Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: Blackhawk on August 19, 2010, 12:14:00 PM
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Many of us ole timers began shooting bows in the 50's and 60's, but I was so poor I could not afford $40-$50 for a new bow and had to settle on second hand models.
It was not until 1971 that I actually bought my first, brand new, store-bought bow....a Bear Kodiak Hunter in 50#. I gave a little over $50 for it.
How about you? Remember that first new bow?...and do you still have it?
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1960 Ben Pearson Super Jet...50# $13.00 from MonkeyWard 1960...still have it
1963 RED WING HUNTER...50# $32.00 from Janssen Archery Shop, New Orleans 1963...cracked up
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Late 50's, Bear Red Fox given to me by my parents in Glasgow, Montana. This bow is now being used by my brothers Grandson in Eastern Colorado.
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After 40+ years, I am still waiting to buy a "new" stick bow..
Did buy a couple different ones with training wheels back in the dark ages.
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After shooting a green fiberglass Paul Bunyon, upon return from overseas in '68 I bought a brand spankin' new Wing Gull for about $31. My brother bought an identical one at the same time. I'm looking at it in my bow rack as we 'speak'. Then I bought my buddies new '70 Super Kodiak after he used it for one season. Trying to track down an identical one.
Shick
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My first new bow was given to me for Christmas 1967 from my parents, Blackhawk
scorpion 35#. The first new bow I purchased for myself was a Wing Thunderbird 45# 52" 1969.
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My first new bow was in 1974 a Browning Nomad stalker 49 lbs. I killed my first 10 deer with that bow, I wish I still had it.
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50# 1970 Bear Grizzly - still have it and its' in great shape. It is my go to bow for bowfishing nowadays.
What an investment! - I think it cost me $50 when I bought it from the guy who first interested me in archery. He ran neighborhood archery shop out of his garage. His father was a writer for the Minneapolis newspaper and was also very instrumental in my development as not only was he a great guy - he was friends with Fred Bear.
To a kid in 1970 - Fred was a truly living legend to be admired and a heck of a better person to idolize than most of the sports celebrities today.
Hey Ron - I hope you are doing well! I still love the 55# '64 Kodiak I bought from you last year. What a great shooter! This year it will be my whitetail bow - along with a '59 Kodiak that Joe Lasch (Prairie Traditions) is refinishing for me.
Terry Beaudoin
MN
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Mine was a Browning in 1972 for around $50 and it is still my carp bow.
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mine was a ben pearson spoiler back in 74
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Green Bear fiberglass black rubber handle my Dad got for me and my brother for Christmas. Camp Lejeune PX
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alright i'll proably get blasted but it was actually a bear compound bow in 1996.....my first new traditional bow was a 3 piece tree stick from Acadian Woods in 2009.
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67 Bear Grizzly 48# with a Bear double spring arm quiver.
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Bear Green Fox, Christmas present late 60's or early 70's still have it! CKruse
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I still have my first bow which was a solid fiberglass job 1960's model.Buying a new bow wow that did not happen with me until later in life.I have only ever purchased one new bow.All before and all since have been used but the one new purchase NWA July 1976 50X# Kodiak Hunter bd (http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii175/bowdocsarchery/kh001-1.jpg)
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My first new bow was a Ben Pearson longbow 30# given to me at Christmas in 1955. Next was a solid fiberglass green recurve in 1958. Then as an adult I bought my first real hunting bow in 1967, a Bear Grizzly. I don't have any of them.
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Late sixties or early seventies I can't remember for sure. AMF Red Wing Hunter 45# left hand and around $35 new.I shot lefty for the first several years because that his how Fred Bear shot and my first used bow could be shot off either side. No one told me about the eye dominance thing until a few years later.
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Mid 90's Howatt Hunter.
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:thumbsup:
I expected to see someone tell us about their first new bow....a 1959-62 Bear Kodiak. :dunno:
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1962, I got a Ben Pearson fiberglass 45# bow for Christmas.
1967 bought first new bow, Ben Pearson Cougar and was given an Ole Ben longbow.Shot that longbow for many years. Killed my first deer with it in 1970 plus a bunch of rabbits and quail before that.
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November 14, 1991, my birthday, and a Bear Hunter TD. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, all I knew was that I had to have one of those recurves. This photo is November 14, 2009.
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x77/bo-huntr/Nov142008.jpg)
Remember a brief time period when you could buy recurves from Cabelas mail order. This is that bow.
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x77/bo-huntr/huntertd.jpg)
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I 'm a new member and would like to say how glad I am that I stumbled upon Tradgang . I checked out the forums for a couple days before joining and I am amazed at the knowledge that is shared here ! Now MY first new bow was a Martin(howatt)Mamba 58" 50lb Bought it on the way to a MUCC expo, Happen to stop in a Dunhams sport store and there it was with a "clearance " tag on it . think I paid 85.00 for it(mid 80's) Kept it for a couple years then sold it for what I paid .I have a few older bear bows and a newer Bear Takedown but all of those were bought used . I have one that I will be asking for some help Identifying its an aluminum handled recurve I bought at a yard sale for 2.50 as soon as I figured out how to add pics I'll include more . Iknow how everyone likes Pics
huntnfool
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First one was a 1962 Kodiak.
Second one was a 67 1/2 Super Kodiak.
Jack
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First bow was a new Ben Pearson Cougar in 1961. Cost me $19.00 of my hard earned paper route money. Then next purchase was 1 dz cedar arrows for $9.95 with points.
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I didn't get into archery until 1980. But while in high school in Ohio, we'd go rifle deer hunting over Thanksgiving in Michigan...town was called Grayling! That would have been 1961-64. :knothead: Jeff
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This is easy,my first bow was a Black Hawk yellow Jacket 35#@28" 66". It was 1966 and the bow was taller then me. I still have the bow and still shoots fine.
Gordon
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1949 lemon wood longbow no name 68" and 30 @ 28". A christmas present at age 8. A real rabbit killer.
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1950's Bear Polar. Deflexed long bow with brown glass. Earned the money as a "printer's devil" while in high school. Bought it at a sporting goods store in Reno, Nevada. Earned all sorts of small game patches from NFAA with that bow. Wish I still had it.
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huntnfool 62
Correction...you "were" a new member
Once you post twice, you are a veteran...you are one of us now. :campfire:
I look at the names of all the posters here that got their first bow in the '60's. Can't help but thinking "Man, how far have we all come since we each got our first bow?"
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Signature Saxon Hawk....60" 55# @ 28"
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50# 1970 Grizzly. Still going strong, took a turkey with it last year. Man I felt/feel proud carrying that bow, like I was stepping back in time. Light and free cutting a wide swath.
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I drove to Ravenswood West Virginia and bought a Zipper takedown recurve from Bob Thompson.We went to his basement and I picked out my Bubinga and Grey Maple riser with Curly Maple limbs.It was a beautiful bow I should have kept.
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In about 1967-68 I went into Rink's, a combo sporting goods / grocery / variety store at Taylorsville, Utah and bought an orange glass, maple riser, 35# recurve built by Indian. That bow is long gone but it was my first "store bought" bow and at age 12 I thought I had really arrived.
:archer:
My first bow to include self-bows was one my great granpa built for me several years before. A wooden bow that I broke.
My Dad bought me a spankin' new Howatt 45#er in 1972 that I still own and shoot. :archer2:
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My wife brought me a new Browning bow for me on our first Christmas when we got married. Yet to this day she cannot tell you why she brought me a bow.
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I think I was 9 or 10 yeaws old (1955 or 1956) when I got my first bow for Christmas. All I remember is that it was green fiberglass with a black rubber grip. Probably a Pearson. My next door neighbor friend got the identical bow and we became the terror of the neighborhood. I can remember using the tops from Coke bottles to make new points if an arrow broke at the tip. We would use pliers and a hammer to attach them to the arrow. Man I wish that I could time travel back and reclaim that bow! (And pick up a bunch more on my way back to the present).
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I've never actually owned a "new" bow (although I do have a Dale Dye Medicine Point on order).
My Dad bought my first ("new" to me) bow from the local hardware store in town. A gently used, two year old 1960 Bear Kodiak, 60", 42#. Every archery item in that store had "Bear" on it.
About two years later, I went back to that same store and traded it for a great 1962 Kodiak, 55#. I think it cost me about $12 plus the 60 Kodiak. Of course, that was a lot of money to a kid back then.
Sad to say that I sold that '62 back around 1982 for a song. :knothead: I now spend way too much time trying to find it's replacement!
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late 60's ben pearson jet bow cat.#3330 fiberglass bought by my parents, in my closet now and always will be maybe 15 or 20 lbs. fist one i paid for in the early 70's bear kodiak magnum 48# also in the closet just can't let go - too many memories!!
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1972 Bear Grizzley 58" 50# and still have it. I shot 4 deer with that bow and still shoot it once in awhile.
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Ben Pearson "Mach One"..........sometime in the early to mid 70's.
Winterhawk1960
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On my return to CONUS in 1970 I took a 30 day leave and bought a brand new wood handle Bear take down.
With a few extras and a fishing pole I went to the Gila Wilderness in SW NM to convalesce. Spent all 30 days there.....
After that I spent every annual leave in the Gila for 16 more years.
Charles.
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About 1980... at Woolworths... a bright red solid fiberglass Bear bow archery set, @ 35 pounds. I wanted to buy a heavier bow, a "real" Bear recurve, a laminated 50 pound Bear, one powerful enough for big game, but I was only 12 and lacked the money and approval from Dad. I had birthday cash, and I tried to talk Dad into loaning me some for a better, more powerful bow. He declined, telling me I was wasting my money buying a bow (he was, and still is a gunman. He told me I would waste my cash if I bought the bow, because I would never use it. LOL!!!! One of the few times my Dad was ever wrong. I killed a TON of frogs with that 35# bow! I still chide him about it now, as I'm an avid archery nut!
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My first was a Ben Pearson Junior Jet that I got in the early sixties when I was a kid. No idea what the draw weight is.
I still have that bow and I was going to give it to a young fellow I was coaching in archery until I took a good look at it. The limbs were so twisted that it would downright dangerous to shoot. Wish I had stuck with archery then.
My second new bow was an American archery wood riser compound that I bought back in the 80's. I really knew nothing about compounds and I did not fit me at all. Wish I had stuck with archery then.
My third new bow was a Mathews compound bought in 1993 when Mathews made 50 bows and month. Wish I had stuck with archery then.
Last week I bought my fourth new bow, a BowTech compound, to add to the carefully used Ben Pearson, Damon Howatt, and Bear recurves I bought over the last couple or three years. And come hell or high water I will stick with archery now until I die!
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After shooting hand me downs and pieces of junk for years I finally puirchased my first new, real bow. All of the stores had racks of Bears and Pearsons but they were all a little too pricey for me. I really wanted a Herters like my dad's but they were also out of my price range. I ended up buying a Stemmler. Picked out the model with the green glass as I felt it was more camoflaged. This was about 1975 or so.
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My first stick bow was a Shadowcast 1 piece Longbow made by Tree's Custom Bows. 66" 58# @ 28" draw. I got it in 2008 and took 2 deer with it in 2009. I also own a not very used FireFly takedown Longbow that is 60" 55# @ 28" draw. I plan on taking another Ohio buck with it before the end of this month. I shot compounds from 1993 with Mathews being about all I would shoot. I still own one that I bought new in 2008 which my son is shooting now. Traditional will be the way I roll from here on........Dusty
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45# Paul Bunyan custom recurve. I was 12 at the time and couldn't string it so my mother did for me.
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Sky Archery Rogue, 60", 58@28
:campfire:
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1956 Green Bear, 22# and I was darned lucky to get that with my own money from a paper route.
We could not have afforded a Kodiak in our dreams!
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Crap I could never afford a new bow until I was in my 20 somethings bd
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My dad bought me a brand new green Parabow (25#) solid fiberglass bow in '58 or '59. That was my first real new bow. Later, I began using his Ben Pearson solid fiberglass bow (35#). I saved up and finally was able to buy a laminated bow - a Pearson Cougar (42#)in 1962. Made my first archery deer kill with that bow a couple of years later. I don't have any of those bows now.
Mike
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my first bow was a used solid glass model I traded a pellet gun for it along with 3 Bear arrows of which I just happen to run across the bow a couple days ago while looking for something else...my ? to you is how many still have that first bow ? bd
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My first bow was a Pearson hickory straight bow that I got for Christmas in 1960. Got a Pearson all fiberglass Jet in '64. The first decent brand new bow I bought as an adult was a first year green-striper in '80 or '81. I felt like I had really indulged, lol. Discovered I liked my '71 T/D that I'd bought used better. I still own the '71.(and several others)GY
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hatfield take down
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Green glass 20-25#(pearson or p.bunyan?)with rubber suction cups on wood arrows Mom won at bingo,maybe '55-'56. After a few weeks,it disappeared after I harvested a rabbit out of the side yard and proudly showed it to my folks. (good thing "we" didn't get caught when I shot the neighbor kid in the forehead(he dared me & I was maybe 8)earlier, (just)before I realized how lethal the thing was.
I still cringe every time I think about it.
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A 1965 52" Herters Perfection and I still have it. Just as pretty today as it was when I bought it.
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My first bow was a 68 super kodiak bought out of Jack witts bow shop in little rock ,Arkansas. We called Fred Bear at his shop and I talked to him personally and told him I wanted a bow identical to what he was shooting. Mine was a 60 inch at 50 lbs.(he shot a 64 in.bow) I shot the bow for a few years ,and shot it well but decided I needed a mans bow bow so sold it and bought a 60 lb. super k from Bobby Murray (won first bass masters classic). It was so strong I could hardly pull it. It delaminated on me one day and broke my nose and cracked some teeth.That cooled my ardor for bowhunting for many years. (1972) I retired in 1995 at 53 years old and was talked into getting back into shooting. I bought a new 46lb black widow and as they say, the rest is history! I love traditional archery.
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Washed dishes at the local Diner....bought a new Browning Nomad 52" 37# @ 28",cost $37. I think it was 67' or 68' wish I still had it, sold it in 1980 for $30 :banghead:
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I tell you BD I still have my first bow 35# Blackhawk Scorpion. It's real beat up as that bow was never out of my hands when I got it. I was about 12 in 1967 and my buddies and me roamed the woods every day with our bows
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Bear Royal Safari long bow. Nice stable fast bow. Grip was too big. It was a Byron Ferguson design and I believe he liked his grip that way.
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1965 Herter's Perfection, 52"/55#. Still have that bow and it looks and shoots great, the same as the day I bought it.
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1992 Martin Hunter 60# , I was 21
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An old wood longbow. Dad gave me for Christmas when I was 12 years old. actualy there were two. one was 25# and the other was 45#. I broke the 25# bow after about 5 years of use. My x-wife somehow made the other disapear. Don't know if they were hickory or lemonwood. There was no name on them. I think they were made by a local bowyer. That was back in 1959. I'm 71 yrs old.
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Correction That was back in 1951.
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1961 bought my first bow from the local hardware store for $19.00 from money saved doing a paper route.Ben Pearson Cougar 42#. Kileed my first two deer with that bow-sure wish I still had it but then I didn't keep any of the bows I've used over the last nearly 50 years, except The current ones I'm shooting.
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1982 recurve take-down - mom bought it for us to keep us busy on vacation
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BROWNING WASP #45 LEFT HAND, BOUGHT IN 1968 TO HUNT WITH; STILL HAVE IT AND SHOOT IT AS MY "GO TO" BOW. I HAVE A TRUST IN IT FROM LONG YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. IT'S NEVER LET ME DOWN. I OWN 29 BOWS NOW, BUT NONE MEAN AS MUCH AS THAT OLD BROWNING. IT'S MORE A FRIEND THAN A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.
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A Bear 76'er in 1975 when I was in college. Red riser with white limbs. I still have it although it has been painted and customized over the years.
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my first deer hunting bow was a used ben pearson colt 62" 45#@28" still have it,but has twisted limb wish i could fix it..killed my first deer with it. my first new bow was a bear grizzley 50#@28"..john
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1981 62" Kittridge T/D recurve. I was a marine overseas and just got back from the mid east and ordered it from the Bow Hut.
I use to hunt mongoose in hawaii outside on Kaneohe for hunting practice and hunted Axis deer on the big island.
I sold it to another Marine when I was getting out. I bought a 1985 Martin hunter recurve.
I would sure like to have that kittredge back.
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Latecomer to the thread....and to archery. I started as an adult in 1974. Bought a Wing Slim Line Pro from the local discount store for $64 and happened upon the dumbest buck in Michigan! Moved around the country and couldn't kill another deer for 7 years!!! About 20 years later that old Wing had killed so many carp and suffered so much handling damage, was even further damaged by movers. So I sold it for pennies! Some years after that I realized I needed another Wing like that and went looking for one....yes, I picked one up, but then found they weren't such a great bow after all! It's the old story - I was too dumb to know I had a mediocre bow and killed my deer with one shot! Too late smart, huh?
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In 1957 a green solid glass Paul Bunyan bow purchased at a hardware store in Sandusky MI.
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1968 Ben Pearson Pinto........55lbs, the whole town knew I had lost my mind not getting 45lbs!
Neat thread.
God Bless