Bowhunting the Hard Way: Handmade Bows, 10-Yard Shots & Woodsman Skills | MS Outdoors Podcast

Joey Buchanan and his son Joe join the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast to talk about traditional bowhunting — making their own bows, building their own arrows, and hunting at distances most people never experience. Joey explains how he started crafting bows in the late 1980s, while Joe shares what it meant to grow up around the tradition and recently harvest a deer with a bow he built himself from wood taken off their hunting land.

They discuss close-range deer and turkey hunting, the discipline and ethics required with traditional equipment, and why the traditional bowhunting community is so close-knit and welcoming. It’s a great conversation about craftsmanship, woodsman skills, and a father-and-son tradition built in the Mississippi woods.

Mississippi Outdoors is produced by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

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00:00 – Intro: Traditional bowhunting
00:40 – Meeting Joey and Joe Buchanan
01:15 – What bowhunting usually means to most hunters
02:10 – Why traditional archery is different
03:00 – Joey’s first handmade bow in 1989
04:10 – Learning traditional archery before the internet
05:00 – Hunting close-range in the Mississippi Delta
06:10 – Early bow-making attempts and learning curve
07:10 – Joe growing up around traditional bows
08:00 – Joe building his first bow
09:00 – Materials: persimmon wood and fiberglass
10:00 – Killing a deer with a handmade bow
11:00 – Why hunt this way?
12:20 – Six-yard turkey shot story
13:30 – Thinking like a woodsman
15:00 – Ethics and shot selection
16:00 – Competition vs real hunting
17:30 – Learning through repetition
18:50 – Bow length, strings, and construction
20:00 – Making arrows and sharpening broadheads
22:00 – The mindset of traditional bowhunters
24:00 – How to get started in traditional archery
26:00 – Nostalgia and history of bowhunting
28:00 – Regrets and lessons learned
30:00 – Community among traditional bowhunters
33:00 – Future goals and elk dreams
35:00 – Moving back to Mississippi
37:00 – Why the community matters
39:00 – Father-and-son hunting memories
40:30 – Closing thoughts