Larger than life, Jewell Leadford
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Met a couple young bow hunters from Colorado this year in elk camp. I was excited to talk to them figuring they would know some of my friends. They didn’t. They should have. Hence this post. Jewell Leadford was a man that all of us young guys looked up to, now that group is 50-80 years old, and still do. He was the best shot, and shot a recurve at 90 to 110 pounds. A few years ago he told me that when he couldn’t shoot his recurve anymore he wouldn’t shoot. He collected broad heads and was friends with Floyd and Joni Eccleston. The famous guys around wanted to talk to Jewell. My friend Jewell Leadford went the distance with Father Time. He took some shots and moved on last week. His hunting partners, Dana and Micah, Doy ,Ken,Chuck, and all of us, thought the world of him.
Sorry to hear about your friend.
I met Jewell at an indoor shoot at Bear Creek Archery in the early 90’s. He and I were the only guys shooting traditional bows that evening.
I remember shooting one arrow off his 95 pound recurve bow (not at full draw) and handing it back to him, telling him I would just stick to my little kiddie 70# Big Horn longbow…
Have dropped a lot more in draw weight since then. Jewell was about my age now back then and I am amazed that he was able to draw that kind of weight and make it look easy! That man was blessed with extraordinary strength to draw that kind of bow!
Enjoyed talking with him at various shoots and gatherings over the years. Loved to hear the stories about great adventures from before I was born and all the funny things that happened to those guys…. Definitely a deep connection and comradeship between those few guys in that generation that shot and hunted with the bow and arrow.
That generation paved the way for archery seasons in the western states and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
Going to miss you Jewell. Rest In Peace.
What words to have said about you in your memory….
Sorry for your loss. He will always be with you…RIP Mr Jewell…
Ken Asbury called the other night and told me we’d lost Jewell. I heard loss in his voice. He told some stories. One was about rabbit hunting. Jewell loved to rabbit hunt and Ken said when they went they made a kitty that you had to put a quarter in for every miss. He never remembered Jewell having to kick in. That’s the way I remember it. Thanks for chiming in Tavis
He sounds like a great man. Sorry for your loss.
Jewell loved to rabbit hunt! We hunted Moffat county bunnies and Park and Grand county snowshoes many, many times over a 30 year period when I lived in CO.
As Randy said, he loved heavy draw weight bows, shot instinctively! He actually was shooting a 100#…or more draw weight compound when we first met at the American Bowman range about 1977. May have been the last he ever used a compound that year. It was a recurve after that.
He had a huge pile of Super Hilbre plastic ferrule broadheads someone gave him. They were expendable and did well on rabbits with the heaviest cedar shafts he could buy. Not tough enough a head for big game.
Rest in peace Jewell! You will be missed and remembered!
The giants of that generation are passing. Best we can do is honor them by keeping them in our memory. RIP. Wish I'd had the opportunity to meet him.
Lou, I’m surprised you didn’t meet him. Really he had a small circle, mostly American bowman club members. I was lucky to meet Jewell in 82 and joined the club where I learned from the best.
It’s an honor I’m sure he would appreciate. That you guys are saying his name and remembering after he’s gone.
I had a close freind that was 20 yrs my senior. He passed several years back and I think of him often and miss him. He was a great Mentor to me. He made me want to be a responsible, ethical hunter more than a killer. When we met I was still in the killer stage. Where that was the most important thing to me while hunting. When I had an ethical question I would ask myself. What would Ed do.