Is shooting woodies your thing?

What is it about a lacquered wood dowel that makes you want to shoot a traditional bow?

I’ve asked myself this question repeatedly and never really figured it out. Was it the magic of taking a handful of simple components and creating something beautiful? Maybe. Was it their natural weight, or their ability to create a smooth energy transfer from string to game? Could be.

Then I saw that weird Lincoln campaign with Matthew McConaughey and everything began to make sense. You know…the one where he drives around with that weird Wooderson look and says:

“I drove a Lincoln before anyone paid me to drive one. I didn’t do it to be cool. I didn’t do it to make a statement. I just liked it.”

I spent the next couple days imitating that commercial on my way to work and cracking myself up, when the following popped into my head.

“Nobody ever paid me to shoot wood arrows. I didn’t do it to be cool. I didn’t do it to make a statement. I just liked it.”

Eureka.

You know what changed after that? Absolutely nothing. I still drive a mini van and I’m still building and shooting wood arrows. Though I dabble with carbons from time to time, the allure of cedar, poplar, or fir is too tough to repress for long. There is a romanticism about them you just won’t find in any other material.

Is a finely crafted/crested wood your arrow of choice? Tell us about it below…