StickBow Archery's Michael Lee

Handmade bows at a great price! Real Value and performance!
© 2011 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
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Fellow archery enthusiasts! Here is a new bowyer I have had the pleasure of meeting, though the circumstances of our initial introduction were less than auspicious. None the less, I am pleased to introduce him to The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles family of readers!

StickBow Archery's Michael Lee has been building bows for ten years, and commercially for three years, and has established an enviable reputation for building quality bows at a very fair price. You won't find fancy, exotic tips, or handrubbed oil finishes on his bows. What you will find is a well finished bow that is light, responsive, and fast!

Michael will be sending several bows to me so that I can review them. I'm really looking forward to shooting them, and reporting the results here on TROC. If his eBay feedback is indicative of the quality and value of his bows, I feel confident I'll be very pleased.

Lets get started!

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles: Michael, tell us how you got in the business.

Michael Lee: Well I kind of got into it in a round about fashion. I had been making bows for myself for almost ten years, when I met Dave Ruff, the owner of Siegeworks Creations. Dave gave me the opportunity to apprentice with him. Dave's a real nice guy and helped me get a start.

TROC: That's only half the story...

ML: Ummm, the rest of it is kinda rough. Dave got into a bind with some personnel issues. The truth is that he let a couple of bows slip past him and the people that he owed them to weren't too happy about it. I was still an apprentice and wasn't ready to shoulder the whole thing. I couldn't yet tiller the recurve bows really effectively, (I was too slow still!)and the best I could do was rough out the shelves or grind out to the lines. Then Dave busted his collar bone riding and shooting the horsebows he was working on, and that really put us behind. I did the best I could, and I really did learn a lot, but it wasn't pretty.

TROC: Go on, this is just getting interesting!

ML: Well we made good on 99 percent of our bows. Like anything built by hand, there were going to be a couple of things that might have gotten by us, but Dave was always willing to do the right thing and get it fixed. But his timetable revolved around the shows he was involved with, and sometimes repairs took a back seat. Again 99 percent of them got out ASAP, but there was always the one that came back to haunt us.

TROC: Michael, as I mentioned to you when I emailed you, I was digging deep into this. I learned of a few instances where Dave over promised and under delivered. That would piss anyone off! In the end though I believe he got squared up with almost everyone correct?

ML: Yes sir, he did. Except for a couple of bows that he is still working on. But the strain and agravation got to him.

TROC: I can imagine it did. I checked the forums like Bowsite/Leatherwall and TradGang and found quite a few unsubstantiated accusations. But in the end, I found that only three bows were owed. In one case I spoke with the gentleman and between his secretary and my questions, it was ascertained that he had never been charged for the bow. He apologised for the oversight and his new bow is on its way. Ihave assurances from Dave that the other two are being built and will be delivered when they are done. The people in these tight knit communities are too quick to take each other's word. They should be ashamed of themselves. I wrote another piece on it here.

ML: I had no idea you had gone that far to check. Anyway, then he offered to sell me everything for a price I could afford. I felt I was taking advantage of him, but it was either that or I would be out a job too! I took him up on it and here I am, a bowyer!

TROC: As far as I can tell Michael, you are pretty much are building a very similar line of bows. Tell me about them

ML: Well I was lucky enough to get all the forms for the bows he used to build, like your American Longbow. I do not build horsebows, those are a difficult to build and to be truthful, I do not like to build them, so I am staying away from them. I changed the SideWinder around - modified the tips so they would not be as rough on the strings and changed the limb taper slightly making the bow a true 200+ FPS bow. Now it really hits like a tiger and (has) the manners of a kitten. I mainly offer take down bows to 56" which is probably my most popular bow, the Asian line I call the Rebellions and the popular, tried and true longbows like yours. We are working on a 60's style recurve and of course the wood stick bows.

TROC: Now your selling on eBay! Why eBay?

ML: I am trying to build a business doing something I love, and with those bigmouths at the sites you mentioned were dragging me into the mess they created; then my online sales stopped dead in their tracks. Sir, I do this for an income too. I thought Ebay was a great way to get a good reputation in real time, you get the real time feedback of quality, service, communication, speedy deliveries, and you might not believe this, there are some cool people there!

TROC: Interestingly enough I found a thread on one of the forums exhorting people to buy your arrows, and then leave poor feedback. I would be happy to forward you a screen shot of the same. Along with the names of the authors, and their LinkedIn profiles....

ML: Thank you for the offer, but I saw it and sent it straight to eBay.

TROC: Nice! Those bullies and miscreants will get what's coming to them sooner or later. Remember, here at TROC, we are always happy to help out!

Alright, that's enough of that! So, you've got some great bows but I want to know what are some new ideas you're exploring?

ML: A classic 1960 - 1970 type recurve and the Rebellion series. The Rebellion is the off shoot of the old sidewinder but the tips have been addressed and the limb tapers different. Its a smooth bow, fast and light. Best of all its a good looking bow. Have sold a few on Ebay with great feedback on them, as well as some of my takedowns.

TROC: Come on kid, don't hold back on me, I know what else you're cooking up, and I want you to tell my readers about it.

ML: You're going to drag it out of me aren't you?

TROC: Yeah, pretty much...

ML: It's a survival bow that I think will really take off with the bushcraft crowd. I'm building it with the same emphasis on quality and value that I am building my reputation on.

Thanks again for taking the time to talk with me Michael, I'm looking forward field testing your bows and reporting on them here on The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Key word list: Traditional Bows, custommade bows, custom made traditional bows, custom made long bow, longbows, recurve bow, take-down bow, laminate bow, handmade bow, handmade bows

Wildlife Photography with Holly Heyser

Holly Heyser's Wildlife Photography

The Incredible Art of Nature Prints

As you know, I am always on the lookout for any venture that my blogging friends are involved with, and I make it a point to support them and spread the word. Those of you that have monetized your blogs can rest assured that I always click on your sponsors and view their offers. It's an easy and painless way to support my fellow bloggers! Folks that have small business ventures will find that I am always amenable to putting up their banners.

 Recently, Holly Heyser of NorCalCazadora started a new artistic venture that is sure to catch the eye of any discerning outdoorsman. I first found out about it through her post, Introducing the coolest duck feather ever - and my new feather photo website

I'll let Holly tell the story in her own words:

My boyfriend Hank (Hunter Angler Gardener Cook) and I hunt ducks, and we pride ourselves in using as much of the duck as possible. Not only do we pluck them whole, but we use the gizzards, livers, hearts and even feet (those enrich duck broth). But one thing we’ve been throwing away for years is the feathers. Until this year.

I teach at Sacramento State, and one of my students came to school one day wearing beautiful feather earrings. I asked where she got them, and she said her mother made them. Bingo! This was someone who’d appreciate the piles of beauty on my plucking-room floor (a.k.a. the garage). To save feathers for her, I had to examine them more closely, and as I did, I became fascinated with their beauty and decided to write about it Serendipity, Hunting Art and Happiness, and to do that, I needed to take photos of them.

 This part was easy: One of the things I do besides blog about hunting is shooting food photos for Hank, who blogs about wild game cookery (http://www.honest-food.net/), so I have a lot of photo and studio equipment for photographing small items. Using a macro lens, I was able to get incredibly detailed shots of the photos. When my mom read the blog post with those photos in it, she immediately emailed me asking for prints so she could hang them in her house. That’s what made me realize these photos might be a great form of art that hunters would appreciate, and that they could hang anywhere without offending people who are squeamish about hunting.

A couple months later, I’ve now shot probably 2,000 photos, and the very best of those are on my new website, Holly Heyser's SmugMug!, where people can buy prints directly. I still have more to shoot, but I think my very favorite will be the shot of one of my happiest discoveries ever: Drake gadwalls have feathers on their breasts that look like smiley faces! Every drake gaddie I’ve shot this year has them, and they vary as much as human smiles. (See photo at top!)


I think that may be the photo hunters appreciate the most. Non-hunters often think I’ve faked this photo because it’s so unbelievable, but hunters can verify it for themselves.

I’m really excited about my new venture. Most photography I do is for Hank’s blog and other writing (magazine, book), and this is the first project I’ve done for myself. I’m hoping hunters will spread the word, and I hope they’ll see these photos as art they’d like to hang in their own homes or offices.

And let me add that it's important to note that I went with SmugMug because I had purchased a photo through that company by dynamite waterfowl photographer Fred Greenslade of Delta Waterfowl. I was really impressed with the quality of printing and the incredibly sturdy packaging that ensured photos would not be damaged in transit.

Holly Heyser

Well my faithful and stylish readers, I hope that you will consider adorning that special area of your home with some of Holly's art work. Not only will you be supporting your fellow outdoorsman, but you will be adding a splash of duck feather panache to your home!

Prices are very reasonable, and sizes range in the following dimensions:
$14.00 for a 4 x 6 Print
$24.00 for an 8 x 10 Print
$24.00 for an 8 x 12 Print
$32.00 for a 12 x 18 Print
$42.00 for a 16 x 24 Print
$48.00 for a 20 x 30 Print

Please click on the Holly Heyser's SmugMug page and take a quick look at the variety and beauty of the feathers she has documented!