At Stone Age Outdoors, we work hard to deliver handcrafted primitive style bows of exceptional performance and quality. These bows are custom built to meet your personal preferences in regards to aesthetics and performance. The greatest care is taken during the building process and while we don’t expect our products to fail or have issues, it does happen occasionally.

This guide is here to help you properly use your bow and guide you in case you need warranty. If there are ever any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. We want our customers to be completely satisfied with our products and customer service.

As a side note, I am also willing to work with customers in special situations (say your bow breaks two days after warranty runs out) if they contact me and are respectful. Yelling at me and using profanity will not help your case.

Liability Disclaimer:

When purchasing and/or using any products from Stone Age Outdoors, the customer/user agrees to take full responsibility for any and all safety precautions necessary for their own safety and the safety of others. Stone Age Outdoors will not be held liable for any injuries and/or deaths while using any of our products whether it be personal or non personal. Furthermore, Stone Age Outdoors is not obligated to warranty any equipment/products that fail or get damaged through misuse or mistreatment as outlined below.

Refunds:

Refunds for purchased products are possible in certain instances, but will not include shipping costs, packaging, and handling.

It is the customers responsibility to ensure the bow makes it back to me if you have been approved for a refund (no refunds after one week from delivery date). This could require getting insurance against theft or damage.

Contact me personally if you desire a refund and we’ll see what we can work out.

Customization:

If there is something you would like to see on your bow or a style of bow I don’t currently offer on my website, feel free to contact me and ask about it! I will gladly look into it for you so that you get the exact bow that you are looking for. Or if you are looking for a specific type of wood feel free to ask and I’ll see what I can do! Take note that extra customization fees may apply.

Wooden bows:

In our modern world, countless people think wood bows (also called self bows) are outdated/ underpowered/ don’t last. This could not be further from the truth! A well made self bow has all the power you need to take down any big game animal. Also, when they’re taken care of properly, they can and do last a lifetime!

What really sets a wood bow apart from all other bows (especially modern fiberglass bows) is that no two bows are exactly the same. Every bow comes with its own unique character, like snakey grain, knots and dips.

Care must be taken however, as wood bows do not appreciate abuse and do not handle as much as a fiberglass bow. Don't misunderstand, wood bows are incredibly durable when used properly. But it is still a piece of wood and should be treated as such!

Side note: If you ordered an Osage bow, you’ll notice when you receive it that it is a gold/yellow color. As it ages though, Osage heartwood turns into a beautiful dark brown. Typically, it will keep turning darker brown over the course of many years!

Moisture content:

Moisture content plays a crucial role in the stability of your bow. It is critical to know that wood, even if it is a seasoned piece of wood (dried properly), can absorb moisture or dry out too much and get brittle. Moisture absorption happens a few different ways. It can happen through rainfall or humidity. Or by storing it in a damp place. There are a number of ways your bow can get too dry. The most common ones, however, are people leaving their bows in their vehicle on a hot summer day or leaving it too close to a source of heat (like a furnace or wood stove).

If you get caught in a rainstorm or decide to go hunting in the rain, just make sure you wipe it down properly afterwards, and then let it dry out at room temperature if necessary. If your bow starts getting affected by humidity, you’ll probably notice it’s starting to perform more sluggish than usual. Should this happen, once again just store it at room temperature and let it dry out. A couple of side notes, typically moisture content that is too high isn’t dangerous to your bow, it just decreases performance. Also, it is mostly white wood bows that are affected a lot by moisture. A properly finished Osage bow hardly gets affected by humidity. Another reason why Osage is king!

As for not letting your bow dry out too much, it’s pretty self explanatory. DON'T LEAVE IT IN VERY HOT PLACES! As mentioned above, don’t leave it in a hot vehicle. Don’t leave it by a high heat source like wood stoves and furnaces. Often I have to do heat corrections to straighten a bow. So besides getting brittle, it could also cause your bow to go back to its original shape. If you do happen to leave it in a hot place for a while and you’re not sure if it lost too much moisture, the method of correction is the same as having too much moisture. Just store it somewhere in a room temperature environment and let it balance itself.

Stringing or bracing your bow:

Before stringing your bow, I recommend that you always do a quick examination of the bow to see if there is anything that looks out of place. Look for things like cracks and splinters. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with your bow it shouldn’t be too hard to notice something abnormal. If you happen to see something of concern, contact me. DO NOT SHOOT IT!

When stringing the bow, it should only be bent as far as is required for stringing. Keep the string tight while sliding it to the nock. Excessive slack on the string means there is excessive stress being put on one limb and could cause it to break.

Stringing Methods:

Step through method (recommended): The step through method is the most common method used and the one I recommend using because it is the easiest and most straightforward. Instructions for this method are easy to find online.

Push/Pull Method: This method works really well once mastered but is a lot harder to learn and requires more strength. It is also more dangerous as you are pulling the bow towards yourself and thereby exposing your face to any potential splinters if the bow should break for any reason.

Commercial Bow Stringers: While they do make stringing a bow easier, using one of these is not recommended. Overdrawing your bow is far too easy and the potential for it breaking is far too great. If you decide to use one of these and your bow breaks or gets damaged, warranty will be voided.

Shooting Your Bow: 

DO NOT OVERDRAW YOUR BOW! It has a specified draw length for a reason. A bow can be easily broken by overdrawing it. Draw length is measured from the back (the side facing away from you) of the bow to the string. It is the customer's responsibility to know their own draw length when ordering a bow. Do not allow other people to use your bow unless you are confident that they have the same draw length! If your bow is broken by someone other than yourself your warranty is automatically voided.

DO NOT DRY FIRE YOUR BOW! Dry firing is drawing your bow and releasing without having an arrow nocked. At full draw, bows store a lot of energy. When shooting an arrow, the arrow absorbs the energy. If there is no arrow to transfer the energy to upon release, the limbs absorb it all and could explode. Dry firing can break your bow and will void warranty!

Avoid using arrows that are too light for your bow. If you use arrows that are too light, it is similar to dry firing your bow. Especially avoid modern lightweight carbon arrows. The recommended arrow weight is 10 gpp (grains per pound). This means that for every pound of draw weight on your bow you should have 10 grains of arrow weight. For example, if you shoot a 45 pound bow, your arrow should be 450 grains. It is not an exact science, there is some leeway in both directions but it is better to shoot a bit of a heavier arrow rather than to light.

Brace Height:

Brace height is the distance between your string and the thickest part of the handle on the belly (side facing towards you). Recommended brace height is between 5.5-6 inches. Self bows typically have a lower brace height than fiberglass bows do.

In order to lower or raise brace height simply spin the bowstring one way or the other. It is important to not have brace height to high or to low. If it’s too high it causes loss of performance and if it’s too low it can cause wrist slap.

How long can you leave your bow strung? 

Whenever your bow is not in use, unstring it. Always unstring it after shooting. If you’re hunting for a whole day it’s fine, just make sure to unstring it once you’re done hunting. Make sure to not leave your bow strung for a long period of time (multiple days in a row). Leaving a self bow strung for to long will cause it to lose performance.

Storing your bow:

I recommend that you store your bow either laying somewhere flat or hang it up. Avoid storing it leaning upright in a corner resting on the tip. If stored like this for a long time it could cause the limb to weaken.

Avoid storing your bow in hot,dry places like a hot vehicle, furnace, wood stove, or hot water heater. Also avoid storing it in very cool, damp places. Ideally, it is to be stored in a place that stays room temperature.

Bow care:

There isn’t a whole lot I haven’t covered already in regards to caring for your bow. My bows are sealed with polyurethane which is extremely durable. Even so, if you notice the sealer wearing off or scraped off, it’s a good idea to reseal it. I don’t currently use primitive sealers because commercial sealers are less maintenance and are stronger.

Just regularly check your bow for any abnormalities, like any cracks or splinters. Also, it’s a good idea to wax your bow string whenever you notice it’s getting fuzzy.