I
recently received a fine longbow from Garth Hawyes from
Impala Bows after meeting him at Huntex 2019.
Impala Bows are custom made by Garth Hawyes, a car-
penter with 20 years experience doing fine carpentry work.
Garth’s interest in woodwork and archery culminated in him
designing his own traditional bows, now called Impala Bows.
Impala bows are made on a sugar cane farm in the heart of Kwa-
Zulu Natal in South Africa. The bows are expertly handcrafted
using different timbers and effects and are made with the cus-
tomers’ preferences in mind.
As always, I was most excited to receive a traditional bow
and could not wait to shoot it. Garth also sent me three arrows
with the right spine to shoot.
The grip does not fit my hand perfectly since the bow was
not costume made for my hand and the square front part tends
to hurt my hand a little. However, it will be perfect for an archer
with a bigger hand than mine.
I immediately shot a small grouping with the bow and
was impressed by the speed of the bow, the smooth draw and
the fact that it nearly has no handshake. It certainly shoots very
quietly and will be an excellent hunting bow. As soon as I have
the opportunity, I will try to take an animal with it.
Garth makes different designs of bows such as his straight
longbow, the Impi a ref lex-def lects longbow and the Penkoppie
bows for children.
To see more of his bows, visit https://impalabows.co.za
or simply click here.Garth can be contacted at 082 804 4962
or [email protected]Testing a longbow from Impala Bows
Click to see
a short video