Watch: Cherokee Bowmaker Richard Fields

This is an interesting little video. It features an Oklahoma Cherokee who learned bowmaking from his cousin and got hooked on it. These days, he even teaches others how to find the right tree, split the wood, and whittle it down to form a wooden bow.

I’m a happy-go-lucky guy, I have a lot of fun, that’s what I do. In bowmaking I do that too, I have a lot of fun with it.

You might not expect it to look at him, but he’s got about as Southern as accent as you’ve ever heard. So don’t be dismayed when he mentions churkey; he’s really saying “Cherokee.”

The wood he prefers is osage orange, a.k.a. bois d’arc, which he pronounced “boys dee ark.” Gotta love it.

The bowyer is uh, really, y’know what ya might say uh, I dunno, he’s a one-of-a-kind person. All the bowyers that I know, we’re all different… I’m more different than anybody.

…he says, while wearing his ZZ Top “Tres Hombres” t-shirt.

This guy has even been named as a National Treasure of the Cherokee Nation.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.