Pick a spot and focus

I started shooting a bow when I was 12ish. A little wooden compound bow that my parents got for my Christmas way back when. It was one of those gifts that keeps on giving. I shot regularly and bought bigger and better bows and eventually started hunting with a bow. With a new awakening in the greater archery world, everything quickly turned hi-tech. I joined the crowd and loved the fancy sights, overdraws, short arrows and high-speed bows. At the same time, I held in high esteem the likes of Fred Bear, the Wensel brothers, Fred Asbell, and others who did everything the traditional way. The word was that they just picked a spot and focused and shot and the arrows went into that spot.

I wished that I was lucky enough to have the skills that they did. I had an old bear recurve, just a “stick and string” as they say. I started shooting it regularly, focusing on a spot and shooting. But when archery season rolled around I would find myself reaching back for the hi-tech compound. I really wanted to hunt with the “stick and string” but didn’t want to sacrifice the longer distances that technology offered.

In the late season of 2013, I harvested a buck with my compound at 13 yds. I kicked myself knowing that I could have easily harvested it the ancient, traditional way. It was that day that I put my stake in the ground. I literally put my compound in its case and vowed to myself not to shoot it again. And I haven’t! I’ve been hunting with a traditional bow since. Filling the freezer each year has an even added sense of accomplishment It wasn’t always easy knowing that my compound was there.

Looking back I recognize the importance of focus, and also how much the act of continuing on a path and not wavering brings rich reward .

As we build our business, one of the major things that we want to do is build a furnace that melts glass. I would like to make glass antlers along with other glass items.

Eventually we also want to make other things such as fishing nets and canoe paddles and maybe even some metal forging. There are always ideas floating around in my head and its so easy to let my eye wander just a bit. Thankfully, Jenelle will pull my mind back into focus. And as we focus we are making progress. The furnace is coming together.

Between chasing turkeys and morels and working part time, we’ll keep focusing on the furnace. We’ll be sharing more of that with you soon.