Hello Guys, Well I was out in my small bow making shop I got looking around and found the first bow that I made and hunted with it's an Ash longbow 45@26.. I made it over the summer then when the time came for deer season I was ready as I ever was.... I to her out for the first day of season but didn't see any thing....
I never got a deer with her but man did I have lots of fun... I did hunt small game with it with one kill I shot a rabbit on the run at about 25-30 yard man I was happy as a boy with a baseball bat..
My arrows where some thing ele's they where 5/16 shafts I pick up at walmart and at that time I paited them what ever color I had on hand... I also didn't know about useing feather's for arrows and I when I went to buy shafts I would buy vanes and nocks and every think would cost around $15 for 12 shafrt doz nock and 3 doz vanes... Then for gule I used super glue :knothead: :knothead: .....
But I then started to use real turkey feaher's that I picked up in the wood in the summer time and man did they fly better........
Sorry I know I got of track sorry guys....
I just wanted to see how many still had there first bow.....
Take care and God Bless,
Cody
Cody, I probably sold it to buy my second bow. I wish I still had it though.
My first bow was a Kodiak Magnum that my Dad had new. Killed my first deer with my first shot with it in 1978. I recently handed it over to my buddy Damion Halverson and he shoots it better then I ever did! It also spent a lot of time killing fish.
I still have my Pearson Colt 45@28" bow I bought with lawn mowing money in 1964. About six months ago I took it off the wall and started shooting it again...just as much fun as I remembered it to be. That bow got me going again and I finally retired it after the lower limb blew up just before Christmas. It still hangs on my wall, but I just received this past week the Quinn Stallion Classic I ordered. Great bow and it will do me for the next 45 years or so.
First bow was a Jefferies t/d recurve. Sold it before I knew what trad gear was or what it meant to me. Thankfully it was re-introduced to me, bought a silvertip longbow which I regretfully sold but it will hopefullt be making it's way back to Michigan this spring. Once I actually to it serious, I never looked back.
Still have the first two bows I ever made. Both 55@28 Longbows, Shedua riser, maple lams, with black bowtuff glass back and belly. Made them in the summer of 1978. Both Bingham Projects 72" designs.
Then went on to produce around 140 or so longbows of my own design. Stopped making them in early 80's when personal finances got in trouble.
Have been considering starting the business back up, but as of yet haven't done it.
Also still have the first three bows I ever owned.
My first a 15# hickory flatbow I was given at age 5
Second a 40# fiberglass bow at age 7.
Third a 45# bear Kodiak my Father bought me at age 7. I believe it is a 1955 model. And I hunted with it till I was 12 and moved up to a 50# Kodiak.
I guess these bows are the reason I've always shot heavy draw weights. When you learn to pull them at a young age you develop the shoulder muscles early. :archer:
Yup I started young shooting heavy bows as well and ever since thats all I have shot none of the bows I shoot are under 60 pounds....
My first new bow was a Black Bear Hunter made by Bear Archery in Gainseville, FL. I saved and saved and finally had "just enough" to buy it (thanks Dad). It is 58" AMO and 45# @28". I still have it on the rack...purchased mid 80's. Unfortunately, it had a not-so-brief career killing fish so it took a severe beating. About 2 years ago I sent it to Bowdoc and probably spent as much if not more than I bought it for new to have it re-done. It looks great and I don't regret it a bit!
Yup BD dose a hell of a job....
I don't have my first bow. My first bow was made from Maple tree limb by my Dad over 40 years ago. I was a Cub Scout back then, and our troops had a turkey shoot, and I took first place with that bow. Cody, thanks for reminding me of those days.
My first real hunting longbow (30 years ago) is a 68" Proline Saxon 75#@28" hanging in my bowrack. Last kill-Easter 2008, 110# pig through the heart/24 yards.
I still have mine it's a blackhawk scorpion 43# I now have 3 of the same bow. I'm now on my 7th homemade longbow. I'll never get rid of the first2 and having a hard time selling off any of the others!
I still have the bear takedown my stepdad gave to to me around "77" give or take---down. I think he picked it up on pool shooting debt. That would be my first hunting weight bow. This one of my most sacred possessions. But there was others, some I might not even remember. There was a American archery 27# 64" recurve that I shot for many years while I was a kid. good stuff.
i still have my first and second bows . 1st bow is a 45#@28" hickory longbow w/rawhide backing made by william santolla. ive had this bow since the second anual cta state tournement ,im guessing at the year of 1996. the 2nd is a 1969 bear k-mag that my wife bought for me 4yrs ago x-mas. i still have four arrows w/broadheads that i hunted with the fall of 96 when i got my long bow and they are still straight
Found my first several years ago in a closet at my mother's house. This one is from the mid 50s.
I actually made a string for it and shot a couple of years ago. When I was a kid I thought it was the best bow in the world. My present day evaluation of it.....AWFUL, terrible shooting bow.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/Archery%20%20pics/paulbunyanbow2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/Archery%20%20pics/paulbunyonbow1.jpg)
Refer to my sig.... ;)
Got it in '91,lived in the closet for a few years,got busted out recently when my trad fires rekindled again.... :thumbsup: :archer:
Thanks for the pic's Mr.K great looking bow
Yup!!
It's a Ben Pearson hickory/glass laminate, "semi recurve".....draws 35# @ 28". My dad gave it to me for Christmas when I was in sixth grade (circa 1960), after I'd learned to shoot at Boy Scout camp the previous summer. I shot it until I was in college.
My first Hoyt.. Brought home for me by my Dad in 1972 or 73. My parents kept the bow all these years and gave it back to me just a few years ago. Way too cool to remember all the fun I had with this little 10# @ 14" bow as a young boy. Thanks Dad.
It will have a place on my bow rack from now on.
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/JDS3_2006/100_1854.jpg)
Nice looking hoyt u have there my friend....
Got mine, a 50# Kodiak Magnum. Gonna' kill a turkey with it this spring .
mine is a maple limbed walnut riser rd longbow 25lbs at 24, i belive it is 58 inches, my father made it for me when i was 10, it broke many years ago but is still a looker
man many of u guys had them old bear bows....
My first a Bear Grizzly 60" 58lbs. #KT19273
Got it in 1969 , 1970? Some time in there. Had to borrow some arrows though as I only had enough money saved for the bow, Ha but I couldn't wait. Still on my rack. Shoot it ever now and then.
Funny thing is, I break that Bear out from time to time for giggles...still a shooter. As a matter of fact, two years ago I shot my first robinhood with it or ANY bow!
Other than a Little Beaver toy bow and borrowing my cousin's lemonwood bow, my first that I purchased was this preowned Kodiak Special. I'm the second owner...mine since 1960. I still shot it from time to time.
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e285/bard9l/10-29-2008-13.jpg)
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e285/bard9l/10-29-2008-18.jpg) (http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e285/bard9l/10-29-2008-14.jpg)
I
Got to love them Kodiak bows...
Cody
Mine was a R a g i m Impala given to me by my father for my 24th birthday. Not the best bow I have but it started the flame.
I not only have my first I have the first 3.I farmer and bought 2 BL fence post andMy first 2 were sinew backed.The first real hunting bow or a bow I hunted with was an Osage bow.I cut and Osage tree down could'nt weight.So after 6 months I made a bow.Did'nt have a hot box yet or even know what one was.Killed a buck and doe that first year.To me there was nothing like killing a deer with a bow you made.I've been hooked ever since.Thats been 33 bucks 20 years ago.
I have my first 3, 2,BL,sinew backed.Got a couple fence post from a farmer I hunted on.Not the way to go on your first bow.My first real hunting bow was an Osage 65#s,64"s ntn at 26"s.I killed a buck and a doe the first season.I been hooked ever since that was 33 bucks 20 years ago.To me theres nothing like killing a deer with your own bow.
I have my first 3, 2,BL,sinew backed.Got a couple fence post from a farmer I hunted on.Not the way to go on your first bow.My first real hunting bow was an Osage 65#s,64"s ntn at 26"s.I killed a buck and a doe the first season.I been hooked ever since that was 33 bucks 20 years ago.To me theres nothing like killing a deer with your own bow.
Eric-LOL-You should never have shot it and you would still think that!
I never had a bow as a kid! I had every type of gun you can imagine, but my mom thought bows were dangerous. :confused: My dad just went along with her. He was smart enough to figure that we had it pretty good as it was.
I have every trad bow that I ever bought :help: I am good at the buying part, but struggle witht he selling end of things. There are at least 3 or 4 bows that I really should get rid of...but I can't. I am sick. Please help me... :banghead:
Still have mine from 1979.Not a stick though.But always used it barebow. :archer:
Wow Gregg that dose sound funny your mom thougth bows where dangerous.. I never knew that LOL :banghead: ....
Thanks guys for your post,
Coody
I do,
It's a Howard Hill "Big Five" 65#@28" and is 68" long, made around '78 by Ted Kramer who was building bows for HH in those days.
That bow has seen some great country and has shot the biggest deer I will ever get in my lifetime.
Sorry for the ramble.
Bert.
I still have my first hunting bow, which was given to me by an uncle. It is a Browning Nomad II 36# @ 28" and 54" long. I killed my first deer with this bow when I was 11, using bear cedar arrows with bear razor heads. Just last week I started to restore it for my son who will be three soon. It is still a little big for him, but he will grow into it.
James
Hey Bert is Mr. Klamer still alive do u know...
Yes I do Cody, I met him at the very first "North American Longbow Safari" here in Alberta 26 years ago.
Bert.
I sold my first bow to encourage a friend into archery. I bought it back two years later. I don't shoot it. I just wanted it back I missed it so! :biglaugh: It hangs on the wall in my den.
I bugged my Mom and Dad for as long as I remembered for a bow and at Christmas when I was 9 I saw it under the tree , went outside in my pajamas and shot it in the snow till I couldn't stand it . It was a York all fiberglass yellow bow , I still have it . Shot my first big game (to me) animal with it that spring , a large muskrat that was raiding the family garden . I have a hero pic somewhere . That was 46 years ago , good memories , Fred
There's a story behind mine.
I still have my first bow...a Red Wing Hunter 37#. My Dad bought it for me for Christmas when I was 13 years old, and that was 36 years ago!
When I was in my early twenties I ended up selling it to a friend. I regretted it later. A few years later my youngest brother knew that I was wishing that I still had the old bow. Early one Christmas morning he shocked me with a great gift. We were all gathered at my parents house to exchange gifts, and he handed my old Wing recurve to me and said "Merry Christmas". It's one of the best gifts that I've ever received.
Still have mine. First hunting weight Bow. Browning Wasp. 48#. Shot my first deer with it.
I had a recurve bow in the late 60's as young kid. That bow got stolen when I was still in my mid-teens. Didn't buy another one until many years later, in 2003 when I bought a Savannah. Naturally, I still have that bow and I'll never sell it. When I buy a bow it's for keeps.
Lost treasures.
We've all had them. There was that bow that you traded away; it shot very well but a "better" bow came along or maybe you needed more room in the den. So you sold it, only to regret it years later.
There are those bows that you keep as wall hangers because they have a special meaning, like the first self bow you made or the bow that was given to you by that Old Fart bow hunter you so highly respect. Then there are those that you wanted to keep, but for some awful reason, the bow mysteriously disappeared.
I was 9 years old and we had just moved to the farm. This was South Jersey, 1974, and there was not a significant deer population, but a rather healthy number of rabbits and pheasants. I would shoot my Fred Bear red fiberglass bow at an old chair in the back yard. Life was good. One afternoon, while enjoying a day of chair shooting, my uncle Eddie came over to pay a visit. He sat there watching me and, when I was done, asked to look at my bow. He commented that it was a good bow, for fiberglass. But, if I was in the market for a new bow, he may just have one collecting dust somewhere. Well, when I heard this, I was all smiles.
A short time later he returned with a long lemonwood bow that had recurved limb tips. He explained that his uncle had made this bow for my mother when she was in high school. When my mother saw the bow, she told me how she used to take it to school via the bus and shoot high school archery.
I put a new string on it and ventured down to what use to be McCrory's and bought up a mess of arrows, a snap-on quiver with a cheap plastic hood, and I started shooting. I practiced all summer and fall, just waiting for small game season to start.
First day of small games season, 1975, a bit chilly and I went hunting. Ventured down past the cornfields, crossed the road and hit the woods across from Murphy's farm. I passed a few shotgun hunters and they all but chuckled when they saw my bow. It was longer than I was tall.
I started hitting the thickets. I'd sneak up on them, look into them, and see if I could find a sitting rabbit. After a few hours, my stalking skills started to get relaxed and I was just not as quiet or all that sneaky now. Then, all of a sudden, the whole woods exploded as a big old cottontail jumped up and started to run. He ran right in front of me. I had already drawn, anchored, aimed and released. The arrow flew from the lemonwood bow and the rabbit started tumbling, head over heels. I trailed him for about 20 feet and found my trophy.
I promptly gutted him and started for home. While walking down the dirt road I passed the two shotgun hunters who had chuckled. The older man looked astonished and then congratulated me on my hunting skills.
This bow adorned my bedroom wall when I lived on the farm, when I lived in the city, when I moved to California, when I moved back to Baltimore, and then when I moved to Georgia.
When I ran out of room, I took the bow and a few guns to New Jersey to hang on the wall of my grandfathers den.
The bow has since vanished, but it's still alive in my memories.
WOW my friend that is great I loved every min of reading that..
My first real bow was a Bear Grizzly, but its upper limb exploded one night while I was asleep. That will wake you up in a hurry!!
I had only been into archery for few months. After much deliberation, I ordered a Brackenbury Drifter. For a teenager $355 was a lot of money.
That was 1993, and I still have the bow. It's killed its fair share of game and even one P&Y whitetail. Now I have moved on to other bows, but my first one will stay around.
Brett
I still have the first self bow I built as a school project.MAN, that was alot of bows ago.Im not so sure they would allow you to build a bow as a school shop project today.
Bill
Sadly I do not. Mine was a 30# Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow set my parents gave me in 1955 when I was 11. I was heavily influenced by the movies "Robin Hood" and "Ivanhoe" from the 50s.
My target was a large olympic style target on a piece of plastic which I staked to the hill of a neighbor's backyard and had to shoot over a chain link fence and an alley (we lived in the city in a row house). The arrows were cedar and started off matching but quickly became mismatching due to breakage and shortening. I rarely threw one away, rather kept shortening it. And of course you had "your favorite arrow" the one that flew best all the time.
My quiver was a backquiver stiff as a board and sounded like you were dumping your arrows into a PVC pipe. When you bent over they all fell out.
My favorite target was a dummy I made out of an old pair of pants and shirt stuffed with newspaper and stung between the gate posts. It was supposed to be "The Sherif of Nottingham".
Sadly I don't even has a picture of the bow either.
I still have my Bob Lee Red Wing Hunter.
First thing I saved up to buy with my First job. 1974 or 3. Everyone else I knew was saving for a Rem 700 they though I was crazy, they were right, bow crazy
I still have and use the first bow I ever bought. It is a Fedora TD360 from 1973.
(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c354/tjking/Bow2.jpg)
still have mine. Not shootable. Hence the handle. It took a ride out of the back of my buddies truck and was craced up pretty bad. i still have though. Ben Pearson Cougar.
C
My first bow was a scorpion longbow that I bought at the end of 1990 when I was 28 yrs old. I still have it but haven't shot it in years.
I still have my first. It was my Father's first bow as well. A Pearson Jet. I chased many bunnies around the yard with that bow. It hangs on my wall these days. Has a crack down the limb.
Wish I did. It was a McCullough Griffin 60" 53@28". Still regret getting rid of that one. :banghead: :banghead: Bought it at Denton Hill in 2005.
Bill
I still have my first recurve, a Hoyt Huntmaster that I bought in the mid to late 80's. Still in excellent condition and usually flings a few arrows each year..
Jason
I have only owned 2 bows in over 35 yrs. I still have the first one. It is a Herters's Stika @ 65 #'s. I shot it for over 17 yrs. Finally retired it. It still shoots good, but is pretty slow by todays bows. I shot a lot of animanls with it though. Herter's had their own bowyers and it took a pretty big tree to make the risers.
My first bow was a Bear whitetail hunter compound bow in the mid '70's and thankfully I don't have it anymore. I do have my older brother's first bow, a Browning Nomad Stalker recurve that he bought new in '73 and gave to me when I got into recurves in the late 80's.
Yep my first trad bow was a Bear Grizzly I got about ten years ago and I still hunt with it.
My first bow(other than ones I made as a kid from string and saplings) was a Wing/AMF Hawk. Used it my first bow season, then had to have a compound. Three years ago, I dug it out and cleaned it up...I left camo duct tape on it...so a few days later I had it looking ok.
Still have it, and a few other curves that were my dad's. Might have to tote it along into the turkey woods this year. 58" 45@28.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1000.jpg)
Before I forget I was lucky as when I first started in archery I had many Trad bows to shoot as my granddad had many.... there was a pearson wood longbow, Bear bearcat, pearson jetbow, old camo pearson colt ( which was the one I shot the most) Then for arrows I used what ever he had and most of them where from the 1940s....
But I had fun any ways.....
Cody
Dont have my first but I remember like it was yesterday a yellow fibergalss Ben Pearson 15 pounds less than 2 or 3 months cut enough yards for 30# er man it was sweet it had a target, I think 3 arrows and a tab, I dint use it has I recall, shot lizards , snakes turtles, frogs, squirrel, we had purple martin bird house in our backyard it was my neighbors his name was Marcel we stalked starlings (birds) that would try and take over the purple martin birdhouse , every now and then we'd hit one , mostly with our BB guns, but we gave 999, near heartattacks , I promise..it was fun in the 60's ...I was blessed back then , my Mom and Dad were the best. We guarded those arrows they were pericous, could get replacements... :wavey:
(http://residents.bowhunting.net/sticknstring/bowscomp.jpg)
These are my first three trad bows (excepting an all glass recurve I had as a kid). I broke the first one I tried to make out of hickory. All were made in 1996. The one on the left pulls 58# at my 27" draw. I hunted with it for a year but never killed anything with it. I still have it.
The center one pulled 48# when I finished it. I retillered it and gave it to a young lady at a 4H Shooting Skills seminar I did on selfbows several years ago.
The one on the right is my first shooter. It pulls 43#. It still shoots and I still have it.
I have the 13lb Bob Savage one piece that my Dad had made for me when I was a child. I stored it away when I moved from home and thought I had lost it when my parent's storage unit burned to the ground. Thankfully, my Dad had removed it and didn't tell me. He gave it back to me as a Christmas gift a few years ago after the birth of my son. Talk about a surprise! You can never replace your first bow!!
What a cool thread. I don't have my first bow....yet!
I still have the bow my dad gave me when I was 10 :thumbsup: (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/420W/IM000659.jpg)
i still have my first hunting wt bow it is a hand me down ben pearson cougar 47# @28
the top limb has twisted twice and i have straightened it still shoots pretty good and my 12 year old enjoys shootin it i hope he gets his first whitetail with it
i have no idea how old the bow is it has been in my possesion 27 years and it was old when i got it
I still have my first bow. Its a Ben Pearsom Gamester. 45# at 28 inches. I killed my first deer ever with it.
WOW guys most of u still have your first bows thats great.....
My father's hunting buddy gave me Ben Pearson-Bronco 48" XX35# @ 24" when I was 9 in 1974. I chased pine squirrels with my my dad while he hunted mule deer on the Uncompahgre Plateau in SW Colorado. I still have that wood/glass laminated recurve and my son will be shooting it pretty soon. Little did he know just what kind of life long affliction this had started.
so do any of u guys still have any the arrows u started with.. I have 3 of them that my granddad had gave to me...