, 10:00:13 PM

I finished this arm guard last night for my good friend, John Pruitt, who will turn 79 next Sunday. Mr. Pruitt is an accomplished bowyer and gunsmith and I have whole room full of his bows and flintlocks to attest to his skills. He's also as windy as a sack full of politicians which brings me to the story behind this arm guard.

John never lets an opportunity go by to tell me some tale. Over the years I have known him, most of these tales I have heard many times. This one is no exception. John claims that anyone can hit a big target like a deer or moose but it takes exceptional skill to hit something really small like the time he killed 811 field mice with his bow in one year. Mr. Pruitt swears that all these kills were confirmed by his friends who, conveniently, are all dead now so I will just have to take his word for it. When I first heard this story, some 15 years ago or so, I think the number was quite a bit less than 811. But that is the number he is going with now so I have recorded it on the back of his arm guard for posterity's sake. John also has a sweet tooth so I will have to send him some homemade cookies or brownies to go with the arm guard. Otherwise, he will be calling me up and whining that he was slighted on his special day. That man is like a Walker hound - you make the mistake of feeding him once and now you have to feed him for life!

Arm guard specs: The backing is made from vegetable tanned cowhide and the facing is hippo hide. The yellow trim is moose hide that, ironically, came from the one I killed with my longbow in 2015. The field mouse was laser etched onto a piece of deer hide by my friend, Chad Thomas, at Springfield Leather Company. I carved the lace hooks out of deer antler and sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew.

Darren

Pine · September 14, 2019, 10:15:43 PM

That is very neat.

goingoldskool · September 14, 2019, 10:55:52 PM

Very nice as always Darien. You have some mighty fine leather working Skills!

God bless,
Rodd

Soonerlongbow · September 14, 2019, 11:49:28 PM

If your friends can't rag on you then y'all ain't really friends!

Looks awesome!

sticbowjoe · September 15, 2019, 06:54:04 AM

Did John once live in Toulon Illinois,if so I know him.

Crooked Stic · September 15, 2019, 07:24:50 AM

That is nice.

SlowBowKing · September 15, 2019, 07:39:17 AM

Nice work, and so cool that you incorporated some personal touches. He is welcome to come shooting field mice at my place any time!

dhaverstick · September 15, 2019, 02:10:05 PM

Quote from: sticbowjoe on September 15, 2019, 06:54:04 AM
Did John once live in Toulon Illinois,if so I know him.

That's him - ole Toulon John! He's still the same as when you knew him there. He lives in Spring City, TN now.

Darren

sticbowjoe · September 15, 2019, 02:13:56 PM

Tell him joe moye said hi and I hope he is doing well,I still shoot my self bow he showed me how to make,and help me finish.he is quite a craftsman,also how rude of me,that's a very nice arm guard !

Paul/KS · September 16, 2019, 09:38:27 AM

That's a fine looking arm guard Darren. Great work as always Sir.

Sam McMichael · September 16, 2019, 09:54:44 AM

That is a very cool arm guard. The story telling skills of your friend make me wonder if he is kin to my grandpa.

dhaverstick · September 19, 2019, 10:26:07 AM

Here is John in all his glory. I don't think anyone cooks in his family so I sent him a pan of brownies and a do-it-yourself birthday party kit along with the leather work. He received his box of goodies yesterday and was very pleased with the contents. I told him to send me a photo of him celebrating and this is what I got. It sure made my day!

Darren

stujay · September 19, 2019, 01:41:02 PM

Beautiful work of art the arm guard you sent, great story of your friend, the pic was great!

Pine · September 19, 2019, 04:19:15 PM

Love seeing this kinda stuff.