Trad Gang

Also what age were you, and feel free to share a story about it.  

For me, it was a green fiberglass Ben Pearson that I picked up at a neighbors garage sale for $10 around 1990 when I was 10 years old.  I already had one aluminum arrow that my Dad and I found in the woods.  I roamed the woods with that one arrow shooting at leaves and stumps. About a week later, I was in Kmart with my Mom and sister and they had Aluminum arrows for sale individually.  I bought 3 or 4 that had feathers and was set.  I had no quiver so I'd carry the arrows in one hand, bow in the other and lay them down when I wanted to shoot at something.  

I knew nothing about arrow spine, FOC, arrow tuning, but man did I have a blast with that little bow and arrows.

I was 6 and my dad hunted with an old Bear compound.  He bought me a cheap Kmart fiberglass bow. It was really a toy but not to me. He gave me an Easton aluminum with no point and I was set. He let me hunt with him in the woods behind the house and we actually had a buck walk by. He told me to take a shot so i let one fly that made it all of 8 yards.  I will never forget that bow or that experience.

Generic blue fiberglass bow with 3 wooden arrows,imitation leather hip quiver.I was 9 years old and haven't looked back,I am now 57 years old and still enjoy trad shooting and hunting like I am still 9 years old."Keep em flying straight" Lou

It was 1965ish for me and I was 10 years old.  The first bow was a bear all fiberglass that was around 25lb draw maybe just guessing.  I graduated to a Bear Kodiak magnum and used that to hunt rabbits and bow fishing.  I graduated on to a Bear Kodiak hunter just before I went into the service.  I still have the Kodiak hunter and it is in good shape.  It is way too heavy for me now so It just sits on the rack looking pretty.  I went to training wheels and competed with some success but saw the light and went back traditional several years ago.  I'm having lots of fun just shooting targets but plan to get back to hunting too.

11 years old internature three piece 30 lbs recurve

My uncle gave me a 35 lb Ben Pearson recurve in 1986. I never turned back after killing my first bunny with it.

I was 7, my dad shot a Damon howat super diablo. I would stand and watch him and then go pull arrows from the hay bales.
After a few days of this he decided to make me a bow. It was an old bamboo fiberglass deep-sea rod he cut down. I used the eyelet as a rest and shot his cut down Easton 2117. In a month I was hitting sodacans. And spent all my free time out back shooting.

Started when I was 16 and me and my dad went to a guy by the name of John Jordans house to see what kind of bows he made. We ended up ordering recurves. We stayed at Johns house for hours shooting all the bows he had and getting tips from him. He is a fantastic guy and Bowyer and I'm very lucky to have started in this sport with such a great person to help me along the way!

Hoyt pro hunter 35# given to me by a friend's father who got into compound and gave up one heck of a bow because it wasn't "fast enough". I was 10 and used it until I had enough cash to invest in a higher poundage Recurve 10 years later. I am now 30 and still have and exercise form with that first bow.  

Cheers, Pat.

I graduated from shrub shoot bows and arrows and store twine to a real lemonwood bow of about 15-20# when I was 7.  That was a little more than 60 years ago. Killed a few sputzers (sparrows) with it, and a lot of stumps, grass clumps and leaves. Been shooting a stick ever since.

Shot off and on with different stick bows as a kid but my first serious trad bow was a 52" Kodiak Mag. My fingers still aren't quit the same as they were prior to that bow. Haha. I dusted it off back in 2007 or so I think and got a crack at a doe. The nostalgia quickly rubbed off and I put her back up again after that.

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One of Owen Jeffery's personal bows, a 48# Jeffery classic 60.

Here is a picture of my first Trad kill at age 15 with that bow and some wooden arrows I made with wooden dowels from the hardware store and 125gr snuffers.  I was a proud kid!

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My first real bow was a lemonwood longbow.  Before that it was vine maple bows we made.  Grew up a little south of you in Lk. Stevens.

Do they still have the late elk hunt up that way?

Mike

First real bow was a Bear Red Bear.

I did have a few kid fiberglass bows growing up but, my first real bow was a Bighorn TD that I ordered when I was only 18 way back in 1987, and Ive never looked back. Prior to that I shot a compound for 4 years but when I had a real job and some money I bought the custom Bighorn. Killed 6 bucks with that bow the first 6 years I had it.

QuoteOriginally posted by wingnut:
My first real bow was a lemonwood longbow.  Before that it was vine maple bows we made.  Grew up a little south of you in Lk. Stevens.

Do they still have the late elk hunt up that way?

Mike

Mike, Elk hunting up here isn't what it used to be, not because of numbers, we're covered up in Elk herds, but because of WDFW restricting it so much.

I met Dan Quillian while a student at UGA.  He taught me to shoot with a 60# bamboo longhunter.  I could not afford it, so I scraped up a few bucks and with a Bass Pro gift card I bought a 50# Bear Grizzly.  I gave that bow to my brother five years ago as his first recurve.  I never did get me a longhunter before Dan retired, but I am forever thankful for him teaching me to shoot.

My first "real" bow was a lemonwood longbow that my grandfather gave me in 1961 (I was 9).  While shooting it a few years later, it became it became a 3 piece.  He then gave me a recurve he had made in the Traverse City, Michigan area in the early 50's.  Still have the bow, but thanks to my idiot cousin dry-firing it while I was in the Air Force, it is not shootable.

Here is what I posted on a previous thread.

I grew up fishing and crabbing with my brothers but always wanted to go hunting but didn't know one person that hunted. When I was 22 I read an article in a 1984 Sports Afield magazine called "Comeback of the Long Bow" by Lionel Atwill. He really hit me hard but I didn't have the money to order a bow. Was still in college and on my own with barely enough to eat. In 1990 after the loans were paid off I saw an ad in Bowhuter Magazine for the Dan Bertalen Bokk "Traditional Bowyers of America" and read it in 2 days and ordered a Scorpion Longbow. Bowhunting and Archery has changed my life and I am so grateful i read that article so long ago in Sports Afield. I met some of my best friends through this sport.

A fiberglass  "Indian" brand kids bow that I got in the 50s, but my first real hunting bow was a Bear Grizzly that I got around 1970. Never killed anything but rabbits and a snake or two with it. Wish I still had it.

Can't remember the make but it was solid green with a brown, plastic grip, ambidextrous. Shot frogs with it back in the 50s. Graduated to guns when I could legally hunt at 14 and didn't get back in to archery until my late 20s. Bunch of us wanted more hunting opportunities so we decided to bow hunt. Went to Butts and Bows in Montclair, NJ (Len Cardinale) and bought my first real bow, a Browning Ex 1 with which I shot my first deer ever. Still have it. But, got caught up in the wheelie craze and have just returned to trad. Many years wasted with the wheels. But, it's never too late as they say.

My very first bow was one my dad made me when I was 7 or 8, not sure what kind of sapling he cut to make it, it had a piece of binder twine for a string and a couple of his old used arrows I shot off my hand no shelf. I had a blast with it shooting with him.  When I was finally old enough to hunt I got to use his Bear Polar recurve, which I still have hanging on my bow rack. He passed away last November and I still thank him every day that he gave me the passion for bow hunting.

I'm a late bloomer. Shot a Caribow Featherhorn 3 years ago and sold my compound the following week  :)

1960 and I was 5 years old. Ben Pearson maple with white fiberglass and 32# recurve. 3 arrows and they were gone the first day. I had to sell muskrats to get more arrows.

A cheap 3 piece recurve, the raging rivers zombow 62 inch 47# @ 31. Bought it on Amazon when I was 16. Shot it for a couple months until I decided that the limbs would be better on an old Bear Black Panther compound riser I had.

Pecan board bow I built about 15 years ago while living in Montana...

Bill-

Little Bear in 1969...still have it.

My parents gave me a fiberglass Shakespeare some time in the late 50's, which I still have.

Bear Minute Man. What a sweet, simple, and economical design. Mine was a green riser with white limbs, 60" 45#@28

Had a fiberglass frog killer when I was a kid. Then at 15 I got a job washing dishes at the local Diner. That was 1967.....later that year I bought a Browning Nomad Hunter for 37 dollars. I wanted a Bear Grizzly but they were 47 bucks and I couldn't wait........lol. Hunted with that bow till about 1974 or 75. And just so you know....the Diner is still there run by the same family.

A 30 lb fiberglass recurve

A 45# Bear Black Bear, first trad deer with it and still have it.

I started shooting around 3 when my dad had to draw my little bow for me. I had a bunch of kid bows growing up, but my first "real" recurve was a #40 Black Bear that my dad bought in the 70s. He's probably taught a dozen kids to shoot with it, and my son will use it when the time comes.

First real bow was a Howatt Coronado.  Lots of fiberglass bows and such prior to that.  Killed a lot of carp with fiberglass bows.
ChuckC

Acadian Woods Recurve

My Dad and I built a red oak/black glass backed bow.  We tillered it with an orbit sander, stained it and finished it with tru oil.  It was 66", drew 51#@28".  Not real fast with some shock due to the imperfect tiller, but it was FUN and that bow+experience of building and shooting it got me hooked

It was 1965.  I had a green fiberglass 25lb bow until it got it caught in the front spokes of my bicycle.  So on my 13th birthday, my dad came home with a 40lb Shakespeare "Wonderbow".

I took a  smallish racked 4X4 with it.  I still have it and hope one of my grandkids wants to try it someday.

$50 used Shakespeare Necedah I found locally in a bait/archery shop. Loved the physical weight after toting a bare C-bow for two seasons prior. I missed just as good with both.    :bigsmyl:  

Ended up killing my first couple deer ever with it and passed it along to a beginner years ago.

25# Browning Mohawk and bought it at a drug store 49 yrs ago.  Grandkids are using it now.

Sometime before I was 10 years old I developed an interest in archery and I don't even know why since no one I knew shot.  I got a green fiberglass Ben Pearson bow in a kit with three wood arrows, a tab and an arm guard.  Shot that until I was around 12 when I ordered a Ben Pearson Equalizer from Gander Mountain.  The green fiberglass bow is still hanging on the wall.  The Equalizer, after I don't know how many thousands of shots, finally developed splintering at the limb edges.

Mike

My very first recurve was a little Pearson Prep in 5th grade but I knew absolutely nothing and it delaminated after only a few days....guess stringing one backwards was not best idea...though made it easier to get string over the tips.  :)

My real recurve that started it all was a Jeffery Royal Hunter I bought from Mr. Owen Jeffery himself in his old shop on Pepper Street around 1991/1992.  His new (at the time) mountain riser (laminated greens, browns, blacks) with red oak limb veneers over maple cores..under clear glass.  She is on her third set of snake skins on the limbs...and is not prettiest or fanciest or fastest...but a consistent, solid and reliable hunter.

Sold her one time and then spent more to get her back after I realized my error.

I called her MEDUSA...
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I had an old recurve with branding of any kind. Probably from the 60s or 70s. I was about 11-12 when I started shooting it. My brother, my cousin, and I used to shot at apples hanging from trees that grew on our farm.

My first real bow was a Ben Pearson #46 Renegade. I had a couple other bows before that, but they were just starters. Jim Dougherty taught me to bowhunt, not in person, but in all his writings. I bought a couple of bundles of Bow and Arrow magazines that were a few years old and from the mid 60's at a flea market and they were full of great stories each one containing at least one story by Jim. What a writer! I read these over and over. Yes, Jim taught me a lot. Rest in peace Jim, you are my idol! I always wanted a Pearson Mercury Marauder because of his stories, now I have a couple and they are as good a shooters as Jim said.

First real one was a Bear 76'er when I was about thirteen or fourteen, I have one exactly like it now, killed a turkey with it two years ago! Had a little red one at about eight or nine, could shoot it in the school yard back then without SWAT being called!

Ben Pearson recurve purchased with Green Stamps.

At around 16 I got a brand new Shakespeare Kaibab, and an Ocala...fine bows, for $25 each in Houston. Nobody to teach me and didn't know about nock points, spine, or nothing, but sure had fun.
That was in '67 I think.

I found an old Ben Pearson recurve in my parents garage around 10 y/o.  Shot the snot out of that thing that summer.

-Jeremy

Mine was a Shakespear Comet,a redish color fiberglass bow . It said 25#s but it pulled more than that.I carried that bow all the time and got pretty good with it and eventually shot a deer with it . Last winter while going thru **** I came across its twin so I put a bid in and got it for $23 it looks like new ,the first one is pretty beat up but still shoots good. My grandson and I are going to have fun with both of these bows.

My first store-bought bow was purchased when I was seven for up until that time my dad had made bows for me and my brothers. I went in to the hardware store in my town and put a penny down on the bow, a yew longbow, which cost $7.99 if I remember correctly. The gentleman that owned the store called my parents and asked if it was alright if I entered into a contract with him to purchase the bow and they agreed. I know that the price of the bow doesn't sound like much, but for a young farm boy back in the fifty's that was a "small fortune". I did anything and everything I could to get the money for that bow and I do recall that it took me almost a year to pay for it. My only regret is that I don't still have that bow nor the ones that dad had made for me.

Regards,
Grouse

I was a military brat, and Columbus A.F.B. in Mississppi had an archery range run by a sergeant who lived just up the street from us. I was about 10 (circa 1959) at the time, and we used green fiberglass Indian bows. The first bow I bought was a Ben Pearson Gamester recurve when I was in college. I killed my first deer ever with it and still have it.

30 something.
Herter's 46"

Great thread - love these memories.

Started early 60's. Probably 10 or 11. My dad bought an old fiberglass bow, with the white plastic tips from Mac's Archery shop in Milwaukee. I used to shoot wood arrows from the local Badger Paint hardware stores. He paid .19 each. The bow was 6 bucks.

1960 age 12, I made 60 cents an hour picking cucumbers and I bought my neighbors 45# Paul Bunyon custom recurve(he was getting one of those new fangled laminated ones) for $15. Five hardware store arrows with Bodkin 3 blade heads $1.25 each, Minnesota deer license $3.50 and I was ready to go. Only thing wrong was I couldn't string the bow so my mother strung it for me! Still got a Paul Bunyon custom recurve hanging on my wall.

Green Stamps! Now that brings back a lot of memories.

I got my first bow for christmas when I was about six or seven years old.  The bow was a Ben Pearson lemon wood longbow, which I still have. My Dad was a rifleman so he really didn't know much about bows or arrows. I didn't have anyone to show me how to shoot so I just flung arrows, but I had a ball and still shoot a longbow after all these years! Now I build my own bows and teach other people when I can. Building bows for my 15 grand children keeps me busy, in fact I'm building two bows right now for two grand daughters that graduate in June. The song of the arrow never stopped for me.

Bob Lee takedown recurve with rattle snake skins I bought from my father in law

1962 Bear Kodiak Magnum. Bought new January 1962 after reading a book by Fred Bear.

Next was a 1963 Tamerlane. Bought it new too with Christmas money. Wasn't old enough to drive a car yet when I bought both bows.

Don't own them anymore but still own a bunch of rosewood Bears.  Just like'em.

A family friend gave me a 42# lemon wood long bow when I was 12. 1960.

Jeffery Royal Hunter. A killer if there ever was one. I gave it to a good friend John Pardue as it was too heavy for me later on. RC

QuoteOriginally posted by highlow:
Green Stamps! Now that brings back a lot of memories.

Boy I'll say........

Shakespeare can no longer remember the model.  Low end bow but shot okay.

I like many had the fiberglass bows when younger.My first real bow was a Dan Quillian Canebrake recurve and then a Gary Sentman Warrior longbow.

As a young kid I had the old 20# solid fibreglass bow but my first real Trad bow as an adult was a Great Plains Palo Duro

My grandfathers 67 bear kodiak Hunter. I used to run around the yard shooting it at trees and dirt clods. He gave me the bow before his passing and told me to kill something with it. So that is my goal to harvest a deer or turkey with the bow. I had no luck last year but will be trying again this year.

Martin Hunter, 60#.

As soon as I could afford it after I started working. Actually, I had been dreaming about a fancy compound, but then I read about Howard Hill and Paul Schafer. Changed my mind.

Mine was a 30# Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow similar to this one. My parents gave it to me in 1955 when I was 11. A friend gave me this one after I told him the story. I didn't kill anything with it but stuffed scarecrows made up to be The Sheriff of Nottingham.

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Good friend of my family gave me an Indian recurve my freshman year of highschool.

Cool, because it was made in Evansville, Indiana.

A friends samick sage. Made me go trad ,else was going to the wheels.

Good friend of mine gave me his cousins Ben Pearson Mach1 . His cousin no longer could hunt and he new I wanted to try trad.Practiced for a year before I hunted with it and took a 6 point. Don't own any wheelie gear anymore and own 6 trad bows. I now shoot a Stewart Slammer. Thanks

Good friend of mine gave me his cousins Ben Pearson Mach1 . His cousin no longer could hunt and he new I wanted to try trad.Practiced for a year before I hunted with it and took a 6 point. Don't own any wheelie gear anymore and own 6 trad bows. I now shoot a Stewart Slammer. Thanks

I was 45 driving a truck and needed something to do. Bought a 55lbs recurve having not the first idea of what I was doing. and it was all down hill from there.  WHAT A RIDE!!!!!  Oh yea now I'm 58   :scared:    :scared:    :scared:    :scared:    :scared:

An early 60s "coe bow"...handed down from my dad...in mid 1970s..

Wing Thunderbird; 45@28", 62" long. Bought it in the spring of 1970. Hunted with it 1970 and 71 and then got into college basketball coaching game. Didn't touch it for 6 years. Mom stored it for me at home while I was away, unfortunately it was stored in the attic. Picked it up on one of my trips home; grabbed my stringer and about half way through stringing it, my Thunderbird exploded. Scared the dickens out of me. Lesson learned, never store your bow in a hot, dry environment for an extended period of time. Nothing good will ever come of it.    :knothead:

Hoyt Huntmaster 60 at 28. 15 years old and killed a deer the first day aftrr i failed to do so for 3 years with a wheelie bow

I guess for me I've always been facinated by the bow I remember when I was a child making sapling bows out in my yard braced with whatever kind of string I could find a lot of times bailing wire but if I could find some trot line I thought I had hit the jackpot the years rolled on and I got away from the simple stick and string until I met my current hunting partner lol he had the grand idea to get rid of our wheel bows and buy longbows .. And at first I thought he was nuts but went along and boy am I ever glad I did ! First couple years was real tuff !! And had we been Indians would have prob starved to death    :goldtooth:   been a awesome journey thus far and hopefully many more memorable years to come

One of those old all-fiberglass low-poundage long bows....white with a green plastic handle. My mother bought it for me at Woolworth's around 1963. Killed my first groundhog with it that summer.

My first production bow was a 52" Herters Perfection which I still own.  Bought it from a friend back in 1970 when I was in high school.  Before that I carved crude bows out of tree branches which would last about a week or so.

My first was a green Plyflex fiberglass bow that my neighbor gave to me after I saw it in the rafters of his garage. I was about 10 at the time. Forty years later and I still have the bow.

The next was a Fasco recurve that got me into big trouble for shooting things that a young man should not be shooting!

50# Ben Pearson "Ol Ben" longbow. About 1963 or 64. Went up to an 80# a few years later shot that weight for many years. Now prefer 55-60# at 65 years old. and mostly recurves now.

'71 Bear grizzly, 45@28, and 3 bent aluminum arrows started it all for me.

First commercial bow was a 25# Shakespeare Parabow 50 yrs ago followed by a 1969 Little Bear and then a LH 45# Black Bear for 29.00 new. Still have all three and recently started shooting the Black Bear again - his time with both eyes open vs closing right eye back then.

Remember shooting field goals with the Shakespeare at a new off campus athletic field a local college had built about a mile away through the woods from my house. We would shoot whatever, whenever!

Ben Pearson Puma, 40#@28". It was a new 1967 model.

My first trad bow was a Bear Kodiak Hunter recurve. My first custom bow was a Palmer recurve. My first "custom for me" bow was a Sarrels Sierra, one piece longbow.

Since 2009, I have been shooting "THE bow", a Sarrels Blueridge takedown longbow!

Bisch

1971 Kodiak Hunter, 40# with micro flight arrows. I still have the bow... wish I still had the arrows.

My first was an early 70's 40# Ben Pearson. Think it was a Gamester but don't hold me to that.

40# Bear solid fiberglass longbow, ambidextrous grip, in 1963. Looking forward to my 54th year of bowhunting this year, shooting a 63# recurve.

My first was a Samick Sage. Last December, at 37 years old after being a lifelong hunter with a compound. Since then I've bought a custom longbow from Mike McCready and have another one being made now.

I still remember getting my very first on black Friday when I was around 5 or six years old. It came with suction cup arrows! I kept shooting regular arrows from it after loosing the originals and constantly remaking strings for it from twine. Then around 10 or 12 I got a red bear recurve kids bow. I terrorized the rabbits on my grandparents' farm with that one. Still remember buying some new arrows at the sporting goods store with my grandfather. While we were there we looked at a bear compound and he was really close to buying it for me but changed his mind. When we got home that evening there was a rabbit by the house. I took that red recurve and one of those new arrows and shot my first animal! Never did buy a compound and I think my grandfather never thought id actually hit one!

I was 12 n had saved my money n bought a compound n was shooting it but was so captivated by all the stick bows n the magazines ar that time n had to have one n saved up more lunch money n bought a howatt hunter, overed bowed myself with 50lbs but took off from there both working n a bow shop as a jr n sr n high school n having my own bow n gun shop latter.

I started off with a compound back when I was a teenager. After shooting a friend's trad bows one evening, I was hooked. I bought a used tall tines recurve off of Kentuckytj and haven't looked back.

Jeff

Shot compounds since the late 70's then Jan 2015 my son bought a 60# bear Grizzly so in Feb I bought one also. I've since sold my 60# Grizzly and bought a 45# one. I have only shot 1 arrow (probably my last one) from my wheel bow since buying my first trad bow.

Dad bought me a Ben Pearson Super Jet 35# glass bow to keep me occupied in the woods as he and my uncles built a cabin in the North Woods. I was 9 or ten at the time.
I still have it and still shoot it on occasion.
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A Bear Grizzly  that I wish I still owned for just sentimental reasons.

My first real bow was a 1954 Bear Cub , 36#@28" .
Still have that bow .
My next bow was a 1973 Bear Kodiak Magnum , 45#@28" . Still have that one too .
In fact that K-Mag is still my favorite bow .

I was 8. I got a fiberglass recurve (can't remember the brand but think it was Bear). I would get up every morning about six and chase black birds around the neighborhood. I finally killed one after a couple of months. Then I just quit hunting them and started shooting other stuff. This was in 1963.

I made my first bow from a sapling around 1977 or 78 or so. I had one arrow made from what I cannot remember except that the fletch was a loosely spiral wrapped tail feather I pulled from one of our roosters. It was fun when the bow and/or string wasn't broken.

I didn't actually really get into archery until about 1986 or 87. i bought a compound bow with the sole purpose of extending my hunting season. Period. It was just supposed to be a tool.

I ended up working in a pro shop and got really caught up in the latest, greatest, most high tech bow hunting equipment for a couple years. But, I never really got the satisfaction I thought I would.

I don't remember where I found it but, I came across a Groves Spitfire. It seemed to call out to me so, I bought it for a little bit of nothing. That was the bow that sank its fangs into my soul and revealed which path my archery journey would follow.

I still have 6 or 7 compounds that I haven't looked at in years. Unfortunately, the Groves Spitfire fell victim to the South Florida sun in the back seat of a friend's car after he borrowed it for a trad 3D shoot.

There wasn't anything particularly special about that bow, at least not physically. However, without it, I wouldn't have discovered the true joy of archery/bowhunting.

My first real bow was a 45 lb Pearson recurve that I bought at a pawn shop for $20.00 in 1980 when I was 14 years old. Before that I had a 20 lb green fiberglass Bear recurve.

My first trad bow was a Grizzly. I sold it a few years ago to a young fellow who was just getting started in bow hunting with trad gear. Good to know the old griz is getting someone else started.

made sapling bows when I was a kid, to shoot birds & squirrels. First real bow was a Checkmate Falcon. Did a lot od wheel bow shooting in between. Mike

The first bow I remember shooting was a fiberglass bow when I was about six years old. The first bow I bought was a Bear Patriot from a pawn shop. But the one that really got me hooked was a Martin Mamba I bought once I got out of the Army in '93.

Pearson lemonwood longbow.

My first bow was a mid 60's Bear Cub purchased at a garage sale in 1971 for $10.  Been shooting and hunting with recurves since.  This excluedes bows we made from saplings and boards early in life.

My first Traditional Bow 50# Martin Hunter. Couple years ago gave it to My son in law, so He  could pass-it-on to My Grandson. (ONESHOT)

Herters perfection 46"

My first bow was an Indian Archery Seneca #40.  Got it at a flea market when I was 9 or 10.  I still have it today.  A countless number of arrows launch by that bow.

Shawnee Traditions mild r/d longbow. Took a little break and came back to a Great Northern Ghost. Owned a bunch since then. Favorite now is a Super Shrew.

My Dad had made a longbow in high school shop, I shot that a few times until I broke it.  He never got mad but that was the end of my archery until I was 30.  I grew up in Ohio back in the 60's when there wasn't a deer season.  I was a shotgun hunter mainly pheasants in Northern Ohio but quail in Southern Ohio when I was in Vet school at Ohio State (notice I said Ohio State because back then the wasn't a THE before Ohio State).  Anyway my Dad retired back to Wisconsin where his side of the family lived. My vet practice was going gang busters but I was able to get off for week in November to visit for some fishing...dang cold in a small boat that November.  All my cousins where bowhunters and I'd never seen that before.  The following year 1979, my Dad and I picked up compounds to deer hunt.  In deer camp was a friend of my cousins with a longbow, I feel in love with the simplicity of that bow.  When I got home an order a 60# Tim Meigs green glass longbow from a young guy in Michigan by the name of Ron LaClair.  As a side note when I was collecting bows I found that black glass longbow that started my journey...61# Dave Johnson longbow.  I still have that bow and won't ever sell it.  The Meigs is long gone as it kicked like a mule  :)

Like Wingnut, my first real store bought bow was a 50# lemonwood longnow, purchased at Sears-Rowbuck.  I believe it cost $12.00, with six field tip wood arrows, and six Bear Razorheads, armguard, finger tab, and side quiver. I'm guessing it was around 1949, I was surely overbowed at 10 years old.  I still have that bow. Wish I still had those razorheads.

My first "exposure" was to my Dad's Clan Gordon Duke.  I believe it was 44@28, but he's a giant and pulled a true 32".  It was an awesome thing to see when you're a kid!  When I was 13 or 14 he found a Browning Fire Drake for me and I tinkered with it over the years while hunting with my compound, and even becoming a pro-shop shooter for BowTech.  I eventually developed awful target panic and came back to the simplicity of my recurve because it was fun to shoot and that TP wasn't there.  That hooked me in deep and now like many of us, I own a garage full of various recurves and longbows and love them all.    

...but the Fire Drake still hangs dressed and ready to go.

1962 Bear Kodiak Magnum. Bought it new in '62.

Second was a '63 Bear Tamerlane in January the next year. The K Mag just didn't do it for field archery shooting. Bought both with my own money before I was old enough to drive a car. Had been reading NFAA's Archery Magazines in '61 someone left on the table to read when I attended Explorer Scout meetings. Read a book by Fred Bear too sitting around the summer of '60 so I was primed and knew what I wanted - only the best.

Dad always made us use our own money for everything not necessary for just plain living including the fancy clothes we preferred for school (like real Levis instead of cheaper jeans or a nylon wind breaker I got from the golf shop where I worked). Still enjoy shooting my old Bears bought recently from that time period. Maybe they take me back a little.

Indian archery recurve 35 lbs, don't remember the model. It was my constant companion as a youngster. I got it for Christmas but really wanted a 45 lb bow because that was what was required to legally bow hunt back then. Of course back then I didn't know anyone who bow hunted, there were no deer around our area and I had no way to get to where there were deer. But that didn't matter, in my heart I wanted an honest to god bow hunting bow.

Mine was a Hoyt "Rambo" recurve.
I still use it for a bowfishing bow.
It is a great platform for bowfishing. With the metal riser and all of the inserts.

The Black Widow PMA recurve in my signature.  The first I ever shot was a friend's Acadian Woods tree stick.  Shot it twice... 2 shots total... My next shot was with my Black Widow.

1970's A red bear fiberglass youth bow. Lost most of the arrows. Used reeds for arrows, Then Dad's Pearson recurve. I think I was drawing 57 lb at 11 yrs old. Cuz I had to! A mismatched handful of bent aluminums. I think some or all of the arrows had plastic vanes. A variety of points and broad heads. No shooting glove.

The Bob Lee in my signature. Found it used about two months ago. Haven't picked up my compound since I got it.

The yellow fiberglass bow in my avatar was my first.  Probably 4-5 yrs old, around 1972.  My grandfather bought each grandson a Bear Cub as we got older.

45 lbs. Jet fiber glass bow, 3 arrows and arm guard in July of 1966. Purchased with hay bailing money.