Updated:
December 20, 2004
Traditional
Archery News
An
Archer's Journey by Wade Beck
The
Woodland Christmas Turkey Shoot
August
20-21 2004 Valley Archer's Shoot
July 2004 - TAANS
Shoot
June 2004
- PEI Gathering
May 2004
- Woodland Traditional Archers' Shoot
An
Archer's Journey by Wade Beck
This article is about a journey. It has a little to do with hunting.
It has a little more to do with archery. But mostly it is about
a journey that started 18 years ago. It started out very slowly
and only started to pick up momentum about 4 years ago. The last
couple years it has really started to take off and it is getting
more exciting every day.
It was about 18 years ago that I decided I didn't want to hunt
with a gun any longer. I didn't hunt for the sake of killing an
animal. I hunted to satisfy something primal within me. For me,
hunting was a kind of spiritual experience, combining connecting
with generations of people before us, connecting with nature,
and connecting with myself. It was about escaping from the modern
rush, the noise, the technology. It was about getting back to
a much more simple and honest way of life.
So it was that I entered the archery shop with full intention
of buying a traditional bow. Not knowing anything about archery
or knowing anybody who shot traditional bows it wasn't too hard
for the salesman to convince me that what I really needed was
a compound. I did enjoy shooting that bow but it just never "felt
right". I didn't feel that it really captured what I was
looking for. I didn't want technology…that is what I was
trying to escape from. Refusing to submit completely to the technology
craze I always shot it similar to a traditional bow. I canted
the bow, only paused for a second after getting to full draw and
I always shot it bare fingers and bare bow.
Initially, I did go to a few a tournaments, but I never really
felt like I fit in so I stopped going to them. Like many of us,
I eventually stopped shooting, and hunting. It wasn't any one
thing that caused me to stop. Time was definitely a big factor,
but I think too the compound bow just did not really satisfy the
spiritual side of what I was looking for.
Then, one day about 8 years ago I was killing some time and stopped
into an archery shop. There, on the rack was a recurve bow and
it didn't take me long to decide that I needed that bow. My re-entry
into archery was not an overnight event. It still took me a couple
years to really get back into the swing of things but the traditional
bow was just so much more enjoyable for me to shoot. It wasn't
as fast and arguably wasn't as accurate, but it "felt right".
I really liked it's lines, and it was so quiet and so light. This
was much closer to the experience I was searching for.
When I moved to Saint John I heard about Woodland Traditional
Archers and joined up immediately. Finally, I met people with
a similar interest to myself. I had a network of people to talk
to, to learn from, to shoot with. At the next tournament we hosted
there were around 80 traditional archers and a couple of them
of them were shooting primitive bows. Watching those primitive
archers and talking to them was a significant moment in my "devolution",
my "journey". I bought my first ash stave before I left
the tournament.
I started working on that stave right away but I really had no
idea of what I was doing and was afraid that I would ruin it so
I put it away until I could get some help. The next spring I attended
a primitive shoot in New Annan, N.S.. I was amazed at the number
of primitive archers at the shoot. Although there were only 6
or 7 people there that shot primitive exclusively there were approximately
50 archers there. The first day of the shoot was a bow building
clinic and several experienced primitive bow builders were there
to give us newby's some direction. I pretty much finished my first
bow that day.
The seed that had been planted at my first introduction to primitive
archery was germinated at this point and the journey was gaining
momentum. A friend of mine gave me an ash log and I split it into
several staves. I don't remember exactly, but I probably built
5 bows that first year. They were all fairly similar in design.
I had experimented with length and width but they all had the
same basic shape and were all made from ash. I was very pleased
with how they turned out and how they shot. The biggest struggle
I had was getting one heavy enough for hunting. I kept ending
up with bows under 45# so I ended up using my recurve for hunting
that year and shot a bear, but I did not get a deer.
As I entered my second year of making primitive bows I had had
some time to talk to other primitive archers and see their bows
and to do some research through books like, The Bowyers Bible
Volumes 1 and 2 and Primitive Archer magazine. The more I learned
the more interested I became and each time I learned something
new, or seen a new design, or a new type of wood, I wanted to
try it. I was particularly curious about Native American bows.
Since I started my second year I haven't built two bows alike.
I have experimented with different styles, like D bows, reverse
handles, recurves. I've built them with wide limbs, narrow limbs,
flat backs, flat bellies. I started experimenting with different
types of woods; ash, hornbeam, red oak. I started experimenting
with different types of handles, birch bark, beaver tail, buck
skin, and sinew. I started using hide glue and sinew the way the
Native Americans would have. I now have a wide assortment of bows
including a 65# D bow I made in case I got drawn for a moose.
Oh well, next year.
I continued my devolution by starting to build self nocked arrows,
finishing them with bear grease, as I did with one of my D bows,
and tying on my feathers, the same as the Native Americans would
have. That second fall I hunted with one of my ash bows. It was
66 inches long and pulled 47# at 26 inches. I harvested a nice
doe with that bow. My first deer with a primitive bow and quasi-primitive
arrow. This was probably the smallest deer I had ever shot and
I can't remember ever shooting a doe before, but it was also the
most satisfying hunt I had ever had. This was definitely the experience
I had been searching for all those years. This was the closest
thing I had experienced to a pure and natural moment in the woods.
This was getting much closer to the way our ancestors would have
done it 400 or 500 years ago.
This first success made me want more. Not more kills, well that
too, but specifically, more knowledge about how our ancestors
lived. It made me want to continue my devolution, my journey,
even further. It made me want to delve deeper into the primitive
lifestyle and to try to bring my next hunt even closer to "exactly"
how the Native Americans would have done it 400 years ago. My
journey continued by tanning the hide from that deer and using
the hide to make handles for my bows. I have made leather lace
from the hide and a leather case for my hatchet. I started to
use wild turkey and Canada goose feathers for my arrows. I started
making field points and broadheads for my arrows using antler
tips and bone.
I started to research other primitive skills such as brain tanning
and flint knapping. I found a source of flint and started trying
to make some flint broadheads but flint knapping is a very difficult
skill to learn and it could take a couple months of trying before
you can make a good broadhead. I was very close to having one
finished, which I would have used this fall, but I broke the tip
off it just moments from having it finished. I am not sure that
I will continue on that part of the journey…too damn frustrating.
Actually, I know I will, but I am not looking forward to it…too
damn frustrating
I used a primitive bow again this year for deer hunting and harvested
a 4 point buck here in New Brunswick. I saved the deer hide and
plan to brain tan it, the same as the Native Americans would have.
I also went to New York state deer hunting this fall and took
along 2 completely different bows. The bow that I wanted to harvest
my next deer with is designed after an 8000 year old bow. I didn't
get to try that one out in New York but I will try it next spring
on a bear.
My latest plunge into my devolution is to make a bow using nothing
but primitive tools that the Indians would have used 400 years
ago. This bow is going to be absolutely primitive in every way.
It will not have a modern tool used in it's construction. I started
with a hornbeam log about 3 inches in diameter. I needed some
moose antler tips to split the log so I used a big rock to break
some tines off a set of moose antlers. I then used a rock to pound
the tines into the log and split it apart.
Then I used a piece of leather lace from my first deer to measure
the bow and find the mid point. Next, I found a few pieces of
flint I had broken that had sharp edges and I used them to rough
out the bow and do my first floor tillering. The bow was then
laid up to dry. I imagine it will be another couple of weeks before
it is dry enough that I can finish it but that will be done with
more flint, and sandstone to substitute for sand paper. I have
a nice chunk of bear fat that I will render down for a bear grease
finish.
I plan to use 2 rabbit skins cut with flint for the string and
I will shoot the rabbits using my antler tipped arrows from a
primitive bow. I have also started looking for suitable branches
to make primitive arrow shafts. This bow will be absolutely primitive.
What I have learned is that for me, this devolution is a journey.
The more primitive I get, the more primitive I want to get. For
you, it doesn't have to be a journey, it could be a day trip.
It could be just something that you do every now and then. It
could be that you just pull the bow out twice a year to go to
the primitive tournaments. But, if you enjoy shooting, if you
want to enrich your archery experience, this is a very satisfying
thing to do. Primitive archery is growing and there are more and
more of us every year. Most primitive archers will never give
up their "other bows" and you don't have to. For me,
I can't imagine ever going back to a manufactured bow. (top)
The
Woodland Christmas Turkey Shoot
December 5th was what you would call a satisfying day. The Woodland
Archery Club had their annual Turkey Shoot. It could not have
fallen on a better day in December. The chickadees were out, the
sun was out, and the archers were out to have some fun and do
some shooting. The place was Kingston Peninsula on the Ganong
Rd on a really hilly stretch of ground. In addition to getting
some exercise from archery, you were getting a good workout on
the hills. There were about 30 archers and a lot of young archers
which was nice to see. The club is doing something right to attract
so many young archers.
There were 20 2D and 3D animal targets set up in various positions.
Two arrows were shot at each target. We shot two rounds, one in
the morning and one in the afternoon. After lunch a novelty round
with a moose set at about 80 meters was the target. The idea was
to shoot one arrow at the moose and the archer with the closest
arrow to the ten spot would win their Christmas turkey. Youth,
ladies and men all had their chance.
At lunch time everyone gathered around by the little camp perched
on top of the hill. Laughing and chatting about archery and some
of the hunters in the group talked about their hunting trips.
A few of them were successful and the rest saying, "Well
maybe next year". We dined on turkey stew, rolls, chocolate
cake, ginger cookies, hotdogs and coffee. It was a hearty meal
for the outdoors. Then we shot the second round after lunch. All
good things have to come to an end. As the prizes were given out,
the sun set a little lower behind the hills and you could feel
a chill in the air. I hated to see such a great day draw to a
close.
We all know there is only so many beautiful days to cherish and
this is one that you didn't want to miss. Woodlands did a great
job hosting this event, a very hospitable bunch of archers and
hopefully Woodland Archers will prosper and grow. This club is
a real asset to archery in New Brunswick.
The scores and prizes are as follows:
Recurve
1st place - Bruce Hennessey
2nd place - Kevin Galloway
3rd place - David Galloway |
Longbow
1st place - Bob Dryden
2nd place - Ben Forward
3rd place - Steve Lyne |
| |
|
Primitive
1st place - Fred Doody
2nd place - Lionel Gautreau
3rd place - Wade Beck |
Ladies
1st place - Lee Vieneau
2nd place - Trudy Dryden
3rd place - Theresa Taylor |
| |
|
Junior
1st place - Brandon Toton
2nd place - JP Betteridge
3rd place - Nick Lyne |
PeeWee
1st place - Alex Benjamin
2nd place - Jamie Phinney
3rd place - Michael Adams |
| |
|
Novelty - Long Distance
Mens - Paul Legere
Ladies - Trudy Dryden
Youth - Peter Martin |
|
(top)
September 2004 Issue 1
Hello Traditional Archers,
This is what's been happening in traditional archery in the Maritimes.
May
2004 - Woodlands Traditional Archers
Woodlands Archery club has for the last number years hosted the
May shoot. They are one of the strongest clubs in traditional
archery. They have a good group of archers coming to this shoot
from NS, all over NB, PEI and the State of Maine. This year I
didn't get the shoot the two full days however I was able to attend
on Sunday. There were about 60 archers in attendance. It is held
in Hampton off the Ganong Road at what I would call the "estate"
of Gig Kierstead. It is in a beautiful setting of rolling hills,
meandering streams, and small farms. They had two courses set
up with 20 stations on each course. For the novelty rounds they
had the famous milk jug shoot, the long shoot and the flu flu.
Shoot results are as follows:
PeeWee 1st Brandon Totton 2nd John Betteridge Jr. 3rd Nick Lyne
Junior 1st Travis Jones 2nd Eric Drew 3rd Tamara Dockendorf
Ladies 1st Lee Vienneau 2nd Peggy Doody 3rd Marie Dockendorf
Mens Recurve 1st Bob Jacobson 2nd Phil Nelson 3rd Eugene Laplante
Mens Lonbow 1st Bob Young 2nd Marcel Doucet 3rd Louis Richard
Mens Primitive 1st Dan Petitpas 2nd Lionel Gautreau 3rd Bill Dockendorf
Long Shoot:
Peewee - Chris Gorman Ladies - Lee Vienneau Mens - David Legacy
Flu Flu - Herb Haines and John Wilson
Milk Jug - Lionel Gautreau and Walter Chow
(top)
June
2004 - PEI Gathering
PEI Gathering - Traditional archers gathered on PEI for the fourth
annual June shoot. It was put on by none other that the famous
lone eagles of PEI, Bill and Marie Dockendorf. Bill is Mr. Archery
for promoting the sport. I am not sure of it but I think James
Brown was called the hardest working man in show business, but
I consider Bill as one of the hardest working man in archery.
With the help of his pals from NS he is able to pull off the shoots.
If your interest ever starts to wane in archery, talk to Bill
and he will rekindle your interest. Bill has told me that he would
stop his truck alongside the road on his way home after a hard
day's work and cast some arrows at the round hay bales. If that
ain't the love for archery, what can it be? Getting back to the
tournament. The shoot was held at Spike's Paint Ball; the owner
of the land lets Bill use it for the tournament. There were about
50 archers. The weather was cold and wet. It is not a hilly area,
however there were interesting shots. For example the bear at
the brook with a lobster in its mouth and the moose where you
had to use the moose call before you shot the target. There were
20 animals with two arrows at each station. Bill has a real challenging
novelty round. There are six axeheads set in a row where you had
to shoot an arrow through and be closest to the mark at the other
end to win this novelty shoot. Tough on arrows, no wonder some
of the archery shop owners are smiling from ear to ear, ching-ching.
Then he had a running bear coming at you from 60 yards or so away.
They didn't have any gravity left on the Island, so Bill had it
tied to the driveshaft of a motor and Gerry was at the throttle.
The idea was to get three arrows in the kill zone. Hey, if you
like seafood this is the shoot to be at. There was no shortage
of lobster, mussels and oysters. Bill is quite a craftsman, he
makes by hand the medals for the top shooters in each category.
They are beautifully done and they are prized by the archers who
have them. They look like primitive broadheads and some are decorated
with pieces of wood. They are an artistic piece of jewelry. Bill
and Marie are great hosts and make you feel very welcome. If you
forget your jacket at home, Marie will take you shopping for the
best bargain. Two thumbs up to Bill and Marie for a wonderful
time. (top)
July
10-11, 2004 - TAANS
The seventh annual 2-day TAANS shoot hosted by Kings Archers,
New Minas, NS was a huge success with 117 archers in attendance.
There were 20 women shooting at this event. I've only seen more
archers at a national shoot. It was held in a super location with
great facilities. We had the use of the Club house facility which
included a kitchen, indoor bathroom and dining hall.
The weather co-operated and the woods were very comfortable to
shoot in. I liked the way the course was set up. The trails were
cut so that there was an alcove at several of the stations. This
way the next group of archers would wait on the trail and did
not interfere with the group that was shooting. Archers came from
NB, PEI and NS with archers giving the TAANS shoot a go. The novelty
shoots were challenging and exciting and were well attended. There
was a timed event, Aerial shoots using a catapult to launch the
targets, Milk jugs and a Challenger round. The time event was
the first time I seen this done. The object of this game was to
shoot at four 3D animals spaced out across the field of different
sizes. This event was exciting. Many were cheering on their champions
and Lloyd almost ran across the field with the best accuracy and
the best time making this event look easy. Nicely done! The Milk
Jug shoot is two milk cartoons filled with water hung from a bar
with a pulley in the middle and the idea is to shoot the bottom
of the carton letting the water out so the carton will rise to
the top of the bar before your opponent bursts the bottom out
of his milk carton. Four shooters shoot at a time in pairs, the
last pair standing is declared the winner. There were also some
novelties on the 2 main courses such as a floating Alligator,
a charging Turkey, a running Javelina, a Steel bear and a long
distance shot at a Caribou. Now the charging turkey was something
else. If you ever were charged by a turkey, you'd want to be ready
for it. The idea was to get as many arrows into this bird before
it got to you. Well it looked like some of the boys were doing
their homework. I thought I was doing good by getting 4 arrows
into this dirty bird. These guys got 6, so when they head to the
woods this fall they are ready for whatever comes their way. Well
done Fred and Marcel! There were also tree stand shots around
the course.
There were campfire gatherings, sing songs and jokes told. At
this campfire there was not only a guitar, but almost a complete
band; an accordion player, a harmonica player, a fiddler, spoons
and numerous guitar players. I thought for awhile that Reta McNeill
and Ally McMasters were going to show up, now wouldn't that have
been something. The party went on until the wee hours of the morning.
When it did rain in the evening the party moved into the club
house and I think they were playing pictionary, cards and whatever.
The pig roast was a success with all its fixings, MMM good. The
food was delicious and the kitchen staff did a super job. Kings
Archers are to be commended on their fine job of hosting this
shoot. There were lots of nice prizes given. The awards were presented
by TAANS President, Richard Strang. Richard thanked everyone for
attending and congratulated Lindsey Poehl and his fine staff for
doing a great job. Well Done!
The Shoot Results are as follows:
Longbow 1st Marcel Doucet 2nd Ryan Eavis 3rd Bob Dryden
Recurve 1st Bill Murphy 2nd Fred Doody 3rd Phil Nelson
Primitive 1st Lionel Gautreau 2nd John Large 3rd John Taylor
Ladies 1st Marie Dockendorf 2nd Shari Neill 3rd Debbie Marlborough
Junior 1st Mark Rushton 2nd Colton Rhind 3rd Karl Aalders.
Peewee 1st Cody Lee 2nd Matt Rushton 3rd Austin Rhind.
Challenger Round - Bob Dryden. Timed event - Lloyd Rhyno
Aerial discs - Fred Doody Milk Jugs Team: Marcel Doucet &
Trudy Dryden
Overall Champion After Shoot off - Mark Rushton.
(top)
August
20-21 2004 - Valley Archers
Picture this: A used to be rectangular ball field with campsites
and trailers positioned on opposite sides, a huge lean to for
cooking and protection against the elements on one end and the
practice butts and novelty shoots at the other end. Wouldn't this
be a place you'd want to be if you were a traditional archer!
Well this is where it all happened during August 20-21 weekend
shoot hosted by Valley Archers.
The shoot located in beautiful Belleisle was a big success in
spite of the weather. The location lent itself well to a traditional
archery tournament with a variety of shots, uphill, downhill,
across water, open field and moving targets. Oh boys! There was
a good turnout, about 50 archers from NS, NB and PEI participated.
Friday afternoon Fred Doody with the help of some of the archers
erected a massive lean to. The largest one I have ever seen. This
was good foresight on their part, because we sure needed the cover
for Saturday. Saturday the rain held off for part of the morning,
but then it started. It made for very challenging rounds. You
know as a traditional archer, the old saying "Don't get your
feathers wet, for it makes some interesting shooting" The
accuracy goes downhill. You could see the water fly off the bowstring
in a fine mist as each archer shot. Oh yeah, "How hard did
it rain?" Well let me tell you. A group of us came to the
station where the two moose were set up across the pond and there
was Tom's head bobbing in the water. Tom was swimming after some
stray arrows that had gone into the pond. He said. "It didn't
make any difference. He couldn't get any wetter then he already
was." After the rounds and dry clothes we came together under
the large lean to where seating was very comfortable with hay
bales placed in semi circles. We dined on steak, baked potatoes,
and a variety of pastas. The deserts were superb. The food was
excellent. Thanks to Peggy Doody and her crew. At times it rained
so hard that we could not hear ourselves talk. Later on during
the evening there was some entertainment provided by a young man
on a guitar with a fine voice and other singers with guitars also
took their turns. It was very cozy under the circumstances and
we even had a campfire at one end of the lean to. It rained until
the wee hours of the morning. You could hear the rain drops pattering
on the tent and you wondered if this would be a repeat of Saturday.
Now Sunday was a different story. What a difference a day makes.
The campsite awoke with the sun shinning, archers with smiles
on their faces, and the smell of breakfast cooking. The scores
were higher on Sunday, no wonder. After dinner we had three novelty
shoots. The first one was six crows lined up on a fence. Two Teams
of two would shoot and the first team to shoot three crows won
the round. This continued on until the elimination round where
two people were left standing. Many archers were lined up to try
their hand at this. The second novelty was a red dog chasing a
rabbit on a cable. The object was who could put the most arrows
into the bullseye on the rabbit without hitting the dog. The rabbit
was moving at a fast clip. Shari Neill was on the controls and
she could make that rabbit run. The third novelty was the flying
goose. This goose came flying down from about 30 feet and the
object was to put the most arrows into the bull's-eye. An archery
net was erected high up in the spruce tree and acted as a backstop.
Archers used flu flu arrows. We could see Fred's input in setting
up the course, especially the novelty rounds.
Shari and Mike Neill thanked everyone for coming. Trophies and
prizes were awarded for the different categories as well as for
the novelties. A big thank you to the Neill family (Mike, his
Dad, Ivan and his grandfather, Lloyd) for the use of the beautiful
property. Also special thanks to Ivan Neill for making and donating
the throwing axes, Marcel Doucet for his generous donation of
prizes, as well the many local people for donating meat, eggs,
and wine. Hope we haven't missed anyone
Shoot results
Longbow----Marcel Doucett 1235, Bob Dryden 1192, Gary McDougall
1188
Recurve----Chris McFarland 1170, Dave Legacy 1120, John Betteridge
sr 1105
Primitive---Bill Dockendorf 980, Arnold Carson 892, Herb Haines
786
Ladies----Trudy Dryden 1081, Marie Dockendorf 1003, Kathy Drew
881
PeeWee---Jordon Totton 1223, John Betteridge jr 1124, Brandon
Totton 1070
Junior----Jamie Totton 918, Chris Roy 818, Barry Chamberlain 523
Junior Compound---Adam Roy 1088, Jarrett Totton 839
Mens Compound----John Todd 1420, Doug Stevens 999
Winners of the novelty shoots
Crows----Brandon Totton and Barry Chamberlain
Running Rabbit---Wayne Lantz
Flying Goose----Bob Dryden
Hats off, to Valley Archers! Well done!
Final Note
These are a few of the traditional shoots that I have been at
this year. I wish I could have gone to more. I think it would
be nice to see another shoot in NB, maybe in September. Who knows
what next year will bring. I know there is a lot of work to put
on one of these shoots, but maybe two clubs can get together and
host one. At these shoots I don't find that people are critical
of another, they are just there to enjoy archery and to have fun.
Here are some ways that you can help your traditional club in
your area. It costs a lot for 3D animals and they do not last
forever. The clubs do not have a lot of money. They appreciate
donation of prizes such as trout flies, arrows, or if your grandmother
makes wool socks, etc. They always need help setting up for tournaments.
It's a good way to get some exercise and enjoy nature. Another
way you can help is to bring some friends to your traditional
archery club and introduce them to the sport.
Join a traditional archery club, meet people and make some friends,
we all need some.
A traditional archer supports all forms of archery.
Written by Bob Dryden
Newsletter team:
Eugene Laplante
Dave Legacy
Fred Doody
(top)
Note: If you have any comments, you can send them to
robertdryden@rogers.com
ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED ©
Archers Association of N-B, 2003
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