JD Berry long bow

[William Warren]

#7536

I have a 64″ JD Berry long bow that was made for a man named Ron Mahan and the bow is named “Yahweh” It has no draw weight written on it but it draws 68# at 28″ on my scale. It is a nice custom bow with some fancy woodwork and horn overlays on the tips. Looks like maybe red elm under glass on the back of the bow. I remember seeing the JD Berry adds in Traditional Bowhunter several years back. Does anyone have any info on JD Berry? Its a long shot but does anyone know Ron Mahan? Would love to have some history on the bow. My Dad got it while on a business trip with his wife in Seattle. While she was in attendance he got bored at the hotel room and went out walking. He called me and said he found this bow shop and museum, Glenn St Charles or something. I said you are kidding! I told him to go in and find something left handed and buy it! I talked with Glenn St Charles’ son on the phone and then asked Dad to look at the bow and answer a few questions before he sealed the deal. He then mailed it to me. That is how I came by this bow. If anyone has any info I would enjoy hearing about it.

[William Warren]

#63081

OK, I kind of answered my own question by Googling JD Berry. Looks like they are still making bows and “Yahweh” is the model, not the name of the bow. And Dad got a deal on that bow given the prices listed on their website. Anyhow, commments are still welcome.

[dannya]

#19679

I have two J D Berry bows both are wounderful. The J D stands for James and Daniel. Daniel no longer makes bows but James is still going strong. Give him a call he will give you the history of that bow. He is a great guy to talk to. ( His number is 509-299-3029

[William Warren]

#21048

Thanks Danny, I’ll give hima call.
Duncan

[lbman77]

#16930

Duncan,

I see that this is an old post (I’m cruising the forum, seeing what I can kick up), but I thought I’d comment anyway.

I have met Jim Berry personally. He lives in a small town about 20 miles from where I grew up in eastern Washington State. I’d never heard of him until I was pointed his direction by a guy at one of the local archey shops.

My story goes something like this: in the late 90s, I’d found a used longbow at a garage sale, a RH 63# Martin something-or-other, and hauled it away for $25. I shot it for a little while, never getting the kind of accuracy I felt the bow was capable of, my skills, or lack thereof, notwithstanding. I had taken it to the above-mentioned bow shop and queried the guy behind the counter. Apparently, he didn’t know anything about tuning a one-stringer, and pointed me to Mr. Barry. I called Jim and he invited me out to his shop. So, my then-best buddy and I drove west to his little burg, and met Jim.

He’s an interesting guy with lots of stories! We went out to his little shop, where we got a tour. He showed us his kiln, limb presses, and some bows in progress. He then asked to see my bow, and immediately noticed that the lower limb (if I remember correctly) was out of alignment. He said that he had seen several production bows with that type of problem. He suggested that I cut it down 2″, from 68″ to 66″, as that would reduce the effect of the misaligned lower limb. He also suggested that a trapezoidal shape be given to the limbs, but I can’t remember why. So, I handed bow to bowyer and watched him work. When he was finished with the bow work, he put his name and “re-crafted by” with the new lenght and 63# draw weight on the lower limb. A new string was needed (obviously), so he guided me through the task of string making, saying jokingly “you don’t expect me to do all the work for you, do you?” After the work was done, we had a brew and swapped (mostly true) stories for an hour or so.

Those couple of hours were my first foray into the “who” of traditional archery, and almost 20 years later, I look back on it and smile.

[Author]

Posts