(12-29-2021, 08:41 PM)VioletDove Wrote: I have a bow in my storage building that is a 20 pound draw. I may get it back out and get a target set up. Maybe when my husband isn’t here to ruin my fun and my targets.
I’ll bet black locusts make really sturdy bows. You’re right about those fence posts. I’ve seen some around here and they seem to last forever.
I got a target at Walmart that is foam I believe, about 2 feet square, and about 10" thick, coated with plastic sheeting with a bull's eye printed on it. I've shot it with my crossbows and have yet to destroy it, so a compound bow shouldn't hurt it that much so long as hubby doesn't use broadheads. I can't think of a good reason to shoot broadheads at a target - it just ruins the target and wastes the broadheads.
I have a book here called "Encyclopedia of Native American Bow, Arrows, and Quivers, Volume 1: Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest" that has drawings of various bows from museums to illustrate the different designs of bows of various tribes, and tells the dimensions and materials they are made of, and most of the ones from the southeast are made of Black Locust.
The first one I made of Black Locust was just a tad under 6 feet long, but I shaved it too thin, and when I strung it up, I thought it was too weak. So, I cut about 6 inches off each end and re-nocked it, and when I strung it up that time, it was so stout that I couldn't even draw it.
It's a learning process.
In the last 30 years or so, Locust Borer beetles have entered this area, so now you have to be pretty picky about getting the right wood for a stave.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’