For my son's fourteenth birthday he asked for a compound bow. I am one proud momma! Shooting bows has been a tradition in my family. My grandfather gave me a bow that was hand made for him by Fred Bear and it is my holy grail! I started shooting bows when I was about fourteen as well. I got a compound Bear bow which was top of the line at the time. I got a trigger, a peep site, silencers, balance and all the goodies. I have shot my bow for years and branched off into long bows and re-curve. I love the traditional feel of the string and the feeling of pulling that string.
The bow that I got for my son is truly a work of art. He got a Diamond Infinite Edge. This bow's poundage ranges from 5-75 lbs. Compare that to my old bow that goes from 45-75 lbs. It is amazing that they can even make a bow with that much variability in the poundage. The bow will literally grow with him and he will never need to replace it. I had to work and work at that age to pull 45 lbs because I wanted a bow I could eventually hunt with. There is no more need for a balance and the sites and arrow knock they have now-a-days are really cool. On the other hand, I am not a fan of the new triggers. To work the modern triggers you need to have an extra loop on your bow string. I see this as one more thing that could go wrong. My old school trigger simply hooks to the bow string.
Taking the bows out into the woods and away from computers, tvs and video games is like heaven for this momma. As we stand and listen to the twang of the string and delight in our successes and failures, I find myself reflecting on survival in a world where this skill would be essential. Our modern bows, especially his require so many parts that just can't be replicated easily from natural items. I think it is time to figure out how to make our own bows and sling some arrows down the range with those. That way we can be versatile in a modern world or a survival world.
Get out there and do it. What a great way to spend the day with your kids!
Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of
the The Changing Earth Series:
Day After Disaster and
Without Land. She also
hosts
The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with
educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a
profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors
from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In
her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and
forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront
in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business
management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights
in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband
and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels.
For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring
everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit:
www.authorsarafhathaway.com
