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The Travels Of The Bow Sacagawea

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    Originally posted by Bisch View Post
    Nicw write up, Todd! I won a hunt with JCO at Vanderpool this year so maybe we will get to hang out a bit next year if you are there when I get to hunt.

    Bisch
    Bisch, congrats on winning the hunt with JCO. My wife and I have hunted with Todd, Brett and Joe for years. We plan on going next year, probably in Jan.

    Todd, nice write-up. See you in Jan.

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      I got the bow the day before yesterday. Since we skipped over Deb earlier and she is local, I talked to her and she is going to play with it for this month. I'll be getting it to her shortly and then I'll get it back from her next month.

      Bisch

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        Deb, then Bisch in Sept., and gtsticker in October, then is the new list starting in November sometime? I'm really getting excited about this! I don't know if I'm worthy enough to have Sacagawea during deer season?

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          I'm going to get it to Deb probably first of next week. I will get it back from her about this time in Sept and do my month. I will then give it to gtsticker who will have it for a month which will put it into November a little bit. After gtsticker, the bow will go back to Bob for a clean-up and refinish (if needed). So I would bet the new list will start in December after all that is done.

          Bisch

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            Cool!

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              I think Bob and Zach are both going to use the bow after it is refinished and add to her history. Which is only fair as they made her and helped get this whole thing started. That being said, I am not sure when the new list will start. It will depend on how long the refinish is and if they use it for their full month.

              It is just the luck of the draw if you get her during the fall....but everyone should remember, it is about the experience and you don't have to even hunt with her. Just hold her, shoot her, and add your bio and magic to her.

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                OK, here is my bio; better late than never, I guess! I had Sacajawea in August. I did not get a chance to hunt with her, but did shoot her a bit and she is a neat bow, for sure! I have passed her on to Deb for September.

                My name is Jerry Bischoffberger. Most everybody knows me as Bisch. I have a wife of 32 years and one son. I was a firefighter for the Austin Fire Department for 29 years, 2 months, and 9 days (but who is counting?) before I retired due to a pretty bad hearing loss. Most anybody who knows me very well can attest to the fact that I cannot hear worth a hoot!

                I was raised in a house where there was no hunting, so I never even started hunting till I was an adult. I got to go dove hunting with a few friends in high school and was immediately hooked. One of the first things I bought after moving out on my own was a Mossberg pump shotgun. Soon after that, with the help of a friend, I bought my first deer rifle. It was an old military gun in 7x57 caliber. I still own that rifle and it is the only deer rifle I have ever owned. At 19 or 20, I got on my first deer lease and was really hooked on this hunting thing then!

                I had been in the fire department for a little over 5 years when I made my first promotion and was reassigned to Station 8. Soon after I reported there I realized there was several of the guys who were way off into hunting and knew I was going to love working there. There was a couple guys who were even into bowhunting! I had never even seen a bow and arrow up close before that time. As soon as I saw my new buddies shooting, I knew I had to try it. I bought my first bow, a Darton SL50 compound, at a pawn shop and began to practice with my new friends. I think, looking back, that it was right there and then, that I knew I was going to be a bowhunter for life. I practiced at lot with that bow for months and in February 1988, went on my first bowhunt. I was 26 years old before I got to go on my first bowhunt. I guess that is why I still feel like a kid with a bow in my hand! My first couple shots at critters were misses as I was nervous as all heck! But I was able to connect on a javelina on that hunt and was definitely hooked for life after that!

                About this time, I also found out that there were bow tournaments where I could go play with my bow and meet lots of other folks who shot bows too. I tried field archery and 3D archery. I quickly fell in love with 3D archery, as it seemed kind of like hunting or practicing for hunting, and am still heavily involved in 3D today. After getting into the 3D shooting, I met a couple other Austin firefighters who came to the shoots with those crazy stick bows. AT first, I watched them and thought, "why would they shoot those things, with no sights or anything?".

                After hanging around those guys for a while, I finally bought my first recurve (just to play with!), a Bear Kodiak Hunter. The guys talked me into going to a 3d shoot with that recurve. I did not have a lot of fun! I started with a quiver full of arrows and, on the last target, I had to borrow an arrow from one of the other guys to shoot because every one of mine was either broke, bent, or lost!!!!

                It was that day that something clicked for me. On the way home from that shoot, I could not think about anything except for how hard shooting a recurve was and how bad I wanted to be good at it. You see, I am a very competitive person , and this became a challenge to me! That day I decided I was going to learn how to shoot a stickbow. I started hanging around the stickbow guys more and even started going to the Monday night traditional league at the archery shop.

                I did not improve very fast as I knew nothing about tuning a trad bow. Because I was not very good, I kept hunting with the compound. After several months, I was up at the shop on league night, and one of the old salty dogs at that time was sitting on the bench waiting for league to start. I walked up to him and asked him, "F.H., how do you ever get good with one of these bows?" He looked up at me and asked me "Boy, you still got that compound?" I answered "YES!". He retorted back with "SELL IT!" My first reaction was to think he was crazy. But, after thinking about it over a few days, I realized, he was right! If I ever wanted to get really good with a trad bow, I had to put the time and effort into it and quit using the compound as a crutch. I did not sell that compound but I did commit to the trad bow. I put the compound in the case and slid it under the bed. That compound laid under that bed for several years before I finally gave it away to a fellow who needed a bow. That was the day I can admit that I was truly a trad addict!

                I spent the next 6 months shooting that old Bear recurve EVERY day. Some days it was only a dozen arrows and some days it was a hundred. But at some point in there I started to see improvement. At some point in that 6 months I began to think I actually COULD hunt with a recurve.

                Somewhere in there, I bought my first "real" bow. It was a Palmer recurve that, looking back, was really a bit too heavy for me. I went on my first traditional hunt the following summer. It was a blackbuck and sheep hunt in Juno, Tx. We chased blackbucks and sheep through those hills for a weekend and, on the last day of the hunt, it happened. I made a stalk on a flock of sheep and was able to take my first animal with trad gear! It was a nice Corsican ram and here is a pic:



                From that day forward, I have not shot but a handful of critters with a weapon other than a trad bow. I still dove hunt with a shotgun a bit (but I am on a quest now to shoot a dove out of the air with my longbow), but am truly a trad junkie now. I have taken a bunch of critters with my trad bows since then but am in no way ready to hang it up yet! I have a bucket list that I am pretty sure I will not be able to cross all the items off of before my time is up!

                A lot of people who have never tried to hunt with a trad bow don't understand how we think. Trad shooting is HARD to master (if we ever really do master it?) and I think that is one of the reasons it is sooooooooooo rewarding when we have successes.

                Anyway, sorry I got so long-winded! To me, trad archery is not just a hobby. It is a big part of my life that I love dearly!

                See y'all down the road!

                Bisch
                Last edited by Bisch; 09-13-2013, 08:53 AM.

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                  Great write-up Bisch!

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                    Great write up!

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                      Great read guys!

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                        Great write-up Bisch.

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                          Man, I was so expecting to hear you were found by an old Cherokee when you were a baby and ran around the woods in a loin cloth until you were 10.



                          Great write up.

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                            Wow Bisch, you look young in that pic, lol

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                              Originally posted by Hoggslayer View Post
                              Man, I was so expecting to hear you were found by an old Cherokee when you were a baby and ran around the woods in a loin cloth until you were 10.



                              Great write up.
                              I had been in the city for 10 years when I was 10. I don't think I had ever even seen the woods much before then!

                              Originally posted by gatorgar View Post
                              Wow Bisch, you look young in that pic, lol
                              That was a few years ago, Alex!

                              Bisch

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                                Great writeup!!!

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