Post by: Pine on June 27, 2022, 04:44:38 PM
As for me, I wanted to shoot a bow and arrow at a very early age and when I was 6 years old my dad got me a 25# bow and taught me how to shoot. And buy the way, there were no mechanical bows back then, so I guess it wasn’t traditional at the time.
But the years went by and the Wheelies came on the scene and I tried a couple but I didn’t like them and stuck with “Traditional”.
Funny thing, back then it was called “A stick bow”, took a few more years before I heard the term Traditional Archery.
So how about your calling to shoot Traditional?
Would love to hear how you got interested and or started. :archer:
Post by: Pat B on June 27, 2022, 04:59:52 PM
Post by: Pete McMiller on June 27, 2022, 05:16:52 PM
Post by: Bowguy67 on June 27, 2022, 07:19:10 PM
Shot some compounds starting the 80s though I never stopped w the styks.
I’m an accomplishment type guy and styks def add to the accomplishment.
Post by: Wudstix on June 27, 2022, 08:29:33 PM
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
Post by: A Lex on June 27, 2022, 08:33:18 PM
Willow branch's for the bow and butcher's twine for the string. Old fence pailings split and smoothed for arrows, and chicken feathers tied on with fishing line for fletching. Cut up an old chrome bumper bar from an old Ford car for points.
My Dad bought me my first "real" bow when I was 7 or 8, a red fiberglass longbow with a 15lb pull, thought I had it made :goldtooth:
Had it for years, but bought other trad bows along the way, didn't know they were called Trad back then. Played with wheels for a short stint, but found them cold heartless and too blazing fernickerty. Bought a real nice recurve somewhere around 20 years ago but for some unknown reason was really drawn to longbows nearly 10 years ago, and have used them ever since with not one single regret.
It's been a fantastic journey. I've really enjoyed the last 20 odd years with my trad bows, and God willing, I'm really looking forward to the next 20 :biglaugh:
"Journey" is actually the name of my 75lb Blackwidow longbow.
About to go and start making up a new batch of wood arrows right now actually.........
Best
Lex
Post by: wood carver 2 on June 27, 2022, 08:37:49 PM
Shortly after, I discovered Trad Gang and it wasn’t long before I began learning how to build my own bows. Now I have a rack with a dozen longbows and recurves hanging from it and I’m adding bows now and then.
Dave.
Post by: Wudstix on June 27, 2022, 08:47:18 PM
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
Post by: Sam McMichael on June 27, 2022, 09:07:08 PM
Post by: Mike Malvaini on June 27, 2022, 09:25:58 PM
https://backwoodsgrind.com/podcasts/ep-20-back-to-the-basics-traditional-archery-with-terry-green-of-tradgang/
9:30 - 18:00
Not only that, but the St Jude stories were unbelievable. Too bad the 'woke' are committing suicide. Horrible that they don't want to associate with Tradgang.
Post by: Terry Green on June 27, 2022, 09:37:05 PM
Post by: dnovo on June 27, 2022, 09:38:30 PM
Post by: doubleo on June 27, 2022, 10:54:27 PM
Post by: Captain*Kirk on June 27, 2022, 11:32:24 PM
Eventually I got into the gear game, getting several compounds and moving into Easton aluminum arrows and releases, and all the gadgets that go with it. It got to be too much, playing keeping up with the Joneses. I thought "There has to be a better way...a simpler way". And then I watched a video with Barry Wensel whacking a running whitetail on the fly with no sights, no releases, no super carbon arrows...just smooth, lightning fast perfection and said..."Eureka!" That was what I'd been looking for all along! And it all came back to roost like a long-lost friend. And I've never looked back.
Post by: MnFn on June 27, 2022, 11:52:14 PM
Post by: Wilderlife on June 28, 2022, 03:06:54 AM
It took me well into adulthood and hunting with a rifle to even entertain the idea of hunting with a bow. I had a compound and killed a few animals and had fun but I never warmed to the bow itself.
Around that time I started paying more attention to bowhunting online and stumbled on Aron Snyder content. That's what really made me aware that people take recurves/longbows out hunting and can be very successful.
A friend of mine very generously helped me along my way into traditional archery and gifted me a Black Widow PCH. My first ever trad bow. I haven't looked back since.
Well, I do still rifle hunt an awful lot but I'm well and truly in love with archery.
Post by: PrimitivePete on June 28, 2022, 05:16:02 AM
Post by: Terry Green on June 28, 2022, 07:27:19 AM
Post by: McDave on June 28, 2022, 08:13:17 AM
We played around with compounds for a year or so, and then I read an article about traditional archery that fascinated me. I bought a Brackenbury recurve, which I loved, and never looked back. The kids stayed with their compounds for a while, and then moved on to other activities, although they both kept their bows, and my younger son still shoots with me from time to time. Interestingly, I taught his wife to shoot a traditional recurve, which she loves, and has no desire to shoot a compound bow. I lost one of my recurves in the process, but gained a new trad shooter, so it was worth it.
Post by: Terry Green on June 28, 2022, 08:48:43 AM
Post by: trad_bowhunter1965 on June 28, 2022, 09:56:34 AM
Post by: hessian on June 28, 2022, 11:10:44 AM
Post by: rastaman on June 28, 2022, 11:29:11 AM
Post by: tippit on June 28, 2022, 12:06:25 PM
Post by: Appalachian Hillbilly on June 28, 2022, 01:13:59 PM
We all got bows when my grandson turned 6 . He got a cheap compound and we had so much fun, we bought one. Joined a local club and Mike is a member. He shot a round with my grandson and he invited me to his shop.
I went and shot one of his longbows, then bought one....then another...and another and it just snowballed.
I love the beautiful wood craftsmanship of trad bows. They have a soul, so to speak where compounds are just tools. I have not shot a compound since and have started making my own bows with Mike's help. I also stay on his list because I just love his craftsmanship.
Post by: Captain*Kirk on June 28, 2022, 02:07:57 PM
I love the beautiful wood craftsmanship of trad bows. They have a soul, so to speak where compounds are just tools.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This. Exactly.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Post by: smoke on June 28, 2022, 03:09:30 PM
Post by: LookMomNoSights on June 28, 2022, 03:39:03 PM
My 2 kids, age 3 and a half and 9, both shoot their longbows regularly. And though they both do excellent, I'm starting to think the 3 and half year old has a gift. He hits what he's looking at and more times than not, he holds a form that would make some seasoned individuals envious.....
Post by: GCook on June 28, 2022, 05:57:15 PM
Yeah I had a cheap fiberglass bow as a kid but .22s and shotguns replaced that in my teens the adult life took hold and it was all on the back burner for a few years.
I hunted some paper company land in east Texas one season with it. Only one armadillo was unlucky as I never saw a deer close enough to shoot at. But I could keep five arrows on a paper plate at 20 yards and that was the "test" of competency at most days leases. I went on a rifle elk hunt with some older guys from the gun club in 89 and one of them took me under his wing. He and I would shoot together and he would clean my clock with his compound and when I found a Bear Whitetail 2 on clearance at KMart the recurve became a bow fishing rig and I bow hunted with compounds for the next 26 years. And that was a very conscious decision because I had hunted a lease with two fellas who were traditional shooters. They bragged about not picking up their bows til a couple weeks before season then proceeded to wound and lose deer left and right on that lease. Now granted they were members of the archery club I was but I also knew a couple guys out there who were out there regular and could hang with the compound shooters. So I made up my mind then I would wait until I had time in my life to get good and stay good. I was deadly with what I was doing and since 2000 I only was bow only for deer here in Texas except the years I had shoulder surgery. But the fall after the year I retired I made the adjustment.
That happened in 2015. And thank goodness for the guys in Texas who were able to teach my hard headed self the basics and get me on track. Marty Thomas (Black Widow Buff) and Bisch answering texts and private messages from a crazy man because all I could focus on was getting good enough to hunt.
Then when I'd settled in and needed help on refining things Randy Madden, aka crittergetter, walked me through bareshaft testing and arrow selection for my needs. I've made some great friends through this obsession and it's renewed the intensity of my archery and bowhunting focus.
Now I still own a modern bow. But like my gas grill it sits and waits.
Now I regret waiting so long to switch.
Post by: gregg dudley on June 29, 2022, 09:42:47 AM
My mom wouldn't let me have a bow. She thought they were dangerous, which is hilarious since I had every type of gun known to man. I shot bows at Boy Scout Camp and loved it. My nearest neighbor had a bow and we would shoot it when mom wasn't around. We did all the stupid stuff that she was afraid we would do. I finally got a compound bow when I was about 18. In 2003 or 2004, I was invited to a shoot put on by the Traditional Bowhunters of Florida. I didn't even shoot, but I walked part of the course with my friend and had a great time. I went straight home and ordered a Black Widow recurve. I killed a deer with it the next year and sold all of my compound bows except for one that my daughter had put a Sesame Street Elmo sticker on for good luck.
Post by: toddster on June 29, 2022, 11:21:15 AM
in the Marines, but no spark.
It was after I left the service and a buddy talked me into going squirrel hunting, afterward we stopped by an archery shop so he could check on his
bow. I sat drinking coffee watching the guys/gals shoot and looking and I said that would be a challenge. At the time I was suffering from P.T.S.D.,
but was stupid enough not to get treatment, thank god I found this or would not be here.
Long story shorter, after bowhunting with wheels for few years, and being very successful, I said "there has to be more of a challenge". It was then
that I remembered my youth of shooting that stick/string.
Pre internet, I went to the library and they had two great books on the shelf, "hunting the hard way" and "Archers Bible". I got them and reading them
was in living room, my uncle stopped by seen them and said, "You know your grandfather has one of those old bows". I reached out to my grandfather
and after stopping by, he gave me a Bear Kodiak Magnum 45#, he said "We (meaning all the family who hunted) tried it back in the early 70's but was
just to much time and hard. Why use it when have gun?" Now with a bow and some knowledge, I got some arrows. Two months of shooting brought
me opening day. The first week, I missed 3 deer cleanly, and it became apparent that this was much harder. I bore down and worked harder at
my woodsmanship skills, and the week before the rut a mature Doe, lay with my arrow in her. I was so in awe of the flight of the arrow and the ease
of using simple tackle to accomplish this, the fire took off. From then on, I never looked back, not thought of it.
The silence of the string slipping from my fingers, the slight thump of the bow pushing the arrow, the flight of the shaft, landing on target. God blessed us, the time to enjoy and cherish this magic time in the field. There will come the day I shoot my last arrow, but I plan on many until then.
Post by: Mark R on June 29, 2022, 12:08:52 PM
Post by: stik&string on June 29, 2022, 08:14:26 PM
Fast forward a bunch of years and I found myself working in a sporting goods store, mainly setting up compounds. It got to the point that the challenge I once found in archery was missing as I could take a bow off the rack and hit bullseyes out to 60 yards without much effort. I also found that my connection to woodsmanship, and being a hunter was eroding as the technology allowed me to kill deer without much effort.
After my dad passed I was cleaning out his hunting closet and came across that recurve. Feeling nostalgic a bought a new string for the bow, found this site, and began the steep learning curve of getting back to “basics”. I went from killing bucks every year with the compound to a dry run of 3 years, BUT I was having more fun than I had in years. That was 2005 and I haven’t went back! My dad’s recurve broke before I took a deer with it but it hangs in my “man cave” to this day.
Post by: Toxophilite on June 30, 2022, 01:11:23 PM
Over the years, my archery equipment has been upgraded many times and to this day, the sport is still very rewarding and enjoyable.
Now, with me being almost 83, the rabbits are now "safe". The 3D animals are not...
Post by: Otto on June 30, 2022, 06:18:49 PM
Post by: Bowwild on June 30, 2022, 07:00:02 PM
When I was around 12 I asked my parents for a "real" bow as Christmas neared. Mom got me a wooden bow with suction cup arrows. She bought dad a "kit" by Ben Pearson that contained a Pearson Cougar with, I recall three arrows with deadhead, 2-blade broadheads. Probably had some field or target pointed arrows too?
Dad shot one arrow out of that bow and then handed it to me. I started out shooting a giant refrigerator box in my backyard. I started at less than 10 yards and only moved back a step or two as I hit the box with every shot. I hunted chipmunks with that bow until when I turned 16 I went on my first deer hunt even though I had never even seen a live deer, which was a magic all its own.
Post by: George Tsoukalas on June 30, 2022, 08:28:28 PM
I grew up on a farm in a small MA town called Chelmsford but we never pronounced it like that...it's Chemsfid.
Anyway, a strung small sapling and small shoots fletched with chicken feathers and pointed with nails made for great play time.
I left out a lot. I've had rich experiences in archery. The best times are when I shared them with friends and family.
I still make bows of wood and arrows from shoots. Some things never change.
Jawge
Post by: mj seratt on July 01, 2022, 03:41:06 AM
Murray
Post by: J. Cook on July 01, 2022, 09:08:54 AM
When I was 14 my Dad bought a Browning Fire Drake for me to have from a friend of his that had been in a bad accident and could no longer pull a bow. It was fun to play with and shoot but I knew nothing of it really and just played with it when the mood struck me. My dad had an old Clan Gordon recurve that he had bought in the late 1960's and I always marveled at that bow and the old photos of his kills with it.
I became a BowTech shop tech in college and did that for all 6 years of undergrad and grad school so I was fully submersed in the compound world - but always with the fascination of the "Stick and string." Fast forward some years and in 2009 I remember I developed target panic so bad with the compound that it became a real burden to shoot. I wasn't enjoying it due to the stress. I decided to string up the Fire Drake and just shoot. I was instantly hooked. Within weeks of internet searching I had found this site and the ***********, joined both and began learning. I came across an older gentleman that told me he had an old recurve in his shed if I wanted it... it was dusty and dirty, but cleaned up to look brand new. It was a Bear Grizzly at 52#. I worked to tune it and the Fire Drake up, get proper arrows (arrow building was always my specialty in the Compound Shop so I welcomed this). That's where it began for me. Strangely enough shooting the recurves made my target panic wane with the compound and I continued to hunt with the compound, while enjoying shooting recurves as well. In 2013 I decided to hunt with the Grizzly. I was able to kill a small buck while hunting with my dad, and the deer wheeled and ran towards the spot my father was hunting an died right in front of my dad. He let out a big "Whoohooooooo" which was hysterical.
Little by little the compound got carried less and less and I've been exclusively traditional for the last 4 years. Most years after that first deer prior to going all trad, I'd kill one or 2 with the compound and 1 with my recurves.
Like most of us, I'm constantly buying, selling, tuning, tweaking, and tinkering looking for that traditional "Holy Grail." Now my 14 year old son is shooting one of recurves and has told me, "this season Dad, I'm going all recurve." He's done well already with his compound in the woods but seems ready to make the switch. He got his first black rhino long bow when he was 4 and has shot a "stickbow" ever since. At young ages, the modern compounds give them hunting efficiency and the opportunity to learn woodsmanship and bowhunting. Now he's a strong young man and is shooting his 48# Browning Nomad really well. I'm excited to see what happens for him. My avatar pic is from his first time going hunting with me when he was little.
What a fun ride this has been, and continues to be.
Post by: Pine on July 01, 2022, 09:31:29 AM
Love it. :campfire: :archer:
Post by: Keoonik on July 05, 2022, 09:50:49 AM
Post by: Brokearcher on July 07, 2022, 05:55:26 PM
Post by: Red Beastmaster on July 07, 2022, 06:33:08 PM
I bought a Black Bear then a Howatt Hunter and completely switched to trad in '87. I killed a doe my first season. Strictly trad since then.
Its been quite a ride!
Post by: Gunleather on July 08, 2022, 12:17:55 AM
Post by: Sean B on July 08, 2022, 07:26:26 AM
Post by: Doug S on July 09, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
These are really neat. :clapper: What I hear in these stories are is what motivates me to try so hard to get people to try traditional archery.
Post by: Tactical Draftsman on July 12, 2022, 01:27:46 PM
Post by: JAH518 on July 14, 2022, 02:32:12 PM
Watching my father and brother 10 years older practice in the back yard almost every day. At 3 dad handed me a red fiberglass bear bow to play with to keep me out of their way when practicing. At 5 dad put me on a squirrel while tracking a doe he had just shot and I haven't put recurve or longbows down since.
Post by: TradBrewSC on July 14, 2022, 03:42:07 PM
Whether it be sweeping, hand sanding handles/limbs, or just being his muscle to move things around.. That turned into me picking up his personal "Classic 60" recurve as he told me I was doing too well with my "training wheels" ha! The next thing you know he was my mentor or for him his muscle in keeping our Congaree River pigs fed for the taking. I learned more in a 5 year span from that man than many do in a lifetime and so grateful for it. Needless to say by the time I graduated high school (05') I sold my last compound and have never looked back.. I certainly miss Owen Jeffery dearly and the daily belittling he gave me haha.
We are in a special community and encourage everyone to not shy away from mentoring those that show an interest. They may work out, they may not, but showing people that traditional hunting isn't just for crotchety old men that hate compound/crossbow/rifle hunters is of the utmost importance to me.
Post by: Friend on July 14, 2022, 09:30:15 PM
Post by: RIVERWOLF on July 18, 2022, 09:56:53 PM
One on page 1 =A Lex .... We have a few similarities ;)
I also remember making willow bows and we had twine and such laying about the farm.Seems we always had a willow tree toooo close in my youth, as it was often the choice of the times for corrections ;^)))They made crude bows , just enough to fling a stick a few feet . I also remember a marbled green glass little longbow when I was around 7-8 ...It was the first REAL bow I remember shooting. Also remember shooting cow patties in the pasture & one day I shot straight up and recall thinking "I can't see it" .... now running , I turn and look back just as the arrow stuck with authority close to where My mad dash had began ;^)))
Fast forward a few years .... you would find me and my best bud Mitch shooting recurves every chance we had down the then abandoned RR tracks behind his parents place . We would rove miles . Shooting sticks , stumps , leaves....and then chasing critters like Ground Griz and the likes as the years marched on. Somewhere in the late 70's he found compounds and all the bells and whistles . He used an aiming system of some sorts so switching to sights was natural for him. I did own two compounds for about 2 yrs. I shot instinctively , but could never get used to them nor did I like them .I Never could shoot sights well either. It just messed everything up in my shooting. So those collected dust till sold.
Anytime I would visit his place ( most weekends;) I would always grab one of his recurves while he would grab his compound and off we would go looking for adventure.
I trapped heavily back then, and for a good number of those yrs just carried my .22 rifle for small game. That was my life ;)
Fast forward again yrs , and after hunting with some other weapons . Taking several deer I felt like something wasn't right....I missed those recurves !
As Luck would have it, one day at work an older gent was looking to purchase the Newest Greatest compound of some sorts and got wind that I used to shoot sticks. He had a bow to sell to help him fund his New Toy;^))) It was an early Kodiak Hunter...I Took a squirrel with it that season & the joy of my youth returned....The "circle" now complete........Nothing but Longbows and recurves since .Since my second stick & string journey some 30 yrs ago, I made up my mind then...It's how I came into hunting & it WILL BE how I GO OUT !
* Another "in common" moment with A-LEX ..My second custom Longbow (Hybrid) built by Tracy "Tree" Trickett was a Mt Ash Longbow I named babamadizwin...which in my best ojibwe means "Journey";^))
That is a LONG overture .....
I couldn't be happier with my choice .....
It just feels more connective ....Balanced ....Natural....Right........
Post by: Farmingdales Finest on July 25, 2022, 08:37:43 AM
Once the season started and I wasn’t seeing the number of deer I normally see in my public land spots due IMO from the EHD breakout NJ was experiencing so I decided to get the recurve. I had only seen 12 deer total while hunting from September through November. I figured if I got good enough I could hunt winter bow with it and was willing to not fill a tag for the first time in at least 25 years. I bought an EXE Scream 21” ILF riser and paired it with Long Galaxy Bronze Star Limbs. I am shooting uncut GT Hunter 400’s with 225 grains up front and 4-4” feathers with Nockturnal lighted nocks and Original Muzzy 100 3 blade heads.
I got the bow the week before Thanksgiving and was able to shoot my first 4 arrow group at 12 yards in the vitals of my 3D target with 3 in the 10 ring and one just outside it. I practiced about 50 shots before work most mornings. After a few weeks of this and having most shots in the ten ring at 10-20 yards I was confident I could kill a deer with the recurve. I hunted with the recurve starting the end of the first week of December exclusively. I would have been able to shoot a doe on New Year’s Eve morning if I had the compound but the 5 deer never came closer than 27 yards. I wasn’t comfortable trying it with the recurve.
The last week of january we had a heavy snow and i went in looking for sign with the climber. I found and area with more sign than I had seen all season. Of course I have a buck come in from the place I least expected! He came to 15 yards and with the front cross bar of the climber I couldn’t come to full draw with my normal form. I canted the bow which I had done in practice but had to lean it more than I practiced with in the past. I promptly missed 3 shots at 15 yards. He never moved more than a few feet and eventually just walked off. I was never nervous and was confident I could make the shot but the angle took me enough out of alignment that I guess my eye to arrow form was off. After he left I got the biggest adrenaline rush probably since my son shot his first buck at 11. He’s 23 now and just started with the Navy so this year I have been missing my hunting partner.
Fast forward to the following Saturday. Now that I have a spot picked out I go out early to pull my hang on stand from a different part of the park I am hunting but with the temps in the teens and a heavy rain the day before I can’t unlock my lock from the tree and I left the stand dangling. Fortunately a friend had given me an old API Bowhunter Climber a couple years ago for my son. I threw the top piece in my truck and I climbed the same tree as earlier in the week. I now could shoot where the buck had come and my original plan for behind me. Fast forward to 5:35 and I am so cold I am going to climb down early. I have two hoods over my watch cap pulled over my ears and I hear something. With the reduced hearing I think there is a deer on the other side of a holly tree next to me. I reach back for my bow on the hanger and as I am pulling the hoods off so I have a better field of view I see a doe standing on the trail behind me and too my right! I am able to get up without it or the trailing doe seeing me. I have to turn around and start to come to full draw only to be so stiff from the cold the arrow falls off my shelf. I was able to get it back on quickly and now the doe stepped out to 18 yards very slightly quartering away. I execute the shot and end up sticking her in the shoulder blade. She runs down the hill and turns in front of me to stand almost exactly where the buck was earlier in the week and I promptly miss a finishing shot. She then runs up towards the trail she was originally on but now on the opposite side of my tree and I miss again. She runs another 10 yards and stops and looks back. I come to full draw and realize I now have limbs in my way and let down. I decide to sit figuring I have nothing to lose with her looking right at me and I execute a perfect hard quartering away shot at 20 yards that stops on the opposite shoulder.
I see her run up the hill with both arrows sticking out. As it gets dark I lose sight of her and decide to come back in the morning. I find great blood starting about 10 yards from the second hit, then at 60 yards I see a bed with a lot of blood in it and panic thinking I just jumped her. I reach down and touch it to find it’s frozen. I continue on the trail and find her about another 40 yards.
I am so pumped now with this success and new found confidence that I gave up the compound and have been shooting 3-5x a week plus several 3D shoots and can't wait for September!
Post by: 808trad on July 25, 2022, 12:47:47 PM
My story centers around two key people...
First, my grandfather was always making me homemade slingshots. He was always working in the yard and the garden and would fashion slingshots out of wood found on the property. I know it isn't archery, but it was a five year old's start at shooting and the many imaginary hunts in the backyard. Thank you, Grandpa, for instilling in me a love for the outdoors!
The second person was my high school shop teacher, named Jay Linthicum. The highlight of his wood working class during my sophomore year was the chance to build a recurve bow. I remember him giving the class several options on our major project, but all of us chose to make a bow. I'm so glad he did. The bow pictured in the center with the black glass is that bow. Honestly, it doesn't shoot really well, but it sure does feel good in my hand and reminds me of the hard work that went into the making of that bow. Thank you, Mr. Linthicum, for your passion for wood working and archery!
Post by: Terry Green on July 25, 2022, 01:35:31 PM
Why I came back to trad is 16:35 to 18:10 and learned to shoot again but for hunting is after that, and the Magic T, St Jude Auction stories, and the 'Uh Oh' Cohutta Bear story.
https://backwoodsgrind.com/podcasts/ep-20-back-to-the-basics-traditional-archery-with-terry-green-of-tradgang/
Post by: Gun on July 29, 2022, 04:48:27 PM
I started saving up to buy my own bow and spent a lot of time at the local hardware store admiring the fiberglass kits (bow, arrows, armguard and tab). Eventually I purchased a York kit with a 25# all fiberglass bow.
A couple of years later I received a Browning Wasp for Christmas. It was my first real hunting weight bow @ 47#. I still have my first bowhunting license (age 12) which cost $1.00. I didn't get my first deer until I was 17. I hunted with a couple of friends I grew up with. We were mostly just killing time until gun season as we didn't think that these "toys" could actually kill big game. That all changed when I spined the doe and we realized this was serious stuff!
I did spend 2 yrs or so shooting Mechanical Advantage "Bows" and was in a league. I had 3 compounds blow up on me during that time. I learned how to refine my instinctive shooting from a World Class tournament archer while shooting at the range.
When I went back to trad the first Bow I bought was a Black Widow "A" frame riser. Then a Bear Mag TD and a number of custom bows over the years and finally back to the Bear TD about 10 yrs ago. It's been a fun journey!
Post by: Al Dean on July 29, 2022, 07:09:23 PM
Post by: David Smith on September 11, 2022, 04:15:42 PM
Post by: George Tsoukalas on September 11, 2022, 06:55:17 PM
Post by: awbowman on September 11, 2022, 08:54:56 PM
Post by: PABuckeye on September 11, 2022, 09:42:12 PM
Post by: Brazos on September 11, 2022, 11:37:57 PM
Post by: Kirkll on September 12, 2022, 02:30:11 AM
My Dad was a rifle hunter, and went deer hunting every fall. But that was pretty much it. I did get hunter’s safety drilled into me at a very young age, and learned how to handle fire arms quite young. He bought my first rifle for me at age 12 and I harvested a deer the first time out. But we had spent many, many hours on the range as he taught me how to shoot accurately. My Dad was one of those gifted marksman that consistently made those unbelievable shots you hear of. He taught me well, and I too became very proficient.
I got married way too young, got all wrapped up in learning the carpentry trade, and followed in suit just hunting deer with a rifle once a year, but did quite a bit of bird hunting with a shot gun too when time allowed…
In 1989 I was coming home from work and passed a little archery shop that caught my eye, and I pulled in on just a whim. Just a wild hair thing really. Most of the bows in the shop were compound bows, but… they still looked like bows in those days, but they Just had wheels on the limb tips. So I shot a few arrows and was fascinated with these contraptions. they really zipped an arrow down range and we’re fairly accurate.
The next day I talked to a buddy of mine and asked what he thought of going archery hunting this next year ? He was up for an adventure so we ended up going back to shoot some more, both ended up buying one….
We had a blast learning how to shoot with these things, and recruited a couple more friends to the adventure. We were obsessed instantly. We shot every 3D shoot that was within 100 miles of us all through the summer, then bought elk and deer tags that fall….my first season I got two deer, but no elk. But kept shooting indoors all winter at target and hunters leagues….. the next 10 years was a blurr of hunting and shooting competitions and I got burn out on it. I slowed down the 3D competition, and just concentrated on hunting mostly for a few years. We did very well hunting and I became very proficient at calling elk.
It was early spring in about 2005 or 2006 I went to a local 3D shoot solo just to go shoot some arrows and blow off some steam. Having burnt myself out with all the competition years previously, I just wasn’t having a lot of fun with these young guys with IBO champ aspirations and taking forever on each shot…. Been there , done that….. Then I hear this hooting and hollering behind us, and these guys were just belly laughing. A couple old boys came up the trail to us packing home made long bows a quivers full of arrows. They asked if they could play through, and of course we said sure…. I watched these guys both shoot two arrows apiece at 50 yards and both fell short of their marks. But… they just laughed and said they needed to do some stalking to get closer to this critter. They shot again at 30 yards and again at 15 - 20 yards, and we’re having a ball doing it….. these guys I’m shooting with are complaining instead of appreciating the fun these guys were having, so I hollered down to em while they were pulling arrows and asked if I could come shoot with them? They said sure! Come on down!
Well that ripped it right then and there. The first target we hiked to the guy hands me his long bow. Says try this one out…. Wow! This is kinda fun I’m thinking. No sights, no release, just grip it and rip it! I had a blast…. Never shot my own bow the rest of the day… then I came back on Sunday and they brought and extra bow for me to shoot….
I can honestly say, I never went back to the compound bow again. Two weeks after that 3D shoot I was ordering materials for the first bow I planned on building. I mean…. How hard can it be?
You should have seen the looks on my hunting buddies faces when I came into elk camp that fall with a long bow…Ha! It was priceless….
Kirk
Post by: mgf on September 12, 2022, 08:09:55 AM
This was the suburbs west of Chicago and we didn't have any deer. Very rarely we'd see a deer on some of the places we rabbit hunted and the rare sighting was a real treat. I spent most of my childhood stomping every inch of the fields and swamp/ponds where we lived and I never even saw any sign of deer. Until...
1985, I know the year because my son was an infant. I started seeing quit a few deer on the one place I had to hunt. The Illinois gun tag was only good for a single county and there was no guaranty you'd draw the county you requested. I needed a tag for one specific county or nothing. The archery tag was good statewide so I started thinking about a bow.
An uncle and cousin were the only people I knew who shot bows but they didn't bow hunt. They talked me into a compound. I never liked it and wanted a real bow almost from the beginning. The more I got into archery the more I disliked the compound. I pulled the sights off of it and shot it that way for a while before moving to single string bows for good.
My move to "traditional" equipment had NOTHING to do with hunting being too easy. Killing deer was tough! I shot one deer with a compound (x-bows weren't legal) on that single farm that I hunted and that was a happy accident. The only cover was corn when it was standing. I was sitting where I could watch a lone apple tree on an otherwise treeless fence line between two standing corn fields. A doe who knew I was there came out of the corn to scold me instead of running away and I shot her. In those days I remember counting the deer I would have killed "if I had a gun" LOL. I did have some pretty amazing "close encounters" and that kept me interested. It's just that trying to draw the bow would usually send them into the next county.
I'm still at it.
Post by: Brazos on September 12, 2022, 10:48:18 PM
Post by: kat on September 15, 2022, 11:03:26 AM
I wound up buying that bow from him for $35. and never looked back. That was many, many bows ago; but the best part is that my grandson now shoots that same bow today.