Episode 13: A Traditional Bow Legacy Rises To The Future

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Code of Traditional Archery, brought to you by Primitive Stone Archery and the founder Grant Richardson.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Code of Traditional Archery. I'm Grant Richardson, the founder of Primitive Stone Archery, and your host, and welcome to our second season. This episode is going to be released in two parts as one podcast and is very special to me. To kick off season two, we have an exclusive interview with the new owner of Damon Howard Archery. And it's entitled Our Traditional Bow Legacy Rises to the Future. If you've listened or follow us on social media to any degree, you will know I am a lifelong Damon Howard Archery fan and dedicated shooter of these bows. They have never failed me and have accompanied me on many journeys into the wilds across North America. I walked into the archery store by chance that day. I had unexpectedly got off work early, and with time to spare and wanting a new bow for the fall, I swung open the door and greeted the owner of the large archery shop and shooting lanes. He was a stout fellow, always smiling, and at the time owned the only archery pro shop in our city. I asked him about any new recurves he had coming in, and he gestured to the wall. Over there, just in with a custom ordered mid wrist grip for a fella. He didn't like it. I said, quizzing him suspiciously. No, he just wanted something longer. I walked over to the wall of stick bows, mostly rear curves and a handful of longbows. It's a howit he yelled across the floor at me. A how it I thought. I'd heard of them certainly and recalled my father and his brothers talking of them in reverence as a kid. And one of my dad's friends in the Ontario Boner Association had the crown jewel of the hunting line, a 1970s Super Diablo, and the arrows seemed in my young eyes then to leap from that recurve like bolts of lightning to their target. It was the mid eighties now and compounds were surging in sales. Most of the bows in the wall had been there for some time, and I found the bow we were speaking about at once. It stood out, simple and elegant in its design. It looked powerful and short at fifty-eight inches. Mamba by Howitt, it said, on the inside belly of the bow. There was a menacing coiled black snake facing me, almost daring me to pick up the little grey recurve. I held it and looked it over, balancing it in my hand. It was light, and its pivot point was great. But would it shoot for me? Two fellows were on the rain shooting compounds, and as the owner handed me three arrows, one remarked, Good luck with that stick, kid, and laughed. They had both lanes that were open with 3D targets, and the only lane left was one that was fifty yards out with a piece of red tape stuck in the middle as an aiming point on the worn target face. Knocking an arrow, I drew the bow slowly and let it down a couple of times, trying to get a feel for it. I'd been shooting an older recurve at that time, around the same weight of 55 pounds, and it stacked badly. But this new bow handled a little differently, and I wanted to get a feel for it before coming to full drawn leg and arrow fly. And it did seem much smoother than what I'd been used to up to that point. As I stepped up in the lane, both the compound guys were looking over at me, having shot their round. Now I wasn't the greatest shot in the world at that point in my life, but I was no slouch with a bow. I'd shot since I was very young and had done well at some 3D shoots, and even placed against other compound sighted youth when they had no solo categories for kids back then. I'd taken a whitetail with that bow as well, but the pressure was on from the range now. All eyes were on me. I slowly drew the short gray bow back, focused on the center of the red tape, and hit my anchor point, releasing the shaft. It smacked the top edge of the tape. Not looking around, I drew a second arrow, loosed it, and it smacked at the bottom edge of the tape, now half an inch away from the prior arrow. I looked over and nodded at the two other shooters, both now with blank expressions on their faces. Drew the third arrow and loosed it at the red tape, shattering the knocker of the first arrow, quite surprisingly to me. Youth gripped me at that moment, and I fell for that bow hard. And of course, being a teenager in my younger years, as we all know, I walked backwards with some degree of swagger and aloofness at the same time. Not bad at all, I said with a humble tone. The bow shot where I looked, it was balanced and I loved it. I'll take it, I remarked, and purchased it on the spot. Little did I know at that time that that recurve would ignite a fire for how it bows that still burns fiercely to this day. That was my introduction directly with how it bows, and I've never looked back. The bow had connected with me, and for anyone that has been involved in this form of hunting and archery knows exactly what I speak of. It found me as much as I it. That was the start of many adventures with that recurve. From Ontario to Alberta and into the US Midwest, I hunted and took both big game and even grouse, pheasants, and geese with it. For over thirty-eight years I have shot and hunted with Damon Howitt bows exclusively. I've tried others in that time, but none others have ever connected with me, and I've used nothing else for hunting. They have proved in that time to not only be reliable as a hunting bow, but an accurate and faithful companion that shot under any weather condition I threw at them, withstanding particularly frigid Canadian temperatures at times. I have owned in total twenty-three Damon Howitt bows. I have found them to be not only stable, with little to no hand shock, but very smooth to shoot as well. They have become a traditional in my lifestyle and my reliable companion venturing into the wilds with me. Truly much more a semi-custom than a production bow, they are handcrafted one at a time. I have shot and owned Howard Hunters, Mambas, High Speeds, Super Diablos and Diablos, the rare Buffalo Hunter Collector's Bow, not to mention the Dreamcatchers, Monterey, Savannah and Stick Longbows, as well as the Venerable Hatfield takedown. I took a buck this past year with a 1972 Howit High Speed gifted to me years back from my father, and it still shoots an arrow with absolute authority. That first Mamba is still a slick shooter and was dedicated to my son and my dedicated bow after 18 years handed down to him now to enjoy hunting. The company has a long line of dedicated followers, many who are eager to see what direction it is heading now under new ownership, as well as many other traditional and compound sugar eager to see where the production is headed. And I am pleased to present this exclusive interview with Mr. Joshua Boram, the new owner. We discussed the Damon Howitt history, Bose, and where he intends on taking the business. Josh has a high level of both energy and passion, an evident perfectionist and candid in his views. He is down to earth and sincere, obviously aiming high in whatever he chooses to involve himself in. Whether Damon Howitt Bofan or not, I hope you enjoy listening in on what Damon Howitt's future holds as much as I did speaking with Josh. Part one, meet the new owner, history and direction. Yeah, we'll we'll go for it, man. However you want to start. Cool. So I'm super pleased to uh to welcome uh Josh Paul Boram, the new owner of Howard Archery, to our podcast. Super exciting. Yeah. Yeah, so welcome Josh.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Great to be on the show, man. Sorry it's been taking me so long to get to it. We had a crazy ATA show, so finally now we're uh yeah, had a little bit of time. So thanks for connecting.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Appreciate it. Yeah, it's fantastic. It's a huge deal for me, actually, because I um as you know, uh I've shot nothing but Howitt for close to 40 years. That's awesome. Yeah, it's it's it's they've it it's funny because the bow actually becomes connected to you. There's a sort of a mojo that that happens between that, right? So yeah, I'm super excited for me being a pretty diehard Damon Howitt fan. Um so now it's under new ownership and direction. Um and I know a lot of people are super excited about how it coming back. I mean, on my Instagram page alone, I think I've had maybe 300 people reach out, right? Just on ours. So, you know, um, you know, tell us about yourself, what led up to your purchasing Damon Howitt.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Yeah, no, thanks, man. Yeah, appreciate it again for having me on here. You know, it started out, I would say, right around nine years ago. Um, as many of you guys may know or may not know, uh Martin Archery uh acquired Damon Howitt back in the day, um, back back in the fifth, I I don't know the exact date, um, but it was a while back. And so essentially I when I joined the company, um, I was actually recruited for doing like different graphic design related tasks, and that was nine years ago. That was when, and I was actually funny thing is actually when I was a kid, I actually had a uh Martin Cougar 2 bow. So, like back a long time ago, it went way back. So when I got recruited, I was like, no way, it's Martin. And then I realized, hey, I'd actually owned one of their old compound bows. It was so cool. So I was like so excited because I'm like, man, this is like such a cool company, and I get to work for them. So I went there and um actually learned a lot um about everything, just about archery in general, because it was more of just like a hobby before. And it, you know, I was able to learn a lot about the process. I mean, I I was out there, you know, I'd regularly, you know, on a daily basis, see the howitz team out there, you know, all the boyers working on stuff. And I always was like, man, that's so cool! Like the process that they'd go through. And I've always personally I've actually loved woodworking. I've built all kinds of stuff. I mean, you know, anything from cabinets to just all kinds of things. I mean, but archery is a specific, it's it's definitely a different, um, it's it's a different animal, but it's really cool because um, you know, like you were saying, it's connected to you as a hunter or as an archer. I mean, the product that's in your hand every day is the most crucial part of the sport, really. I mean, other than the talent that you actually have. And that's the cool thing about traditional. You know, as I worked for Martin Archery, I was like, you know what? I I I had a compound bow because that was just the rage. And I was just like, man, it's just like so boring after a while. You just pull this thing back, you you you peep sight it, you're just done. It's like, what am I gonna even do anymore? I mean, you know, you just keep shooting it and shooting it, and you're you're you know, it's it's just so easy that it almost doesn't become fun. I mean, normally the things in life that take that take work, those are the most satisfying and the most gratifying things to do. And I think that's the beautiful thing about traditional archery specifically, is it is it's the most gratifying thing that you can possibly develop as a skill. And that that's at least my own opinion. So when I started shooting some of the howitz, I was like, man, this is this is so much more fun than compound. And so I put the thing away. I haven't, I think it was a Martin Nemesis Nitro, but I didn't I never like friends would come over and I didn't even want to touch it. It's just like, okay, like I want I want something that I can kind of have that instinct feel where I'm not just sighting down something, it's just so much more fun to just pull that thing back and you just have like this, yeah. I mean, it's it's instinct. I mean, a lot of people argue about is it instinctual, is it not? You know, I think I think um in the end though, it's just a fun sport. Like it's just in every way, it's fun. And so I loved the howitz, just just all of those bows, shot them. I had multiple. Anytime I could get my hands on another one, I'd buy another model. Um, so I was I was I I liked the product. Um, but then later on, um, you know, I could see like as I was working there, it was definitely a hundred percent focused on compound, compound, compound. So there was much less focus on the traditional side. I mean, you know, everyone wants the compound, right? Well, that's what they thought. And so, and I still think you know, compound obviously takes up the largest demographic of archery currently because everyone's excited about it. I mean, it's easy to hunt, whatnot. But what I I I still always had just kind of in the back of my mind, I was like, man, like traditional just it doesn't change, you know, like it's something that, you know, it's innovation proof. So, for example, um, you know, you can come up with cool ideas of cool designs, which by the way, I'm really excited about Damon Howics. We've got some really exciting designs that are gonna be coming about in the future. Um, because a lot of people are like, man, why why have why isn't there many new designs? You just keep selling the old stuff. I get that. Just anyone watching here who's also just like, man, like, are you gonna do anything new? We are, and we'll maybe we'll talk about that more later on the video or in the in the podcast here. But I think um, you know, just to go back to the question, you know, what led up to purchasing how it, you know, it was kind of like that initial love for traditional archery. Sure. Um, I would say about two years ago, you know, I learned a lot through the company and I saw a lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly. I mean, there was, you know, there was a lot happening. I went through three ownership cycles and they kept calling me back to help because they're like, we can't figure this out, that out. And I was like, okay, sure, I'll help, you know, and and many times I'd even help out, you know, for free or just just to help them out, just because I was like, you know, these are nice guys, like whatever, I'll just help you out. Yeah, many times, even with the with this latest ownership cycle, you know, I just help them out. I mean, today they called me on something and I'm like, sure, I'll just help you out. I mean, it's you know, I like to treat people good and it just feels good to help them out. But um, you know, there wasn't a lot of love for that traditional side though that I could see. There wasn't a huge amount of focus. And so I tried to buy it actually because the the first company, I don't even know if they realized that Damon Howitt was a valuable asset and they were just interested in the in the compound stuff. And so I contacted one of the the guys there who was helping manage his name was Scott Landwer. Uh some of you guys may have known him, um who may be watching this, but really cool guy. Uh, but but he was like, Yeah, I'll let you in and you can look at everything. And so I did like an inventory, I took photos of all the equipment, everything. I had the process documented because I actually kept in contact with some of these boyers, you know, Antonio, and we've got Ben here. Like, so I would keep in contact with them and I asked them all, hey, would you be willing to come back? You know, at that point. And they're like, Yeah, we'd love to. Like, we don't know why they're moving it or shutting it down. And so yeah, right. I kept contact with those people, and I was like, Man, we could put this back together. So, and that was man, that was probably three, yeah. Now that I'm thinking, it's probably around three years ago. But it just didn't work out. I guess that company, um, the the Martin company at that time, they they decided randomly because they'd already taken the compound stuff, they were just ignoring the traditional, or at least that's what I thought. And then they decided, hey, we we want this. And I was like, okay, well, you know what? Like, you know, that door closed, so we'll we'll let it go. And uh and they actually didn't even contact me. Then, like a year later, they're like, We need help, our website's terrible, we need help with this, that, and the other. And then I kept contact with them. And anyways, to make a long story short, before I take up the whole podcast talking about this, no, no, it's great. They ended up contacting me and being like, you know what? Like, um, we just, you know, we we we tried to move it to Georgia, but you know, move it away from the Pacific Northwest, but it's just not working, and we we're not sure if we can find the right people to make this happen. And they were just unsure, and they're like, you know what, we want to sell it. And so I was like, well, they're like, could you help us sell it? And so I was like, Yeah, maybe I could. So I actually um put together a little thing about it to sell it. And I I like I actually sent it to a couple people who I knew who might be interested in this type of thing, and they were like, Yeah, maybe I do want it, maybe I don't. And anyways, Nick, no one was really like materializing. And um, I actually was on a business trip down to California with another company that I work for and consult for, and I told them about it, and they're like, Man, that is a really cool company. Like, and I was like, Yeah, I really wish I could just buy it, but the price, you know, I'm just not sure I can pull it off easily right now with what I'm doing. And I was just I just wasn't sure because I was like, this is kind of a lot of money. It's a very valuable brand. I really feel like you know, a legacy brand like this, they don't come up every day, really it's a rare chance that I have an in on that. And so, but I was like, you know what? I could just I'll just give them an offer, you know. I pray about it, whatever. I'm just gonna give them an offer and we'll see what happens. And you know, I was honestly, I felt at peace at that moment. I was like, you know what? If I get it, I don't, it's okay. I've tried to get it once and it wasn't right. And if it's right this time, it's gonna happen. And they came back and they're like, you know what, we really like you, and we're just we're gonna take your offer. And I was like blown away. So that's kind of what kicked it all off, you know. And I still had a little bit of fear inside of me. I'm like, man, are we gonna be able to like bring back these people? And I looked at all their, they didn't have any good financial statements. I mean, the whole thing was a mess, you know, and I'm not trying to put down the previous owners in any way, they're they're great people, but the they didn't, they actually weren't personally managing the Damon Hallett plant, they had given it to someone else, and it was just you know, it wasn't, yeah, I won't even get started because there's um and there's no point to put anyone down about that. But it was difficult to even look at what was left with things. I mean, I had to like I was able to use those pictures that I'd taken like five, you know, four, three or four years ago. I was able to take those pictures and say, hey, what about this equipment? What about this piece? What about this piece? And I used that to negotiate a good price because you know, some of the stuff had been lost or stolen, or who knows what. But luckily I got everything back. And the the the crazy part of this story actually is there's some crucial pieces of equipment, like the riser glue up spindle. It's this massive spin thing that actually holds all the risers. I don't know if you've seen it in one of the in the maybe some of you have. Um, but that riser piece that basically it holds all the risers and does the initial glue ups before the main press. So those like those beautiful different patterns that you see that are laminations, those that would have been difficult. You know, I would have had to come up with a whole thing. Well, those were actually stuck because the previous owners were like, Oh, we don't need that. And you know, a lot of the boyers, I went and contacted them and they're like, Yeah, you do need that. Like, these are really important things. If you don't have them, it's gonna be a struggle to get this thing going again. Sure. And you know, we don't want to not have that if we're coming back to help. So I'm like, okay, we we've got to like we've definitely got to get this equipment. So I I struggled, man, I talked contacted the port of Walla Walla because it was stuck there because of some negotiations that they had with unpaid rent. As I as I said, I don't want to you know throw anyone under the bus, but there was some real problems there. But luckily, they worked with me. Um, the previous Martin ownership paid their bills and I'll and they were like, Well, we're just gonna throw it away, but if you get it today, we'll give it to you, all the stuff. Oh, wow. So I and I think I was actually talking to you, Grant, when I was that's right, yeah. Like, yeah, we want to do a podcast. And I was like, man, I I I can't make it. And this is actually at the same kind of time when I should have been like planning for Kalamazoo and a lot of events that I wanted to go to, but I was like, this is just just it's just not gonna work out. Like, I am literally down to the day to get this equipment out. So I literally went over there with a friend, got a trailer, and we were I I loaded up everything I possibly could to salvage, but I got everything, everything that we needed, I got. So that is just, I mean, it's a huge, like almost a miracle. It's just insane that I was able to get this stuff because I mean they were gonna throw it away. And then one of the one of the other boarders was like, Yeah, you might want to go look by the dumpster because they might have thrown some stuff away that were good. So I went through and looked at that, and oh, sure enough, a bunch of the pieces for some of the writer molds were all stuck in this trash can. They're like stainless strips that actually go for the ceramic heaters before the presses go in. So basically it's it's the press, it's a ceramic heater. This is new, by the way, for for Damon House. So we have these new ceramic heaters on top of that metal piece, and then it's got another polyurethane type of plastic heat proof shielding that the glue kind of runs over. So basically, we had all these pieces, but a lot of them were just you know, that just kind of shows you the lack of, I mean, in my opinion, the lack of respect for the business, period. I mean, just there was just no no respect for any of it. But luckily, I was like just able to salvage so many of these things. I mean, it's just when I think about it, I'm like, man, that was that was crazy. Like, that was close. So yeah, um kidding. It was it was it was nuts, man. Definitely crazy.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Yeah, that's sounds pretty serendipitous, eh? It's just the whole timing of it.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Yeah, that's crazy. You know, and you know, I wasn't able to make it to to Kalamazoo to that event. A lot of people really wanted me to, and the the guy who actually manages it was super nice guy. He was like, he really wanted me to come. He's like, Man, I'll give you a good deal on a booth, like super, super nice. Like the people in this industry are just like I don't even know how to say it, but they're just so kind, so nice. Like everyone I've met is just like I mean, the ATA show. I mean, we'll get to that maybe in here, but it it was it was pretty crazy. So, anyways, I'll let you go to the next point.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Yeah, no, like tell us about the ATA. That's a big deal. I no, I've that that's a huge deal because I mean I'm sure some people were shocked to see how there. I mean, back in December when you started announcing things again, I'm like, what? You know, because for us, we were looking, you know, for because we have a profile that's a little different. We we saw you know, a need from people transitioning from a compound that were, you know, they were split in between that little bit of elitism that goes on about shooting process. And I'm like, well, you can shoot however you want, but I can show you how to shoot better if you build the attributes. And we were looking, I said, it's too bad how it isn't in business. I said, I would love to have put a bow into that package there. And then that very morning I walk out and I look at social media, I'm like, what? Like, I think it was amazing. So I'm sure I'm sure you had that same reaction at ATA a little bit, right? It was oh man, ATA.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

So, like, just to give you a little history about it, is before I went to ATA, I actually went back to uh Terry Martin, one of the guys who actually was one of the ownership of Martin before all these owner ship sip shikels that I was actually involved with. So I went back to him and I was like, I told him about it. He was just so happy. He's like, Man, that was so cool. He was like, he was like um, you know, the Martin team there. I mean, Damon Howitt was like a big part of that for so long until Compound kind of uh took control. And I I think um the the the cool thing is he was actually, he's like, you know what? Like, you know, these other ownership cycles who purchased these companies. They didn't even care about it. They didn't even ask us for anything, any advice or anything. And I was just like, please tell me everything. And so he ended up telling me the story he showed me. And I still have photos. Um, I might send one to you. You can actually put on your podcast here on the video, but it's um it's an actual photo of the Mel Johnson bow that actually Mel Johnson had when he shot that that record bow. Oh, that's which is a cool story. Um, but he's actually got the bow there, and he's like, Yeah, he's like, when they were selling everything, he just got rid of every all these traditional bows, and he ended up going to the auction and bought everything. So I had a really good, really fun talk with Terry and he recounted all of the times, you know, um, you know, the Olympic, um, when they shot the Olympic arrow, he was recounting those times where it was just they were like, Man, I hope this bow shoots it. And I hope I mean it's just so cool to like connect with that history. And I think that's what's important is like when you when you care about something, you really care about its history as well and how that how that moves the company forward. So I wanted to go back to its roots and like figure out, hey, like what is this, you know, what what was missing here with with these other ownership cycles? And I mean, there's a lot, but one of the things is just that, just that love of the traditional side and the focus on it. And you know, Damon How is always a traditional line, um, sure, but it just wasn't the focus, you know. It's it's kind of like you can't love two masters, you know, you'll hate one and serve the other. I sometimes feel that way when it comes to Martin because really they they they put so much effort into the compound side that there was just a lack of focus, and that's where you see the lack of new models coming out. The lack of, I mean, you know, they're they just throw another piece of different wood. And I think that's that's the complaint that some people say, you know, there was a video um that was recently posted uh on YouTube by I think it was um Archery Supplies, and he was like, Where is Damon Howitt? Where are they now? And I thought that was kind of an interesting video, which I want to make another video myself, but yeah, I get it. You know, like like it is a concern. It's like, where are they? Like, what's happening? There was just no communication, there's no focus. You know, it it was maybe like one or two pages on the back of their catalog. But now when I go to ATA, you know, going back to that question on the ATA, you know, we the exciting thing is that now we have our own catalog, we've got our own website. In fact, the crazy thing is the is the last like two ownership cycles, nobody even bought DamonHowitt.com from the original owner Terry Martin that owned Arch. Like they didn't even care about the website. Yeah, and so I I went to him. I mean, this is this is a nice kind. I mean, I was terrified they were gonna be holding that domain for a ton of money before I even considered buying Damon Howitt and made any official offers. I actually went to him and I said, Hey, would you sell me the domain? And I offered him, I I think I offered him like 20 grand. I was like, I'll buy DamonHowitt.com for 20k if you'll sell it to me. And he knows he came back and he was like, you know what? Like, I love what you're doing. I'll just give it to you for five grand. So I was able to get the domain alone, which was so important and crucial to make this thing successful, is it needs to have its own website. I mean, that's what people are searching for. So I mean, that domain's been around since like I think the 80s or something, but it never was really used for anything, it was just a website. And then the um diversist capital purchase Martin Archery that didn't even buy the domain. I don't know what happened. I mean, that would have been like my like as a business owner myself. That's the that's the one of your main things. I mean, your website is kind of like your your parcel of land per se that you can build on in the digital world. So, like, you don't like what the heck are you doing? So, and then the next company, they didn't buy it. I mean, it's just like it kind of blows my mind. But like I said, you know, you you know, you you can't love two masters, and I think that's that's what was so cool about this getting split from the Martin side is sure Damon Howitt is its own company, it gets to focus on what it's done best for so long, and that is traditional archery. In fact, when I was when I was working with Martin Archery, the one product that never had problems or very, very minimal and returns was the Damon Howitt Woodbow section. In fact, they had issues with compounds, they had nightmares, you know. I mean, I won't even go into it, but I lived through many cycles and got to see a lot of issues. But the Damon Howitt would there was just never any problems because they're done the same way. I mean, you know, there's a certain process to it. And if you get that process down precisely and in everything from your your glue up to your tip in to your tillering to centering, look whatever, like all of these different parts of the process. If you have that process perfect, your boyers are good, they know what they're doing. Sure, and like you got a good product. And so I just always, yeah, when so back going back to the ATA, we go to the ATA show, and I'm just like, I'm thinking, I almost was scared. I was like, man, did I just purchase a very expensive tax write-off, or is this kind of worked out? I mean, you just don't know because yeah, like I'm not sure if if people are even interested, you know, it was really scary. And I still remember like the first couple of days coming up to the ATA show, I was working night and day on the website, like working so hard on the website because I wanted that to look perfect. And before the links over and I did this reservation thing, which is still live right now, by the way, for anyone wondering, um, you can go to DamonHowlett.com and you can basically pick your bow, your poundage, right hand, left hand, and then um reserve, essentially reserve a bow. And then when we're ready to produce, we'll give you a give an email. But so, anyways, with that, with that being said, I put that out there, not even sure if we were gonna have much of a business. Like I was scared. And and I get to ATA. I didn't even know where we were gonna be at ATA. Luckily, the previous owners negotiated with me. Uh, like when I purchased the company to have a small spot, they gave me a small spot. I didn't even know it was a shooting little range spot. So I was like, oh man, people are gonna be shooting bows. I didn't even know they'd have that. So, like, I quick uh found a local supplier for some arrows. He brought them by the show. I bought some arrows from the cash. I mean, it was just like, I'm just like literally trying to piece this thing together, and it's just crazy. So, so I get I get everything, I get the arrows, and I'm I'm like, man, I just you know, I literally brought a box of bows on the airplane and like they were all in this massive cut down TV box. I mean, I'm telling you, like, I'm scrappy, you know. Like, if I need to make it happen, even if I don't have the right tools essentially or the right time, I mean, we it was so short notice. I mean, the thing's only been like you know, three or four weeks old. So we're talking fresh out of the kitchen here on this one. So um, so, anyways, I you know, I get there and I'm not I'm not sure what people are gonna say. And oh my word, like the reception was crazy. Like, I stopped, I made a point to stop every single dealer that I possibly could, as well as anyone who would come to the show. And both my wife and I were there and just nonstop positive comments, man. Like, I didn't hear one bad thing. So many of them were like, Hey, like you're your own company now, no way. And I just would tell them a story. I'm like, hey, sure we're now the oldest traditional only, traditional only archery, archery company, basically. And um, and on a lot of it, it was it was funny. The bear guys came by and they're like, Isn't that stretching the truth a bit? Like, are you sure? And I was like, Well, I think uh I think that's true because Damon Howard is really it's been a traditional company, and it's definitely been a traditional company for the longest time, sure, as far as I know. So yeah, yeah, um, it's been a it was a really cool story to tell people, and um, it was just amazing. I mean, honestly, the reception, we signed up tons of dealers, had tons of interest, and and the reservations started coming in that first day. We had, I don't know if it was like 15 or 20 reservations of both the first day I launched it. And I didn't even post on social media and be like, hey, we have reservations open. In fact, I've like mentioned it a couple of times here and there, but I've never like officially even said like these this is just organic traffic coming in. Yeah, and that's the benefit of having your own website, having a good website, focusing on one thing, traditional archery. And I'm just I mean, I'm blown away right now. I mean, we have enough reservations to keep up. In fact, I think we've received more orders than more orders in the last three weeks, or more reservations, I should say, in the last three weeks than the history of the previous ownership has done every six months. So, like in the last three weeks, we have more reservations than they would normally do in their highest six month period. And that's a guarantee because they and it's just it's just crazy how many orders. I mean, we've been getting, you know, like I said, it's been, you know, 10 to 15 every day since then. It just isn't even stopping. And and you know, there are some days that are lower, but it's just I'm kind of like blown away. And that's with no marketing, no nothing. I mean, I haven't, I mean, I've I do stuff on Instagram, but Instagram doesn't, you know, they don't they don't really allow you to promote stuff, so it's kind of difficult to do that. But yeah, dude, I mean, it's I'm just so uh so surprised by the reception at ATA specifically. Like a lot of people are so excited, and a lot of people too, they came by and they shot the bows, they shot the conviction, and they're like, they're compound only people, and they shoot this thing, they're like, Oh my word, they're like, That is addicting. Can I buy this thing today? And I'm like, I'd love to, but no, because this is like one of our only prototypes. Um, but it was really fun to like see so many people too. A lot of the the younger generation who just got sucked into compounds and that was it. Now they're like, Man, this is just so easy. I'd I'd love to try something a little more raw, a little more real. And uh that's when they're they're gonna I, you know, a lot of dealers also said, Hey, we've had a lot of people interested in traditional lately. Oh, yeah. And I was like, that's interesting. Like, what is the coincidence that right when I buy this company? It seems to be one of the years where traditional is becoming a bigger thing. I mean, that is just like you can't even plan that. Like, it's it's just like it's kind of a miracle. A lot of these things are just kind of crazy how that works. So oh, for sure. It was amazing. ATA was a blast, and I would have loved to be at Kalamazoo. I I I feel terrible I wasn't able to make it. It was just right when I was trying to rescue equipment from the previous uh the previous spot, and just it was a a mess of things. So, anyways.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Yeah, there's a never-ending bunch of orgs out there. I'm sure you have lots of invites. Yeah, I actually met Mel Johnson and his buck a long time ago. No way, it was a long time ago. Yeah, it was at a big organization's uh meet there, yeah, in the States. It was pretty cool. Yep, yeah, it was a long time ago. It's pretty awesome. But yeah, I mean, for me, I think it's uh it's that part of that sort of historic tradition. I mean, I I've chronoed a couple of my hunters alongside some customs, and they're like, no, that must be wrong, shoot again. And so I've shot again. And that's with a hunting weight arrow, they're just blown away.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

You know, I gotta I gotta tell you, that brings me to something funny with the Damon Howitt hunter, which has been you know, the you know, obviously the top-selling bow as far as I I've seen in the how it line. One funny thing that Terry told me in the very beginning, and he was like, he was like, There's this really funny story, and I'd actually love to interview him to so he could set he could tell it because he would probably tell it even better. Uh, but one of the things he said, he was like, it was really interesting because they internally, Martin Archery did chronograph tests between the hunter and their leading compound models. Now, I don't know which exact ones, but for right nearly a decade or so, the chronograph results of the hunter, time and time again, beat all of their compound bows. But they purposely were like, people only want these compounds, so we can't even like like we don't even want to mention this, right? Isn't that funny how like the traditional hunter still outbeat all of these other compounds and all the technology for so many years? I don't know, I just thought that was like so cool. And you know, obviously it'd be interesting, you know, if you chronograph some of the latest and like you know, greatest technology, it'd probably be different results, but sure still, of course, yeah, yeah. The traditional still holds its weight, you know. I mean, it's it's pretty cool, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Yeah, so I gotta tell you, Josh, I I've actually talked to a few of the old school boyers. Um, I mean, Jewett and I talked a few times because he built three of the bow, four of the bows that I've kept. That's so cool. So it's kind of neat, right? And um, I've actually talked to his nephew a couple months ago. Um, yeah, it was kind of cool. So um, one of his nephews anyway, but uh, you know, with regards to you know the talent you have there, can you talk a little bit about that? That you know, some of the older bowier talent that you've yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

So, you know, as I said, like in the very beginning, when I was first wanting to buy this, probably like four years ago, I contacted everyone and I was like, Hey, you know, like are you willing to come back? Are you willing to come back? And everyone's like, Hey, yeah, I'd love to. You know, they were like, they were honestly sad that everything had been shut down. So I I essentially um was able to talk to them and they're they're fine with doing that. Um, the ones now that are available now, a lot of them kind of got burned by the previous ownership. You know, they didn't get paid right, or I mean, it was a lot of stuff was created, people were getting paid in bows. I don't even know. Like it was a mess. But luckily, they're like super excited with the new ownership that I've taken um ownership of with this company. And so essentially, um, a lot of them are willing to come back and work in some capacity or another. So all of none of them have been like, yeah, no, I'm not interested at all. They're all gonna be helping in some way. Um, I can't, I'm not gonna say exactly, you know, I don't want to, you know, give any inaccurate, you know, statements, but they're definitely helping. In fact, one of the guys, Ben, super awesome guy. He's actually built tons of his own bows for many, many years, and he's got a really cool um, he's actually right now actually working on some really exciting new models for Damon Howitt currently. Um, and he's he's working on actually helping create the molds, and he's gonna do a bunch of very exciting things with that. So that is something, and um, you know, I've kind of I know I've shown you a little bit of what we're planning. I can speak to a little bit, I'm not gonna show anyone yet, but but to those people who are like, is Damon Howitt gonna do anything new in the future?

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Yeah, but the takedown thing has come up with a lot of people that I know. Uh it's been a big thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:50

Because you know we're we're going, you know, I'll I'll tell you one thing. We we have a couple options for takedowns in the mix, and one is gonna be very exciting, and it's it's gonna retain, you know, what one thing that's very important is is keeping to that original DNA that Damon Howard has. So the same styling. We want to keep, you know, we want to update some stuff and do some really cool things too, but we want to keep those fragments of DNA and the same quality, obviously, that that encompasses the entire Damon Howitt line. That has to stay the same, that will stay the same. Um, and you know, a lot of those same original boilers will be part of that process. So I think that's important. You know, a lot of people call me up and they're like, hey, you know, when can I get my bow? Do you guys have the same guys? You know, I think it's important that people know that um that we are maintaining that original how it quality, if not, I think a lot better actually, because now we have a more even heating process for the ceramic heating. Uh per, you know, Mike Bush actually, one of the guys, he actually helped with some of that um to get some of that set up. Um, he's not currently employed by us um per se, but he is he's you know, I've definitely I'm consulting with anyone who can give us feedback and help.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

And yeah, that's important.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

A lot of these guys are invaluable. You know, that's that's what's so important is that you have the, you know, you have the people there who are willing to continue with the journey. And so I think we've got a lot of those same people. Um, and we're gonna be adding new people, you know. If you're a boyer and you're around either Washington or Oregon, um, we're right on the border between Washington and Oregon. So if you're anywhere around there and you're interested in in helping us out, there's there's a chance for an opportunity with Damon Howitt. Um, so just keep that in mind for anyone listening. I mean, if you're you know, even if you're willing to relocate, there may be a chance as well. Um, we're trying to bring some of the best people here if if there are any who want to. So it's that option is open.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Oh, very cool. Yeah, that's fantastic. I know I I can tell you, um, the mamba that I actually have, that mamba was it was a semi-custom order because the grip shape and the guy didn't like it. They got it here. That's in the mid 80s. It was the second year they read after they redesigned that that bow. And um of course at the beginning of this podcast, they tell a little story about that. And it's probably gonna hopefully turn into a future article too at some point. But but I gotta tell you, I mean, they've just always really fit me, right? They fit me, really fit me well. And I know the people that are real diehards about it have too, but you know, you're always looking for, you know, as a how-doer, you're always looking for what the next thing was, the next thing was, right? And you I can only imagine how you know addicted people are to the vintage lines of these things, you know, in regards to what you've got plans for the future. And I mean, I had I I told you a little bit about my contact with one of the prior owners who and I shot. Um, and you know, after winning several 3D shoots all across Ontario and some parts of Canada, right through to Nova Scotia, and uh he's like, We well, we decided we're not gonna go with anything, so just send them back because uh there's no there's no uh what did he say? I can't recall exactly, but it was it was it was a long time ago. There's no real market for traditional bows there. I'm like, oh, okay. But but I guess my point was I'm like, well, you know, you know, you got a hundred and some people at a shoot and 25 of them want to know what you just shot, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:06

And that's the thing is when when when you have like when you have when someone has a bow in their hands that that someone someone else wants to know what you're shooting, exactly, just what you're saying. And so I think that's the cool thing about this market is you almost, you know, if you just create great products, you know, great shooting bows, everything that that that's that's part of that, you know. Like I go back to that whole Damon Howe DNA, you know, yeah, those those parts you can you can change, you know, we can change some of the shaping. We can do, and we're gonna do some exciting things like the takedown, a wood takedown that that's gonna be, I believe, built off of the most popular hunter, but it's gonna have a little bit more modernized styling, sure, different versions of riser length. So and and and we're we're we're probably thinking towards doing um uh a front-facing uh limb design, which is super exciting, which oh that's also awesome. Which I I know that was one of your you were gonna talk about that maybe in one of these questions, but but there's some exciting that we're and we're not, you know, I want to be a leader, I want to be innovative to where we are doing different things than other people are doing. So I don't want to just copy whatever's popular. I mean that people anyone can do that. But the truth is that I want to create our own, you know, aesthetic that that matches up with the previous bows, but it's something a little bit different. There's a lot of people, and there's so many Damon Howard owners out there that would love something um that they can bring to a 3D shoot or to a shoot, and everyone is literally gonna be like, What the heck is that? Like I want. And that's exactly what I want is I want to be able to get people interested just by seeing things. I mean, that that's how I that's how you sell product is people people see it and they shoot it or they see someone shooting it, and um, that's how we're gonna, yeah, we're gonna, it's gonna be exciting. I'm I'm I I want to show so many people things, but I'm purposely I don't want to just release too much because I'm too excited about it, but you I think I want to just release little by little and um you'll see what comes in the next couple months. It's gonna be good though.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

That's awesome. So, what's your favorite Hollow bow? You know, right now, not the one you got in your head, but you know, so right, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

That one I really want, the one in my head. But but honestly, the the one that I personally love the best is actually the conviction, and that's just because I mean the dreamcatcher is just I mean, everyone knows that that was a legacy bow, a legendary bow, you know. And I love the dream catcher is actually um developed and designed by one of the boyers at at Damon Howitt uh Ben. And man, it just shoots amazing. It's like that perfect, you know, like the the limb width up to the tips is absolutely just dialed in to where it's it's not it's not too heavy, it's quiet, it's not it's just that like that perfect, and the grip is just like everyone at the ATA show that like put their hand around that thing, it's like, oh my gosh, I want to take it home. So we actually improved some of the grips that were coming in out were a little bit um, in my opinion, I mean, you know, there were they were a little bit bigger than you would want, just a little bit more globulus. I don't I don't even know if that's the right word. It's a weird word, but it's just kind of like a yeah, yeah, it's interesting. There's just like the slightest, you know. I mean, we're not talking a change, I would even say. It was just like a slight alteration in in some of the grip on that. That is just, I mean, it goes back to some of the older ones that were really done well. And I think that's what's beautiful, is it just I mean, it just turned out so good. And every time I look at it, I'm just like, I love the natural glass, that real wood, that clear glass that you can see through that natural wood. It's just beautiful. I mean, black is nice, black is always, you know, everyone's gonna love that, but that natural wood all the way through. A lot of people at ATK show too express their interest. They're like, Yeah, I love that one. And so, um, I mean, I just love the look of it. I I love, I I I definitely anytime I'm gonna pick up one to shoot, it's gonna be it's that one so far. But I love the the super lead or the super D. Um, that's another one of my favorites. I mean, I just that one, I just love the styling. I mean, it's just a it's a killer looking bow, man. Like, that's probably my second favorite. And then third is just the hunter, just because it's it's a good bow. I mean, you can't go wrong with a hunter. So I guess I have too many favorites. I I don't know if I have one, but confession right now is currently my one. And then the one that's coming will probably be my favorite soon. But yeah, some of you guys will yeah, follow us on Instagram or Facebook, and you'll you'll see when that when that comes up, probably. But right on.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Yeah, I actually I own one of the rare uh Buffalo hunters, which was two inches longer than the Dreamcatcher, and I just let it go to a very good buddy of mine, and he's promised me hand on his heart that he'll give it back to me because he knows it was important to me. It was a gift from my mom and my uh my wife, actually. And it was they were uh rare as hand's teeth. And um, yeah, and it was it was it's walnut with red elm and uh it it's a crazy bow. But anyway, and uh you as well in that bow. But that it's modeled, it looks like like the sister to the dreamcatcher almost. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Yeah, that dreamcatcher, man. I I definitely love and we'd love to I'm I'm hoping to make a run of the original style Dreamcatcher with that diamond rider. But um yeah, first things first, and I wanted to create something new. And I think this this new this new conviction model, which um on the website, I think it's only showing the 62, but I think we're gonna have a 60 60 option as well. So it's gonna be today.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

That's amazing. Gotcha. So yeah, we that's amazing. Yeah, we looked for a lighter bow for our daughter's first hunting season to start on. Uh, this is she's only 12, shooting a 40-pound recurve at 12. Oh, dude. No problem. But she's been shooting since she was little, little. And um we just couldn't find a light enough how it for. We couldn't, you know. My wife's got a 60s Diablo, all Brazilian and Indian rosewood. Um but it's still 50 some pounds, right? So yeah, but that lighter bow, it's hard to get them in lighter weights. I'd say a lot of people that I've you know, there's been about 32 I've contacted in the last year and a half or so since I've been doing this. And they've you know, I think out of the 20 of them, they were all looking at getting a how it used somewhere, and now they're all like they all want a new one. I know at least 12 to 15 of them have put their names down already.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

That's awesome, dude. It's been crazy. It's just it's what's crazy is like I I honestly expected way, way less than this. Like because I looked at like like I was telling you, I mean, in the first three weeks, we've received more reservations than I mean, more reservations than in the first six months under previous owner cycles, probably like seven years back. I mean, this is more or I mean, we're talking, I mean, if we keep going at this rate, we're gonna be 10x what they were in the in one of their years, which was still, I mean, it was still significant enough that it was good sales, but I mean, we're it's it's gonna be big. And I I'm I think at this point, one of the things that I'm focusing on is ensuring we can maintain, you know, proper manufacturing throughput at the same time as maintaining that same quality and the same performance.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

So performance. So so you know, you rate it on a lot of different lot of different levels, but I want to be on like on par and over par on all of these different things as far as quietness, speed, um, everything that you would you would want from a bow, you know, proper tillering, everything needs to be perfectly dialed, but also we need to be able to produce enough to make sure that you know customers aren't waiting, you know, a year. I mean, that's that's not what we want either. So a lot of people call me up and they're like, hey, how quick can I get it? And I'm like, you know what? Like my philosophy is there is no place in Damon Howitt for just producing just to get it out the door. It needs to be perfect, you know, everything needs to be dialed down. I I want each bow to be a living piece of history that someone is going to tell their relative or their descendant, you know, down the line. And that's part of why I actually um part of the reasoning for the descendant bow, which I actually came up with that name. So the descendant, the youth bow that you know that can actually start out the young, you know, getting started with the whole traditional thing. Because I think you know, many times they just get started with compound bows, but then they come back to it. But now we have a chance, hey, like let's create like that high hand, still priced affordably, but a high-end bow that that you know you can give your kid and and they're gonna really love that thing, you know, long term. So it's it's kind of exciting and they can pass it down to generation. I mean, we want to build that quality, yeah. How it's known for that those bows get to be passed down for multiple generations and they're still gonna perform well. And I mean, that's that's that's the how it DNA that's that how it's known for. You know, we're not gonna deviate from that. So it's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

That's amazing. Yeah, so tell us a little bit about um your your Trad tribe brand that you're yeah off.

SPEAKER_02 47:47

Yeah, you know, um one thing I've noticed uh with just Archery in general is um it is a niche, it's a really good niche, and it's a niche where you know if you find your right followers, they're they're with you for life. And I think um what I want is to be able to create a a life. I wanted to create a lifestyle brand that can really emulate what Damon Howard has been known for in its history and into the future. And so Trad Tribe is basically uh, and we have we haven't set up the site yet or anything, but we're coming up with a bunch of different really cool um apparel options, hats, t-shirts, you name it. And we're you know, they're gonna be affordable, but they're also going to really be able to emulate that traditional pride that a lot of us have, you know, as traditional archers who really care about niche. And there's a lot, not a lot of like, you know, there's a lot of different apparel brands for like compound bows. I mean, you got, you know, there's a bunch of different ones out there, but there's not a lot representing and growing the traditional niche. And that's what I want to be focusing on is is I don't want this to just be a Damon Howitt brand where I'm just producing bows for people that call me. I want this brand to be something that exploits traditional archery for everyone so that more people learn about traditional archery, more people get into traditional archery. And I think that that's where you know we can have, you know, a really cool brand that people can rep that really show their pride for the traditional archery sport. So I'm just excited about Trad Tribe because we're gonna have some really cool things coming out. And also another thing that's really cool about Trad Tribe from the marketing perspective, and I hope I'm not getting any secrets here, but the cool thing about it is you can actually advertise on Facebook and Instagram for a company that doesn't sell the weapon itself or a weapon, whatever they they call it that. But basically, you can sell stuff that support the sport and you can advertise it. And that's the cool thing is we're gonna be able to really, you know, use that to pump the advertising to support traditional archery in general, and that'll actually benefit everyone. I mean, it's not gonna be just Damon Howitt, but it is gonna be cool because Trad Tribe is gonna be designed by Damon Howitt. We're gonna put that on everything. So right on so you're gonna be able to, and we'll probably we're gonna sell Damon Howitt merchandise too on the site. So you're gonna be able to rep that exact brand only. But we want stuff to have, you know, really there's a couple stuff on the on the Trad Tribe um Instagram page you can see that we're and we're gonna be coming up with stuff in the future, but just some really cool things that guys are gonna be uh gonna be excited to wear. And and it's it's more of just like people will ask you, like, what is that? You know, what's um, you know, I don't need any pins or whatever. I mean, what is this? And kind of tell them the story but behind like the fact that traditional archery is literally the most fun sport. I mean, compound is great, it's been around. I mean, nothing against not bashing compound. A lot of guys still shoot compound, but there's something special about traditional archery, and it's just this this raw sport that's just I don't even know, you know, it's hard to even put in words something that is so close to like the perfect raw experience of archery. I mean, you start augmenting it with so many of this, so much of this technology. I mean, I've seen all kinds of, I mean, you basically have scopes now for your, I mean, just all this weird stuff with compound. I mean, cool. Okay. Yeah, you're just gonna take down the animal, but but like, is it actually fun? You know, it takes that that that skill out of it. And I think that's part of what's happening to our world in general, is like we're getting so separated from like the sport of what we do that we're just I mean, that's why I don't, you know, people who just go to the store and they just grab meat off the shelf. I mean, it's just such a it's just such a mind-numbing experience. There's like nothing, you're not connected at all to your food, to anything. Like it's like traditional archery, though, it puts you in that front seat of like of being able to just experience what archery really is. And so that's part of Trad Tribe. Like, I just I just want to use that, I mean, to really um kind of move move the movement forward to adopting traditional archery. And I think a lot of people already are adopting traditional archery, so I see it as a growing thing, which is so cool. Because a lot of these people, they only shot compound and they come back and they're like, you know, a lot of the people that came by our ATA booth, they pick up the conviction and they're like, Yeah, I've never shot, I only shoot compound. They pick that thing up and they sling a couple arrows, man. They are just loving it. Like they're they literally I had multiple people were like, I will take this home right now. Can I please take it home? And I'm like, I wanted to, but I was like, no. But it's that's amazing. I mean, it's just fun, you know, like like there's something cool about you know, it's been around for so long, too. Like archery is literally like it's so old. I mean, it's down, I mean, you know, I was just reading verses in the Bible about it, you know. I mean, this is old stuff. I mean, this is stuff that's all the way back to as far as you can imagine. I mean, this was literally the purest sport because it's been around for so long. I mean, it's I think it was listed as one of the oldest sports, period. I think it was probably one of the first things that was used to to ever, you know, to feed mankind in the beginning. So yeah, it's it's one of those things that something that that old doesn't it doesn't just get canceled by technology. And that's what's cool about it, is it's just it's it's not it's not about technology with traditional archery, it's about that raw experience, and you know, you can you can come up with better ways to maintain traditional archery and have a neat product, you know. I'm not against innovation, you know. I think there's gonna be innovation. Damon how it's gonna see a lot of innovation, but it needs to still keep that same DNA of that traditional archery, which we're gonna maintain 100.

SPEAKER_00 53:18

I I I can tell you for sure, like I see a separation between the bow hunter and the shooter a lot of cases. And and when I have a uh a fellow that comes to me and says, Hey, look, I I want to shoot a stick and string, but I don't want to do XYZ, wound, injure. Like, I don't want to do that. I'm like, well, first of all, you're gonna have to relearn how to hunt a little bit because you're gonna have to get closer and you're gonna have to maintain because it's perishable skill. And I've had guys come back now that are established 3D champions and no one knows the shooting traditional and say, you know what? I'm a better shot with my compound because of the traditional platform, you know, and they're like just don't say anything to anybody about who told you that, right? And so I find that very interesting, you know. I mean, and I'm not I'm not gonna out them for sure, but I mean, you know, I'm sitting here in Eastern Ontario, Canada, and I know three or four folks that are like people would just you know spill their coffee and drive off the road if they knew these folks probably shot their traditional bows more than their compounds, right? Because they need to maintain that and they're having fun. And again, like it's funny, it's nothing against compounds, but it it certainly will, you know. I had one fellow say it will change your perspective on archery totally, right?

SPEAKER_02 54:36

So you know, that's what you mentioned, that just that fun aspect. I think like when you have fun with what you're doing, and it's just an exciting, you know, it's a fun sport. When you're doing something that's more fun, and personally, I think traditional archery is way more fun than compound, but yeah, if when you're doing something like that, the sport lasts, you know, like like you're still doing it, you're getting people, you're getting your friends to do it. You know, it's more of an exciting thing, and I think that's why you know that part of traditional specific archery is what is going to keep people hooked. I mean, it does. I mean, you've had many people transfer over from compound to traditional yourself. I mean, you know, I mean, it's addicting.

SPEAKER_00 55:10

It's our little girl, uh, is like I said, she's been shooting since she was two and a half. Now she's tall, she's in a men's nine shoe. So you can imagine how tall she is for a 12-year-old. But my point is, she's been shooting a long time. I have people frequently come to me, how dare you let your daughter shoot a 40-pound bow? I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. She's been shooting since she was two and a half. So, I mean, for the last three years, she's been shooting a bow in between 25 and 35 pounds off and on as she worked her draw length into it. I mean, because in Ontario we have hunting weight restrictions, and you've got to abide by those restrictions. 39.7, I believe, at you know, at the draw length of the of you know, your bow. So uh for deer anyway, in Turkey, it's a higher for bear and and moose. But I mean, I am now relearning everything that I learned as a kid through her eyes, and I'm going through all of these things again, you know, and this year, you know, I hunted by myself seven times in the last three years with her following me, she's been with me every time. And I was like missing her every time I was out. You know what's so cool about this.

SPEAKER_02 56:24

I I love that. You know, I love that you mentioned, you know, this whole like generational thing, you know, like archery, it doesn't just have to be, it's not just you and the bow, it's it's you and the bow and the others who do it with you. And I think that's the cool thing is like when you have your daughter or or whoever it is, I mean, it could be your friend, whoever you have, like actually active in this sport. I mean, that's such a just such a beautiful thing, especially the family aspect that you've been able to kind of contribute to your daughter. I mean, that's just like I mean, think about what that I mean, generations down the line, it just keeps going. And those times that you spend together. I mean, you look at the digital age, so many people are so stuck on their phones and so stuck in technology that they never experience what it is to even be outside. And many people are like, Well, what do you even do outside? Well, like archery is a great way to get outside and have a ton of fun. So I just think, I mean, going back to that whole, you know, you know, like being able to put some excitement in traditional archery and people help people to understand how exciting that is. So they try it. I mean, that's what's so cool. That's what I want to do with Damon Howe with um, you know, with Trad Tribe with all of these things. And I think being able to bring people into it, bring generations into this whole adoption of traditional archery. I mean, I love what you're doing with your daughter. I mean, that's just those moments you you just you never forget them. And that's so cool that you're you're able to spend that time with her.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

Yeah, it's pretty neat. And it's funny when it comes down to that whole generational thing, you know, you can see her connecting to her ancestry far beyond the bloodline or you know, our family line. You can see it. I mean, she had a a deer walk out this year that was honestly probably the second largest buck I've ever seen in a hunting situation in my life at 12 yards. And I know a lot of people that would have risked a shot at that deer. And she passed it up. She looked at me and she goes, I don't want to wound it, Dad. And I and so I said afterward, what was wrong? She said, Well, he screened out by those cedars, and I couldn't see that from my angle. But she's so cool, and she said, I just and so that ethics piece came into play for her.

SPEAKER_02 58:30

Beautiful, man. Wow, and so like and that's something that I respect and all that hunting, the hunting aspect of traditional march that respect, that connection is something you do not get when you just go to the store and you just buy some meat. I mean, it's just it's it's literally just the de just ever I I don't even, you know, I don't I don't love that, but I love when it's the natural when it's when it's done in that correct way, just like you described. I mean, that's just so cool. I mean, I think um when you're out there actually doing it yourself, that's when you actually have that connection. And that's how it was intended in the beginning. I mean, I that's how I think. I mean, you you know, it was never until this 21st century where you just that's right, you know, everyone hunted for their own stuff, they grew their own food, and I mean that's that's the traditional way. I mean, if if if all the systems in place that hold this complex structure of what we call light fall down, yeah, traditional archery could actually save it. I mean, I mean I think traditional archery holds a very special a special spot in not just history, but in future history. I mean, the future. So sure. Um, it's that's that's yeah, thanks for sharing that story. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

Yeah, it's kind of cool. Um I guess the last question I got are are you I guess you already talked about it a bit, but are you gonna add any accessories to the how it brand at all? I guess that's probably still probably in the works, but it's definitely in the works, you know.

SPEAKER_02 59:53

Like a lot of people are asking me these things, and then or some some people call me up, they're like, Hey, do you sell this? Do you sell this? And then I have to tell them, well, it's it's actually only been about three weeks. So we're just um we're just trying to get stuff put together right now. So, you know, I mean, we definitely plan on getting to that. I mean, Damon Howitt, Martin Archery, I mean that they were like one of the premier sellers of traditional products for so long, they were like the biggest in the world, actually, for a while. And so I do want to get back to that. I mean, we have um we're gonna be partnering up with some great companies to to probably, you know, we're gonna have arrows, we're gonna have, you know, we're gonna have a lot of different tabs, accessories, different things that that we do plan on offering. But for now, it's you know, we want to do what we do best first because we already have so many reservations. Oh, shouldn't it first? And so once we my whole thing is the customer is always first, and we have a lot of people who are waiting for Bows already right now. And so I want to make sure that that's our first priority, and then we'll expand to other things. And that's the same thing with Trad Tribe. I've started it up, and it's gonna be easier for Trad Tribe to do things, um, like you know, the hats and t-shirts, because it's just one design, and then we can ship stuff and it's not gonna be a big issue. But when it comes to like some of these tabs and accessories, I want to kind of innovate with some of those things too, and and maybe bring some new products that are gonna be really cool, get the how it name on that, get that out. I mean, that's gonna be, you know, you might you might have a whole bunch of bear shooters shooting with how it tabs, you never know, because we got some cool stuff. Yeah, exactly. But I yeah, yeah, no, we definitely have some some uh some new stuff in the works, but it's gonna take time. And that's another thing I just want to say, you know, over this whole call and just everything I'm doing with how it is, you know, it's not like I'm I don't want to just say, hey, we're just gonna just become the biggest company overnight. Like that's not gonna happen. You know, like I want to be humble first, and I think that's really important is just to be humble. I mean, hey, you know, the previous there's different ownership cycles, things have not always been how I hoped they would be. And now it's my chance to change that. But change doesn't happen overnight. I mean, we've changed a lot of things already. Like we have our own catalog, we have our own website, we've got, I mean, hey, I have business cards that say Damon Howard on them. I mean, there's there's tons of stuff there, but but what I'm really now excited about is focusing on the production side of it, being able to produce things at the quality to maintain, you know, there's there was a lot of issues, you know, that happened in some of the previous ownership cycles as far as quality goes as well. And I want to fix those things. I mean, we want to make sure that we're, you know, I don't want to just get bows out and put only two coats of clear on just because it was easy and because I needed to get them. I mean, that's that's kind of that that's not staying true to the how at DNA. You know, we are known for that quality. I want us to stay there. And so I guess what I'm just telling people is like, hey, like, you know, we may not have it all together immediately, but we are gonna have it all together before we actually ship a product to someone. And so if you have to wait a little bit longer, I'm not gonna promise anything that I can't deliver on as well. So some people are asking me, Hey, can I have a date? Can I have a date? And I'm like, you know what? Um, maybe you just need to go buy a bear bow because we're gonna, no, I'm just kidding. But I'm gonna essentially what I'm gonna do is when I tell you a date, I'm gonna hold by it, but it's only gonna be until I'm able to give that date. So those reservations on our website, we're gonna give you a call when we know we can produce that within 30 to 60 days. Yeah, fair enough. So I mean, that's you know, we're just gonna we're gonna take it slow at first. It's not we're not gonna grow into some massive company right away yet. I mean, we have we have great history, we have great products, but we're just gonna, you know, it's gonna be slow and steady that wins the race. But as as things progress, you know, we've got a lot of talented people on board, and I'm I'm excited, man. I'm excited about the future for the brand and and some other uh models of bows. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:41

Right on. Well, I got a few minutes to wrap up here, but you want to talk a little bit about your exile line at all?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:47

Yeah, no, I'd love to so yeah, on those other bows. Um, I was yeah, you you totally read my mind there. So the thing that I've been wanting to do is is right now, and I talked to a lot of dealers, I surveyed a lot of dealers to talk to them about this as well. And it seems you know, everyone's saying the same thing. Um, and that is that, hey, we only have a couple choices, you know, at our store, at our shop, and that is either a cheap, cheap, off-brand bow that's not well QC'd. I mean, um, you know, just some cheap thing that's right around 100 bucks, right? We have that option, and then we've got, you know, bear stuff that's you know right around that $500 mark, $600 mark, and then we have your stuff, which is a little bit higher end, obviously, in that six to seven to eight hundred dollar range. And what I'm what I'm very excited about is creating an exile line. It's not gonna be made by Damon Howitt, okay? And this is totally separate. It probably may even be a different uh a whole different website, actually, under Exile. We actually exilearchery um dot com. So we're gonna make a line that's right around the the 299 to $399 range, maybe $370 would be like the average. But these bows are gonna be um high quality. Okay. Like we're actually they're not just gonna be, we're not gonna slap anything together and we're gonna test quite a bit and probably send out samples to probably even you to have you test some of these things before we actually submit, you know, actually go ahead and uh yeah actually the product. But basically it's gonna be XL bows um designed by Damon Howitt. Um, we've got our boy Ben here, he's actually worked on some of the designs, and all of these products will be QC'd for proper tillering, proper centering, arrow centering, everything before anything gets shipped. So yeah, but we'll be imported, like most of these will be imported or partially imported. We may like finish some of the processes here in the US, likely, but these are gonna be it's gonna be something that you could actually sell to someone in your shop or you would buy if you're wanting to get nutritional archery, or you want something that you can be around, you're not super worried about it, but it's still gonna maintain that high level DNA from Damon Howitt line. But we're gonna have probably less, you know, less laminations or we're gonna. Something to where there's a simplistic aspect to it, yeah, but still high-end. So it's not going to be just that cheap experience where someone gets a bow and it's like a half inch tillered or a half inch off on brace heights top to bottom. I mean, something just crazy. I mean, we want to have something to where once you string that thing up, it's perfect, it's just like a Damon Howitt, but it's not as fancy because you're always gonna have we're we're gonna always make every all of the Damon made by Damon Howitt bows will always remain in the US. It's gonna be a US-made brand always, but then we want the Exile brand that's gonna be designed um by Damon Howitt and kind of in a more affordable line, but not an affordable hundred dollar cheap, crappy bow that's gonna snap on you like see so many of these others. I mean, I'm I'm constantly surveying the forums, and uh we actually talked to several manufacturers um at the show, and a lot of them I just looked at their quality and I was like, this is I don't even want to put this on an exile line. You know, I feel bad, okay, because it was a great cheap bow, but like we're gonna have to do something custom. We've also talked to a manufacturer who may actually set up a plant for Exile, uh, the Exile line specifically, so it's a hundred percent like exile only um products that are sold through there. So we we have a lot of stuff. I mean, I'm talking to everyone, I've talked to a lot of people in the industry, but we're gonna find someone who can recreate that same handmade quality um that's that's present, same grips, same everything. So a lot of those things where you're like, I love Damon Howitt, but I just don't want to spend the six, eight, six to eight hundred dollars. You know, you'd have something that's gonna be 350 that you'd be able to still keep and pass down to you know generation generation, still gonna last, still have the same warranty. That's another thing I want to say. It's the warranty. We're gonna keep the same warranty on any of the XL line that any of the other bows would have in the same service. So it's exciting. We haven't um we haven't done that yet. And I a lot of people are like, oh, imported, oh, that's terrible. But you know what? There is a way to do it if I'm able to. And if I'm not able to, the quality isn't there, like we're not gonna launch it. I don't, I mean, sorry to break anyone's hopes, but if it's not perfect, and we have boyers here who are very i mean, they've been doing it for years, they've built their own bows, they're gonna be working with those same products to ensure that they meet those same quality control specifications, and everyone will have to meet that. We're not gonna be, you know, we're not gonna ship, you know, we're not gonna mass produce these things either. You know, that's awesome. Small small batches, and we're gonna test everyone. And if we need to, you know, like I said, we may do just part of it and then do the rest of it in the US, you know, we may do the tillering here, do part of that to where we maintain that that perfection. That I mean, I'm not gonna do anything unless it's perfect, so it has to be perfect, and and I'm gonna hold to that too, you know. Like it's it's um, it may not be easy, you know. You may we may have to throw away product. That's okay. It's not about profit in this industry, it's about relationship. And so, yeah, if we can if we can give people great products, then that relationship will be a positive one. You know, if if we're just shipping out junk, it's that's not what we're about. I mean, I I'm also one thing I wanted to say about this company is we are not held by any shareholders, we're 100% privately owned, and that's exactly actually how Damon Howitt started. It was it was Damon Howitt himself. I mean, you can look at pictures, and I think that you know, when you're because a lot of these ownership cycles that bought that that kept buying Martin Archery and Damon Howitt, they're all owned by this shareholder and that shareholder, and all they care about is their profit. Okay. Yeah, but for me right now, I could this whole brand, I could stop everything and do nothing, and I'm still gonna be fine financially. And that's what's important, is when you're not in debt to someone, you know, if I'm in debt to someone, now I just have to produce, right? I'm now I'm motivated to ship you a crappy bow just because I need your payment. That's that's not that's not what what Damon Howout was in the beginning, and that's not what it's gonna be moving forward. So that's kind of the exciting thing, is I think um, you know, being able to have that private ownership, bringing it back to its roots, it's um it's gonna be good, man. And I'm just super excited about the future.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:53

Well, I gotta tell you, if any the way things are going already, from the the response I've got down here on my end, from what you're telling me, yeah, it's gonna it's pretty people are pretty pretty pumped up. So it's exciting, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:07

And we got to follow through with it. You know, it's you know, it's easy to talk, you know. I can talk here and tell you guys about all the exciting plans, but no one's gonna really believe me until it happens because I'm new, you know. Like I get and I I honestly respect that a lot because a lot of people do just talk and spew out stuff. So we're gonna have to, you know, it may take us, you know. I've been telling people anywhere from three to six months until we're fully in production. It may be less, it may be more, but I'm not gonna promise anything we're not gonna.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:33

So it's exciting though. I'm pretty pumped up. Um, just to wrap up. When I was a kid, the first thing I ever heard about was a super diablo. My dad and his uncle's talking about it. So, I mean, that was back in the early 70s, right? So, yeah, I really appreciate you taking the time to um in your schedule to to talk with us.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:54

I'm just I'm just sorry it took me so long to to finally get here on screen. I mean, it's just it's yeah, like it's gonna be crazy as we get production set up in the next couple weeks. It's gonna be crazy probably the next couple months. I'm gonna be hammered, but yeah, it's uh it's good to talk, man. I appreciate you allowing me to come on to to talk. I love what you're doing with the podcast, man. Keep it up, it's great. Um I right on think it's cool to have more people like you out there promoting the traditional archery.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

Yeah, thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot for your time, Josh.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:23

Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Anytime we'll have to do another follow-up, maybe once we have uh production set up, maybe we can show you some of what we're doing. That'd be fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:32

Yeah, looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:33

Yeah, awesome. Thank you, Grant. Have a good one. You too.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:38

The bow is a very personal and connected component to the hunting archer, and it connects our mind and body to the arrows we send at our targets. The energy they deliver is sent by our efforts at mastering their arcing limbs in a never-ending pursuit for perfection. It is within that pursuit of perfection where we as archers and bow hunters become better than we were the moment, hour, or day prior. When the string is released, we let go in a sense of much more than just the string, as the limbs of the bow transfer their stored energy to our arrows. The bow inspires perfection in consistent artistic form as we send arrows spiraling with paradox away from us. And I still marvel at and breathe in every shot I take, as much as the very first arrow I launched as a child. A handcrafted wooden bow, whether recurve, longbow, or self-bow, has a spirit embodied within it, waiting for you to connect with it and become one with. Crafted with passion and expertise, they contain energy and a spirit, even on frigid days afield, and walk with us as we strive beyond our own limits. Damon Howitt bows have become all these things for me. And I hope no matter what bow you shoot or hunt with, that the same applies to you as well. To get Damon Howitt's Archery's latest catalog, check them out at DamonHowitt.com and experience what the legacy of over 85 years of craftsmanship has to offer. We look forward to catching up with Josh and Damon Howard Archery again in the next few months. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate all the positive feedback we've been getting from our folks and our courses and content from all over the world. This confirms for us the intent we have on our platform message based on the three pillars of the code of traditional archery weapon proficiency with a stick bow, ethics to guide us on our collective journey, and conservation and stewardship in order to protect the wildlife, woods, fields, and waterways we hunt as our themes are resonating. You can find us now on Amazon Podcasts and Audible. Go check us out there. Our new training course will be launched this week, and we're pretty excited about this. You'll also find some great information on our YouTube channel, the Code of Traditional Archery. Links are in the comments. Check out our new website and platform. If you haven't already, check out Compton Traditional Bow Hunters, a great organization that ensures the traditions of bow hunting with a stick and string is alive and well, not only now, but for generations to come. Thanks again for listening in for all your support over the past year. We encourage you to immerse yourself in the art of the stick bow. Shoot straight and walk with us.