Since I received the KG Deluxe Longbow and matching arrows from Fred this week, I've been taking a close look at the bow itself whenever I've had a few moments to spare. This is the first all-wood bow I've had, so I've been looking up data before it arrived, and the characteristics are interesting. The KG is made of laminated hickory with red heartwood highlights, similar to what I've seen of nineteenth-century longbows, except for the traditional horn-material tips. I've no idea how single-material bows made of yew or hickory would've looked like or acted, save that the Welsh bows were known to be rough in outlook despite the reputation they held among opposing English forces.
Since Kathy is napping this morning (neither of us is fully recovered from our recent expedition to muggy Tucson as yet), I've not taken any photos of the bow and arrows, but will try to amend that this afternoon before the rains move in again, no promises though. First impressions from shooting are extremely positive, however. After stringing, adjusting and proper warmup, I actually hit the target butt! The touch-release method that Fred advised took some getting used to, as my recurve has an SRS sight which requires a non-canted upright form, and I've never gotten past hesitating slightly when reaching anchor anyway. Not sure if I'll quit doing that with this bow either, but I'll try most anything, once. If this form works out over time, I may yank the SRS off the Quinn so that I don't have a lot of problems with consistency. That will make three bows I shoot that are traditional: American "trad" recurve, Magyar horsebow and ELB.
When the Monster Bows Phoenix gets here, that will be another story. About the difference between an Uzi and a sniper rifle there, since the Phoenix is a precision weapon that generally uses the accessories that have developed with shooting compound bows. It's due for arrival around the end of the month, and will be an interesting contrast.
Meantime, I'll use one wood arrow at a time for practice, and experiment with aluminum arrows for general use (yeesh, people, stop howling, I can hear it clear across the pond). Which, BTW, seem to work well with this KG so far. The target-alloy shafts that I use with the Quinn flew straight with field-points in the longbow, so the next step is trying hunting broadheads. I did have to encase the wood arrows' fletching in plastic bags for storage, as I've had problems with mites and ants that like the taste of real feathers.
Speaking of pests, the evening storms chased some mice and a king snake into the house last night, which we all found stimulating to say the least. The cats took care of the rodents overnight, but the snake was another deal, harmless and a real annoyance nevertheless. Thankfully, the cats corralled it in a bathroom sink (accidentally, as they were as afraid of the snake as it was of the felines), and I captured the thing in a towel as it tried to escape down the drain. It scooted under the porch out of the rain when I released it, so I hope it catches more mice out there instead of giving us a fright. Ah, the blessings of living in the country! _________________ "For I have drawn Judah taut and applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow." Zech. 9:13
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Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:26 am Post subject:
Steve B:
Steve, very pleased to hear you are happy with your purchase and also pleased to not that you are shooting what you want to with them, if you want to shoot carbon or aluminium with then then do it, your gear your call, the traditionalists forget that if we never try anything different we would still be wearing skinned animals as clothes, gert over it you lot.
On a different note it is interesting that you have all these problems with "pests" and I use that to cover the lot. Hope they dont give you too hard a time. Nice to hear how things are going your neck of the woods. take care and have fun
Monday 16 July 2007 - 01:21:13
Ya gotta be accustomed to being a little different with my background. There's a certain liberation that comes with walking outside the usual boundaries, and I've never been afraid to experiment when it's called for, though it's usually my wallet that forces me to do so.
As for that, ran a few carbon arrows over the KG this morning along with the woodies. As expected, noted a speed increase and the GT 3555's grouped several inches higher, no fishtailing. Also noted a bit more wear than I'd anticipated at the point where the shafts bear against the riser, may invest in something that would cover that area (used a guitar pick on my old Kodiak for that), perhaps felt or moleskin.
No big deal with the "pests", just a little bother occasionally. Living in a desert, particularly outside of town, brings you in contact with a fairly large menagerie of wildlife. We're so far out in the valley that we don't see bobcats or black bears like some who live nearer the mountains do, and nobody's seen any sign of puma since the past winter. Ants and locusts can be a problem, but stay out of anyplace that has salt and flour spread about, and they haul away the dead grass over the fire season. We don't have much of a mouse issue since I leave the snakes to do their thing (no rattlers allowed, though), and the fence keeps the bigger vermin out. We've had no visits from scorpions and centipedes since we spread salts and flour under the house the first year. I keep the chicken and dog feed in metal trash cans to lessen the attraction for varmints, don't leave dog food outside for the same reason, and use my air rifle for anything small that gets under or over the fence (gophers/moles, rats, field mice or squirrels that like the chicken feed).
The two-legged pests are a bigger issue around here. The nearby freeway exit/entrance used to be a problem, as it attracted illegal border-crossers who'd use the brushy ravines as cover until they could be picked up by smugglers' vehicles. The Border Patrol started regular patrols in the area, however, after a number of people (including us) reported attempted burglaries and property destruction by these riff-raff. Much of this has now stopped, but there was a raid by the Feds and local law enforcement recently, where they found bales of drugs stashed in the brush between the airport and us. Thought the copters were going land on top of the house, it was so close by. Beginning to think Oz might be a bit more peaceful than this place.
Oz, is totally fantastic Steve, but you know I am biased very very much.... I love it here and over my time I must say I ventured to far but have done the island thing etc and NZ. but my looking around and chatting tells me that Oz is where I wanna be
Mind you I would like to see some of the world as well, maybe one day soon when the houses are all squared away
Tuesday 17 July 2007 - 06:17:18
Don't blame you for being "biased", Australia's the one country I can remember wanting to see since I was a child. Reminds me of California, about every climate and geography you can name in one country. Add in New Zealand, and you've got everything covered. I know, NZ's a different fish altogether, but I've worked with Kiwis too, and the place has a certain resemblance to Scotland. If things get too bad here, we're gonna be hard pressed to choose!
Tuesday 17 July 2007 - 17:53:22
I am sure that you wont have to guess, because the way I see it is Half of NZ is here anyway so Oz would be the choice.... hahahahaha
Wednesday 18 July 2007 - 03:09:18
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