Latest / Salish Wolf / #80 Cubby Hoover on Project Quiver
Transcript
- 0:06Welcome to Project Quiver, a father daughter journey across
- 0:09the globe to capture the artistry and spirit of the
- 0:12world's finest traditional bow carvers.
- 0:14I'm Todd, the father. Ella is my daughter.
- 0:17Together we're on a mission to create a stunning coffee table
- 0:20book that profiles more than a dozen master bow years and their
- 0:23unparalleled skill. For each chapter, we travel to
- 0:26the Bow Years workshop. Carve a bow under his guidance,
- 0:29photograph his woodcraft in detail, and share his story here
- 0:32on the Salish Wolf Podcast. The book is called Quiver, the
- 0:36art of life. Through bow craft and this
- 0:38journey, our living story is Project Quiver.
- 0:47All right. How's it going man?
- 0:49Finally good to meet. You.
- 0:50Yeah. Good to meet you, too.
- 0:52I'm glad we finally managed. I was beginning to worry that
- 0:55this wasn't going to happen, but here we.
- 0:56Are Yeah, man, I my schedule has been crazy lately.
- 1:00Absolutely insane. What are you staying busy with?
- 1:05I'm a youth pastor, so it's, you know, I got 50 some odd kids and
- 1:11regularly like 30 kids. So it's just constant going.
- 1:14We got all the sports going on and so I'm showing up to all the
- 1:18games and yeah, so it's just, it's just been crazy, but good,
- 1:23everything's good. So yeah.
- 1:25Yeah, that must be rewarding. How long you been doing it?
- 1:30Think we're about at seven months now, full time.
- 1:34So wow, relatively new. Yeah, very new, very new.
- 1:38Yeah, there's a lot, a lot of stuff happened in my life that
- 1:41kind of led to that point. But all, well, not all good
- 1:46things, but, you know, it led me there and I'm thankful for it.
- 1:50It's a, it is very rewarding. But yeah, it's been a, it's been
- 1:54a crazy few years, that's for sure.
- 1:57Yeah. Wow, do you go buy a cubby?
- 2:00Is that Yeah, your name OK? Yeah.
- 2:03Yeah, cool. Yeah, my my real name is Steven,
- 2:05but nobody calls me Steven. I've been Cubby since I was, I
- 2:08don't know, knee high to a grasshopper.
- 2:10So it's been a long time. Who named you that?
- 2:14My older brother DJ is his name. But whenever we're, I don't
- 2:19know, it's probably 3 or 4 years old.
- 2:21And he tried to say Bubba came out Cuba, and then it turned
- 2:25into Cubby, and it just stuck. It's an interesting name to grow
- 2:29up with, you know? Yeah, Yeah.
- 2:32Have you ever heard that song by Johnny Cash?
- 2:36A boy named Sue? Probably, but I doesn't ring
- 2:41about. It follows this, yeah, follows a
- 2:42story with this boy named Sue, and he kind of lived a a hard
- 2:46life because of his name and very similar to that, yeah has.
- 2:51It been difficult. Well, you know, you know, kids,
- 2:54they, you know, in my stature, I'm a, I'm a thicker gentleman.
- 2:59So cubby turned into chubby and, you know, there's just a lot of
- 3:03teasing with that. But, you know, water off the
- 3:05back ain't no big deal. But yeah, it it put me into some
- 3:09situations where I had to, you know, get a little scrappy here
- 3:12and there. Yeah, it's amazing how things
- 3:15like that can shape us. It's that probably is literally
- 3:18shaped the man you are today. Yep, absolutely.
- 3:21Yeah, 100%. Yeah, where are you based?
- 3:25I'm in Purdy, Missouri. So like southwest corner of
- 3:30Missouri. Yeah.
- 3:31Purdy, Purdy. Like it's URDY.
- 3:34Like it's real Purdy there. It's real Purdy.
- 3:38It's real flat. It's real flat where I'm at.
- 3:40Is it OK? Yeah, I don't know if I've ever.
- 3:43No, it's not sure. I've been to Missouri, I've been
- 3:45driven through Saint Louis. And anyway, but I don't think
- 3:48I've been to any of the good parts, not that that's not a
- 3:51good part, but to any of like the the forested areas and
- 3:53whatnot. So many bow woods come from
- 3:55there. Yeah, man, yeah, Osage is
- 3:59prolific where I'm at. Yeah, That's that's I'm
- 4:02thankful, yeah. Whenever I started getting into
- 4:05bow making, I wasn't aware of like what best, you know, Woods
- 4:10made made good bows and and yeah, thankfully it's right in
- 4:16my backyard. It's the it's the best food out
- 4:18there in my opinion. So.
- 4:20Yeah. Oh, that's, you're not the only
- 4:22one with that one, that's for sure.
- 4:25And so it's flat where you are. Is it forested?
- 4:27Well, yeah, so like where I'm at, it's pretty flat, a lot of
- 4:32farmland, a lot of, you know, cattle raising goes on over
- 4:35here. But just 30 minutes SI hit.
- 4:41So I don't know if you know where Eureka Springs is or, you
- 4:44know, northwest Arkansas. There's a lot of hills and
- 4:48valleys and forested areas. So I'm real close to the
- 4:52mountains and, well, the mountains.
- 4:55It's really just big hills over here.
- 4:56But yeah. Cool.
- 4:59How close are you to Fayetteville?
- 5:01It's about from here, probably, probably about an hour and a
- 5:07half, so not too far. I used to live in Fayetteville,
- 5:10lived there for 4 1/2 years. Yeah.
- 5:12Do you know Rick? Rick Spicer.
- 5:14Yes, Yeah. Rick Spicer is a good buddy of
- 5:16mine. I love that guy.
- 5:18He's, he's the reason I'm here, you know, actually.
- 5:22Wow. He's, yeah, he's been a huge
- 5:24influence in my life, so. Tell me more.
- 5:28Oh, I think it was 2000, 17 or 18 probably.
- 5:35I was working full time at a, AT shirt factory and printing
- 5:42shirts and I was in the embroidery part of that.
- 5:46And one of my buddies was like, hey, there's a, there's a
- 5:49archery class going on. This guy named Rick Spicer's
- 5:53putting it on over at Packrat. And at this point, like, you
- 5:56know, I'd shop bows, you know, mostly like compound or, you
- 6:00know, small recurves growing up, but not serious.
- 6:04And I was like, yeah, man, I'd be interested in going and
- 6:07learning how to how to shoot again.
- 6:09And so me and my buddy Drew McLaughlin, I'm thankful for
- 6:13that guy because he introduced me to Rick, went to that class
- 6:18and fell in love with archery. And I was like, man, I got to
- 6:22get a bow. And so I talked to Rick and he
- 6:25he was like, well, you should, you should look into making some
- 6:28bows. Like you've got, you know,
- 6:29carpentry background. And you know, I was asking him
- 6:33about like draw length and all those things.
- 6:36And he was, and me being a bigger guy, it kind of my draw
- 6:41length like because of my chest, like it was a little different.
- 6:45And so I was like, I'm going to start making bows for chubby
- 6:49guys. And so, yeah, I mean, I fell in
- 6:54love with it and didn't have enough money to to buy a bow at
- 6:58the time. So I was like, yeah, I'll start
- 7:00looking into, you know, how do I get started into making bows?
- 7:04And so I just started, I got the bow your Bible, read that front
- 7:10to back multiple times, started watching videos.
- 7:14You know, I found Corey Hawk, big inspiration to me, good
- 7:18buddy of mine. Love that guy to you.
- 7:21Great, great guy. Yeah, he's, yeah, he's
- 7:22fantastic. It's all to the earth.
- 7:24His whole family is just fantastic.
- 7:27Yeah. Clay Hayes started like watching
- 7:30a lot of his videos and then I found board bows and I was like,
- 7:34OK, I can make this happen. I can go to Lowe's and buy a red
- 7:39oak board, make my first bow. So that's kind of where it
- 7:43started. Then it and it all spun from
- 7:45inspiration from Rick. He's, he loves the, I don't want
- 7:51to call it a sport because it's more in a sport, but yeah, he,
- 7:55he loves archery. He's got a passion for it and
- 7:58just kind of set that fire in me so.
- 8:01How long ago was that? I think that was 2000.
- 8:04I want to say it's 2018, maybe in the later later part of 2018.
- 8:11Yeah, well, he had a lot of good influences there.
- 8:13Good, good group of people to know and resources to have.
- 8:17And have you been to the Bruja Bush rack?
- 8:20Yeah, yeah, I go. I try to go every year.
- 8:23I miss. Did you last?
- 8:24You miss this year? Did you go this year?
- 8:25I went this year, yeah. Yeah.
- 8:27How was I made it this year? It was fantastic, man, getting
- 8:31to see all my good friends and getting to teach some survival
- 8:35or some, I guess, bushcraft skills to some kids.
- 8:38And, you know, I made a bow while I was out there, worked on
- 8:41a bow. Anyways, I didn't get it
- 8:42finished, but it's always a good time.
- 8:44And just with others that are making stuff, Corey was right
- 8:49next to me. He knocked out a little kid bow
- 8:52in like just a few hours. It was wild.
- 8:55I think he I think he used a piece, piece of I don't know
- 8:59what he used actually. I was so busy and fixated on
- 9:03this little thing that, you know, I wasn't really paying
- 9:06attention to him. But I, I look over at one point
- 9:09and he's got a, a whole, you know, sapling.
- 9:11And then I look over again and it's a bow, you know, that needs
- 9:14a he's a, he's a machine man. He really is so.
- 9:19But yeah, it's a good time, man. I love it.
- 9:20I love it. I'm hoping to go next year with
- 9:23my family. Dude that would be so cool.
- 9:26That would be amazing. Yeah.
- 9:27Are you going to run the race on it?
- 9:31Yeah. Well, I can't run anymore.
- 9:33I used to be a competitive runner, but I had a terrible
- 9:35ankle injury. So I'm I can do everything
- 9:38except for a run, which is kind of ironic because that used to
- 9:41be my entire life was running. I can, I can literally do every
- 9:45sport, but if it involves running, I I'm going to pay the
- 9:48price. My ankle will just lock up for
- 9:50the next week and be very angry at me.
- 9:53So I avoid that. But I will I'll do the race on a
- 9:56slower version of it. Yeah, yeah, I've never, I've
- 10:00never run the race. I've heard it's grueling and it
- 10:05just totally kicks your butt. But I've, I've wanted to, but
- 10:10I'm, I'm always there building a bow or something.
- 10:12And so I don't think I'll probably run it, you know, which
- 10:16is fine. Yeah, yeah, well, maybe I won't
- 10:18commit to it yet, I'll have to see.
- 10:19But sounds like it would be fun. My family would probably want to
- 10:23do it. But yeah, I I had a great chat
- 10:26with Rick a few months ago on here and he's a really nice guy.
- 10:29Sounds like a a great thing that he has going on with the event
- 10:32and with with Pack Rat shop and whatnot.
- 10:34So. Yeah, he's, he's really built a
- 10:37pretty awesome community of, of just golden humans.
- 10:41Everybody I've met through him is just fantastic.
- 10:43I'm very thankful for Rick for sure.
- 10:46That's amazing. That's really awesome.
- 10:49So how's the bow making journey been for you?
- 10:52Was it? It's been really instant love.
- 10:55Well, yeah, yeah, man. So I made my first board bow and
- 11:01it was an absolute abomination. But it shot.
- 11:06It shot. And, you know, I found a local
- 11:093D archery course that was putting on some tournaments
- 11:12every, I think it's like every other weekend and went and shot
- 11:16my my board bow in those in those tournaments.
- 11:20And, and I did pretty well with it.
- 11:22You know, my shot placement was really great.
- 11:25And but yeah, that that first bow was, was, you know, it's
- 11:29shot, it did its job, but it's not pretty at all.
- 11:35And yeah, so from that point, like there was a, there was a
- 11:39point in that first year shooting it where it developed
- 11:42cracks and I would bind it with rawhide.
- 11:45And I mean, it had like 3 different, you know, I think it
- 11:50was like by the end of the, whenever I retired and I think
- 11:53it had four rawhide bands on it to keep it together.
- 11:58And I just kept on shooting it and I, I finally made another
- 12:00one. And then after that, after I
- 12:04made that second one, it just, I just started making them all
- 12:08that I could out of boards from Lowe's and, and, you know,
- 12:13trying to further my knowledge on what, what species of wood
- 12:17was good. And, you know, from reading the,
- 12:20the Bowyer's Bible, I knew like I needed to get my hand on some,
- 12:23on some Osage. And so I started figuring out
- 12:27what plant or what that tree looks like and where it is and
- 12:30all that stuff. And I figured out, hey, it's,
- 12:32it's, it's. And this time I was living at
- 12:34Fayetteville and I was like, man, my parents live in
- 12:37Missouri. I'm going to go check out their,
- 12:39their property. And I went to their property and
- 12:41like, I'd say probably 40% of their little force that they
- 12:47have on their land, it's all Osage.
- 12:49And I was like, Oh my gosh, yeah.
- 12:52So I started, I started cutting down trees and knocking out
- 12:56staves and started, you know, during my, my wood.
- 13:00And then I think I got my hands on some on some age dosage and I
- 13:06made my first Osage bow and, and that's what I shot for a long
- 13:10time. And then it, you know, after
- 13:12those stage that I got cured, I, I, it was all over.
- 13:16I, I was just building bows after bows, giving them to
- 13:20family members and friends. And then I was like, man, I
- 13:23think I want to, I want to do this for real.
- 13:26I want to I want to pursue a career in this.
- 13:28And so that's kind of where it where it all started.
- 13:32Did you grow up on your parents property?
- 13:35No, I grew up. I grew up in well, Rogers AR
- 13:42Gentry, Arkansas and Rogers before it is before it became
- 13:47what it is today. And it's I mean, the population
- 13:50down there is just wild. Walmart moved in and you know,
- 13:54all the OG Northwest Arkansas people kind of like moved out.
- 14:00And so I, that's kind of what I did.
- 14:02But eventually after starting my or after finding the love of
- 14:09making bows and then and then whenever I was like, I want to
- 14:13pursue this, my wife and I sold everything we had moved into a
- 14:18camper and then moved on to my parents property for a few
- 14:20years. And that's that's where I got
- 14:23all my material and set up my shop and I just got to work.
- 14:28So that's kind of how that became a a thing, but.
- 14:33That that's cool. You you talked earlier about the
- 14:37draw length you is yours A do you have a long draw length?
- 14:41You were. Talking about, make a pose for.
- 14:42For chubby guys, so I don't know what is it make the draw longer.
- 14:46What I found is like with our, with bigger guys, you know, your
- 14:51chest might get in the way or your belly might get in the way.
- 14:57And, and I, and I figured out that like if I, if I lean over a
- 15:01little bit, my, my, my form is not like a classic form.
- 15:07It's, it's something I've made-up to shoot and, and to do
- 15:11what I need to do. But my true draw length is 28
- 15:14inches. So it's normal, but I usually
- 15:18shoot like 26 whenever I'm out out hunting.
- 15:22You know, I hunt off the ground. I don't hunt from a tree stand.
- 15:26And so my form is never like exact whenever I'm in a hunting
- 15:31scenario. And so I figured out like, OK,
- 15:3426 inches, I can hit that. And so that's kind of what
- 15:37that's what I use is 26 inches. But for chubby guys, you might
- 15:42have a true 28, but you got to work around what you got going
- 15:46on. And and so sometimes that shifts
- 15:50a little bit. So does that come that
- 15:53workaround, Does that come from the bow or does that come from
- 15:55the shooting style? Comes from the shooting style
- 15:58I've I've seen like so like, you know, not understanding fully
- 16:03the mechanics of form and all that stuff.
- 16:06Whenever I first started, I was like, I'm going to, you know,
- 16:10try to figure out how to make this more available to chubby
- 16:12guys to figure out what their drawing is.
- 16:14And then, you know, after I learned more, I was like, well,
- 16:18it's really just mostly like around your shooting style.
- 16:22Find a comfortable shooting style for you that you can, you
- 16:27can, you can do repetitively, like find those anchor points
- 16:30and whatever works for you. It might not look like the
- 16:33perfect form to everybody else, but for you it's exact every
- 16:37time. And that's what I've learned
- 16:39over the years of doing this is it's, it's all in this in the
- 16:42style of how you shoot. And just as long as you can find
- 16:45something consistent, that's what matters.
- 16:48Yeah, I agree. And I've seen so many different
- 16:50styles and some people who have such unorthodox styles who are
- 16:54damn good shots. So yeah, that's cool.
- 17:01So you said you got so excited about it that you wanted to kind
- 17:05of make a go out it, make a career out of it.
- 17:07So are you doing this as a part time career?
- 17:11Yeah, right now I've had a lot of lot of things come up.
- 17:16I guess how do I answer this question?
- 17:22Yeah, right now it's it's kind of a part time.
- 17:26If somebody reaches out to me for a custom Commission, I'll
- 17:31build them a bow. But I'm not actively pursuing
- 17:34building my my company, building my brand or anything like that
- 17:40because of my position right now with the the youth pastor
- 17:45position. I don't have the time that I'd
- 17:47need you to devote to a a full time career with that at this
- 17:51point. It's just not where it's not
- 17:54where my life has me right now. But I'm still building bows and
- 17:57I'm still teaching bushcraft or survival courses if I can.
- 18:02But I'm not actively pursuing that stuff at this point.
- 18:06So if somebody reaches out to me for a custom bow, I'll knock it
- 18:09out. But yeah, yeah.
- 18:12How did you get into bushcraft? I kind of hit this point in my
- 18:18life where, you know, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on in
- 18:22the world back in 2018-2019. And I was really, I've always
- 18:28been interested in that world, you know, and I think the show
- 18:33alone kind of made that more accessible to me.
- 18:38I didn't have anybody in my life that taught me these skills, but
- 18:42I always appreciated it, respected it and loved it and
- 18:46and so you. Were on the own right.
- 18:51I was, yeah. Yeah.
- 18:53When was that? Season 11?
- 18:54That was, well, I guess three years ago now, maybe 4I it's
- 19:01been a blur, man. Yeah, I think four years ago
- 19:04maybe is whenever we started filming.
- 19:08OK. So you had developed some
- 19:09bushcraft skills prior to that? Oh yeah, 100% yeah.
- 19:14I just, I just full swing got into it, man.
- 19:16Yeah, OK. And then where were you on the
- 19:19show? Where?
- 19:20Where was it based? That was in in Nuvik, Canada,
- 19:25and I think it was like 110 miles into the Arctic Circle.
- 19:31Wow. That was the furthest N at that
- 19:33point, I think that the show had been.
- 19:36It's pretty wild. It was absolutely wild.
- 19:39Was it cold? Yeah, it whenever I got there
- 19:44was like towards the end of summer.
- 19:46So OK, we had some days that were like up into the 60s
- 19:51Fahrenheit. So we went swimming in the
- 19:54river. But like, but most of the time
- 19:57it was a little chilly, rainy. I think it snowed on the 1st on
- 20:01the day that we were we were heading out, there's a little
- 20:04bit of snow. But each day that I was there
- 20:07and, you know, I was in T-shirt and.
- 20:10You know, it wasn't freezing. And then at night I was just
- 20:13like laying on top of my sleeping bag.
- 20:16So no, not super cold for me. The the, the, the contestants
- 20:21that stayed there a little longer experienced some real
- 20:23cold weather, but I didn't, I didn't get to experience that,
- 20:26unfortunately. How many days were you out
- 20:29there? Oh, man, it's embarrassing, but
- 20:33I was out there for four days. Have you seen the have you seen
- 20:37the show yet? That that.
- 20:39Season I've, you know, I've and I've actually only ever seen
- 20:44like one or two episodes and this was years ago at my sister
- 20:47in So maybe I saw hit like a couple episodes of his season.
- 21:00Yeah. So yeah, I was, I was out there
- 21:04for four days on the on that fourth day, I went, I went
- 21:10trying to find, trying to find better water access, trying to
- 21:13find a better fishing spot. And I took my bow, took my
- 21:19quiver and walking through that dense brush down there by the
- 21:24river, it's just Willow and and Alder, you know, all these like
- 21:29little saplings just growing in together.
- 21:31And I mean, it's, it's overbearing really.
- 21:35But you know, I'm pushing through that and I get probably,
- 21:40I think it's about 30 minutes out from my, my camp that I was
- 21:45making and realized, man, this whole side of this river that
- 21:50I'm on, it's kind of like an off branch from the main river.
- 21:54But this whole side that I'm on is just cut back.
- 21:57It's just, you know, 6 to 8 foot drops to just mud and sand and
- 22:03kind of pain to get down to get to the water.
- 22:07And so I turned back and started heading back and I was going to
- 22:11go the opposite side of where my camp was.
- 22:14There's this Big Lake and about 5-10 minutes in the walk back,
- 22:20I'm holding my quiver like football carry just a no, no,
- 22:26But, and whenever you watch the show, you can see that I, I keep
- 22:30on dipping that quiver and one of my arrows fell out and I
- 22:36didn't notice. I got kind of got hung up in
- 22:38some brush and took a few steps back and then pushed my way
- 22:43through that brush. And whenever I, I LED down with
- 22:46my left foot arrow shoved in the back of my leg right at the bend
- 22:51of right at the bend of my knee. And gosh, so I knew like, you
- 22:57know, I've got arteries there. You know, you got the femoral,
- 23:00femoral turns into popliteal right there at that split.
- 23:04And, and I'm looking at this arrow and I'm thinking to
- 23:08myself, like, man, I might die. And so I turned, I turned the
- 23:14camera on and it was about, you know, I know, like if you hit
- 23:20the, the femoral, you, you and your, your blood or your heart
- 23:25rate's up, you got all this adrenaline, blood's going to be
- 23:28pumping. And so before I messed with the
- 23:32arrow, I turned my camera on and started saying bye to my wife.
- 23:37But I started, you know, watching the clock kind of sit
- 23:41down. And eventually I saw 5 minutes
- 23:44on that clock And I was like, hey, I'm not dead yet.
- 23:46I'm going to, I'm going to doctor myself up.
- 23:48I'm going to stay. So I cut my pants, which was
- 23:52kind of a bummer. I remember thinking to myself,
- 23:55which is really ridiculous, but your mind does crazy things out
- 23:58there. But I have these, you know,
- 24:02they're like $200 hunting pants on.
- 24:06And I was like, if I, if I, if I cut these off, I can't save
- 24:09them. So I'm just going to cut a
- 24:10little bit of a hole so I can patch them up later.
- 24:13And so I started cutting and then stall the arrow finally
- 24:17where it where it entered. And there wasn't a whole lot of
- 24:20blood at this point. So I went to working on it and
- 24:25got my Leatherman out, started sawing it and I felt every tooth
- 24:29of that leather Leatherman hit that arrow and it just like
- 24:32vibrated through my leg. And so I was like not doing
- 24:35that. I went to put my Leatherman back
- 24:39in. I had the arrow in my left hand
- 24:41just like holding it, you know, still on my leg.
- 24:45And I felt it give a little bit. So I was like, I can pull this
- 24:48sucker out. So, you know, looking back, I
- 24:52know how dangerous that was. I wouldn't advise anybody to do
- 24:56that. But you know, the shock I was in
- 25:00the, the adrenaline, I had all that stuff.
- 25:03I was just fixated on thing. And so I pulled it out.
- 25:09I had a, a tourniquet in my quiver.
- 25:11I had a Israeli bandage in my quiver.
- 25:14And I just, I grabbed the first thing I could, which was the
- 25:17Israeli bandage, wrap myself up, bothered myself, gathered all my
- 25:22stuff and, and took off back to camp.
- 25:26Got back to camp and sat there and argued with myself for a
- 25:30little bit, started preparing. And then, you know, I was like,
- 25:34no, I'm staying. So I started preparing to, I was
- 25:37going to Stow myself up with my fish hooks that I brought.
- 25:42I stood up to go get some water, but I had to make that climb
- 25:47down to the water. At this point, I was probably a
- 25:51couple 100 yards from the water's edge and I stood up,
- 25:55grabbing my pail, took a step with my left leg that got the
- 25:59arrow in it. And I just fell over.
- 26:01And I, and at that point I stopped.
- 26:04I'd looked around and, you know, realized I can't, I can't walk.
- 26:07I'm going to have to crawl. And then I started seeing all
- 26:10this blood and I was just like, man, there's the population of
- 26:15like the bear density. I can't remember the exact
- 26:18numbers, but I know there was a lot of Grizzlies in the area
- 26:22because every morning I woke up, I saw a new grizzly tract right
- 26:26by where I was building my permanent shelter.
- 26:29And so, you know, I had a moment of clarity and I was just like,
- 26:33man, there's blood everywhere. I can't defend myself.
- 26:36I can't walk. I'm not going to die.
- 26:39But like, you know, this is a really dangerous situation.
- 26:43And so I proceeded to argue with myself for about another hour
- 26:47and then made the call to to call myself out.
- 26:53It was a bumper. Yeah, it was rough.
- 26:56I had a lot riding on that, you know, a lot.
- 27:01But, you know, I'm thankful for the experience.
- 27:05And but I was determined to stay.
- 27:08And that that's a determination just really pushed me, I think,
- 27:13beyond. I wasn't thinking about myself
- 27:20at that point. I was thinking about, you know,
- 27:24staying on the show, proving myself.
- 27:25And, you know, I just had this moment of clarity where I was
- 27:29like, man, if I stay, I'm going to be in real in real pain.
- 27:32I might might get sepsis or I might get mauled by a bear.
- 27:36You know, there's all kinds of possibilities.
- 27:37And so, you know, I know there's a lot of people out there with a
- 27:40lot of different opinions of me, you know, whatever they want to
- 27:46say. They've said a lot of stuff, but
- 27:48they weren't there. And like, I made the best
- 27:50decision that I knew. And I knew with that caliber of
- 27:55wound that I would have been pulled anyways if the Med team
- 27:59showed up for a Med check and they would have pulled me
- 28:03anyway. So I just kind of, you know,
- 28:05made that decision for myself, so.
- 28:10Pretty intense. Yeah, Yeah, you could say that.
- 28:14Yeah. How long was it?
- 28:18Was there a goal for how long to stay out?
- 28:19Or you just have to outlast everyone else.
- 28:22Yeah, you just, you just kind of outlast everyone else.
- 28:26I predicted, I think, I think I said maybe like 90 days.
- 28:35And that was that wasn't my goal was 90 days.
- 28:38I was just going to. I was determined to stay as long
- 28:41as it took. But but, you know, things
- 28:44happen. I think I think that's well, I'm
- 28:47not going to give away the well, I mean, it's out now.
- 28:50It's been out for a while. So I think it's like 86 days was
- 28:54like the the, the longest that somebody stood out there, stayed
- 28:58out there. And the guy that won it deserves
- 29:00it. And he was just a phenomenal
- 29:04human being, phenomenal outdoorsman, you know, stayed
- 29:10cool and collected and respectful the whole time.
- 29:13And I really look up to that guy.
- 29:15He was a a master at what he did and he 100% deserves it.
- 29:20But you know, I, I still, my goal was to beat everybody out
- 29:26there. You know, I didn't really have
- 29:29a, a set date. I was just like, I'm going to,
- 29:31I'm going to be out there till, till it's done so.
- 29:34Yeah, with your beau carving, where has it?
- 29:45Where has it LED you? So basically you started with
- 29:48four bows and you moved to your parents place, had an abundance
- 29:50of Osage. Where did that kind of take you
- 29:54with things? I think, you know, a lot of what
- 30:01I've experienced the last several years has a lot to do
- 30:05with the community that I got wrapped up in thanks to Rick
- 30:10and, you know, then the the alone crew.
- 30:15You know, it led to a lot of really cool experiences.
- 30:20I've met a lot of really awesome people that have kind of just
- 30:24brought me in to what they've already got going on.
- 30:27And so, yeah, I've, I've made a lot of bows for a bunch of
- 30:32different events that, you know, people have invited me to you.
- 30:35And so it's, it's just, it's let it, it's led me to a lot of
- 30:40really great experiences, great connections with people.
- 30:45My, the business really never took off, but I think that's
- 30:48because of the timing of everything.
- 30:52You know, I, I just moved to my parents property.
- 30:57We had just started a garden, got my bow business moving,
- 31:02started started making some bows for I got a few commissions and
- 31:07started posting videos on YouTube and Instagram and
- 31:11started doing like TikTok lives. And that's whenever the show
- 31:16kind of picked me up, they reached out and they're like,
- 31:18hey, we were interested on having you on the show.
- 31:21And I think this was like maybe six months into me moving, you
- 31:27know, me and my wife just kind of uprooting and moving out to
- 31:31the country and living in a camper.
- 31:33And so everything was really new, but everything started to
- 31:37pick up right then. And then and then I just went
- 31:40Mia for a while because, you know, you can't, you can't post
- 31:45on social media. And, you know, I mean, I was
- 31:48still posting videos, but I really wasn't pursuing building
- 31:52the company at that point because all of my time and
- 31:55effort was going to getting prepared for, for the show.
- 32:01And then facing that. I think people are afraid to use
- 32:05the word failure, but I failed and I failed at my goal.
- 32:10And that's OK. Like failure's part of life.
- 32:12Then you just got to keep on keep on going.
- 32:15But I think whenever I got back it, it kind of got me into and
- 32:27I, yeah, I, I think I was a little depressed, you know, or
- 32:34shell shock. I had a lot of, a lot of, a lot
- 32:39of stuff going on my brain that I had to kind of work through.
- 32:41And then facing all those negative comments, then just
- 32:44like the weight of that failure kind of hit me.
- 32:49And so everything kind of went stale for a while.
- 32:54And instead of going straight, I mean, I, I started building bows
- 32:59again pretty immediately whenever I got back home, but I
- 33:03had to pick up a lot of extra work, you know, framing and that
- 33:08kind of like general construction work just for
- 33:12immediate income. And so that kind of that kind of
- 33:17kept me busy for a little bit. But yeah, I went through some.
- 33:22I'm leery to use the word depression.
- 33:25Yeah. You know, but but yeah, I mean,
- 33:30I guess it was a, it was a type of depression that just kind of
- 33:37made me sink back a little bit and kind of slowed things down.
- 33:40And I didn't have quite the drive that I did before.
- 33:43There's just a lot going on mentally at that point.
- 33:47But I still tried to, you know, stay in the community and and go
- 33:52shoot at tournaments and be involved and all that as much as
- 33:55I could. But I knew, I knew things
- 33:58weren't clicking like I wanted them to you.
- 34:01I lost the momentum. And that's not to the fault of
- 34:04the show, but just the timing of everything showing up just kind
- 34:09of slowed everything down. Does that make sense?
- 34:10Yeah, Yeah, it does. And what was your, was there
- 34:18anything that you were doing that helped you to come out of
- 34:21that reluctant to use depression, but what was it that
- 34:26helped you move through that? I talked to you some previous
- 34:32contestants on a loan that kind of, you know, went out before
- 34:37they wanted to and just ask them what they've experienced.
- 34:42And the production crew also provides a a therapist to talk
- 34:50to you. And so I talked to him a couple
- 34:52times and he really encouraged me to you like Manny, even if
- 34:56you don't feel like it, like get out there and do it.
- 35:01Whenever I got back, I, I had a conversation with him and, and I
- 35:06was like, man, I just, I love hunting.
- 35:08I love getting out in the woods. It's hard for me to get out of
- 35:11bed some days, you know, just have that motivation.
- 35:13He's like, he really encouraged me to do it anyways.
- 35:16And so it was right at the beginning hunt hunting season.
- 35:21And so, you know, I, I'd hobble out there with my bum leg and
- 35:25just sit and wait and started doing more and more of that,
- 35:31just getting outside, doing doing the things I love.
- 35:33Started building bows again, started going fishing.
- 35:37But the problem with building bows was that was income.
- 35:42That was my job. That was the in the motivation I
- 35:46had behind that was just to pay bills.
- 35:49I had lost the, the love of the craft at that point.
- 35:54And so it was really hard for me to get back into that because
- 35:58all it was is a way to make money, a way to make ends meet.
- 36:03And so I kind of shifted from that to just doing stuff that I,
- 36:07that I loved that was not to make money, not to provide for
- 36:11myself, hanging out with friends, going fishing, going
- 36:15and shooting my bow instead of like, you know, worrying about
- 36:18the business. So it was just a lot of go out,
- 36:23do something that you enjoy for yourself and get back involved
- 36:27in that kind of stuff. And that's that's what I did.
- 36:30And eventually I started building bows again just for the
- 36:36love of it, but it took a while. It took a while to get there.
- 36:42Yeah, there's a lot of, there's very few Bowers, I think, who
- 36:45have been able to turn it into a full time job and still be able
- 36:49to maintain that passion, that Spark Ford and a lot of the, a
- 36:52lot of the Boggers who I worked with for Project Quiver are
- 36:55relieved that they didn't do that.
- 36:57They were at a crossroads at some point realizing they could
- 37:00make an income from it, make a living from it.
- 37:02And people like Waylon Olive and Corey Hawk and Jake Fenwick,
- 37:06they did that and they love it and they're doing great with it.
- 37:10And then there are other people who are really glad they didn't
- 37:12do it because they felt like it would have taken away that
- 37:17whatever it is that Beau carving for themselves brought to them.
- 37:21Yeah. Yeah, I, I definitely see that
- 37:26it's a, it's a passion. And whenever you turn passion
- 37:29into business, sometimes for some people like myself at the
- 37:33time, I think it was just the timing of everything that did it
- 37:35for me and the pressure that just kind of turned it into
- 37:42something that, you know, I didn't fall in love with.
- 37:47And I, I hate that like, but you know, I don't, I don't want to
- 37:51view this thing that I love, this creative aspect of it and
- 37:56this art form. And, you know, the love that I
- 37:59do have for archery and, and building bows.
- 38:02I never wanted that to become a, a pressure thing, never wanted
- 38:06that to become something that, you know, pushed me away from
- 38:10that love. But it, it did for a little
- 38:12while. I still love making bows.
- 38:15I still love making Commission bows.
- 38:18It's just not, it's not quite on the trajectory of where I'm at
- 38:22right now. So, you know, it's just, it's
- 38:25just part of it and realizing that and that that's OK.
- 38:28Like you're not, you know, you're not a failure because of
- 38:31that. Like, you know, stick with where
- 38:36your love is and and be honest with yourself and, and move on.
- 38:41You know, like it is what it is. You can't let that.
- 38:43No, you're. That's that's definitely not a
- 38:46failure and it would be, it would be, it'd be more of a
- 38:51failure to force yourself to continue doing something that
- 38:55you were no longer passionate about just to make exactly.
- 38:58And that that doesn't make sense that that's failing yourself and
- 39:01then your loved ones because you're not able to show up for
- 39:03them either if you're out there doing something that you're just
- 39:06not enjoying anymore. Sadly, that's what I think the
- 39:09majority of people in the West do.
- 39:11They go out and work a job that they don't like.
- 39:14Sometimes they hate it just to make ends meet, to bring home
- 39:16the paycheck and they're not fulfilled.
- 39:19So something like Bo carving is a hobby.
- 39:22It's phenomenal. Or any hobby.
- 39:24You know, people need these hobbies, whether it's hunting or
- 39:26archery or Bo carving or Flint knapping or whatever it is.
- 39:31You mentioned earlier that you got out to a bunch of different
- 39:36archery events. What sort of events?
- 39:39Like are those shooting events or were you going to some of the
- 39:41big Jamboree or the big archery jams?
- 39:46Whenever I got involved in the archery world, the first one I
- 39:50went to was over in Prairie Grove, AR.
- 39:54It's called Cane Creek Archery Club and you can find them on
- 39:57Facebook and I think Cane Creek archeryclub.com.
- 40:01They got the website. But that's the first one that I
- 40:04kind of got involved with. The guys out there are fantastic
- 40:09mentors of mine. They are lovers of the craft and
- 40:14they build bows. They Flint Knapp, they all the,
- 40:18all the survival stuff, all the bushcraft stuff, the primitives,
- 40:22the primitive world. They one guy out there, his
- 40:27name's Bondo. Well, that's his nickname.
- 40:30Everybody calls him Bondo, but he's a, he's kind of a big
- 40:34mentor to me and kind of pushed that craft.
- 40:38I, I would ask him questions all the time.
- 40:40So I really got wrapped up in that archery club.
- 40:44Now we we work with them, my wife and I work with them to
- 40:49kind of run that archery range. Put it on their website.
- 40:55Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you are.
- 40:59That's kind of our baby really it's, it's their baby.
- 41:03But we, we love that community. And so we just wanted to support
- 41:07that and lift it up and, and bring as many people as we could
- 41:10just to, you know, bring back the love of archery and, and
- 41:15build that, that community down in Northwest Arkansas and kind
- 41:21of create, you know, what you see in these bigger archery
- 41:25events around around the state. We wanted to create that here,
- 41:31you know, bring that to Arkansas.
- 41:33And so that's that's our goal there.
- 41:34We're still pushing to to build it.
- 41:37We're still pushing to make it bigger, create really cool, cool
- 41:41events. But that's the one that really I
- 41:43spent a lot of time at. And then of course, you got the
- 41:47Tennessee Classic. That's one that I try to make it
- 41:50to you every year. I haven't been in a few years.
- 41:55And there's OJM as well. There's a lot of that's a cool
- 41:58one that's over here in Missouri.
- 42:00They just build bows that a lot of bow building going on there.
- 42:04So that's cool. But really I just stick to you
- 42:06Cane Creek Archery and Tennessee Classic.
- 42:09Those are the main ones that I that I focus on.
- 42:13OK, yeah, I hope to my daughter and I are really hoping once our
- 42:16book is published to do a bit of a tour next year and hit all
- 42:18these major archery events. I've not been to any of them.
- 42:22So I know like Tennessee Classic is definitely on our our list to
- 42:26go to and maybe, oh, jam and guitar and I don't know, they
- 42:29all sound like like fun things. Yeah, man, I love them.
- 42:35I love the competition. I love mostly just going to see
- 42:39and, you know, people that love, love archery and like spending
- 42:44time with those folks and the primitive side of it.
- 42:46You know, there's a, there's a lot of good friends that I have
- 42:48all over the place that, you know, show up at these events.
- 42:51And so for me it's, you know, go to go to shoot with some
- 42:55buddies, maybe build some bows and just, you know, reconnect
- 42:59with, with these wonderful folk. That's what it is for me.
- 43:02And it's, it's just a wonderful community.
- 43:06Just, you know, whenever you get involved into that, you just
- 43:09meet all these wonderful people that just kind of like encourage
- 43:14you, lift you up and, and, you know, drive you to be better.
- 43:18And that's, that's a real good time.
- 43:19So. Cool.
- 43:22Yeah, I'm excited to go to some of them.
- 43:25You you mentioned earlier that hunting was kind of one of your
- 43:28big therapeutic things that helped you move through.
- 43:31How long have you been hunting? That kind of started around the
- 43:36same time as building bows for me.
- 43:38I didn't grow up a hunter. My family, you know, I've got a
- 43:43couple brothers that will go out and you know, they'll shoot a
- 43:47couple deer a year with their daughters, but they're they're
- 43:52all rifle hunters. Nothing against the rifle
- 43:54hunter. It's just not my, it's not my
- 43:57thing. You know, I want to do the hard
- 43:59stuff, but I want to get out there with a stick bow and, you
- 44:03know, be close enough that I can hear him breathe.
- 44:06And, you know, it's more intimate, more more involved.
- 44:11And so the love of that kind of started with the building bows.
- 44:16And so, yeah, I guess 2018, I started really digging into
- 44:21hunting. And, you know, I've always been
- 44:24a fisherman. I've always fished, I love fly
- 44:26fishing, but never really stepped into that hunting world,
- 44:30mostly due to time, you know, the career I was pursuing at the
- 44:36time didn't really lend well to me being out and hunting.
- 44:42But now, you know, I, I try to get out there every year, Less
- 44:45so the past couple years. Like I said, it's just been wild
- 44:48the last couple years. So but yeah, I'm, I'm looking
- 44:51forward into you settling in and getting back out there and, and
- 44:55pursuing all these things that I have been that I love.
- 44:59But but yeah, the hunting's kind of stepped down to you with
- 45:02everything else, which is kind of a bummer.
- 45:04But trying to get back out there, trying to get my life to
- 45:08a point where where I can, you know, focus on all these things
- 45:11that I love and, you know, get back into my hobbies and doing
- 45:16all that stuff. So but yeah, I, I love hunting
- 45:19mostly white, white tailed deer. I love the just the elements of
- 45:25figuring out how to get closer, where they're at, where they're
- 45:28coming from, what they're eating, you know, the time
- 45:31cycles of everything. And you know, the, it's been
- 45:36such a learning curve because this this hunting community has
- 45:41there's all kinds of, you know, scent control or, or, you know,
- 45:47you got to play the with, with the wind.
- 45:49There's all these, you know, opinions out there and I loved
- 45:54trying to figure out what works best for me.
- 45:58And for me that's just that's wearing wool clothing doesn't
- 46:02have to be packed out camo, you know, that helps with the scent
- 46:07control a little bit and just going to where the deer are
- 46:10going to be and like the game of figuring out all that was really
- 46:14interesting to me. And you know, hunting with a
- 46:18stick bow hunt with a primitive setup or, you know, self bow and
- 46:24razor heads doesn't matter. But like that aspect of it
- 46:29getting trying to get closer, learning how to do that.
- 46:34I just, I love that spot that, that or that part of it.
- 46:39And just going and sitting in the quiet and just being, you
- 46:43know, waking up early, watching the sun come up, hearing all the
- 46:47birds wake up and all the critters and creatures.
- 46:50And then, you know, finally here comes the deer.
- 46:52And it's just a really cool thing to see, you know?
- 46:55Then those deer just start creeping through and, you know,
- 46:59it's just cool to see them just appear out of nowhere, you know?
- 47:03And I just, yeah, I love everything about it.
- 47:08Are you hunting only with a primitive setup?
- 47:10Yeah, yeah, I think this next season coming up, I'm going to
- 47:17do some gun hunting just to fill my freezer.
- 47:20You know, my wife and I, we try to operate the best we can with
- 47:26the lifestyle that we have to live as self reliant or
- 47:32self-sustaining as possible. So we like to grow our own food.
- 47:36We like to eat what we harvest, what we hunt, what we kill, what
- 47:41we fish. And so sorry, what was the
- 47:47question? I got distracted.
- 47:49No, I asked. If you're hunting with primitive
- 47:51archery equipment. Yeah, that's, that's my love.
- 47:54That's, you know, I love to get out there and hunt with the
- 47:57primitive stuff. But I'm finding, you know,
- 48:01sometimes I don't get, you don't get as many beer that way.
- 48:05It's it's more rewarding to me whenever I do.
- 48:08But but yeah, that's that this coming year, I'm going to
- 48:12probably start some, some rifle hunting as well, just to fill
- 48:15that freezer. Yeah.
- 48:18And when it comes to your bushcraft skills, which I guess
- 48:21is relatively new to you in the last sounds like 8 years or so
- 48:26outside of bow carving and what else has kind of been a, a
- 48:32passion of yours that's developed or something that
- 48:35you've been really drawn to in the bushcraft realm?
- 48:40I think like being proficient at natural, natural materials,
- 48:47primitive materials, so Flint knapping, cordage making, fire
- 48:52making from anything that that you can find in the woods where
- 48:57you're located. So it started, you know, here in
- 49:01Arkansas or here in Missouri, what's around me that that I
- 49:04could use that that will be good for me.
- 49:06What can I do to be as down as possible that I can just go out
- 49:13to the woods with a knife and my Archer gear and, you know, water
- 49:21bottle, You know, I've got purification system the I use
- 49:24the Grail, which is fantastic. So I like to keep everything
- 49:27light and and condensed and as easy to use.
- 49:32But I like that aspect of that challenge to use those natural
- 49:36materials gets me more connected with the earth.
- 49:39It gets me connected with my surroundings and the more I can
- 49:45learn about what I have here locally, the better, the better
- 49:49I am because I, I just, I have this drive to be as proficient
- 49:54as I can be in the woods whenever I'm there.
- 49:57I don't want to have to rely on all this technology to make me
- 50:01proficient. I don't know where that drive
- 50:04comes from at all. It's, I don't know.
- 50:08It's deep down in my bones, you know, it's, I think it's in all
- 50:11of us somewhere. Well, it's ancestral and I feel
- 50:16we're being driven that way to probably inadvertently just by
- 50:20society because we can no longer a lot of people, myself
- 50:24included, I, I can't rely on any other systems or anything to
- 50:28take care of me or my family. I just don't trust them anymore.
- 50:31And so having that self-reliance and having the skills to be able
- 50:35to survive on your own and find your own food and build your own
- 50:39shelter and whatever it is, build a fire, those, those
- 50:43things are so important. I was just talking, had a, a few
- 50:48bushcraft survival people on here recently.
- 50:52And yes, was it yesterday, 2 days ago, I was talking to Luke
- 50:58McLaughlin. You familiar?
- 50:59With Luke, yeah, well, I've never, I've never talked to the
- 51:02guy, but I know who he is. Yeah, the Holistic Survival
- 51:06School, we had a great chat and we talked a lot about this stuff
- 51:09and how like what he's teaching to people, it's so much more
- 51:13important, I think, than what's being taught in schools and in
- 51:17colleges and in universities. Because really, I mean, those
- 51:20things that have most of those things are being taken over by
- 51:23AI anyway. But the things that can't be
- 51:26taken over are us being out in nature and knowing how to
- 51:28survive and kind of going back to our roots.
- 51:31So it's, it's beautiful. I would love to be able to do
- 51:35more of it and learn more of it. So I'm, I'm really excited that
- 51:38I get to talk to people like you and Luke and learn and learn
- 51:42from you guys. Even just through these
- 51:43conversations, they get excited about learning more.
- 51:45And I've got two kids and my son loves bushcraft stuff.
- 51:49And so hopefully, like when we go to the Brew Ha bushwhack next
- 51:53year, we can pick up some skills or when we go to some of these
- 51:55archery events. So so cool.
- 51:59You're hunting primarily with primitive kit.
- 52:01Are you building exclusively primitive bows, or does that
- 52:06depend? Yeah, so all the bows I build
- 52:11are are stealth bows 100% through and through.
- 52:16You know, I'll put venue backing on some if if the bow lends to
- 52:21that rawhide backing. But yeah, like my, the bows I
- 52:26build are all primitive. It's, well, not totally
- 52:30primitive, I'm sorry. They're, they're self bows.
- 52:32I usually use synthetic string material, you know, unless it's
- 52:37commissioned otherwise I just, I use a synthetic material just
- 52:45for the longevity of things. The there that's, that's part of
- 52:48my ease of, of the, the sport, You know, I, I kind of fudge the
- 52:53rules here and there. I'm not a purist.
- 52:56That's that's forgivable. And of the 14 people included in
- 53:00Project Quiver, there's only one who was not using synthetic
- 53:03bowstrings, and that was Chuck Loffler, who was making
- 53:08primitive replica bows and using primarily linen.
- 53:11But yeah, for the same reasons you just mentioned.
- 53:14It's just, I think Bowers are Bowers because they love working
- 53:17with wood. Not all Bowers want to be making
- 53:21strings because, and I've seen videos of like I think Clay
- 53:25Hayes making natural strings only to have them break because
- 53:29he nicked them with a knife or something.
- 53:31It's just like I just spent I don't know how many hours making
- 53:34this string and it just blew up on me.
- 53:36Yeah, yeah, I've, I've made Yucca strings, I've done, you
- 53:44know, Cindy strings, I've done, I've done natural string.
- 53:49I've I've messed with it, but and they're fun.
- 53:53You know, I've made several little fishing bows, you know,
- 53:57just like AD style bow and and you know, there's some Yucca
- 54:01right there. So I'll make a string with that,
- 54:03you know, go shoot a few fish and make a river cane arrow.
- 54:07Like it's fun to to do those things to mess with all that
- 54:11natural stuff. But yeah, I think like just just
- 54:15to that for the ease of, you know, the Commission builds for
- 54:18sure synthetic string and stuff like that.
- 54:21Like that's, that's that's where I stay if I'm, if I'm building a
- 54:25Commission bow, unless they specify I want, you know,
- 54:28natural cordage and and then, you know, I'll do that.
- 54:31But yeah, most of if I'm building a bow, it's going to
- 54:35have a synthetic string. Yeah, and do you shoot off the
- 54:38knuckle with most of your bows or do you put aero shelves?
- 54:41I like to shoot off my knuckle. I if if I do a shelf, it's going
- 54:51to be like a stacked, stacked leather shelf.
- 54:56Yeah. And so if I wanted to you, I
- 54:58could take this off and just shoot off my knuckle.
- 55:02But yeah, I love, I love shooting off my knuckle.
- 55:06There's just, I guess like the way I explain it is like the
- 55:10difference from driving an automatic vehicle as opposed to
- 55:13a standard, like you just steal everything, you know.
- 55:18And so I love that. I love shooting off my knuckle
- 55:21there and, and I just feel more connected to everything.
- 55:25And, and so whenever you're cutting a shelf in, First off,
- 55:29like if you don't do it right, you can mess with the integrity
- 55:31of the bow. It'll break right there at that,
- 55:34at that joint, you know, and people, people do it.
- 55:39They've figured out ways to to carve a shelf in to make it more
- 55:42center shot and all this stuff. But like, man, if you build it
- 55:45right and if your arrow's right, like shooting off the knuckles,
- 55:50the way to go for me. I just I agree.
- 55:52Completely. I've actually, I've never shot a
- 55:55bow with a shelf. I've never built a bow with a
- 55:56shelf. I don't have.
- 55:59I don't have an interest in it. And I like, I shoot all my bows
- 56:02both hands with both hands, so I'll shoot left and right.
- 56:06And so I love my bows to be able to do that and shooting off the
- 56:10knuckle. It's I've just never done it any
- 56:12other way. So that's the way I prefer it.
- 56:14And I think bows are so much more beautiful from that, just
- 56:19the visual aspect when they're carved in such a primitive way
- 56:23that they don't have the modern risers or shelves or any
- 56:27anything that gives them more of that modern luck.
- 56:31Yeah, 100% I agree, man. It's there's something, there's
- 56:34an elegance to it. You know, it's this, this
- 56:37fluidity throughout the entire bow that just man, like Corey,
- 56:42like that dude, every time he shows me a bow whenever we're
- 56:47bruja, I'm just like, oh, it's a masterpiece, man.
- 56:50And like, and part of that is because he builds, you know,
- 56:53these, these bows with no shelves.
- 56:55And it's just this, this fluid, seamless masterpiece.
- 56:59Then, you know, he's a he's he's a huge inspiration to me.
- 57:02And I love his work. Every, everything I've seen from
- 57:05that guy, I'm just like, man, like it's, it's just gorgeous.
- 57:10And he's, yeah, he pushes me. He, you know, every time I see
- 57:14something that he's doing, I'm just like, all right, I got to
- 57:16step up my game. Like, you know, he's just making
- 57:19these like, I mean, you could hang them in a museum.
- 57:21You know, he's just incredible. Yeah.
- 57:24And there's, you know, not to not to knock anybody that's
- 57:27that's cutting shelves in and making, you know, more of a
- 57:30modern stealth bow. It's just not my style, man.
- 57:33Like, just not, Yeah, you know. Yeah, I think Corey's motto for
- 57:38organic arteries, everything a bow needs and nothing it
- 57:40doesn't. And yeah, his bows are just that
- 57:43pure, elegant, simplicity, beautiful just the way our
- 57:48ancestors have made them for thousands of years.
- 57:52You're working mostly with Osage, is that correct?
- 57:55Or are you now working with other woods?
- 57:58Mostly Osage I've leaned into like black locust.
- 58:05I've done a few Hickory, a few ash.
- 58:10What else have I done? You know, of course the red oak
- 58:13board bows. I really don't build any of
- 58:17those anymore unless I'm teaching like teens how to make
- 58:19a bow. That's a really, like good
- 58:22introductory. You know, it's forgiving and
- 58:29well, it can be forgiving. It's just simple, more simple to
- 58:32work with milled lumber or, you know, dimensional lumber,
- 58:36especially whenever you're getting started.
- 58:38But like, yeah, for me it's it's Osage as king man That's it.
- 58:45It holds up to you. Some abuse, holds heat well,
- 58:50holds up to heat well. You know, if I'm, if I'm putting
- 58:53reflex in the limbs or anything like that, like I've just found
- 58:57Osage to be just everything that I need it to be.
- 59:03And I love the challenge of how Osage grows.
- 59:07Do you, I mean, it's a, it can be a twisty, snaky, you know,
- 59:13relentless wood to work with, but like it's strong and it's
- 59:18dirty and it's fast and you know, I just I love Osage black
- 59:24focus is I like working with that because it's similar to
- 59:29Osage. But you know, whenever you get
- 59:33into Hickory and ash and all these things, it's, it's your
- 59:37tools react differently to that wood.
- 59:41So there's a learning curve there as well.
- 59:43You then I tend to use different tools like, you know, if, if I'm
- 59:47working with Hickory or ash, mostly if I'm working with
- 59:52Hickory, I'm using more like spoke shaves and your draw knife
- 1:00:01just kind of grips into that, that those fibers a little bit
- 1:00:06more so it doesn't react the same way.
- 1:00:08So it's just like, man, I, I've, I've found Osage, I've found
- 1:00:12black locusts that operates pretty similarly with with the
- 1:00:16tool setup that I have. And that's kind of where I sit.
- 1:00:20You know, I know it. I know it well.
- 1:00:22And I know what to do with it. And so I've not really ventured
- 1:00:25into other things unless I'm building like a, you know, a
- 1:00:29green from a green state or like a green sapling or something
- 1:00:33like that. Then I'll mess with something
- 1:00:35like like Hickory ash or Elm or hackberry or Mulberry.
- 1:00:42You know, those are also fun to mess with.
- 1:00:44But I kind of just stick with what I know.
- 1:00:49What are the tools you're using for Osage?
- 1:00:53Very simple setup, use a draw knife, hatchet, chisel, you
- 1:01:02know, of course, sandpaper, Draper card scraper, sometimes a
- 1:01:07spoke shave, depending on like how detailed I want the like the
- 1:01:13handle to look, you know, and I can get little fine details in
- 1:01:16there and just carve that handle really cool and special.
- 1:01:19I enjoy doing stuff like that. But mostly, yeah, it's just it's
- 1:01:24I think like if I were to list out my my setup, it's a a metal
- 1:01:28ruler, a pencil card scraper, handsaw like a little like a
- 1:01:38fine tooth handsaw. The draw knife, I'm missing
- 1:01:46anything and the chisel that's kind of like that's, that's
- 1:01:50what's in my, you know, I've got this leather roll that just
- 1:01:52holds all those tools and I can take it wherever with me.
- 1:01:56But that's, that's generally what I used.
- 1:01:57And of course, like for all the finished work, you know,
- 1:01:59sandpaper on sandpaper on sandpaper, it's just a lot of,
- 1:02:04you know, hand sanding. I really try to stay away from
- 1:02:07the power tools, mostly because with power tools you can get a
- 1:02:12little carried away and totally ruin a bow in the matter of
- 1:02:16seconds. So, and I like, I just like to
- 1:02:19pay attention to all the details and make sure I know that grain.
- 1:02:23I know that bow from, from tip to tip, you know, I know every,
- 1:02:28everything on it well because my fingers have touched everything.
- 1:02:33So it's more of a, it's more of a way to make sure that I'm
- 1:02:38paying attention to the quality of what I'm creating as opposed
- 1:02:42to just rushing through a boat. Yeah, and I didn't hear you say
- 1:02:47RASP. Are you not using RASPS at all?
- 1:02:49Yeah, Rasp as well, 100%. Yeah, that's that's that's one
- 1:02:53of the main tools I use. Do you have like a Nicholson?
- 1:02:56Style of rasp OK. Yeah, Nicholson or just a fairy
- 1:03:01rasp. Fairy rasp is probably one of my
- 1:03:03favorite, especially for you know that that first like
- 1:03:09getting a a bunch of mass off those limbs if I need to you and
- 1:03:13then I moved to to a smaller raft for that finer detail.
- 1:03:19I'll even use. I know it's a little UN.
- 1:03:24I don't know what the word is that, but I'll use a metal rasp.
- 1:03:28You know, I'll go from from the from a wood rasp, which is kind
- 1:03:32of leaves a really rough edge after you get on using it or a
- 1:03:36rough surface. And sometimes I'll take that
- 1:03:39metal rasp and just kind of smooth that out before I go to
- 1:03:43my sandpaper, depending on, you know, if the boat needs it or
- 1:03:46not. But I found, you know, that
- 1:03:49those fine teeth on the on the metal rasp like just really kind
- 1:03:54of helps me smooth that out before I hit it Sandpaper.
- 1:03:58So yeah, rasps are definitely, definitely a big part of it.
- 1:04:02And use a tillering tree. Yeah, think like the first
- 1:04:10couple years it was just a very simple basic.
- 1:04:14It was actually attached to a tree, which is kind of funny,
- 1:04:18but but yeah, no, no grid system behind her or anything.
- 1:04:22It was just, you know, clear backdrop, backdrop of the sky.
- 1:04:27And that's kind of what I would use.
- 1:04:30But then eventually I built myself a, a tiller tree that has
- 1:04:33like a big pegboard behind it, got it all gritted out and just
- 1:04:37so I can get more consistent with my tailoring, but still
- 1:04:41pretty basic, kind of a lot like Corey's setup is kind of what I
- 1:04:46used. You know, I, I appreciate that
- 1:04:49guy's work so much, the attention to detail that he puts
- 1:04:54into things. And so if there's anybody I try
- 1:04:57to emulate, whenever I see something that lends to that
- 1:05:04side of things, the, the, the attention to detail, I try to, I
- 1:05:07try to make that part of what I do as respectfully as I can, you
- 1:05:11know, and you know, I'm not, I'm not trying to steal anything
- 1:05:16from anybody. But whenever I see something
- 1:05:18good, you know, I'm like, I need to up my game, like, you know, I
- 1:05:22need to take a, take a page from the masters here.
- 1:05:26And that's, you know, it's so I'm continually growing.
- 1:05:30I'm always looking for the better tools or, and you know,
- 1:05:34the better way to do things to, to get that consistency.
- 1:05:36And he's one of the guys that I, I really follow in that so.
- 1:05:43Another thing you didn't mention, some Bowers use
- 1:05:46extensively, some don't touch, but calipers use calipers at
- 1:05:49all. No, none.
- 1:05:53It's all I do a lot of. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 1:05:59I think it, it just adds an element of that and attention to
- 1:06:05detail. And I know like with calipers,
- 1:06:07like, you know, you can get really precise measurements.
- 1:06:11You know, it's just for me, that's just a little step too
- 1:06:16far unless I'm like recreating a bow to the exact, you know,
- 1:06:21measurements and like this, this kind of thing, like I, I just, I
- 1:06:24don't think I would mess with them.
- 1:06:26Yeah. And then what sort of so you
- 1:06:32mentioned you do some backing on your bows, do you put self
- 1:06:35knocks or tip overlays? Yeah, I like the tip overlays,
- 1:06:42like deer antler, that's kind of what I used.
- 1:06:47And then I love copperhead or, you know, snakeskin backing.
- 1:06:56But yeah, I, I like the tip overlays, but it's not totally
- 1:07:00necessary. It's just for the flash for me,
- 1:07:02you know, if, if somebody wants it, they want it and I'll put it
- 1:07:06on there. And sometimes, you know,
- 1:07:10depending on the, the dimensions of the knocks that I put on, I
- 1:07:16try to get like a really fine knock as much mass as I did as I
- 1:07:20can take off the the tips of that bow, the better for the
- 1:07:24hand shock. And so if I've got something
- 1:07:26that that requires self knocks, like I'll put overlays, then
- 1:07:33I'll put overlays on there. But yeah, I just try to try to
- 1:07:38stay as natural as I can, you know, with with that stuff.
- 1:07:42But but I love the, the artistic part of that as well.
- 1:07:46You know, I'm just kind of fancying up the boat.
- 1:07:49Yeah. Are you using primarily
- 1:07:51materials that you have harvested or?
- 1:07:54Yeah, that you've harvested? Harvested like the deer antlers
- 1:07:57and the snakeskin backing. Yeah, yeah, it's stuff that I
- 1:08:02that I've harvested or that I've traded.
- 1:08:06You know, I'll go to the Tennessee Classic and all right,
- 1:08:09say I got a, a hatchet that, you know, I don't use anymore.
- 1:08:12I'll trade it for a couple snakeskins if they got them.
- 1:08:15And, you know, so there's a lot of bartering and trading that
- 1:08:17that goes on. But yeah, most of the material I
- 1:08:21use on my bows are things that I've harvested myself.
- 1:08:26That's cool. And when you're harvesting your
- 1:08:29own meat or harvesting a deer, are you using everything?
- 1:08:33Yes, yeah, absolutely everything I can use.
- 1:08:36What are you doing with the hide?
- 1:08:39Yeah, I process the hide out, you know, I flesh it and then I
- 1:08:45usually take the hair off unless I'm making like a, you know, a
- 1:08:50rug or something. I'll leave the hair on.
- 1:08:51But but yeah, I flush it out, turn it into rawhide mostly or
- 1:08:56buckskin for my handle wraps, that kind of thing.
- 1:09:00But yeah, I do the whole process, flush it out, do a
- 1:09:04brain tan on it. If it's, you know, if it's
- 1:09:08buckskin, if it's rawhide, I'm just draping down that rawhide
- 1:09:13and drying it out, stretching it out.
- 1:09:16And then I'll use that for backing on some of my bows.
- 1:09:19But I try to try to utilize the entire animal for everything I
- 1:09:24can. I've just now I love seeing some
- 1:09:28of these guys like Phillip Liebel, another fantastic dude,
- 1:09:34just all around outdoorsman. But I've seen some of his
- 1:09:38fishing arrows that he's been using and he's using like the
- 1:09:41toe bone from the deer. And so like even down to the
- 1:09:44bones, I'm, I'm going to start making, making toe bone points
- 1:09:49or, you know, bone needles and stuff like that.
- 1:09:53So I'm really, I'm really excited to get another deer to
- 1:09:56start, you know, getting into those primitive tools from from
- 1:10:00bones and even down to like the scraper for the for the, for the
- 1:10:04deer skins. And yeah, so my intention is to
- 1:10:09is to further my knowledge in completely using everything from
- 1:10:14that deer. So like, yeah, that's that's my
- 1:10:18goal. I saw another guy using a
- 1:10:19jawbone. Well, he handed me a jawbone at
- 1:10:25Bruja and was like, try this out for scraping your Yucca for
- 1:10:31cordage making. And I used it and I was like,
- 1:10:33man, it's brilliant. It's better than, you know, I
- 1:10:35usually use a spoon and I was like, it's better than the
- 1:10:38spoon. And so down to stuff like that,
- 1:10:42Yeah. So my goal is to try to use
- 1:10:45every single part of that animal that I can.
- 1:10:48Yeah, I enjoy following Will Harrison and his brand tan
- 1:10:53leather. You know Will.
- 1:10:54Yeah, yeah, I know Will. Yeah, met Will probably four
- 1:11:00years ago at Tennessee Classic, saw him online.
- 1:11:04We started chatting online and he's one of the guys that I'd,
- 1:11:07you know, I'd ask little questions here.
- 1:11:09He makes a lot of really crazy snaky bows, just like, I mean,
- 1:11:13wild designs. And so I hit him up on a few
- 1:11:17questions that I had and we just kind of connected on that.
- 1:11:22And yeah, he's a great deed. I love his music.
- 1:11:26I love everything that he does. You know, it's just, it's pretty
- 1:11:30awesome. My daughter and I really tried
- 1:11:33to get him for Project Quivering to be part of our book, but we
- 1:11:36didn't succeed. But if we do a volume to, if we
- 1:11:39do a volume to, I hope we can get him.
- 1:11:41But. Yeah, he's, he's he's pretty
- 1:11:43awesome. He's an interesting fellow, but
- 1:11:46I like him. I like him a lot.
- 1:11:48Yeah. Every time I go back to
- 1:11:49Tennessee, the Tennessee classic, he's there and I love
- 1:11:54seeing him. I love getting to spend time
- 1:11:56with him. He's just a interesting guy and
- 1:11:58he's got a lot of, lot of knowledge on these snaky bows
- 1:12:03that we really connected on. Cuz like whenever I first
- 1:12:06started, all of my material was, was just really snaky, crazy
- 1:12:11stuff. And, and I think that's kind of
- 1:12:13what, what pushed me to become the bow here I am today, because
- 1:12:17messing with all that snaky stuff, there's all kinds of
- 1:12:19stuff that pops up that you have to figure out and, and deal with
- 1:12:24that, You know, to get a good shooting bow, you know, there's
- 1:12:27knots and the, the grain is wild.
- 1:12:29And, and to come out with a bow that that shoots well, that is
- 1:12:34tillered well and performs like it's supposed to, you know,
- 1:12:39messing with that subpar material, you know, lends to
- 1:12:46kind of learning a lot more and, and pushing yourself at your
- 1:12:50craft. And in fact, I would tell
- 1:12:52everybody that wants to start making bows mess with the
- 1:12:56hardest stuff 1st. And like, like if you can get
- 1:13:00good at making a really good bow out of subpar material, like
- 1:13:04whenever you get your hands on a pristine stave, you're going to
- 1:13:08make an excellent bow. So start off there, start off
- 1:13:11with some crummy stuff that nobody else wants and push
- 1:13:14yourself grow. Do everything hard first.
- 1:13:18I think reality, the most real thing you can experience is
- 1:13:21through really tough, hard experiences, so.
- 1:13:26Great advice. I think it brings us closer to
- 1:13:28to the stave. We have to have more presence
- 1:13:31with it or patience with it, more awareness.
- 1:13:34You have a perfect stave. Like you said, it's on your
- 1:13:36experienced. It's easy, easier to carve that
- 1:13:39into a bow. But when you're sitting with a
- 1:13:41really difficult stave, you got to sit with it for a long time.
- 1:13:45And I was, I think it was, you know, maybe Steven Bieber
- 1:13:50provision bows or someone I was speaking to recently was saying
- 1:13:53how they will sometimes study a stave for months and months and
- 1:13:57months before they ever start to carve it.
- 1:13:59Just to really get to know that stave and figure out what's
- 1:14:03going to come out of that, rather than trying to force
- 1:14:05something to come from it. Yeah, I agree.
- 1:14:08Stephen Bieber is a really cool dude.
- 1:14:10I'm at him at the Tennessee Classic my first year ago and we
- 1:14:13built a bow together while he was building a bow and I was
- 1:14:16building bow, but we were right next to each other and we just
- 1:14:19hit it off and that need man, he could he's making some
- 1:14:24impressive bows with his design that he's he's come up with.
- 1:14:28I think it's really cool to see. You know, the the he's pushing
- 1:14:32some some levels, he's pushing some some boundaries and pushing
- 1:14:36that wood to limits that I don't think a lot of other people are.
- 1:14:40And I think it's just really cool to see somebody take that,
- 1:14:45you know, what you're supposed to do and just kind of like
- 1:14:49pushed it. And it's really cool to see, I
- 1:14:52think his first, well, what does he call him?
- 1:14:56I'm trying to remember the animal right now and I it's,
- 1:15:00it's a large, it's like a cow or a Buffalo, isn't it?
- 1:15:04Yeah. Oh, it's a water Buffalo.
- 1:15:06Or. But it's not a water, is it?
- 1:15:08No, no, it's damn it. It's a really.
- 1:15:15It's right on the tip of my tongue but I can't remember.
- 1:15:17And it's a cool name. Yeah, sorry, Steven, but yeah.
- 1:15:21Yeah, sorry, Steven, my bad, bro.
- 1:15:24But you know, to to see that that first design that he did
- 1:15:29and what he was using to get those curves was a dinner table,
- 1:15:33you know, and I don't know if he shared that information with
- 1:15:36you, but it was just this round dinner table that that he was
- 1:15:39attaching this to you. And then eventually he came up
- 1:15:42with a form and, you know, the the guys on on to something.
- 1:15:45And I just I love seeing that creativity.
- 1:15:48Yeah. It's, it's just impressive to me
- 1:15:51and just the guy's a demeanor, his demeanor's really cool.
- 1:15:55It's an. He's a great guy.
- 1:15:58Yeah, I really enjoyed. We had a we had a really awesome
- 1:16:01talk. Hope to meet him in person, damn
- 1:16:05it. K Porn K Porn K.
- 1:16:07Porn, yes. Yeah.
- 1:16:09It's a cool name, man. It's he knocked it out of the
- 1:16:13park with that and I love the design.
- 1:16:14I, I, I shot the bow that that he made at the Tennessee Classic
- 1:16:18and I love how it shoots the, you know, it was, it was just
- 1:16:23impressive to see it really works as and I'm thankful for
- 1:16:26that time that I got to spend with him and I hope to, I hope
- 1:16:30to get to see him in person again.
- 1:16:32Yeah, yeah. It's so cool how these Bowers,
- 1:16:35primitive Bowers especially, that's for me especially because
- 1:16:38that's what I'm so drawn to. But they're carving bows the way
- 1:16:41bows have been carved for 10,000 years, but they're still
- 1:16:45sometimes modifications and things kind of they they carve
- 1:16:50at the edge. So they're literally trying new
- 1:16:52things and testing new ideas. And it's amazing that after
- 1:16:5510,000 years of bow carving that someone like Steven can come
- 1:16:58along and have another innovation to it and yet still
- 1:17:01keep it so basic and so true to the original craft.
- 1:17:07Yeah, I agree. It's good to see.
- 1:17:11Yeah, yeah. Kubby, what are you working on
- 1:17:15right now? Anything exciting that's coming
- 1:17:17down the? Pipeline.
- 1:17:19I've got a couple Commission bows that I'm finishing up.
- 1:17:23I'm excited to get this is 1. I started at Brew Hall and it'll
- 1:17:28just be like a simple Debo. It's got some cool back set to
- 1:17:33it, but this is Black Locust. I'm excited to get that one
- 1:17:36finished. I'll probably finish that up
- 1:17:38this week. But yeah, as far as like
- 1:17:46furthering plans for, you know, my company, I'm kind of like I
- 1:17:51said, taking a taking a back deep to that.
- 1:17:54And if if somebody reaches out for a bow, I'll make one.
- 1:17:58But I'm really focused on the kids at my church and and then
- 1:18:03my local archery club getting involved in that, involved more
- 1:18:10in local event. We got the black bear bonanza
- 1:18:13that's coming up with the local BHA in Arkansas.
- 1:18:20And that's just kind of raising awareness for bear hunting.
- 1:18:25And so I'll be involved with them more trying to make a bow
- 1:18:28every year for that event that that comes up.
- 1:18:32And I think this, this next one coming up next year, I'm going
- 1:18:36to try to be there making a bow real time that way anybody can
- 1:18:42come and kind of see, watch the experience and, and try it out
- 1:18:46themselves if they want to. And, but I always try to make a
- 1:18:50bow specifically for that event to help support that.
- 1:18:55And they, you know, they do like a kind of like an auction type
- 1:19:01thing for it. And there's all kinds of, of
- 1:19:04different companies that show up and, and donate stuff to you
- 1:19:08that, and that's, you know, I want to support that best I can.
- 1:19:12So, so that, that's another event that I'll show up to you.
- 1:19:16But really trying to stay local, try to try to impact the, the,
- 1:19:21the community and my, my realm of influence.
- 1:19:25And so that's kind of where my, my passion is right now and, and
- 1:19:30just support the local community the best I can with everything I
- 1:19:34got. So I see my local club and you
- 1:19:37know, local events that are going on on here.
- 1:19:41Just my best to do my best to be a part of that and bring
- 1:19:45whatever awareness I can and whatever support I can.
- 1:19:48Just really grow that community. Yeah, that's awesome.
- 1:19:52Any recommendations for someone who I should interview Bowyer?
- 1:19:56Anyone that you feel is? But not see the guy I think
- 1:20:04about as the last that I think he's like done a public
- 1:20:10interview was 20 years ago maybe, but that's Bondo.
- 1:20:16You know, he's his name is David Bond and.
- 1:20:21David Bond. David Bond and I can, I can get
- 1:20:25you his information. I don't know.
- 1:20:27I don't know if he'll do the the podcast.
- 1:20:29I don't know if he'll do an interview.
- 1:20:31You know, he's not in it for recognition.
- 1:20:33I've tried to get that guy to do something to be recognized
- 1:20:37because he's just, like I said, he's a golden human being and
- 1:20:42has a lot of information and a lot of knowledge and he's not
- 1:20:46keeping it secret to keep it secret.
- 1:20:47I mean, he shares it with everybody that comes in his
- 1:20:50presence. But he's just a very humble,
- 1:20:54kind hearted man and a force to be reckoned with.
- 1:20:59You know, he's, he's man. Yeah, he's he's incredible.
- 1:21:05So if if I were to suggest anybody that I look up to you
- 1:21:09100%, it'd be that guy. I just don't know if you can get
- 1:21:13them. OK.
- 1:21:15Well, thanks. I'm trying to think of of who
- 1:21:18else that you haven't already interviewed.
- 1:21:26There's a guy named Chase. He's a buddy of mine and he just
- 1:21:30started making bows. I don't know if you would fit in
- 1:21:35what you got going on, but the dudes incredible at his
- 1:21:39primitive skills, Flint napping, he's processing all of his own
- 1:21:43hides. And I mean, he's just he's a
- 1:21:45he's an avid outdoorsman hunter, incredible at his work and just
- 1:21:51one of the one of the best Flint nappers I know personally.
- 1:21:56But he's another guy. His his his handle.
- 1:21:59I think you may have talked to him.
- 1:22:00His handles echoes of Paleo I believe.
- 1:22:06Oh, yeah, he, well, I, I think he referred you to me and I
- 1:22:10think I did ask and I think he said no.
- 1:22:13But I'm not. Sure.
- 1:22:15Yeah, I'm trying to think of everybody, everybody that I
- 1:22:18know. And like, it seems like you're,
- 1:22:21you've kind of like collected all the people that that I would
- 1:22:24have suggested, like Waylon, all of Corey Hawk, Steven Bieber,
- 1:22:28you know, Yeah, I don't know if you've had Clay Haze on or not.
- 1:22:33Yet, but I would love to have Clay on and I I wanted Clay in
- 1:22:37the book as well, but we didn't have any luck connecting with
- 1:22:41him so. Yeah, there's, there's several
- 1:22:44of those guys that are just going to be they, they're
- 1:22:46reclusive. Yeah, if you're listening, Clay,
- 1:22:48reach out. Love to have you.
- 1:22:50On Please have you in the next book.
- 1:22:52Where can people find you Cubby? You can find me in Pardee,
- 1:22:57Missouri. That's the best way to do it.
- 1:23:01You can find me in Teen Creek Archery Club down in Prairie
- 1:23:04Grove, but Instagram it's Cubberson's custom bows or just
- 1:23:11Cubberson's on, on Instagram, YouTube it's Cubberson's custom
- 1:23:15bows and yeah, Facebook Cubberson's custom bows.
- 1:23:20But that's, that's kind of where I'm at right now.
- 1:23:23I'm not very active on social media at this point, but I'm
- 1:23:27looking to start, yeah, I'm looking to start making some
- 1:23:30videos again, just just because I've had some people reach out
- 1:23:33and just like, hey, you know, you're the whole reason I got
- 1:23:36into this. And like, you know, we, we love
- 1:23:39you and we want to see more from you.
- 1:23:40And so for those folks, I might start putting some stuff out,
- 1:23:44but I'm just, you know, I'm over the social media stuff, man.
- 1:23:49Yeah. I want to.
- 1:23:51Influence for the people. Yeah, I my, my influence.
- 1:23:55I don't want to be an influencer.
- 1:23:56I don't, I don't want that. I, but I want to influence the
- 1:23:59people right next to me, you know, in my, in my area, not
- 1:24:04because I don't care about everybody else, but, you know,
- 1:24:07there's a lot of people here that I really want to spend some
- 1:24:11intentional time with. And that's kind of what my
- 1:24:13life's about, you know, is, is just being as intentional as I
- 1:24:16possibly can with the people right next to me.
- 1:24:19And I have a lot of love for for everybody else that's not right
- 1:24:23next to me. But my time and my focus is on
- 1:24:26my family and those, those right in my community and just giving
- 1:24:31everything I have to those folks.
- 1:24:33And if you're in the area, you get the same treatment.
- 1:24:38And that's just, that's where I'm at, you know?
- 1:24:40Beautiful. Well, I hope to be right beside
- 1:24:43you at some point in the near future so we can continue,
- 1:24:46continue the connection. Thank you so much for doing
- 1:24:49this. You have any questions before we
- 1:24:50sign off? I don't, I just want to say I
- 1:24:53appreciate you, you reaching out to me.
- 1:24:56I've I've, I've been a fan of what you've got going on and I'm
- 1:25:00a fan of all the people that you've had on.
- 1:25:02I think you're doing brilliant work and just bringing awareness
- 1:25:05to to this community and this this love of, of making bows,
- 1:25:09man, I think it's I think it's pretty fantastic what y'all are
- 1:25:12doing. Awesome.
- 1:25:14Thank you, Kabir. I really appreciate it and
- 1:25:16thanks again for coming on. Yeah, brother.
- 1:25:28Thanks for listening to Project Quiver on Salish Wolf.
- 1:25:31Follow our journey on Instagram at Project Quiver as we seek out
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