BOW MAKING COURSES FOR EVERYONE
WHY BUILD A BOW WITH BIG ROCK BOWS?
There is nothing quite like the feeling of shooting a bow you made with your own hands. Most grin when they see those real turkey feathers sticking out of the target. We see the unbelief in students eyes and their smiles. The feeling of Wow! I can’t believe it worked! We live for that moment.
Learn how to make a bow right the first time, saving yourself the significant heartache of trial and error, hundreds of dollars in bow staves, and the discouragement that comes from breaking bows early in the learning process. Most self-taught, experienced bowyers will say it took them 30 bows or more before they made a decent shooting bow that they were proud of. A good Osage Orange bow stave will cost you as much as $250 dollars from a reputable supplier, so breaking bows can get expensive! Expedite the learning curve, learn from one of the best. David Young has over a decade of experience and has built hundreds of bows from all sorts of woods and in just about every style of bow.
Unlike other bow building classes, Big Rock Ranch is as much a vacation getaway as it is workshop. We are all inclusive, providing lodging in custom old west town cabins or authentic tepees. We provide all local transport, meals, drinks... Saving hundreds if not thousands in comparison to other bow building workshops.
We do everything we can to ensure a positive experience and we treat your time with us as if you’re on a vacation. Come learn, build and shoot your own handmade bow; Plus you'll eat great food; hang out by the bonfire at night, and explore our beautiful ranch which adjoins 3500 acres of public land.
COURSE OFFERINGS
AT BIG ROCK RANCH IN WASHINGTON STATE.
3-DAY 3-NIGHT APPRENTICE WORKSHOP Holiday Special: $1099
Tag along guest for $300/person
Discover the satisfaction and adventure of building and shooting your very own wooden longbow! In this comprehensive beginner’s course, you’ll learn the ins and outs of bow building with traditional hand tools. Under the guidance of the Lead Bowyer, David Young, you will go through the entire process start to finish, then spend time shooting together (coaching available) on our mountain top 3D archery course.
This workshop is designed for beginners and is friendly to those who have no experience working with hand tools. Building a bow is hard work! Chopping, hacking, rasping, scraping and sanding is physically demanding. And to complete this crash course come ready to spend a good 7-9 hours a day in the shop working on your bow. This is fun, rewarding work, so most people say time flies by, but everyone will sleep well at night!
What’s included:
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Transit to and from Spokane International Airport (GEG)
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Bow stave and other materials
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Delicious Breakfast, lunch, & dinner provided (snacks and drinks too)
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Arrive Thursday night – Depart Sunday night or Monday morning
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3 night Lodging included- Stay in a cabin with heating and air-conditioning or a tepee with cots, your choice.
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Access to our 25 target, mile long life-size 3D archery course
What you’ll learn and take away:
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Harvesting a stave from a living tree
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Lesson on curing wood
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Overview of suitable bow woods
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How to lay out a bow from stave
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Tools of the trade lesson
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Shop and woods safety course
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Proper hand tool use and demo
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How to rough out a stave to floor tillering
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Bow string making
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Final tillering, shooting in, and weatherproof finishing
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Take home 3 finished arrows
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Leaving with a finished, custom longbow capable of hunting small and large game
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*Option to purchase the tools you use so you can continue your journey as a new bowyer
5-DAY 5-NIGHT BOWYERS WORKSHOP
Holiday Special: $1999
Tag along guest for $500/person
This moderate course is for the folks who love building bows and are ready to take bow design and performance to the next level. Perfection takes time, so we’ll spend a full 5 days together.
Our archery paradise, the beautiful Big Rock Ranch, is again the host location for a higher performing longbow or recurve workshop. In this class we let you, the client, decide what wood, and what style of longbow or recurve you’d like to build. We will have time to not only ensure the performance of the bow you’re building but also have the time to add beautiful handle wraps, inlays, overlays, and decorative and protective backings such as snakeskins or rawhide to your bow.
You will surprise yourself with what your hands can make, and we intend to help you discover that for yourself. We will touch on topics discussed in the 3-day apprentice course for those who need a refresher. A beginner should consider taking the 3 day Apprentice class prior to this workshop.
What’s included:
-
Transit to and from Spokane International Airport (GEG)
-
Bow stave and other materials
-
Delicious Breakfast, lunch, & dinner provided (snacks and drinks too)
-
5-night Lodging included- Stay in a cabin with heating and air-conditioning or a tepee with cots, your choice.
-
Access to our 25 target mile long life-size 3D archery course
What you’ll learn and take away:
-
Harvesting a stave from a living tree
-
Lesson on curing wood
-
Overview of suitable bow woods
-
How to lay out a bow from stave
-
Tools of the trade lesson
-
Shop and woods safety course
-
Proper hand tool use and demo
-
How to rough out a stave to floor tillering
-
Bow string making
-
Final tillering, shooting in, and weatherproof finishing
-
Take home 6 arrows
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Option to choose to build a 2-piece takedown
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Option to build a recurve
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Option to back you bow with decorative snakeskin or rawhide
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Archery lessons and tuning arrows to your bow
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Leaving with a finished, custom longbow capable of hunting small and large game
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*Option to purchase the tools you use so you can continue your journey as a new bowyer
COURSE CALENDAR
ABOUT US
Big Rock Bows is located 15 miles South of Spokane, Washington. David Young, our lead bowyer, fell in love with primitive archery when he was first introduced to it from a film created by Clay Hayes titled "Untamed".
David and Clay both worked for Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Clay gave David his first Osage Orange bow stave over a decade ago.
Those first scrapes of fine yellow wood sparked a curiosity and love of fine bow building and traditional craftsmanship. Since then, David has built hundreds of bows, and has hunted all over the world with his homemade primitive archery tackle.