Learn a skill, that’s new to you!
When leading fieldtrips at our nature center we often teach participants about the Woodland Culture of the Native Americans. When I discuss the fact that the arrival of the first bows and arrows in the Midwest occurred about a thousand years ago it always creates interest in the group. There is a fascination with the history of these tools, which saw extensive use here.
We will offer some insight into the skill of building longbows with a course that will be held from 8 to 4:30 on February 2 and 3, 2013, at Linn County Conservation Department’s shop near the junction of Highway 13 and County Home Road. The course costs $220 per person. To register for the class interested people need to contact Chuck Ungs by calling (319) 892-6485. Registration is due by the end of the business day on Jan. 30. Class size is limited.
The class will be led by Gene Winter, an experienced bow builder and the instructor for hundreds of students that have built bows over many years. Gene will provide an Osage orange stave for each participant. This is a tree that has been used for a very long while to build longbows. In fact, the French settlers in south central states called the tree Bois d ’arc, which means wood of the bow. It also is called hedge apple due to the fruits it produces.
The process of building your own bow is involved and requires some time and tools to build so participants will need to be at class both days, and due to the physical constraints will need to be in high school or older. The participants should bring pair of leather gloves and a sack lunch if they like and perhaps a water bottle or soft drink each day.
We hope that you will join us if you are interested in building your own bow. I have built several in these classes along the way and found the course and the bows produced to be very enjoyable to shoot and to create. It brings a very unique sense of accomplishment to shoot a bow that started out as a large chunk of wood, and through your own hand work was transformed to a beautiful instrument to fling arrows.
To view a brief video of a few facets of the process look here…
http://linncountyconservation.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/learn-a-skill-thats-new-to-you/
