I come from a large family. All of my many uncles hunt, and not only hunt, but bow hunt. My dad and I shoot Bowtechs. My brother Sam shoots a Darton. My Uncle Steve, Randy, and Tom shoot Mathews. My Uncle Dick shoots a Hoyt. My Grandpa uses a crossbow. And my Uncle Ken is too cheap to buy a new bow, so he tells us all that we are crazy for spending the money we do on new equipment, while he still shoots his early 1990’s PSE.

There is always an argument on what manufacturer is better, and we are always bashing on each others equipment. We always have contests on who is better with there bow, especially when someone buys a new one. During our little contests someone is always saying “my bow’s a tack driver,” “my bow is faster,” “my bow is lighter,” and then there is always my Uncle Ken saying “all of your bows are too expensive.”

When up North after our bow battles, we head our separate ways into the woods. When we come back at the end of the night and have learned that someone got a deer we hurry out to help them recover it and tell them I guess their bow doesn’t shoot that badly. So, although bow hunting creates a large amount of competition in hunting camp, it is definitely a common trait among all of the Calmes boys that brings us closer together each and every fall.