I have to agree with Chad. Damon Howatt was one of the premier bowyers during the "heyday" of archery as a sport. When wheels arrived, traditional archery took a huge nosedive in popularity. When Martin took the reins from Damon Howatt, they kept not only the name, but the plant, the bowyers,and a guynamedLarry Hatfield.

Through the late 70s, all of the 80s, and well into the 90s before traditional archery began to regain some of it's former steam, Martin continued to offer a solid line of traditional bows, built in the same plant where Damon Howatt built them himself, which I believe still serves the same purpose today.

Martin has always produced quality archery equipment. Perhaps this is one of the reasons they picked up the Howatt line to begin with. Economics and availability ofhigh-character naturalwoods most certainly play a part.

My guess is in order to maintain the Howatt line on something other than a custom-shop basis orfocussoley on their compound line, the solution to use quality wood laminatesmade sense in order to maintain cost while alsomaintaining Howatt quality,stillmakingthem affordable to the masses.

The first traditional bow I bought was an X-200 recurve for around $170 in the 90s. It probably costsdouble that now, give or take. I still own several Martins, and a few Bears,though my primary bow is a Chek-Mate Hunter II. Got a hard-hitting90s era Gail Martin Nighthawk that I still enjoy, a 90s era Hatfield TD (both of which had plenty of actionwood).

Unless they have changed their policy, I believe you can contact Martin direct and have traditionalbows made to order. If this is still the case, the discerning archer can still have a bow that pleases in both performance and appearance.

It is certainly disappointing, but the good news is that Martin continues to offer the Howatt line of bows to the present and next generation of archers. Ibelieve even Damon himself would approve of that!

... my apologies for rambling, used more than my two-cents worth.

Blessings!