# Bold Prediction 2014...I did it!



## SELFBOW (Apr 10, 2012)




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## SELFBOW (Apr 10, 2012)

Made my 1st cane arrow today. I predict I will have this process figured out by end of the year, my own bow made next yr and a kill in 2014 with everything made on my own....Of course it can only be done w the help of many other folks sharing their knowledge and helping me learn it all...

this one is 690 grains and at first I only had the foreshaft set in 3/4". After the shots I increased it to 2" into the cane.


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## Apex Predator (Apr 11, 2012)

You need to make sure that cane is straightened!  That wood foreshaft on that one arrow looks way off.  Good job on the arrows though.  Something I've always wanted to get serious about, but other stuff keeps getting in the way!


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## SELFBOW (Apr 11, 2012)

Apex Predator said:


> You need to make sure that cane is straightened!  That wood foreshaft on that one arrow looks way off.  Good job on the arrows though.  Something I've always wanted to get serious about, but other stuff keeps getting in the way!



It was that way because of the 3/4" inset. I changed it to 2" and its good. At first it was just moving around...


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## 2wheelfoster (Apr 11, 2012)

Looks good! Can't wait to see the "kill" photos!


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## bam_bam (Apr 11, 2012)

Good luck Martin. Its not all that hard to figure out I bet you could do it by next year if you try really hard


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## SELFBOW (Apr 11, 2012)

Got me a nice bundle today to start with...


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## gurn (Apr 12, 2012)

Thats cool man. Hope ya sitck ah pig with one.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 14, 2013)

Making the cane arrows I am capable of, I've worked a few points but still much to learn on that and now I'm working on my first selfbow made of Osage.

I picked the straighter of the two staves I have and it still has some twist in the limb but Dan says its gonna be ok.
Debarking






There is a bow inside here somewhere...










Chipping away





Thinning the sides




Chasing the ring 




I am a long ways from being finished and not gonna rush thru it but its starting to look like a bow now...


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## charlie 2 arrow (Jan 15, 2013)

cool beans Martin, I think you'll do it!


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## dm/wolfskin (Jan 15, 2013)




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## Al33 (Jan 15, 2013)

Who would of thunk it, Martin going from compound to ABO in no time. I sure have enjoyed watching your journey Martin and look forward to seeing what you do in upcoming years. Keep on keepin' on, I like it.


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## Apex Predator (Jan 16, 2013)

It's amazing, ain't it?


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## pine nut (Jan 18, 2013)

Good job so far !  Keep us posted!


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## chenryiv (Jan 19, 2013)

Martin, that's pretty awesome.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 20, 2013)

I have my bow almost finished. Ive gotten her down to 58#@28" which puts her at 54# for me and Id like to get 5# more off but gonna shoot it for a while as they say it will loose a few pounds with break in. Ive learned a whole lot about bow making in a week and y'all already know who is to thank for it Dan Beckwith, Dan Spier, and Marty Thompson...

This week I made me a tiller tree and I used my old fish scale to check weight.





She shoots my cedar arrows ok but they are weak for this bow. 3555s do well so Im thinking a 600+gr cane arrow is gonna do well.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 20, 2013)

Shot this 640gr arrow thru it earlier and was hitting bullseye at 14 yds. Its a southeastern 2 fletch I made up today...


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## Jake Allen (Jan 21, 2013)

Looking real good Martin!


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## dm/wolfskin (Jan 21, 2013)

Can't wait to see critter blood on it. mikE


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## TNGIRL (Jan 21, 2013)

You are showing us how it's done from start to finish and beyond.....Good Job Martin. Your osage looks mighty fine and real pretty on the tiller!!! I had to laugh at the beginning video, at how crooked that shaft was and you still put it in the target! Long as it was straight towards the nok!!!
Where's the bloodied pics of Nolan?????

BTW I got right sleepy from the Chinese Restaurant background music......... (inside joke, not on you)


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## SELFBOW (Jan 21, 2013)

TNGIRL said:


> I had to laugh at the beginning video, at how crooked that shaft was and you still put it in the target! Long as it was straight towards the target



Tomi on my first cane arrow I only had the foreshaft in it 3/4" and it was unstable and twisted and that was why it looked the way it did. I have em now 2 - 2 1/2"inset... From what Ben says the only part of the arrow that is important is the part between your hands. My newest are balanced at 22 1/2" from nock which is FOC more than he likes. I am assuming total length plays a part in that as well. Still learning.....alot


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## SELFBOW (Jan 21, 2013)

dm/wolfskin said:


> Can't wait to see critter blood on it. mikE



I truly believe it will happen w in the next month w rabbits for sure. Im gonna make two heads out of antler to be a type of blunt and put em on some rivercane.


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## PassingThrough (Jan 21, 2013)

Make it happen...it's looking great so far!!!


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## dpoole (Jan 22, 2013)

congrat looks great


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## SELFBOW (Jan 27, 2013)

Friday I got to hunt with Clay(Dagator) and we had alot of fun. Got on 4 groups of pigs and finally I got a shot at a sow at 14yds and shot right over her. We both hunted w our self bows and I was using 1535s w 300grs on the front end...
Saturday I was beat so rested til after lunch and decided to build a few more arrows and heres a few pics of them...
This first one is crooked but dont let that fool you, its 840 grains and acts like a sledgehammer when hitting rabbits as you will see in my later video.





This is the antler blount I made for it.




This arrow is 520grains and flies like a dart.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 27, 2013)

Saturday night I started a quiver, finished it this am and headed out hunting.
Here's a pic of it w various arrows I have made in the last week.





Here is a pic of the three rabbits I shot today along w a screen shot from video I took. I will put together one at a later date....This is getting to be fun for me


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## SELFBOW (Jan 27, 2013)

This is my first kills with what I consider to be everything self made. Its possible that I can fulfill my prediction for big game before this year ends but I have got some serious knapping skills to learn before I have a point worthy of big game.


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## dm/wolfskin (Jan 27, 2013)

Hot diggity dog or rabbit. Congratulations Martin. mIkE


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## Al33 (Jan 27, 2013)

That's awesome Martin, in more ways than one!!! I have no doubts at all about your bold prediction. Go get 'em!!

Don't let the Po-PO pull you over wearing that outfit.


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## NavyDave (Jan 27, 2013)

Looks like someone is havin a  little fun!  The wife said you were tryin to get a hold of me while I was out to sea.  Was it to watch you rabbit hunt in your fancy duds?


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## SELFBOW (Jan 27, 2013)

NavyDave said:


> Looks like someone is havin a  little fun!  The wife said you were tryin to get a hold of me while I was out to sea.  Was it to watch you rabbit hunt in your fancy duds?



Something like that


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## pine nut (Jan 28, 2013)

Martin,  I have to say that you are all in and never do anything half way!  You seem to have way more hours in a day than I do.  Admire your enthusiam!  Great job, and I'm bettin' you will score this year!


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## 2wheelfoster (Jan 28, 2013)

Great Job Martin! Keep us posted on the big game!


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## chenryiv (Jan 29, 2013)

Great job Martin!! How to inspire us all.


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## TNGIRL (Jan 29, 2013)

Dang Martin....or should I say Daniel Boone!!!!! congrates on making your dream a reality!!!!!!


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## dm/wolfskin (Jan 29, 2013)

Why are you not in your loin cloth Martin?mikE


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## dm/wolfskin (Jan 29, 2013)

Martin at a younger age in his loin cloth.mikE


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## Apex Predator (Jan 29, 2013)

dm/wolfskin said:


> Martin at a younger age in his loin cloth.mikE



Way younger, I'd say!  He took off 7-8 years just the other day.  Somethin in a bottle prolly! LOL


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## rapid fire (Jan 30, 2013)

This is gonna be a ground kill to isn't it?  "You can do it."


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## SELFBOW (Feb 1, 2013)

Put some more blood on her today. Was gonna do a short rabbit hunt and try and meet up w Marty and a few others for some pig hunting but I went 1-4 in the 1st 15mins and took me 3 hours to finish my limit of 3. Had lots of misses and got some video as well...


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## Barry Duggan (Feb 1, 2013)

swamp rabbits...good deal.

For a minute there, I thought you might have cut yourself...again.


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## C.J. Pearson (Feb 7, 2013)

You are heading down a path of no return brother. Nothing sweeter thank taking game with a selfbow that you made. Used to hunt snowshoe rabbits in Colorado with ones I made. Its a blast. Nice looking bow.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 9, 2014)

This thread hasn't been updated in a year but a lot has happened since. I built a second bow "copperhead" that is special in my hands. Yesterday my memory was refreshed on flint knapping something I had tried only once before but cutting my hand had put my attempts on hold.   So here we are almost two yrs into this prediction and I'm learning another segment of this journey. I had some rocks from before and picked this one out to play with                                 just a few minutes into I remembered everything I had learned before   Its not the prettiest point but it is my First and it is sharp. I won't be using it on big game but a rabbit may be in its future.     With this skill fine tuned I will have learned to make   everything needed to fulfill my prediction. I will probably carry two stone tipped points while hog hunting but won't use them until I'm on a small pig.....


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## Michael NG (Feb 9, 2014)

Really neat, looks like a lot of fun.
Mike


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## Munkywrench (Feb 9, 2014)

Mr. Martin it looks like you've had an amazing and productive year, and inspirational at that. Can't wait to see where all of this leads


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## Todd Cook (Feb 9, 2014)

Looks pretty deadly to me.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 10, 2014)

Todd Cook said:


> Looks pretty deadly to me.



Well it wasn't. I had a rabbit run off with it this pm. Disappointed I am but like my buddy NavyDave told me it gives me a reason to make another. I cooked some rock yesterday pulled it out tonight so we'll see how it looks tomorrow. I found out early heat treated is a lot easier to learn with...


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## Todd Cook (Feb 10, 2014)

Dang tough rabbit!


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## SELFBOW (Feb 11, 2014)

Point #2. Took this one down to killing size...


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## Poynor (Feb 11, 2014)

The way your after it. It will not be long and we will be reading about a killing with rocks.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 14, 2014)

Poynor said:


> The way your after it. It will not be long and we will be reading about a killing with rocks.



Broke out #3 on a point shaped flake. Didn't take me long maybe 30 minutes on this one. I am learning for sure....


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## SELFBOW (Feb 14, 2014)

Took this one 




and 5 mins got this out of it.










With a flake from it




 I turned this one into my best yet in about 15 mins. I am really liking this part of this entire learning process. Its hard to describe how you feel when you make an arrow that fly trues and harder to explain how seeing a bow you made performs so imagine how Im feeling seeing these. It's  really showing me how much I have learned so far. I will just need some animals to cooperate the rest of the year...This was point #5 made...


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## JBranch (Feb 14, 2014)

Now you just need a little pig blood on 'em.....


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## Todd Cook (Feb 15, 2014)

You're getting better and better at that. What kind of rock is that?


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## sawtooth (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm impressed. you said you were gonna do it and here it is.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 16, 2014)

Todd Cook said:


> You're getting better and better at that. What kind of rock is that?



From 3Rivers.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 16, 2014)

sawtooth said:


> I'm impressed. you said you were gonna do it and here it is.



Yep my friend almost two yrs ago I said it and I'm to the point now that only the animals will help me finish. I started making a point back then that I stopped with after a flake sliced me open. I finished that point today and it is the first one that I say is worthy of big game and here it is sitting on ready......we will see where this roads leads to now.


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## Barry Duggan (Feb 16, 2014)

Don't miss.


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## SELFBOW (Feb 16, 2014)

Barry Duggan said:


> Don't miss.



In theory this point has blood on it already


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## Barry Duggan (Feb 16, 2014)

What I meant to say was I recall the day you started working on that rock. Was a couple of years ago down at the Poole Plantation. You know, when you cut your finger and bled all over everthing down there. Alot of time and effort has gone into the finished product, and I would hate to see you get a deflection, or shoot a shadow, or something, and break the tip off. Yeah, that's what I really meant to say.


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## SELFBOW (Jun 8, 2014)

Mission accomplished. Details to follow....


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## JBranch (Jun 8, 2014)

Alright man!!! Congrats. Can't wait to hear all about it.


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## EJC (Jun 8, 2014)

Congrats, very cool.


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