Saw in a TradBow buy/sell/trade group on FB, there’s a guy selling sturgeon skins. He posted some pics and damn, it looked amazing…

Anyone here have a bow like that? Better quality pictures of similar bows would be much appreciated!

There have been some posted here, carp also. Nice looking.

Vison Minor who was the Bowyer for Bows of Wood.No longer build bows I believe.

Anyway he had sturgeon skins on some of his bows.They were awesome looking I gotta say.

Thier are different types of Sturgeons with differing skins.Not sure what kind of Sturgeon skins he used.Its been awhile since I saw the ones he used.But I think they were very dark or blackish with white spots throughout.Like a night sky full of moons.Striking!

Look at Swiftwood Bows. Weylin Olive is the bowyer, and he has a website and an active presence on FaceBook. He may have some sturgeon pics posted there. I've seen his bows in person, and they are incredible.

They make stunning backings. I have never been able to get skins to use myself, but I have certainly wanted to.

There have been many posted over the years on Primitive Archery site.

Bjrogg

John Strunk use's sturgeon.You might check with him for some pics.

I know I've seen at least one pic posted here before of sturgeon backing. Maybe Jeff Durnell or Eric Krewson or PEARL or....???

Hopefully we'll see some pics here in this thread.

I just did a quick search up in the search bar, typed in Sturgeon and hit "keyword".

Jeff Durnell and Altitude Sickness (Jay) are at least two fellas here that have posted pics of sturgeon backed bows. Hopefully they will add to this thread.

Weylin makes the best looking sturgeon backed bows. I've handled plenty and they aren't my cup of tea. Never pursued a set to use.

Yeah I have. It's unique, decorative and as tough as deer rawhide so works as an effective backing too.

I have several more skins so I don't really need any right now, but I'm curious, what was that guy asking for them?

I’ve made one bow. And have wanted to do another. The skin ends up translucent. So I saw where others painted the back black. So I did that

I used croc hide backing in the non bending handle

Shark teeth tip overlays. For an aquatic theme

It’s a cool looking bow. But I think the skin reduces cast. It would be a ridiculously strong backing for a compromised ring back. Or to protect for other defects. But it won’t perform like an all wood bow can.

This reminds me. It’s hanging on the rack. I forgot that I wanted to narrow the limbs and tips. And never did.

Interesting but Nice too

Looks really cool.

I like it!

@Jeff - he had 2 set’s when I saw his post, he was looking to get $69 per pair or $140 for all 4. Maybe he’s re-thunk his rate card since then.

Says farm-raised, so guilt-free..

I've seen carp. Pretty cool.

Thanks GF. That's a decent price if they're long enough to cover the entire limb.

I worked to get some farm raised ones a few different times but it never worked out. I'd guess at harvest time they're very busy with meat and eggs and would rather not bother with the skins.

Yeah, it’d be pretty cool to Know A Guy for that…

I agree with Altitude. They look cool but all wood Bows have better cast. Just more mass move forward.

I agree with his statement too. But it doesn't make a bow a dog or unworthy for most applications. The critters I've killed with mine didn't seem to know or care.

Sometimes wringing every single foot per second from a piece of wood isn't the bowyer's only or main goal, or even in the top three. As always, it's all about tradeoffs, and each bowyer's own to make.

Very nice craftsmanship there altitude sickness ..

Thank you, I need to pull it back out and refine it some more. The sharks teeth and last 12” of limbs need to lose some weight.

Like the aquatic theme. Pretty neat

Just out of interest according to the Worldwide fund for Nature Sturgeon are on the brink of extinction.. whats going on ....

.... " Eighty five percent of sturgeon, one of the oldest families of fishes in existence, valued around the world for their precious roe, are at risk of extinction, making them the most threatened group of animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The latest update of the Red List assessed the status of 18 species of sturgeon from all over Europe and Asia and found that all were threatened."

Phil, if I'm not mistaken, most of the skins used are from farmed fish. There are limited seasons on wild sturgeon in some places as well for recreational fisherman.

Lake Sturgeon are doing pretty well here in Wisconsin. Our season runs all September, although they have to be 60" to keep.

I've never fished for them, but I did see one that had to be at least 60" swimming under a dock I was standing on, on the Green Bay side of Door County.

Yes they're legal to fish for in some areas here in the US, though they're tightly regulated. The white sturgeon is listed as the least concern for the species.

When I was a kid I grew up on the St. Lawrence River and on calm mornings we would see huge Sturgeon surfacing and jumping. We thought they looked like Sharks. Did not realize their rarity at the time.

My grade three teacher told us that his father and grandfather used to fish for them. Years later I was reading an article on them and when I finished reading it I realized that the writer was none other than my former teacher.

That's cool.

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