I want to hear some old time stories!
In the early 1960's in my area Hoyt and Ben Pearson bows were dominant. Hoyt especially because it was only about 90 miles to the factory. I went there many times with a friend that was a dealer and sold archery equipment out of his garage. Earl Hoyt was a very kind man that answered many of my amateur questions.
Very few people owned Bear bows. They just never caught on in my area. My first hunting bow was a Ben Pearson Conqueror. Never did kill a deer with it mainly because there were not very many to hunt, but still have it so maybe I will take it out again sometime. If you saw any deer, it was something to talk about and if someone happened to kill one, it made front page in our little county twice weekly paper. There were twin bowhunting brothers that lived close by and they were known far and wide for their hunting prowess. They usually killed their deer every year.
I remember the first deer I ever saw in 1964 while bowhunting. I was standing in ankle deep water and the doe and fawn were about 60 yards away looking at me. I was so shaky I could see little vibration waves in the water around my feet. I shot at that doe and shot over her by at least 10 feet. I had hunted for days and days without seeing anything and was not gonna pass up that shot! Tree stand hunting had not been invented yet as people never started using them until the late 60's.
Bought a little 48 inch Bear Magnum or Super Magnum one year. Brought it home and it exploded the first time I pulled it back. At the time that about soured me on Bear bows. I finally bought a Bear Takedown in 1969. Took it to Colorado that same year and killed my FIRST deer with it, a muley. Still have that bow also. Bowhunting got in my blood and has stayed!
Turned 66 yesterday. When I was a kid I lived near Coney Island. On the boardwalk there was an archery booth where you could shoot arrows at balloons. On my eighth birthday my dad took me there and bought me a 20# Lemonwood bow. The fellow that owned the booth had a bow company in Coney Island called Bruno Bows. I used to watch him make bows and shoot. I never owned one of his bows but I have always had a bow in my hand since that old lemonwood. Since then I have taken a truckload of whitetails, 5 black bear, one moose, one turkey (this year finally) and another truckload of small game. The only time I didn't hunt much was when I was in college in Mass. but I did get to to the Cape one year and was surprised to see so many deer. Actually saw a buck fight.
I am only 55- butgrowing up in Michigan in the 60's and 70s it was almost unpatriotic not to by a Bear bow. one of my hunting buddies has a 48" bear magnum that has had 4 owners all in the same family- its 45#@28 so it makes a good starter bow for young hunters. when I was a kid Fred Bear was a living legend in Michigan.
My first dozen Bear arrows...fully dipped in Yellow with Bear Razorheads...$12.95 per dz. Then bought some Browning fully camouflage arrows...lost every one missing deer.
Took my first deer in '71. My setup was a Browning Nomad I, Forgewood Arrows tipped with Razorheads. Catquiver I, Tiger STripe Camouflage. I had lost my old WWII Brown Leaf jacket and according to C.R. Learn...Tiger Stripe was the hot item.
Made our own practice arrows out of PO Cedar from Acme, Trueflight Feathers and heads from the old Kittredge Bow Hut, Herters Backquiver and Pearson Deadheads from Robin Hood Archery out of NJ. I wasn't a big fan of Bear bows although everyone shot one. My cousin and I preferred Browning and Pearson.
When cedar didn't hold up to the pounding, we switched over to Gordon Glashafts and Browning Micro flites. We stayed with the Forgewood for hunting because they were tough. Mine were fully dipped in Sky Blue with all white fletching. My first 2 yrs of bowhunting was filled with many lost arrows and many more misses.
Finally connected on a nice 4 pt my third year and thats when I gave up the gun. I really miss my early years, no houses, plenty of woods to hunt and they were always filled with whitetails.
I am 54. Got started with an Indian Archery 25# fiberglass recurve. I think I was about 10. No one at my house ever shot a bow before. My older cousin came by to see what I got for Christmas and quickly told me I had strung the bow backwards!!! Boy, did that make a difference once we got it strung right!! I can remember getting the cheap 25 cent arrows at the local hardware store and when I could afford it, I got the deluxe 49 cent ones that had a real field point and 5 inch feathers!! The local bullfrog population was in trouble back then!! Back then, if you were under the age of 14 in Wisconsin, you could get a bow tag for less than $2.00!!
At last I can confess :) I hope the statue of limitations is up. I am 66 now 18 then
As i recall the first archery deer season was in 1957. I was 14. I went deer hunting. saw some deer but didn't have a clue how to get in range.
it was 1961 before I got a deer. I was shooting a Wing Presentation. An older friend and I went to Canadian Texas on Thanks Giving to deer hunt. We were on the Canadian Rivers in salt cedars. We split up to meet back at lunch. After walking a bit I started up a creek. I ended up leaning on a big cotton wood tree looking things over. I heard foot falls in the leaves across the creek. I peeked out from behind the cotton wood to see three does, forty yards away. I had been shooting field all summer long and thought 40 yds was a close shot :) . 40 yds was just under my point on. The doe spotted me but I let fly. I will remember the arch of that arrow for ever. Up above her back then falling right in the center of the chest behind her front leg. she went 50 yds and folded. Man i was excited.
I left her where she lay and went to meet my friend. I recounted the shot but he didn't seem as happy as I was. We walked up on the doe, I was beaming but not Larry (my older friend). He then told me he had no idea that I didn't know you could only shoot bucks and the were limited to fork horns. Well that damped the mood pretty well.
He said lets go ahead and tag it. we will start to town. if we get stopped we will tell the game warden exactly what happened. he asked for my hunting license. I asked him what a hunting license was??? He just shook his head. We made it to town without been stopped.
Larry took me under his wing (my farther died when I was 8) and made a hunter out of me. I can't tell ya how much I appreicated his cool understanding and how much I appreciate him taking me under his.
I have felt bad about the doe to this day. it was the last time I went hunting not prepared with all the knowledge I need to hunt where ever I was.
Ya live and ya learn. :)
edit - bow was borrwed from Larry it could have been a Howatt Catalina. he shot the Howatts before he shot the Wings.
rusty
I'm with Uncle Buck. Growing up in Michigan if you were into archery you owned a Bear Bow. Got to meet Fred when I was 17. A buddy of mine and I were driving back from the U.P. and stopped in Grayling to visit the factory/museum/retail shop. That place was unbelievable.
Happy Birthday Bill. How did you do moose hunting you OLD FART?
I get out of bed every morning feeling about 90 but by the time I have breakfast I guess I feel my age (65 in September). Shot my first deer at the age of 15 back in 1959 with a Jaguar recurve made in Danbry, Ct by Tri State Archery. Shot my last animal two months ago at the age of 65. It is a Pope and Young Maine moose. Life is good
Craig
Back in the early 60's I wanted a little more time in the deer woods and that meant being a two season hunter. My first bow was the least expensive I could find at Kmart, a Pearson Puma 50# pound and slow with kwiky quivers. I still have it but it's broken now. Next was a Pearson Wildcat I believe, sold it and bought a Bear Kodiak and finally got my spike buck about '71 while sitting on a log near a scrape. I had a lot of great adventures with that bow. I still have it. I never did get into the tree stands and compounds. Now at 69 I mostly mosey around in the woods around the house here with hickory longbows. I've made lot's of 'em and there's a special facination with hunting with bows made from the trees where the game walks. I even glued up a glass laminated bow recently but the wood works just as well and has personality. Maybe someday if I can be real still and the wind is just right.......................
I am at the end of being 58; and I got into bows as a child; my brother got the expensive Roy Rogers pistols and holsters; and I got the bow with butcher string and rubber suction tipped arrows and an Indian headdress.
I became feared in my neighborhood for turning ornamental plants into arrow shafts and bows.
I actually got good with a slingshot before I could buy a Ben Pearson recurve in the late 60's.
I hunted small game with a bow; squirrels and woodchucks; and such... and hunted deer with a gun; as my only hunting mentor - my uncle- did.
I remember after opening morning of gun season; and seeing the huge bucks hanging up in the middle of town - where everyone came to look at them.
The 'best hunters' bragged of getting a buck the first day of the season; in the first hour.
I remember thinking 'an expert spends one hour in the woods each year hunting?'.
Then on a grouse hunt; I walked by a bush that asked me to keep moving. It was a bowhunter!
I did keep moving and another bush asked me to keep moving.... man - they were deer hunting and I was waiting for gun season to open!
I remember the moment I became a bowhunter. It was after many woodchucks and bag limits of squirrels.
I was watching 'The American Sportsman' with Fred Bear. He shot with purpose a thimble-berry leaf; and then he shot a grizzly bear.
I remember that arrow arching of his bow; and connecting with that bear... and killing it.
But I saw something that effected me to this day in that shot. It was the arch of that arrow like the brushstroke of a great artist; connecting man to everything around him.
And I had seen my arrow go where I wanted it to before... and I realized I could do the same thing.
I am no artist. But my arrow can be a great brushstroke of a great artist.
I can dream and I can see the dream come true. I can fail; and practice and practice and try again; and try again; and then there is that wonderful few moments when my arrow leaves the bow and hits the target.
It connects me with nature; I am not an observer; I am a participant.
I feel my muscles strain to pull back the arrow;the string on my fingers; and that magical flight of the arrow.
It never gets cheaper. It never fails to totally envelope me in the moment. There is no guarantee of tomorrow; but if tomorrow happens; I am going to be there with my bow.
But then again I have only been doing this for 55 years; so it might wear off :)
I wonder how many bowhunters were "born" the day ABC aired that episode of The American Sportssman? Brian is absolutely right there is something mystical about an arrow arching to the target that you just dont get with a 320fps compound device. Alot of time, energy and mpney os spent trying to archery "better". somtimes we need to take a deep breath and remember its all about the arch of the arrow magically hitting the spot you willed it to.
I got my first bow when I was 9 or 10, that would have been 1956 or 1957. We lived on Ft. Bliss in El Paso, and miles of desert was literally across the street from our house (trailer). Lizards, birds and other assorted things saw the receiving end of my arrows. After I got off of active duty in 1970, I bought a Bear bow and started to try to kill a deer, but never was successful until about 1975. I hunted with rifle, pistol and muzzleloader until around 1980, when I decided that bowhunting was my thing, and hunted with a compound for a couple of years with some success, but then bought a recurve and never looked back. It has been a fun ride.
Got a green 15 - pound fibreglass bow when I was ten or so, shot it all the time - used to make arrows for it carved from cedar fence rails - no added-on points, just carved a knob for extra weight up front. I recall my first hit with this setup on a grouse. The surprised bird kind of squawked, jumped up and as it exploded away, I think it batted my arrow back at me quicker than it hit him. Well, I'm still shooting, 55 years later and still have that fibreglass bow.
I'll be 64 next month. I wasn't introduced to archery at home, only gun hunting. I met a couple guys at work in 1965 who got me into bowhunting. First deer was in 1967, a doe shot with a 40# Ben Pearson Hunter. My first buck was not until 1972, I took that one with a 49# Wing Thunderbird, 52" long.
As Bill said, we shot Wing, Pearson, and other bows that weren't quite as expensive as the Bear bows, although my very first hunting recurve was a cheap Bear semi-recurve. And, when whe got into target archery, most folks shot Hoyt, Wing or Shakespeare target bows. One guy had a Herter's Utopian 75", massive riser target bow. He was about 5'5" tall and it was comical to watch him shoot that bow; he wasn't too bad with it indoors, matter of fact. That bow must have weighed eight pounds without any stabilizers on it.
The only tree stands we had were home built from scrap lumber. The commercial tree stand didn't show up until the early 70's....It was the "Profane Tree Stand" from Baker....named profane for a good reason; it usually came down the tree much faster than it went up, and normally without help 8^).
We shot field rounds at least once a month during the spring and summer at various clubs and most of us had both a target bow and a hunting model. I used a Shakespeare Titan, that cost me all of $59.00 back in 1967. It was a beautiful bow and shot well. Of course I eventually had to have a Hoyt Pro Medalist...the bow that all the champions were shooting then, and had to layout $135.00 for that one in 1971.
That was a weeks wages back then and quite an investment for me.
In 1974 I bought a Herter's Perfection Magnum takedown recurve for $69.95. I remember you could buy an extra set of limbs for $29.95 as well. I shot that bow for quite a number of years. In 1980 I bought my first Bear Custom Kodiak.
My first bow was a little wooden recurve, made by a family friend, when I was 5. I shot full tapered wooden blunts with phenolic tips. (at popnjay archery). As I got older, Pearsons, Hoyts, Bears, and Widows were the bows of choice. The new fangled arrow of choice was a microflite. They took a real beating and stayed straight. One day, they weren't so available anymore because these new aluminum arrows came out. I never liked aluminum arrows because they bend to easy. I miss my microflites. I shot wheels for awhile in my younger days, but like most wheelbows of the day, one of the limbs eventually twisted and turned to bow into junk. Never looked back after that. Shot a glass lam bow for awhile, then got into making bows. Now, I'm into making cane arrows too, and flintknapping is next! Heck, I'm only 47!
I'm 73 now and even though I've been shooting bows since I was 5 years old, I didn't start deer hunting with a bow until 1955. That year I bought a new Bear Kodiak, 52# and a doz arrows. I don't recall the brand of broadheads. My old bow was a Par-X aluminum bow, 55#. We didn't know back then that the metal bows were dangerous and prone to breaking.
I headed to the woods with my new bow and sat down on a log. It wasn't long before a lone deer (doe) came my way. The closer she got the more I shook, I had a full blown case of buck/doe fever. When she got within range I somehow got the bow back and let fly....I have no idea where that arrow went but I'm sure it came nowhere near the deer. :archer:
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/First_year_bowhunting.jpg)
I am 59 but didn't get started shooting a bow til I was 20 years old when my nephews got me shooting with them on an old Ben Pearson fiberglass bow in thier backyard.I then bought a Flexsteel cheapie bow to see if I was going to stay with it.The Flexsteel was a three piece td with a steel riser and fiberglass limbs and enough hand shock for 3 bows! I did get hooked and then bought a BP Rouge 46#@28 chasing rabbits all over the Kansas river bottoms.At that point I wanted a Bear kodiak hunter so, I sold the BP to a guy I worked with. I asked him what he was going to do with it, hunt deer? His answer was that he had a couple of guys breaking in to his wood shop and he was going to shoot one in the leg as a warning.He had called the police but,they had taken no action so he would!I told him I would like to give him his money back and get the bow back. He told me no way. Well a couple weeks later he did indeed shoot one in the leg and the local police took the bow away from him.
Thanks for all the stories.
My folks bought my first real hunting bow in 1965 for a birthday present. Does that qualify me as an old timer? I shot a buck with it in 1972. It is a Shakespeare 40# recurve and we used bear razorheads. Funny, I can still remember taking the shot. I was kneeling on the ground waiting for a clear shot. The deer only went 50 yards or so. This photo shows the off-side from the shot. May have posted the pic once before, apologize if I did. Still have the bow.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd43/MnFn/apair052.jpg)
I agree with Ron and hope the excitement and thrill never leaves. Am still hoping to take another nice one, but with my Shrew classic hunter this time.
Gary
I am almost 60---First bow was plastic---the unfletched arrows were inserted nock end through a hole in the bow: Removing the rubber tips played hob with the FOC but the flickers pounding on my grandparents' house learned to respect them.
A series of other toy bows followed, until my mom took pity and got me a Howatt Cavalier for my 12th birthday---35 # (still have it). Bob's Sporting Goods on Main St. in the nearest town supplied arrows of various parentage---saved pennies and got some used aluminum target arrows for the local Ishi Archers club winter indoor shoots--then some Bear Microflite 4 fiberglass arrows for hunting. Still have some of those---yellow with blue fletching-old Bear Razorheads on inserts. Hunted the local blacktails, but never got an opportunity to shoot at a deer with those, but did manage to hit a running jackrabbit. The broadhead hit him too far back and he ran off with the arrow.
Came back the next day and found the arrow and some fur in a willow clump---no rabbit stew.
Life changed with a draft notice in 69---never shot another arrow until the early 80s. My friend Bob Hutchison responded to my casual statement of interest in starting again, by walking down to his shed and coming back with 4 bows---2 early Bears and two which he had made---and a full quiver of tapered cedars (with barred turkey fletching)---some with broadheads of his own design. Still live in the same county---still chasing blacktails (and jackrabbits---mighty tasty).
I started in archery and deer hunting approx. 1975. I bought a new Wing recurve, 45@ @ 28", aluminum arrows and bear broadheads. My first traditional kill was a groundhog from a hay loft in an old barn. Never took a shot at a deer with that set up. Went to the dark side for a couple of yrs. I got back into traditional archery in the earyl 80's and have never looked back. Man have I had fun.
I remember "Plaid Shirt" night as a kid in Michigan. My dad and brother, along with other family members, would go and watch whatever movies they showed. All I can remember are the Fred Bear movies. Great times.
i'm 61. started bowhunting in the early sixties. my first bow was a hoyt pro hunter. shot my first deer the first year i hunted . fred bear was my mentor. still have his book. my son shot his first deer with my hoyt about 7 years ago..Ed
As a kid in the 50's my friends and I bought little hickory bows with red-and-white striped strings that came with rubber suction cups, which we immediately pulled off so we could sharpen the tips with our Barlow knives. After we lost all the arrows we made our own from weed stems.
I bowhunted deer for the first time in 1962, I think. I had a solid fiberglass ambidextrous Bear bow with a 40# draw weight that I bought for $5 from a friend of my brother's who had upgraded to a recurve. The local Western Auto sold Bear cedar hunting arrows complete with broadheads.
Deer were so scarce in the area that just seeing a deer made for a successful season. It took me many years to get my first, a spike killed with a 47# Ben Pearson Sovereign recurve. By then I had graduated from college and moved to SC, where deer were much more plentiful.
After finally getting a deer with my recurve, I bought a Jennings compound that self-destructed and put a big knot on my forehead. In the early 80's a house fire took all of my equipment, including the old Sovereign. I was living in GA by then, and called up Dan Quillian after seeing his ad in a magazine for a take-down recurve. I bought a Bamboo Longhunter from him instead, and started a relationship that lasted for years, including having him as my sales manager in the arrow shaft business. Killed a 4X3 bull elk with that Longhunter the first year I hunted with it.
I'm already looking forward to next year, and hunting my buddy's new place in MO that's full of does and big bucks. We have a plan in place to hunt the rut next November, the week before gun season opens. This will be the third year of antler restrictions, and I can hardly wait! At 61 I still look forward to archery season as much as I ever did, and I still get excited enough to miss my share of shots. When I quit getting excited, it will be time to quit. I can't see that happening.
I`m "only" 43, and my first, for real, deer hunt was in 1978. Some of you many not consider me an "old timer"...but I am old enough to remember.
I remember a cardboard cutout of Fred Bear, in a local hardware store that sold archery equipment.
I remember everyone telling me I "needed" to get a compound bow. I "needed" sights...and this arrow rest...and this trigger release. I remember picking up broken wood arrows and sniffing the freshly broken end.
I remember how much fun archery always was(is).
I have watched many things change over the years in regards to archery. One thing has remained the same. The people who truely loved it back then, are the same kind of people who truely love it today.
I'm "19 days" from 71. My first bow was a lemonwood longbow. I probably got it when I was 9 or 10, I'm not sure.
My dad got me a Howatt Hunter in '64 as birthday present. I still have it. Made my first arrows with a buddy of mine. We ordered 100 shafts and each took 50. The average cost came out at $0.25 an arrow. Still have a few. I hunted in northern Wisconsin for about 4 years without getting a deer. Then moved to Montana an hunted with firearms there and elsewhere until about 1978. Got my first compound in 78. I didnt get a deer with a bow until 1996 in Kentucky. I went back to traditional archery in '95. I didn't get a deer with a trad bow until '97. I used an Elberg Jaguar Special to take a doe. I got rid of my compounds shortly thereafter.
I guess I was just a late bloomer or a slow learner!
Hardly a day passes, rain of shine, that I don't shoot one of my trad bows.I deer hunt as often I can.
I have made it a tradition to always hunt the last day each deer season (usually past mid January) which I don't believe I've missed since '78.
It's not a remarkable tale but I get a lot of satisfaction from Trad archery!
I am almost 62. I caddied all summer to buy my first bow. It was a solid fiberglass bow. I thought it was great. I had no idea about proper arrow spine, I just bought arrows with the best looking feathers. The bow had a piece of cork glued onto the riser, a stick pin was used as a sight (it came from factory this way). I moved the pin up or down in the cork to adjust elevation and pushed into or pulled it out of the cord to adjust windage.
My first laminated bow was a Bear Kodiak Magnum and Microflite #10 shafts. I am still a fan of the Microflites. I have a collection/display of one of each size 0-12 of the Microflites.
I hunted rabbits and groundhogs in Ohio with the Kodiak Mag. Killed some too!
i would just like to than you gentlemen for sharing all of those fond memories with us and to many more like them.
At 68 years yopung I got into archery with my Dad theu Herters was the catalog to have. We would get it and look and both of us dream of what we would love to have for hunting or fishing.
My Dad first bow was a Ben Pearson fiberglass limb bow 60 lbs, you would just stick the one limb into the handle, then put thye bow over your leg to string. I was 12 when he got it. We would have 3 hay bales out with a paper plate to shoot at with family coming over for a cook out. My first bow was from the local harware store a Bear 52 inch in 40 lbs. I got arrows from Herters in fiberglass tan with white dip crown and 2 yellow feathers and one red. They looked so good I would just use one to shoot and practice with. I did not want to lose them. I paid I think was under 12 dollars for them. I also got a 6 pack of the bear BH's. The bow I purchased was like 37 dollars. I had worked most of the summer at a local grocery store packing bags at 65 cents a hour. Over the years I have had a lot of bows, but that first Bear is still shooting arrows, I gave it to a buddy of mine for his grandson who wanted to try traditional.
I also gave him a set of alum arrows in 1916
size. I wish I could now tell you that over the years I have taklen big bucks or gone to a lot of other states to hunt. But no, I just shoot about every other day 30 to 50 arrows with my current recurve to get my hand and eye cordination. I find that shooting a traditional bow is a challenging sport. Not like with a rifle, or compound bow were you sight in and you are on.
Bill
I'm 57 and started shooting a bow in the early sixties.I can't remember the brand of my first real bow or exactly how it came into my possession now. What I do remember is a older neighbor kid telling me he could make it stronger by stringing it backwards which he proceeded to do. He then pulled it back and promptly broke it.
My next bow was a Ben Pearson fiberglass bow 35# that could be shot off either side. Although right handed and right eye dominate I shot left handed because Fred Bear did. Hey, no one ever explained to me why I shouldn't too. My cousins and I spent every weekend during the winter months chasing rabbits with our bows around the woodlots near our Grandparents house. I once actually got one too. Boys will be boys and we always had to see which one of us had the strongest bow. Shooting an arrow in the sky to see how high it went was usually the test. We had to stop that practice after the time one of my cousins arrows came down went thru my hat and cut the top of my head.Our parents would have never found out if my aunt hadn't needed to take me to the doctor for stitches. Probably a good thing we only owned field points at the time too.
A friend's parents owned a Sporting Goods store where I worked in my early teens. They carried Bear bows in their inventory and I actually sold a few of them to customers. I couldn't afford one myself so the store owner's son and myself bought Red Wing Hunters for $35 each from another store that handled them. Mine being 45# and left handed of course. I gave that bow to a young nephew years later that was left handed. His mother took it away from shortly after he received it for shooting an arrow thru the garage wall. I believe he is supposed to get it back next year when he turns forty.
I didn't become serious about bowhunting until after I got one of those mechanical contraptions with sights in the late seventies. A right handed one to boot. It was the first time I could actually hit something I was aiming at. After a number of successful years with that I saw the light and have been hunting with stickbows since.
We had one of those all metal (alum?) bows in the house when I was a kid too! We never strung or shot it. My dad told us to throw it away once and I think my brother did. I wish I had it, just to hang up.
I got my first hunting license sometime in the mid-sixties. There were no deer in the northern part of the state, and very few elsewhere. I can remember reading that the yearly deer harvest was around 5,000 for the whole state! Now, we have COUNTIES that consistantly produce 7,000 deer every year!
I too lived in Bear country as a young man. Long before fibreglass, my granddad found an old indian bow on his southern Mich. farm. He made a string for it and fashioned some arrows to humor me. It was love at first sight. I took that bow to the grocery store the movie theatre, and even to bed. In 49 he made me some broadheads so I could accompany my family on the annual rifle hunt to the upper peninsula. In those days you ferried because no bridge existed. What an adventure. Because of freak circumstances I managed to down a spikehorn whitetail. That was 60 years ago, and I still get the same thrill when I pick up my Shrew and head into the forest.
I'm 66 and my first exposure to archery was the movies "Robin Hood" and "Ivanhoe". After that I made stick bows out of saplings, arrows out of dowels, bird feathers and bottle caps bent over the end of the dowel as a broadhead.
I bugged my parents for a real bow and low and behold Christmas morning 1955 arrived a Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow set under the tree. Halleluhia. I was an archer finally.
I spent many an hour shooting over our chain link fence across an alley into a bank. The arrows got broken and lost and replaced one at a time so none matched in color or lenght after a while. You had your "good arrow", the one that never missed, the "short arrow", etc. The hard back quiver sounded hollow when you dropped the arrows in and I can still remember the sound and they all fell out when you bent over.
I made a dummy all dressed in black and that became the Sheriff of Nottingham and I strung him in the gate and shot him until he fell apart.
Those were the days and that's how I got into archery.
Im only 53 so I don't have quite the history of some of you gentlemen,but here goes anyway.
I first decided to use a bow after seeing one of my mates fathers walk into his shed one morning carrying two rabbits and a .22 rifle.
At 9 years old I fast worked out I wasn't going to get my hands on a rifle,but I,d seen a small longbow in a local hardward store and from that day I made sure my folks remembered about my up coming birthday,,,and what I really wanted.That was how I came to own my first bow and a hand full of arrows to go with it.
I never shot a critter with that bow but it set the path,,and it was my next bow which I now know realise was an indian archery static tiped fiberglass recurve that I took my first rabbit with.I no longer have that bow but I do have another of the same brand an model which has now been my fishing bow for about 20 years.
Following that bow was a Ben Pearson Hunter,,,I'd really wanted a Fred Bear bow as he was my absolute hero at the time "an pretty much still is".
The Ben Pearson was a very steep learning curve for me because my other bow had been only 38lb and I'd bought the Ben Pearson due to a real stroke of luck while visting a sports store to buy arrows for my other recurve when a gentleman had walked in wanting to sell it.
It was a 55lber and I was simply offered a deal I couldn't turn down.
That bow was really my most important bow and even though I'd never heard of Mr Ben Pearson at the time,I fast gained a lot of respect for the man.I took my first big game animal with my wildly over bowed Ben Pearson Hunter in 1975.
He was a big horned feral billy goat out of one of our Northland forests.
That day was another of those big stepping stones for me becauise in NZ at the time,bowhunter just didn't really exist,,,ok they did but I never knew one an nobody else I knew did either and I was constantly told by anybody that thought they were something that I couldn't do it,bows and arrow couldn't take big animals and I was just being stupid to belive they could.
Little did they know I had this book with a picture of a man with a longbow and an African elephant,so I knew it could be done.
This story could go on forever so I think I'll just leave it at that.
Thanks to all those that came before and helped lay my path.
Like many of the folks here, I grew up in a hunting family, although it was totally gun-focused.
I developed an interest in archery early on before I could legally hunt in PA. My first bow was a beater Bear Kodiak (can't recall the model year). My Dad paid about $40 for it ( a bunch of money in the early sixties). The Herter's catalog pretty much supplied everything else I needed.
By the mid-60s when I could legally hunt, I was (I thought) pretty adept at flinging arrows. Squirrels feared me. Deer...another story. However, it was a few years of sailing arrows over and under deer before I finally connected. By then I was using a '62 Kodiak, which became my one and only bow until 1982. At the time of selling it, I had no qualms about it.
At 56, I think I would pay double the going rate to get that one back. If nothing more than to touch it and recall the memories of youthful hunts.
I'm 52 and first had a bow put in my hands when I was 7 or 8, a 20# red fiberglass recurve. For years my quiver was home made from a cardboard tube & strapping tape. When other kids were playing baseball or whatever I would disappear by myself into the Minnestoa River bottoms with my bow and not come home until dark. Even in those days a kid doing this was not common, but I was about half feral.
I was hell bent on hunting cottontails, and there were a lot around back then. When I managed to bump some off I would bring them home & mom would fry them up. That's when it first sunk in that if a guy had a bow or gun & knew how to use it, he wouldn't go hungry. I believe that to the core of my soul to this day and still consider fried rabbit to be one of the finest meals in existence.
As I got older, I graduated to a grey fiberglass 35# longbow, then one of those 45# dark green fiberglass 52" suckers that stacked so bad you could hardly draw them past 24", that somehow wasn't possible to shoot w/o string slapping so bad it looked like a guy was tortured. I don't know how I ever hit a thing with that bow!
My first bow quiver was the rubber one that clamped on the limbs with wire arms, and the hood clamped onto an arrow. Product liability wasn't much of an issue back then. Bear sold an inexpensive broadhead hip quiver, which I used most of the time.
When I was 12, I was sharpening a Razorhead with that little plastic handled sharpener Bear sold, and was really honking down to get it extra sharp when the handle broke on the down stroke.
Ran my thumb down the length of the blade and it only stopped cutting when it hit bone. Taped it up so my folks wouldn't see (that would have gotten me a "licking" with a belt or willow switch). Probably would have been worth it to get the stitches as to this day the scar splits open a couple times a year, regular as clockwork.
My first "real bow", which I got in the early 70's and shot until I bought a compound in the early 80's was a 52" 45#@28" Shakespeare Sierra I bought new for $28. In HS I coveted a Bear or one of those beautiful & radical Pearsons, but times were hard and money hard to come by. Only guys whose families had money shot bows like that.
I lived for bowfishing. I would ride my bike 30 miles round trip to the Rapidan Dam to arrow carp. When I got older, if we heard of a slough or creek where they were running about anywhere in southern Minnesota and could scratch up a few bucks gas money, we were there.
My first "big" kill was a very large boar coon a buddies shepherd had treed. Shot him with the Sierra & a Herter's 2 blade. He fell out of the tree with the arrow sticking out both sides, the dog met him in mid air, and a short but ugly fight was on. I have no clue how the dog didn't get cut up by the broadhead!
I'm only 42 but I've been involved in archery of some form since I was pretty young.
Started out with a red fiberglass bow. Think it was probably a bear. One of those combos one could buy at Kmart.
I remember in cub scouts we had archery as a merit badge ( I think) We would shoot a couple of times a week and at the end of the "season" there would be a competition with trophies involved. I was shooting so good in my age class that my cub leader wanted to move me up to the next higher age bracket for the competition. I remember being pretty proud about that! But On the big day I choked and came in last. Kinda soured me on shooting competively.....
Killed a lot of armadillos and other assorted critters with that little red bow. Moved up to a compound around 12 or 13 and my first big game animal was a wild hog. Stayed with the compound all thru my teens and killed a mess of deer and hogs.
Joined the army in 86 and usually managed to hunt at least a little wherever I went. Killed deer in Kansas,Loisianna, Georgia.
Got out in 93 and came back home. Hunted my first season back home on public land and was totally dismayed at the number of people crowded into what had been my old stomping grounds... I quit hunting completely......
Fast forward to 2009 and my lovely wife and I bought a place in Venus Fl. 20 acres with a small cabin. Surrounded by hundreds of acres of swamps, woods, agriculture. I knew I was back where I belonged.
Started shopping for a new bow and in the years between 93 and 2009 the compound bow had become something I couldn't wrap my mind around any longer.
My old memories of that simple red fiberglass bow got me looking at recurves again. Did they even exist? Could you even buy one? Internet research lead me here and I'm back in the game with a new appreciation for the flight of the arrow, the simplicity of the stick bow and the true meaning of the hunt.
It's been a great ride , but I think I'm just now getting to the really good part.
Used to read Fred Bear stories in the mags. I loved the old American Sportsman show. I have owned several Wing and Groves recurves through the early years. Unfortunatley none remain today, was dumb and sold or traded them all away.
:campfire: These are great keep them coming this thread brings out our past and it is awesome to hear all of these memories :jumper:
I am 63 and have been shooting since 1955 and bow hunting since 1957. Got my start with my Sunday school teacher being a bowhunter and taking me along. Killed my first deer in 1963, have hunted mainly in WV,OH,PA and Mi, now live in Ga and hutning mostly here and each fall in the Grayling,Mi area. Most of my bows have been Bear bows with a few customs bows here and there along the way.
Im 57 and got my first real bow hen I was 9. My daddy bpoght it for me and it was a solid fiberglass 35 lb. Ben Pearson and some wood arrows. My first kill was a robin followed by a rabbit. My daddy died of cancer the following year and that old bow is still with me although with a splintered lower limb from getting tangled up in bycycle spokes. My mother got me a 45 lb. Ben Pearson Hunter when I was 15 and I killed my first archery deer with it in 1968, a yearling doe. I think I was more excited over that deer than all the others I've taken since. About 1972 I bought a Browning Nomad Stalker 60 lb. and took my first bow buck with it a small 6 pt. I've been in love with it ever since and still have those 3 bows along with many more.
I'm 62 last week. Began my archery experiences at the age of 10. Broke my piggy bank, snuck down to the local dept store and bought a 50# glass bow and some arrows. It must have been funny seeing two kids ages 10 & 8 leaning into the bow trying to string it. Shot that bow for a few years (at half draw) before selling it and got a Pearson recurve. I was a "one bow" shooter for the next eight years, and got pretty proficient with it. Lost interest during college years and work. Now that I'm retired, I started to shoot again, and collecting a few bows. All this talk about FOC, single bevel, etc, etc, etc are new to me. Makes me feel like a true beginner. But it sure has been fun learnign on this site. Picked up 2 BW PLX's - both 2-pc take downs 46# & 52#, a Morrison ILF with 40# & 50# limbs.
I'm 61 and have been shooting bows and arrows since I was about 11 ... first bow was a solid fibreglass bow, not sure of the maker. The part of Tacoma Washington I grew up in was still very rural for a city and we had lots of critters to chase. Rabbits, pheasants, frogs ... nothing was safe.
There was a long dry spell not shooting my bow when my brother David shot one of the neighbor kids in the center of the forehead with an arrow. Mom put them up for a long time ...
I was fortunate to have an uncle who had a big farm near Mt Rainier and we spent much of our summers there fishing in Wilkeson Creek and roaming the farm from one end to the other shooting our bows. There was a pretty good blacktail population. I hunted with a rifle until I was about 18 and got a Wing bow for my first hunting bow. When I showed up with my bow my uncle looked at me like I was crazy. I had many close encounters but never killed one with my bow on the farm, miss a few though. I shot my first bow kill deer at age 22 with my Wing bow and some arrows I bought from Glenn St Charles at NW Archery. I was now living in Seattle.
Archery has brought me many rewards in life,a love for the sport, a respect for nature and wildlife, and many many good friends.
I am still a pup at 55. I had no exposure to archery from others but knew I had an instinct to shoot a bow. At 10 or so I wanted to build a bow and oddly enough my granddad turned me on to hickory. My first was just a dried hickory limb with arrows made from splitting a cedar board. No knowledge of cedar as arrows, just knew it split easy and we had a lot of scraps. My arrow heads were made from folding then hammering a coke bottle top on the end of the arrow. I shot most days but I can't recall ever hitting anything, it was more about who could shoot the furthest. After the past 30 years of fiberglass I believe now I was on the right track when I was 10. This will be my year to rediscover the self bow.
:campfire: Well I am only 18, but these are awesome! I cant relate at all, but boy is it awesome to hear what it was really like! Keep them coming!
I just turned 59. In 1966 I bought a used Bear Grizzly for $45. I made my own wood arrows and purchased all my material from Herters. I live in SoCal and used to travel about 45 minutes from my house to shoot Rabbits, Quail and stump shoot. I spent 5 years trying to get a Deer in the coastal mountians and the Eastern Sierra. The closest I ever got to a shooter was 50 yards, too far for my recurve.
In 1980 I broke my wrist in a motorcycle accident and had to give up Archery. Last year I decided to try it again. So far so good and I am having a blast.
So many changes over my 30 year absence! Food plots, high fences, scent control, incredible camo, bowhunting TV shows everyday and so much better hunting with animal management through conservation.
I did buy a mathews compound bow (my first compound ever). Incredible accuracy and speed, but it just does not feel right for me, so I bought a Bear Grizzly and Bear Montana Longbow and got wonderful wood arrows from 3rivers.
All is good!
Scott