Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: nek4me on December 26, 2017, 03:07:00 PM
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I have seen many make a reference to their first bow and some mention they still have it. What was your first commercial bow and do you still have it?
My first was a Shakespeare Parabow B-8 Rocket 25# @28 purchased in 1966 with paper route money. Then in '69 the Little Bear was the first wood handle "hunting bow" I ever saw and even though I had already outgrown it at only 20# @24" I had to have it. In '73 I got my first hunting weight bow a 45# Black Bear.
(http://i.imgur.com/4c9lvqK.jpg)
Both Bears have light colored face glass that seems to be getting popular again. The Black Bear was camo painted for almost 40 years and when stripped two years ago I hadn't remembered it had the yellow face - I kinda like the contrast with the black back.
(http://i.imgur.com/R5Or46p.jpg)
Lots of memories with these three. Just ordered a B55 from Daniel at HCB to see how the Black Bear responds to a real string.
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Mine was a 20# lemon wood longbow that my dad got for me. My friends and I would "rove" for hours shooting at anything that caught our eye.
It met it's end in the spokes of my bicycle when it strayed from my grip.
Next was a green all glass ambidextrous bow near identical to your Shakespeare.
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Indian archery 15 lb
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First real bow was a Bear Grizzly
Terry
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Herter's Perfection Stitka and still have it. It is a 65# model and shot it for nearly 20 years before started to get some twist in the limbs. It is sure slow by todays standards and took nearly a tree to make it with the huge riser. I still have the catalog that I ordered it out of and the cost was $50.
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Double post sorry .
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My first trad bow was a Martin Savana. 45lb. Wish I still had it. Now I have the trad bow bug , and have way to many. (So my wife says )
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My first was a lemonwood longbow, about 15#. I was 7 or 8 at the time. Been shooting sticks ever since. No longer have it. Had a Shakespeare (can't remember the model), Bear K-mag with a twisted limb and a Wing Thunderbird as a teenager. A little later, a Bear Kodkak Special and Super Kodiak. First custom was an Asbel Bighorn in the '80s. Don't have any of those bows now either.
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Indian archery 20 or 25 pounder was the first “official” bow. My grandfather made me several while I was young.
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My first real bow, that wasn't a string tied to a stick, was a Damon Howatt "Little John."
I came across it again in my mother's basement just a couple of months ago, many years down the road. Somewhere along the line one of the limb tips delaminated. I finally tossed it out.
I got the bow and a beginning set of lessons way back when.
(https://i.imgur.com/PbQSII0m.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iH1L090m.jpg)
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First bow came off the lilac, my first commercial bow was toy piece of plastic junk. My second commercial bow was a Pearson fiberglass. My first real bow was from a piece of straight grained ash that lightening fired off of our neighbors ash tree. A man that made billet osage bows from fence posts, made me a Hill style sinew backed longbow for himself and one for me out of it. I killed my first pheasants with that bow. When it cracked, I got a Pearson Gamester Recurve.
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My 1st bows were wheel bows... Very 1st... a Bear "Black Bear" that i managed to somehow break/destroy...
The second bow was a Ben Pearson compound of some sort.
My 1st "traditional" bow, a TD recurve is the one in my siggy and is a delight to shoot. Got it for Fathers Day this year and been enjoying it ever since.
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My first commercially made bow was a '58 Bear Panda semi recurve maple with red glass 58"AMO
36#@26" and it is hanging in a Quillian's Archery Traditions bow sock in the closet with a brand new Ten Ring string.
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We shot what ever we could make or borrow for 4 years. My first store bought bow was a 52# 1962 Bear Kodiak. I don't have the exact bow but I do have a 1962 Kodiak that is almost the same weight as my first one.
Jack
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Little yellow fiberglass with red rubber grip. Don't laugh, it killed rabbits.
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A yellow fiberglass bow, when I was a kid. Didn't shoot after that until I was in my early forties (1990's); got an older Stemmler semi recurve with a twist in the lower limb, but shot well. Had that until it blew up a few years ago. Think I overdid it trying to take out the twist.
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My first bow was a 45# Ben Pearson Gamester. I killed my first deer with it. I still have it.
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"Little yellow fiberglass with red rubber grip. Don't laugh, it killed rabbits" BAK
Almost exactly the same here, except mine was red fiberglass with a yellow rubber grip. Mine killed the odd bunny too.
I remember it well, it was a Christmas present about 45 years ago.
Best
Lex
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My grandfather got all the grandsons into archery. Each ended up with a Bear Cub at 25lb when we were maybe 6 or so years old.
Wish I still had that bow.
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My first bow I made out of a tree limb back in 1964 when I was 11 years old. My first manufactured bow was a 52” 1965 Herter’s Perfection which I bought in 1970.....and I still have it.
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My first was a John Jordan stalker recurve. Shot that bow better than any I've owned since and can't believe I let it get away from me
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Indian archery 25 lb fiberglass recurve
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My first "real" hunting bow was a Browning Nomad Stalker recurve. I shot more whitetail deer with that one and a Nomad stalker II than all other bows combined up in the Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan.
My first homemade was a Beech (as in tree) sapling that I stripped the bark off from and fashioned a string from jute twisted and finished with shallac. The strings did not last long but got me through the week. That was back in 1960..
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I had a lightweight fiberglass bow. I think it was Red, then I used saplings before I upgraded to my dads old gray fiberglass bow. he still has it. then I used his 1969 Bear Grizzly until my little brother broke it. still have that one too.
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Mine was a little 3 ft bamboo self-bow that, as I recall, had "Niagra Falls" painted on the back. Rubber tipped fletchless arrow (may not have been original to the bow).
After that a gray fiberglass bow much like that Shakespeare Parabow. I think it was Shakesphere; of maybe 20 lbs.
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My first "real" bow was a 45# Shakespeare Necedah. Killed my first deer with it. Ended up selling it to a lady in Los Angeles of all places.
I still remember making sapling bows at my Gramp's cabin in northern MI. Don't recall anything dying, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
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In 1986 the local sports shop had all recurves on clearance sale for $25. I had no idea what I was looking at (Bear bows) and just picked one. It was a 45# Black Bear.
I gave it to the neighbor kid several years ago.
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In 1967 I got a Browning Nomad Stalker with money I made washing dishes at the local Diner. That bow cost $37.50, I wanted a Bear Grizzly but it was $47.50 and I didn't have the money and could not wait a week........lol.
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Bob Lee takedown recurve
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My first was a Plasti-steel bow in 1970 and I was 20 years old. That POS only lasted 2 weeks before I got a Ben Pearson 52" but, I don't remember what the model name was, just remember with my 29 1/4" draw it had super finger pinch. Loved the way it shot and looked, but blew the top limb within a year.
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First was a yellow/white fiberglass bow I terrorized the local woods with , I was about 6 or 7. First real bow I bought in high school a 1972 Bear Kodiak Hunter.
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Originally posted by ron w:
In 1967 I got a Browning Nomad Stalker with money I made washing dishes at the local Diner. That bow cost $37.50, I wanted a Bear Grizzly but it was $47.50 and I didn't have the money and could not wait a week........lol.
Ron...that's funny!!....same year I bought the Nomad..I worked at a small restaurant washing dishes in Holland Michigan...I made a whoppin .65 cents per hour.
Small world....good memories!! :archer:
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As a millennial, my first bow was a cheap cast aluminum ilf riser with basic maple/glass limbs. I soon upgraded to a kayak tropics machined aluminum riser with kaya tropics carbon/wood limbs, 28#, and then with kap winstorm ii carbon foam limbs, 32#. I was gifted a greatree deerslayer, 40#, from a friend of the owner of greatree, whom I also knew. It was supposed to be a cosmetic defect, but I cannot see any defect, cosmetic or otherwise. Sweet shooter.
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My first bow was a red fiberglass compound that was given to me by my parents when I started school. Still have it and it has been used by every one of my siblings.
My first trad bow was a PSE Blackhawk. It pulls 40 pounds. I don't shoot it a ton, but pull it out every now and then. Although kind of a mass produced bow, it's one of the prettiest I've ever seen.
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A red fiberglass 15# bow, 56 years ago.
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Whoa time flys....
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an old bear minute man, green riser and white limbs
not a speed demon by any means but still one of my favorite bows that I own
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Orange and white fiberglass Ben Pearson at 20lb. First big game bow was a 42lb Hoyt medalist.
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Robertson Stykbow Peregrine #65@29" was my first traditional bow.
I happened to notice it in the rafters of a guy building some cedars for my hunting partners Wapiti way back in the early 90's. Nothing fancy wood wise, some days I wish it had Dicks' pierce points built into it, but I've grown on the simplicity of this build over time. The Chastain Wapiti pictured is from the same era and is my hunting partners first trad bow.
(http://i.imgur.com/vqhjxDe.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XYfuxqc.jpg)
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In 1975 I bought a Bear 76er It was an olive drab and brown model 45@28. I was 12
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Like David I bought the green and brown 76er new from an old hardware store that's no longer in business. I had a springarm quiver as well. They will make you appreciate a quiet quiver! My folks did buy my brother and I the 15# red and white Pearsons fiberglass models and we slayed all the bunnies in a neighborhood briar thicket :bigsmyl: Good thread by the way it's nice to take a trip back in time.
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I was given a red fiberglass Indian brand bow with a black rubber handle when I was 7 years old. I shot targets and pop cans for hours and hours.
My favorite was hunting cactus, and skinning/eating the ones I hit.
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My first bow was also a yellow fiberglass recurve. Santa (my Mom) got it for me for Christmas about 47 years ago. I'm not sure why, I had no idea about archery back then. Of course I strung it up backwards and shot it a lot! Then an older cousin strung it up correctly and man did that shoot faster. I still have a yellow fiberglass bow that my grand kids shoot, but I'm not sure if it's the same one. I have no idea where I got it from. :archer2:
My first hunting weight bow was a Quinn Stallion.
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My first trad bow was a 1969 bear alaskan 50@28 from my father in law at his passing in 1990. Looked much like your black bear but yellow glass back n belly.
Hunted with it many years, taking a few deer with it.
I've since passed it on to my adult son to keep it in the family.
No mostly shooting my HH longbow.
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Martin X200
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Hand made flatbow by my Great Grandad, also hand whittled cedar arrows. First "store bought" bow was an Indian, orange glass and maple riser.
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50# Bear Kodiak Hunter
Bisch
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My first bow was a solid fiberglass "Colt Captain" 30# static tip and dual shelf. It's still being used by Grand kids today. My first hunting weight recurve was a 67 1/2 Super Kodiak. I hunted with it this past year.
(https://i.imgur.com/OnocMx5.jpg)
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First store bought bow was a Shakespeare all fiberglass bow my parents gave me about 1959. I still have it. My second store bought bow was a 50# Kodiak Magnum I bought new in 1971. I also still have it.
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My first bow was a Shakespeare fiberglass Comet it says 25# but it is 40#. I even shot a deer with it . Second bow was a 45# Bear cub a 1962 year . I still have both and occasionally shoot them . I went on **** and doubled up on the Comet and a friend , Brandon Barringer gave me a Bear cub Identical to the one I have .
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Still have my first recurve...acquired in 1969...a Little Bear
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In 1984, fresh out of college, I bought the prettiest compound I could find--the Bear Archery Brown Bear. It looked nothing like today's arrow launching machines.
The reason I bought this compound was due to its traditional look. I didn't think you could hunt big game without a compound. Then in about 1987 I met some local bowhunters shooting longbows and recurves in SW Colorado where I lived. They took me under their wing and soon after doing some shooting and finally hunting antelope with them one fall, I realized I could miss as well with my compound as I could with a recurve and, in 1989, I ordered a Martin Howatt Hunter.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a_s962_xAjws0QX-iacC6Q9lltueGMJh6DUTHCEMH8uektIlQYMGv7gDBtw3XLVJFpLi5dPbVBjL-YWyc4UoQPiu7CjVoXGfFD3-oGqE9j615NB0n-lJxgrN6-6cJUnrIqiqO8sysq8QqJT2bfOEZv3hT3vDlgb48JRgfV5-_681MKgW9yuHM1-U3W5P91vZ5DnkE_mbV12BBv8DW7L5gBySzYPgsGyl52KSXXV_ASt0yryjlIKcvJ55FtGuiUpVOPev5o8WLW4i_lUtfPCayNB7RDABc6WJVoD410YOX1wuc35yMbXH1Wb6JrCHDxe7Ru5COZDTONx9TAw0Wx7I1_CkI4tJyqekOlbvFFUxp4ZIq2r6roDNp_3A2KXmdjrTlAeUwkRlWjzChXdFBgFggV8gsBAc9D7kt5PTceCg8WLDegLgbl6yVIDx70p3cs7CvEzdXAuHQ_lo43zKcNEo_apvr7YJC7d3f52r7z5jqmnP-0n_yy91qb7VZv9q1mZOAlgyZKZAVYxUMZwJbfvVRYea8C2fpzd8UhCSZglEivcIavgqvj6QuiyWqh-4yUECm8uEc_JE1odINhSevlgax3UD2_jvkbTTG8Rlw0yB=w499-h129-no)
I never looked back. The next year I started shooting a Martin ML10 Mountaineer longbow and shortly thereafter ordered a "custom" Wapiti Spike longbow. I now own several racks full of "traditional" bows. I shot one antelope with that compound and have killed many, many game animals since in several states with my longbows and that Martin recurve.
I am now shooting an old Bear Kodiak and an Eskimo that are the same age as me-give or take a year.
I sold that Brown Bear Compound about as fast as I could back then. Now I wish I still had it hanging on the wall for posterity's sake. For a compound, it was really quite beautiful!
Mike
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My first bow was a native American horse bow from the Cherokee nation It was made for my Dad when he was a kid. plenty of small critters died in front of it including a few stray cats, rabbits and one partridge. I still have it but it has not been strung in probably 40 years.
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My first was my Dad's Ben Pearson Colt that he bought back around late 60's and I started using it sometime around 1979 !
I still have it in my shop and he had some of those "Hilbre" heads and a borrowed back quiver. :archer:
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My first was a Browning Nomad, wood riser compound, back in about 1985. My first traditional bow was a Blue Ridge Hunter takedown made by a local bowyer, back in about 1991.
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First bow, kids peewee wheelie bow from Service Merchandise when I was around 10, it still had enough penetration to shoot through a bag of kitty litter LOL
First TRAD bow, a Bear Tigercat when I was around 11 or 12.
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My first bow was given to me by my dad. It was a '59 Bear Kodiak 64" 45 lbs. Yes I do still have it
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My first bow was a Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow bow I got it for Christmas when I was 6 because I asked for a bow. I still have it but hasn't been strung in years. My brothers who were 9, 10 and 11 years younger than me used it when I went away to college. I got it back a few years ago from my folks house, lots of memories in that old bow!
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A Glenn Wilson recurve made in Michigan. Dad bought it for me in the early 60's.
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there was a few when I wasn't sure which direction in archery I was going but the bow that made me decide to go traditional was a Genesis bamboo backed osage flatbow by Joe Don Jones
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1971 (I think) Ben Pearson Cougar
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50# Shakespeare Necedah.
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45# Paul Bunyon custom recurve in 1960. I still have one at 50# to shoot once and a while.
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‘70 Bear KMag #45 that I still hunt with.
My dad bought off a guy at work fo $50 back in the early 80’s.
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My first bow was green and made of fiberglass with a plastic handle. It could be shot right-handed or left-handed, a double shelf. I must have been 10 or 11 years old at the time.
I don't remember what the name of it was, I thought it was a Bear but I don't think so. It was either 1959 or 1960 when I got it.
Carl
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First commercial bow was a 1953 Bear Polar (semi-recurve), bought it from Howard Valentine, Bear Rep. Later traded it to Glenn St Charles for a dual shelf Kodiak (55 or 56) and then a 1957 Kodiak. Never kept a bow until I bought a 1962 Howard Hill Longbow (72#) from Hugh Rich.
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My first bow was one of those plastic/fiberglass jobs from the hardware store. Otasco's if i remember right. Had the fletchless arrows with the suction cups. Didnt last long though. Figured out the arrows would stick to glass better if you licked them. Several evenings of dad coming home to a bunch of rings on the tv screen from it spelled the end of that one. Next was a 1966 Bear Alaskan, 66" and 35@28. Bubinga riser and white face and back. Has tje blank off plate for the Bear Premier sight, brush rest, and the little screw in adjustment kinda like a berger button. Got in back whem i was 10 or 11 i reckon. That would have been around 1980 or 81. Friend of the family was cleaning out his garage, found it, and gave it to me when dad said i could have it. Its hanging in the same room as the guns, the type 1 c riser, my ilf rig, the round wheel compound i bought in 84 or 85 and the Onieda leverbow. Still shoot the Alaskan on a regular basis. For some reason it just feels better and shoots better than any other bow i have.
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1st bow was a Ben Pearson Cougar w/white glass 35# bought with S/H green stamps back in 1971-73
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Blue Stripe Bear Kodiak Mag #45. Christmas present from mom and dad in mid 70's. Shot a nice doe with it 3 days after unwrapping it at Christmas. Still have it and still hunt with it occasionally. It is the one bow that I will never let go of.
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Darton JR-50 Recurve when I was 7 years old. That little bow sparked a fire that has burned for almost 40 years.
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Howatt Hunter. I still use it for bowfishing.
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45# Darton Ranger recurve I bought off **** about 17 years ago. Wish I still had it.