Anatomy of a Patent

When I was younger I thought that at 73 years of age I would be spending my time relaxing, watching TV, and doing the "Honey dos". Instead the last five or six years have been some of the busiest in my life. At least that's the way it seems to me now. Of course at this age one is never too busy to take a nap when necessary.

There are so many things to be done before the pall bearers carry me to the hearse! First, there is the Compound Bow Rest & Holder. This story begins roughly six years ago. I was an avid bow hunter (white tail deer) for a number of years, but as I weakened with age, I could not consistently group my arrows within a 6" circle even when shooting at 15 yards. Since this is the minimum accuracy I consider necessary for bow hunting to avoid wounding instead of killing, something had to be done to improve accuracy or I had to give up bow hunting. I came up with the idea of a boom system that straps to a tree with ratchet straps, is hinged to allow the boom to swing horizontally, and a support system that attaches to the bow at the riser and steadies the bow.

Immediately my shooting accuracy increased dramatically. I could actually hold my sights on a bulls eye for seconds without drifting off. At 22 yards I had to shoot successive arrows at different spots on my target because I destroyed several arrows by hitting the first with the second. I had a friend try it, and his arrow struck dead center of the bulls eye. (I was perplexed by his reaction, he was amazed but refused to shoot again.)

From that time on I never missed a deer with the bow. I wish I could say that I never wounded one either, but unfortunately I cannot. In 2004 I shot a 6 or 8 point buck at 18 yards from a 20' tree stand. At the time I was using mechanical broadheads (the type that open up upon impact) because they fly truer than the fixed broadheads. However, the down side of the mechanicals is that some of the penetrating power is lost in opening the broadhead. Since I hunt with a low draw weight of 50 lbs, the arrow apparently only penetrated one lung. I followed a blood trail for 3/4 mile, and then lost it. A deer can run a long ways on one lung. Also, that was the only deer I have ever shot where I did not find the arrow. I presume I hit a rib and the arrow wedged in tightly.

I greatly regret this experience, and I have since used only fixed broadheads. I never did get a deer that year.

The story continues in the next blog.