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Longbows and Barn Boards
- Anthony Dear
- Oct 6, 2021
- 3 min read
Everything I know about hunting I learned from my Grandpa Rob. A dairy farmer near Litchfield, MI, my Grandpa put every ounce of energy into his endeavors. At 6'4" tall, and 240 pounds he's the strongest guy I’ve ever met. I remember handing him wrenches as he stooped over a broken piece of equipment pondering what the fix was. He honestly didn't realize his own strength, often stripping threads right off bolts as he twisted them into place. "Add it to the list," he'd say, "just another thing to fix."
The same passion Grandpa Rob put into farming and family he put equally into hunting. I come from a long line of whitetail lovers. At the back edge of a hundred-acre field, behind the old farmhouse, we'd spend summer evenings planting brambles of raspberries and blackberries with pockets of honeysuckle spread throughout. "Buck loves em!"
Grandpa called every buck he'd been watching throughout the spring and summer, “Buck”. Creative right? I think he enjoyed tailing Buck all year just as much as hunting him in the fall.
Grandpa hunted differently than most do today. While he enjoyed firearm season he preferred to take out his dad’s old hickory longbow and stand in a weathered blind for the better part of the month of October. Using old graying barn boards he rigged up his "fall home" just on the outside of the timberline, overlooking his "deer patch" of plants we'd tended to in June and July. Honestly, the blind looked like a giant outhouse. What can I say, it was functional, but it wasn't pretty. A 5x5 structure that stood 10 feet tall with large oblong windows for viewing, range finding, and letting arrows fly. I can still picture looking up at grandpa as I sat crouched in the corner of that blind. I had to make room for his powerful arms to draw back, effortlessly hold his draw for what seemed like an hour, and then release. More often than not the result was an awesome harvest, of yet another buck named "Buck."
I'm sitting on my back porch on a small parcel of that once great farm. The land has been broken up and sold off but the memories are alive and well. I find myself struggling to balance the demands of work, family, and a love for the outdoors. I live a different life than grandpa, but I have the same passion for whitetails. With a noticeable lack of barn boards around and a lack of time to build anything with them anyway, I’ve looked into pre-built blinds. Due to rising timber costs and a lack of value in any structure I could create, I am ready for a different kind of investment.
For me, the Grizzly Box Blind has won the day. I love the idea of having a structure fixed and ready to retreat to as my schedule allows. The amount of money I would spend to create my own shooting house is better invested here. The Grizzly Box Blind is NOT my grandpa's blind! Except for the memories, that really is a good thing. The Grizzly Box Blind has advantages over its competitors. With its rotomolded design, there are no interlocking corners that deteriorate season after season. What impressed me most is that this thing is one complete piece and offers an entirely sealed off environment. No water or wind will get in, and no scent will get out! Every gusty breeze used to blow right through our old patchwork blind.
The Grizzly Box Blind has five vertical windows that remind me a bit of the ones cut into Grandpa's barn boards. Accept these windows close! They offer amazing range from far to near allowing for multiple shot opportunities. The windows also have a silent friction hinge system that allows the bowhunter to operate the window with one hand. 3 horizontal windows offer the same advantages and ensure that after bow season I can enjoy the hunt long into November and throughout the year.
I have to say, I’m pumped to get the Grizzly Box Blind ordered, on the way, and ready for an amazing fall. (https://www.grizzlycoolers.com/shop/product-category/box-blind/) I'll be sporting a compound bow instead of the longbow that now hangs above the door of our den. I'm not as strong as my predecessor. Nevertheless, the hunt continues on. I know there is a buck named "Buck'' out there for me. I've been watching him for months. I'll keep ya posted on how the hunt goes.
If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy "Alive in the Woods."
or... "How to Brine a Turkey in a Cooler"
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