On to Sherwood Forest

Many times I've written on this blog about Dave's archery habit. Okay, maybe it's more like an obsession. Anyway, Dave isn't one of those guys who just likes to shoot bows. He loves making them too--hacking down trees, splitting them, sketching out the bow and watching it come forth as he scrapes and smooths and rasps the extra wood away. He has made many bows already--about 10 in all--and the survivors get better every time.

Here are Dave's best bows so far. They are all three made of Russian Olive wood, graciously and unknowingly donated by the city of Spanish Fork. The one on the left is 50 pound draw weight. The middle bow is between 55-60 pound draw weight and the one on the right is 25 pound draw weight. (It's mine!)

I love how beautiful the Russian Olive wood is. It has such unique grain patterns and it becomes particularly beautiful once it's sanded completely smooth and stained. Dave sewed the leather handle on the bow on the left all by himself.

After watching Emma and being inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's arm guard, Dave decided to make one for himself. I love how creative Dave is--he can see something and make up a pattern for it and it always works.

The inside of the arm guard is completely smooth so the bow string doesn't catch on anything as he shoots.

The outside is where he adjusts it to make sure it's tight enough. The back of his hand is lined with elastic for give when he flexes his hand. I love that he worked so hard to make this perfect. It took some very creative thought, and the occasional embarrassing purchase to make this work. Like the time Dave had to venture into JoAnn's and ask the lady for bra adjusters when making the earlier version of the arm guard. The look she gave him was pretty classic.

Dave during target practice

Dave's hat cracks me up, how it looks like chain mail and goes so perfectly with his "Medieval theme." He made it himself a year or so ago.

Our backyard was so pretty the other night with the sun setting and the grass still a little green. This is where Dave shoots so he doesn't have arrows going all over the place. A couple of days ago, I was inside with Jed when Dave came running in, flushed with triumph, bearing a bloody, fur-covered arrow. A cat had been slinking through our yard when Dave decided to see if he could hit it. And...he did, from about 30 yards! The arrow was just a field-tip so it didn't go through the cat, just poked a hole and fell out. I just hope it was a stray, and not some little old lady's cat who came gasping to her door.

Jed loves to watch his daddy shoot.

Since Jed is mad for any string he can get his hands on, you can bet he was going to go after that bow string!

Trying on the gear. You can bet that as soon as Jed can hold a bow, Dave will be making him one. And then I'll have two boys to remind not to shoot anyone or anything special!