August 27, 2009  **UPDATE**

Our Catch-a-Dream charity shoot went very well, and we raised several thousand dollars for terminally ill children.  Many thanks to all those who supported us, including the Comptons Bowhunters, Black Creek Archery, Black Widow Archery, Lancaster Archery, "Dano" from Tradgang.com (sorry Dano--I don't know your real name!), Kustom King Archery, and many more that I can't remember off-hand.  Next year promises to be even better, with at least THREE bows to raffle off, a custom hunting knife valued at over $200, and many other items.  Raffle tickets for the bows will be availible starting September 30th, and can be purchased through me via e-mail.  Payment can be made via check, money order, or Pay Pal.  More to come on that.

Still no chechen, but we do have some beautiful Bolivian Rosewood.  Marc is in the process of moving the shop location, so he is out of touch for the moment.  Once he gets back up and running, he hopes to up production/cut down on the wait time.  Let's hope so!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!  I will be out of town starting Wednesday, September 2 and will be back no later than Monday, September 14.  I will be in South-Central New Mexico hunting elk (a dream come true!).  I will have little to no cell phone service and no computer acess while I am away.  Don't give up if you don't get a speedy reply to a message--just send an e-mail or leave a message on my shop phone and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  If you leave a phone message, please speak clearly and slowly when leaving your call-back number, and state the number at least twice please--I can't call you back if I can't understand the number (my hearing isn't all that great).  I've had as many as 400+ e-mails after being gone for a 3-day weekend, so don't get discouraged if I don't get back to you on the 14th--I'll answer in the order I recieve them, and will do my best to reply to all.

 Wish me luck!

 Chad

August 25 2009

Things have remained very busy since the last update, but all is well.  We are headed to Enid Lake near Batesville, MS this weekend for the Southern Traditional Archery Association's charity tournament to raise money for the "Catch-a-Dream" foundation (www.catchadream.org).  This is an excellent charity, and I don't know of a better cause to support.  I've been burned on "charities" before, so I'm cautious--this is the real deal.

I'm running a little further behind than I expected on string orders, bows are still coming in a steady flow  (but unfortunately not nearly fast enough), and everything looks pretty good.  We're having problems finding chechen for risers, but currently have some exceptional Bolivian rosewood (morado).

Finally, I want to give a review for the recently released "Masters of the Barebow, Volume III".  One word..........WOW!  The first two were entertaining, but MBB III is the "meat and taters" of the series--without a doubt the best instruction you can get without hireing a personal coach--and how many of us can hire world champion archers to coach us?  Well, actually Rod Jenkins is going to do a coaching tour, but the video is still well worth the money IMO.

There's a lot of garbage out there these days........anyone with a little extra cash can get a cheap book printed, and even fool some folks into buying it.  Do your homework before investing your money, not to mention your hours of practice, in an instructional video or book.  I don't think someone has to be a certified world champion archer to give good advice, but it can be hit or miss with the information.  Going with someone who has proven themselves in world competition is a good way to insure good information, or at least better information than a backyard or internet "guru".

                                                                                                                                                                                               Chad

Where can I see/shoot a Chek-Mate bow? If you are in or around Northeast Mississippi, you are welcome to stop by and check out any bow I have on hand. I go to as many shoots as I can, mostly in the Southeast. I may not be set up as a vendor, but I try to have several bows with me. Please let me know of the ones that you may be attending and what you are looking for so that we can plan ahead to meet. Just send me an email at Chad@recurves.com.