BOWSTRING BREAKS ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND
By Dan Baker
My bear hunt in September 2006 was going to be great, but my wife Cindy, brother Dean and I had to
overcome a few minor inconveniences first. After leaving Jacksonville, FL on August 31st, we hit rain in
Georgia and did not see the sun again that whole day, thanks to tropical storm Ernesto. After spending
the night in Maryland, the next day we hit traffic in Connecticut and fought that for most of the
remainder of our trip to Maine. The Ford F250 decided to start running rough about that same time,
just to add to the fun. We stayed that night in Bowdoinham at the home of Skip and Carroll Dyer,
relatives & fellow bow hunting enthusiasts. The next afternoon, Dean and I had the chance to practice
shoot our bows on Skip’s outdoor course that ran through the woods. We both shoot Mathews Legacy
bows that we’ve had for a few years. At about 3:00, as I was drawing back my bow, the cable snapped
and I smacked myself in the face. Great… 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon, on Labor Day weekend and
we were leaving for the hunt in Alagash the next morning. I had quickly decided just to use my gun,
when Carol gave me the name of a bow shop called Central Maine Archery, not too far away. I made
the call at about 4:00 and got Jess Hartford on the line. She said they close at 5:00 and the drive would
take about an hour to get there. Jess put her husband Tom on and, after a brief discussion, he said to
come on. My dad and I did not get to the shop until 5:30 andTom was waiting. He worked for about an
hour, actually fabricating a new string, and then insisted on makingsure all was correct and the pull was
to my liking. We didn’t leave until around 7:30 pm. Tom and Jess were great the whole time and went
out of their way to make sure I was happy. I practiced each day and then on Thursday night, I shot a
195 lb sow. The bow performed perfectly! I am so thankful for people like the Hartfords, who not only
have all the equipment and expertise, but the genuine desire to help as well.
Thanks again, Tom and Jess. You made my week! We look forward to visiting
again on our next hunt this coming September.
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