210 Maplewood Drive
Columbia, MO 65203
Phone: (573) 424-
Bowyer Biography
My family has always been hunters, but mostly with guns. 
I became enamored with
the bow and arrow after watching the Ashland Missouri Bow Club give a demonstration
to my Cub Scout troop. Next there was a college student, Tim Houser, who lived up
the street from me. Tim shot target archery in the field behind our houses. He took
the time to teach several of us how to shoot properly. Back then, I had to beg to
use my father’s solid wood longbow.
After the 6th grade, my parents moved to the edge of city limits in a new and still being built subdivision with two large lakes. Soon I became a “feral child” spending all my time outdoors with my brother and friends fishing and frogging on the lakes, hunting rabbits and squirrels in the woods below the lakes’ dams. Occasionally we would catch a glimpse of a deer but they were few and far between. Back then, we hunted with those old, solid fiberglass bows.
Paper route money soon supplied me with my first real bow, a Ben Pearson Colt, bought at J. C. Penney for $29.00! I attempted “serious deer hunting” in junior high school by sitting on a stump at the edge of a corn field with two arrows dressed in white shorts, white tennis shoes, and pink polo shirt…I wonder if that had anything to do with the lack of success?!? There were so few deer back then, it became an “event” when you actually saw one. You called all your hunting buddies and talked about it for a week.
I have always been one of those guys who likes making his own stuff. In the 7th grade,
I was even run out of my Mother’s kitchen for burning the feather fletching on my
first set of home-
After years of hunting with “off the rack” bows, I ordered a custom recurve in 1989 from Jim Brackenbury. After taking a cow elk, black bear and two whitetail bucks with this bow, I decided to try building my own takedown bow. I got in contact with Jim Brackenbury and Wes Wallace. They were extremely helpful and supportive of my attempts at bow making and sold me the necessary hardware. At the same time, I had the good fortune to meet Jerry Pierce at the United Bowhunter’s of Missouri’s annual function. He also encouraged me to give it a try. He loaned me the video on bow making that he and Pat Cebuhar had made and even sold me my first set of materials.
The first bow was extremely heavy and I nearly broke my back trying to string it—literally,
ruptured a disc in my low back that had me laid up for months. With that lesson
learned, my next attempt came out much better, a 52 lb. bow. After completing 4
½ bows, I decided to get serious and fine tune my skills and knowledge. In 1991,
I enrolled in Mike Fedora’s bow making school. (If you have old issues of Traditional
Bowhunter 1992-
Unfortunately two rear-
Good hunting,
Rick Lanham
Rick Lanham
I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I am most thankful for the advice, support and guidance of the guys/gentlemen/bow makers/archers mentioned above.