Organic Archery Bowmaking 101 Workshop - July 25-29, 2024

Join our Bowmaking 101 Workshop at the Buffalo Nickel Lodge.

This workshop will be led by the Organic Archer himself - Correy Hawk.

Join Correy in the Buffalo Nickel's shop for three days and learn to craft a powerful, smooth shooting Whitewood Selfbow with simple hand tools. This course is geared toward the basics of bowmaking and is accessible to all skill levels. You don't need prior archery or woodworking experience, but you must be teachable and willing to follow instructions. You’ll leave the course with a one-piece longbow suitable for both small and large game - built from start to finish by YOU.

Whitewoods (used to describe any hardwoods with thick sapwood and very light color) have been used to make bows for thousands of years. They grow abundantly in almost every environment and can make fast, durable weapons when well-executed. They generally require less work than bows made of osage orange because there's no need to "chase a ring," and their tension strength makes them more forgiving of a new bowyer's errors. Quality bow woods can often be found growing right in your backyard!

Osage orange is one of the most sought-after bow woods in the world, but it grows in limited areas of the central and southern United States. It's often twisted, wiggly, and full of knots, cracks, and other obstacles. When you buy it, it's expensive, and when you cut it yourself, you go through a lot of osage before you find one as straight and trouble-free as the average white wood tree.

It's Correy's belief that in order to introduce as many people as possible to the art of bow-making (with their local and readily available hardwoods), we need to set aside the coveted osage tree. This course shines some light on the high-performance bows that can be made from oaks, hickories, elms, maples, hackberry, and more.

Curriculum:

Tree selection

Bow stave processing

Wood seasoning

Longbow design and layout

Roughing out your bow blank

Heat treating wood

Tillering a bow

Bow string making

Bow and arrow aftercare

The fundamentals of instinctive shooting

Most of your time will be spent in the shop with tools in hand, but there's also a short walk through the property where you'll learn the basics of tree identification, reading bark, processing bow staves, and seasoning wood.

​Each bow will be crafted to your personal draw length and desired draw weight. You’ll be challenged to navigate the character (imperfections) in the wood and learn tricks of the trade under the watchful eye of a master bowyer. Take years of trial and error off the learning curve with focused individual instruction. Small group sizes leave plenty of time open for one-on-one guidance and questions/answers.

The final afternoon will be spent learning the fundamentals of longbow marksmanship with your new bow. If you're already an experienced archer, you'll be set free to shoot in your preferred style. If you're a first-time archer or someone looking to explore a new method, we'll skip the complicated nuances of the modern shot cycle and cover a simple, intuitive shooting technique.

This course isn't meant to be a step-by-step walkthrough. It's Correy's goal to help you understand the process and teach you the skills needed to make your own bows for life. Nothing quite compares to the feeling of a hand-crafted bow sending arrows downrange with authority, and he looks forward to sharing that with you.

About Correy Hawk

"I grew up in a small village in Southeast Nebraska. My siblings and I were raised to hunt, fish, forage for wild foods, and navigate the wilderness. We spent a lot of time outdoors as a family, where we learned to respect and appreciate the land and all the creatures that call it home. I come from a long line of outdoorsmen, and my father put a bow and arrows in my hands as soon as I could understand their utility.

My early adult years led me away from archery to pursue other interests, and I eventually joined the United States Marine Corps. I relished my time with the 1st Marine Regiment and served two combat tours with RCT-1 as a Recovery Operator in Afghanistan. I returned home to Nebraska and became once again spellbound by the longbow.

After building bows as a hobby for 6 years, Organic Archery became my full-time endeavor in 2018. I am consumed by this craft and deeply cherish the art of bowmaking and the mystical flight of the arrow.

My Mission

People all over the world are finding inspiration to step away from contrived mass-production and experience the romance of the "old ways". The siren songs of our ancestors are pulling us in, and few are as alluring as the sweet tune of the wooden bow; the initial rune of fine art.

Walking among the wild things with a selfbow in hand offers its wielder a profound connection to our past as hunter-gatherers, and I'd like to open a door for anyone who wishes to go afield with this iconic talisman.

My work is inspired by ancient, tried and true designs from diverse regions of the world. Each bow is followed from standing tree to finished product, and I promise to craft every one to the best of my abilities. No detail will be overlooked. I hope your bow brings you as much fulfillment as I've had making it."