I started in 1967 .... Howard Hill longbow from my Uncle Bernie !
ADDED: Hope everyone on TradGang responds to this. Its interesting stuff .... THANK YOU!
2007
Started with a red fiberglass bow in 1959, killed my first deer in 1965. Have killed 1 or 2 since.
1968 with Ben Pearson all glass recurve. Paused for 30 years and am back at it for the last 12 years.
I started as a kid at like 9yo consistently that was 1978 and did it for a few years.then my dad got me a wheel bow and shot that without a release or sights .stayed on the dark side for a while and then returned about 4 years ago.I feel I didnt lose the passion for Trad I just strengthened it.
1977 with a bear 76er.Took a 16 year break and have been at it full bore from 94 till present.
2008
2005 was the First Year for Me to hunt with trad bow.
1964
I started in April,1982. I got a recurve from a guy at work in exchange for a rod and reel I had. Went to longbows in early 90's and enjoy every aspect of it.
Started shooting a 25# fiberglass bow around 1961. Shot recurves untill 1971. Went to the dark side for twenty-some years(still finger shooting though), but sold them all and have shot nothing but Trad bows four the last four years.
I'ts just more fun to shoot and so much more rewarding to harvest an animal with a Trad bow.
1969.... :scared: :eek: :laughing:
1992 with a local made LB,Desperado 50#.Been very happy and broke since :biglaugh: :archer2:
Started with a 30# fiberglass Stemmler in 1966 and I've been a junkie ever since!
About 1950, excuse the lapse in memory, must be having a senior moment. Anyway, my parents took me to see Tembo in Bellevue, WA., and that cement the idea. I believe it was a lemonwood bow, then a backed lemonwood bow, both eventually bit the dust and around 1953 I bought a Bear Polar, 43# from Howard Vallentine, Bear Rep.Next dozen bows from Glenn St. Charles at Northwest Archery. Howard Hill longbow from Shawnee Archery in 1962, it was 72#.
2006
Started shooting trad as a kid in about 1982. Shot a wheel bow for several years then picked up a longbow and been hooked solid since 2003. Killed my first trad deer that year and enjoyed it so much I left all other methods of hunting and all other bows.
About 1944 or 1945 and have kept with it without wavering to the dark side.
1976 for me. 6 years old.
Magnus
2006 with a Martin Savanah, Bought it for fun now I'm hooked.
1990 22yo 1st YR deer hunting - .270 rifle - 170lb dressed 5pt in NY
1991 1st YR with wheels - 120lb on the hoof 8pt in GA during gun season
1992 1st yr with recurve - Wes Wallace Mentor 63#@27 (and yes I was overbowed) - no deer
1993-94 back to wheels married tree hugger and stopped hunting :(
2008 (14 yrs later and new wife) wheels - doe
2009 Xmas bought and tried a couple LBs and settled on 58" 55# @ 28 Tomahawk 2pc
2010 sold compound now it's LB or nothing!
1949. I was 10 and my grmpa made me a long bow and some arrows,
1970......I was 10 years old and had one of the old fiberglass "both-handed" bows. My very first hunting bow was a Ben Pearson "Mach One".
I got caught up in the "compound era" and returned to my roots in 2008. The compound has been "in the closet" every since. I have yet to kill a deer with a trad bow, but it WILL happen.
Winterhawk1960
1962 :archer2:
Killed my first rabbit with an all fiber glass recurve 45#er when I was 12 . :readit: That was 44 years ago. :goldtooth: You do the math! :biglaugh: LOL!
Shot before this but bought my first bow 1967, Browning Nomad Stalker 52" 37#@28....paid $37 hard earned dollars and it was worth every penny!!!
1994 - 1997 - went to the dark side - 2008 restarted Trad.
About 1952 or 53. I was about six or seven years old. 15# lemonwood bow. Could buy three target arrows for a quarter at the time. Have had a bow in my hand ever since.
I shot a long bow for years as a kid, got back in to archery 4 years ago with a compound, started playing with a recurve last year. Bought my first modern recurve this year. I am hoping to hunt with the recurve this year, but I have a long way to go before I will have the confindence I need. If confidence is still low at the beginning of the season, I will put the first deer in the freezer with the wheely bow, then go tradional for the rest of the season, just may have to wait until I get a 10 yard shot.
JAN. 2009 for me.
1965 and started with and Old Indian 45# recurve.
First year to deerhunt-1964 or 1965. Shakespeare Wonderbow.40# Still got it.
Started shooting a Bear Grizzly in 1980, fist hunting outing with my grandfather in 1982 & taken a Doe with that Grizzly "he wouldn't let me go hunting with him unless I could put 3 arrows into a Pabts Blue Ribbon can at 20 paces."
Got turned to Compounds in 1987 & it wasn't untill 2009 when I made the determination that I was tired of all the crap on my bow & wen't back to my Recurve.
Now I'm the happiest person IMHO because of my decision.
Started shooting a lemon wood Ben Person about 1950 and started hunting in 1960 after the service in the Navy. Drifted to the compound for a couple of years but saw the error of my ways and went back to the stick. At 71 I am still doing as much hunting as the old body will allow. Getting ready for Elk this Sept. Going to build at least one more bow this year and hope to live long enough to put some miles on it for the next few years. Good luck to all in their up coming hunts.............Chort
2007 was when I starting shooting!
2008 was the 1st time I took it to the deer woods with me.
1961 the first time, 1975 the second time, 1999 for the last time.
Started or continued?
I bought my first (only) recurve in 2004. After missing a nice buck, I chickened out and regressed back to wheels. In 2007, after left shoulder surgery, I started with Compound for three deer and half a season, then switched to the curve again (only one shot, and missed a coyote). All of 2008, I shot trad, harvesting my first whitetail. In 2009, my other shoulder went bad and I had to use the wheels again. Now, I'm back to the stick and hopefully will never look back at what I missed all those years.
Born in 1986. Started in 1990 with my dad in the backyard with a green ninja turtle longbow and haven't stopped since (trad shooting that is, I finally gave up the green turtle bow!).
1976 or 77 25# bow.Man they where good time's
1994 with Owen Jeffrey recurve.
David
I'm guessing around 1974 at the age of 5. Started with a 20# Ben Pearson fiberglass recurve, 3 wood arrows and a bale of hay. Have been awed by the flight of an arrow ever since.........IJ
I started in 1970 but fell of the wagon in the mid 80's. Got my thinking straightened out about six years ago and it won't ever change again.
I got serious about it in 2000. I have always dabbled in it, switching back and forth till then, but in 200, I sold all the wheelie stuff, and went rogue.
1959, dang that makes me seem old compared to a lot of these responses. Started with a 15# hickory longbow.
1968 Dad gave me a hand me down Bear Kodiak 1958 flavor. That was my first hunting weight bow 43#.
I may take that one hunting this year a bit.
1970 or 1971 that was a long time ago you expect me to remember everything.
:confused:
1972, a Damon Howatt Cavalier recurve.
I started in 1982 When I was 4 and got turned on to compounds when I was about 10 and seriously got bit by the trad bug when my uncle and some of my friends invited me to a trad shoot in 2005. They even let me borrow a Brand new Bear Montana, which I ended up buying before the shoot was over. Ever since that day I haven't touched the wheels for shooting or hunting. I was literally addicted from the moment I touched that Montana.
1963
1976 i was 10 years old. I read about lemon tree bows and cut my dads lemon tree down to make a bow. It actually shot pretty nice i kept if for years. And yes i got my ass wipped with the remaining limbs! Been hooked ever since. Had about a 7 year period (in my early to late twentys...i felt i needed the speed!) where i used wheelie bows but came back to my sense when i started making a few longbows and recurves. Now i'm all traditional. Wheelies have all been sold.
Michael
1953 for me
'84 or '85.
about 1969 or 1970. with a 69 kodiak mag and still have it.
1971
98' got a 60# saxon longbow and shot everyday after work , then got a doe that season, and slipped back into darkness , but im back to stay from now on.
1977 'ish Bear black bear
Started in 1958. Hap
somewhere between 1970-72. Dad got me a bear cub. still got that bow
1956 or 57, too long ago to remember.
2008
went to a recurve in '90 after 12 yrs with a compound.
If you count shooting backyard critters, I started in 1969 or 1970 at age 5 or 6. Got my first grown-up recurve when I was 13 I think. Then around 1981 or so I went to a Bear Whitetail. In 86 I stopped hunting and shooting for about 20 years.
When I started again I shot wheels for 1 season and then switched. Last year I had really bad tendonitis and shot my compound again, but I really just don't like it and won't be using it this year. I don't like the feel of it.
Dad gave me a small Hoyt recurve bow in 1974 (which my parents gave back to me 30 years later) and that is all it took.. Compounded a few years in the late 80s and bought my first SKY Hawk recurve bow in 1993...
some of you guys are old :biglaugh:
fall of 2005 is when I got my first "real bow" 40# galaxy mars, got it about September, killed my first deer with it that November :)
Shooting in '67, hunting in'69 with a Pearson Puma recurve.
1968 with a pink Ben Pearson Fiberglass recurve. A friend gave me a Herters Sitka Perfection in 1976. Purchased my first good bow a Black Widow in 1978.
2004
1959 with a orange and white solid fiberglass Pearson recurve 40# Rubber grip and shoot off either side of the shelf.
I started in 1970 with a Fiberglass shapespeare Recurve that was 50 Lbs @28"
I forgot all about shooting and building bows back when I was 10 years old. My brother and I would make a bow and shoot it until it broke. Must have been a senior moment that made me forget these details.
It's 57 for me, just target shooting until 1974. then nothing until 1996, that's when a friend of mine talked me into shooting against his wheeler. I was able to go shot for shot out to 30 yds. Started practicing and took it hunting for the first time in 1996. shot my first doe with the same Ben Pearson bow I bought in 1973, but I spined it and it just tore me up when I had to go down and finish it off. That is when I became a wheeler and said that would never happen to me again. Shot a lot of deer with that compound, but now I'm back shooting Trad. for two years now and will be hunting with it this year.
I just don't seem to have any interest in shooting or hunting with compounds any more.
That would have been 1952.
Strung up my fathers bear cub that he had sitting in his house for many many years unused and that was the summer of 2007.
1964. It was a target recurve that I bowhunted with.
Bought and started shooting my first longbow in the summer of 2006, although I have shot some of my uncle's bows on and off since about 2003. I started hunting with a longbow in the fall of 2007.
1962 Ben Pearson Jet recurve. Been shooting recurves and long bows ever since. (nut) :archer2:
in 1985 used a damon howat Ventura
1994. I'm the only one that had permission to hunt a very large Family farm about 10 minutes from my house. I've taken a ton of deer on this farm and I always called my buddy when I put an arrow in one to come out and help me track and assist with the recovery. I shot a real nice buck in 1992 and I gave Dale a call to get out to the farm, because we had work to do. Dale met me and I took him to the stand I arrowed the buck out of. I told him "he went that way". After a short tracking job Dale told me the reason he liked helping me track was because I would be so excited about the harvest. On this buck, which was my best to date, he said the enthusiasm was gone. I thought about what he told me and my bowhunting had become too "mechanical". I shot the compound as much as I could, and became very good at it. If anything came within 40 yards of me it was dead. At that time I told myself I had to do something different. Spent the next couple of months looking at and shooting recurves at the local archery shop. I mentioned to my Wife that I found a bow I really liked, a Martin Super Diablo. I was shocked to find that Martin under the Christmas Tree. Shot the Winter animal league with it along with the summer broadhead league. When it came to the next fall, even though I'd shot the bow alot, I just didn't feel like I was ready. Compound out of the case for one more year. Did the same drill the next year and shot the curve exclusivly. The 1994 opener found me in a tree with that Martin. Ten minutes into the season, with the the first deer in range and the first arrow I had my first tradition harvest. Haven't looked back since then. Not only do I love shooting sticks, I've had the oportunity to meet and make new friends in the Trad community. Best thing I've ever done. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Probably around 1973 i bought a Bear "Red Bear" fiberglass bow, 3 arrows,target, and quiver at our local western Auto hardware store. shot it, and a Indian fiberglass longbow several years, untill i started driving. Started back in 1993 with a Bear Kodiak Magnum.
Shooting as a kid of 11-12 with the old 2 handed fibergass bows of the era.. I got involved in designing and building the press and built the heat box in high school to get us in woodshop with the desire, to build a laminated recurve into building our own bows... Still have that first bow..
First big game hunt for elk in 68 and then off to SE Asia after graduation in 69.. Back to trad since with a couple years in there with an Onida Eagle [but it did have recurve limbs] :thumbsup:
First time 1976...then compounds ...then first widow in 99...then more compounds...then 2007 shooting and hunting with nothing but recurves and longbows since...
I can't remember not having a bow of some sort as a little kid. Best I can figure, it was 1965 when I bought my first hunting bow, a Shakespeare Necedah, and carried it to the woods. I still have that bow and have been at it pretty much ever since.
hunting around 1968.. just shooting maybe late 50's or so..
About 1969, Bear Grizzly 40#@28, cost about $50.00 back then...
I bought a bear 76er about the same year, I shot targets and stumps on and off while shore fishing and shooting carp with a bear hand wound spool attached until I bought my first Groves Spitfire and got serious into hunting in 1993 and for me the rest has been pleasant history! I did shoot a bear whitetail hunter compound from 1985 to 1993 until I got wise! DK.
1979 bear recurve metal rised and fiberglass limbs 35#
1972 with a Ben Person 35# fiberglass bow. 1974 harvested a whitetail doe with that bow, that was in the barn yard.
My archery initiation happened in 1956 when I was a young boy 8 years old.
Now at age 62, after 54+ years of archery, I am still fascinated by the sport.
It has been a fun ride.....
Charles.
2004: A 60# Martin Hunter recurve.
June 2009.
1962 at Camp Lejeune, NC
..Uhh January 2010, at 41 years old late to the party!
March 2010, new and challening..but rewarding and fun.
began my archery career with a compound in the early 80's and made the switch to traditional sometime around '92 or '93.
1970 with my good friend and mentor, Fred Balmer. Still hunting with Bear broadheads he passed on to me when he had to give up bowhunting because of a shoulder injury. Now, a part of him travels with me whenever I head out to hunt.
1968
Back in the Mid 60's I had a Orange and White Fiberglass Ben Pearson Recurve,I think it was about 20#s,a couple years later one of my Brothers bought a 45# Indian,I shot it a little but it was really to much for me so I didn't shoot it much,1978 thru the Fall of 2007 I shot Bows with Wheels,I had bought a Mid 70's Bear Grizzly Recurve in about 2006 but had not shot it until I met some Nice Older than me Fella's shooting Recurves and Longbows in the Spring of 2008 while shooting the Com----- Bow at an Archery Shop,I Fell in Love with the Longbows and Recurves and have shot 3 Deer with 4 shots since I started Shooting Traditional Bows back in 2008,I Love it and I am Hooked,
Kurt
Started shooting in 1961 and first year bowhunting was 1962.
I started traditional bow 'hiking' in 2008 with a Hoyt Hunt Master. This year I'm breaking in my new Blacktail.
-Mack
I started in 1978 with a Bear recurve and still going strong.
I shot my first long bow, a lilac flat limb, in 1954. Shot my first animal, a morning dove, in 1955. After that it was gophers and ground squirrels, until my first tasty rabbit in 1957.
Small stuff 1958 first deer in 1969.
1965...earlier if you count my homemade kid's bows.
First was 1977 with an Old Pearson, I got away from it, as Teenagers Do. Then in 2006 when My Son and I got Involved with Archery Again!!
2004 and loving it more every year! Was fortunate enough to kill a bull elk my first season. That was a special moment for me, Dwyer Defiant longbow 52#, homemade cedars with a zwickey eskimo that I touched up that morning. I've killed alot bigger critters, but none gave me the feeling of satisfaction and excitement like that one did! :campfire:
Travis
I started shooting trad gear in 1960, but didn't begin hunting with it until 1998. There was this long and torrid love affair with centerfire rifles that consumed the interim.
1963
Some of us are old??? Naw, that's a state of mind, but I can guarantee you a whole lot of water has run under the old bridge since 1957.
Some of you if your lucky and God is willing will see as much or more, in the years ahead.
One thing for sure is your starting with a whole lot more resources available than we had back then.
2010, My first year of many. First trad Elk hunt on monday. Hopefully the archery gods will reward me for switching over, with a good hunt. I'm so excited I might pee a little in my pants.
1966
1957 Kind of dates me huh. I shot a stick bow way before that but not actually hunting anything. When I hit 10 I became the enemy of the cottontail.
QuoteOriginally posted by Joshua Lee:
2010, My first year of many. First trad Elk hunt on monday. Hopefully the archery gods will reward me for switching over, with a good hunt. I'm so excited I might pee a little in my pants.
If the bull happens to be rutting a bit early and bugles very close to ya...you just might! :thumbsup: It seems way early, though. They generally start (in southern NM) near the end of September.
1992 with litterally a stick and string. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad (hackbow) cutting rose bush limbs and putting bailing twine on them and then cutting me some more shoots from the bush for arrows. i was 2 yrs old.
1980 With my dad's Bear Super Kodiak. Bought myself a 55lb Hoyt later that year. Learned the hard wway not to leave it in a car trunk when it is hot outside.......Randy
Approximately 1966...Grandfather made mulberry with a mean Rhode Island Red rooster as the first kill. Mistakes with a cccccpnd in the late 70's and 80's. Back to the fun side of hunting/shooting in 1989 for good.
1972, bear kodiak magnum.
1962........now I'm old but still goin strong.
Jerry
Returned in 1989...after ten years of using a compound.
My how time goes by.
I have learned so much along the way.
Hunted with the compound from '74-'83. Been shooting/hunting with recurves and longbows from 1983 on.
1967, 35# Indian Recurve todd
1966 with a kids lemonwood bow given me by my mentor Mr. Palmatier (thanks Karl)(thanks Mom) :archer2:
Started in 1994 with a Stotler 3 pc LB... Now shooting a Fred Bear T/D recurve.
:archer2: :archer2: :archer2: :archer2: :archer2:
Shot a kids recurve in 1975. picked up a compound when I was 16...took me until 1997 to re-discover the fun of a real bow - Bear Kodiak Magnum given to me by my friend Bubba Kirby.
2010. I love it.
Started bowhunting in 1976; Bear recurve super kodiak 45 @ 28; went to the dark side in 1982 came back in 1999; Bear montana 50 @ 28; will soon be 50 (nov) will never go back;
Want to buy my first custom next year {Lord's will} searching longbows now; want somewhere between 48 and 52 lb @ 26 in draw;
BTW, filled all tags since 1979...... :campfire:
Started in 1960 with a $10 Gladiator recurve that had a twisted limb. I remember bowhunting the following year with a very patient older brother and friends - had to drive from west central Indiana to the southern part of the state to deer hunt, as there were few/no deer in our area of the "corn belt"...
This is so cool to hear your starts !! Thanks
Thank goodness there are some younger guys around here because it was starting to look like everybody on Tradgang was going to be camping at the "Happy Hunting Ground" around the same time!
They should think about going to a draw. LOL!
In 1989 I put sights on my compound and found out that I no longer had to practice. Since I just plain like to shoot, I bought a 67½ SK for $25 and have never looked back.
1975
2006
started bowhunting in 1978
switched to traditional in 1999.
1st Tradbow - Martin Dream Catcher 55# @ 28"
The name says it all, caught my dream..... :archer:
1962 with a fiberglass (Red) Bear bow
But I didn't get my first deer until 1974 (north central Indiana)On a Wildlife management game reserve ,And that was with a longbow not the same bow ,It's been too long ,I can't remember the name of the bow I had in 1974. I remember the only allowed in deer hunting in the Wildlife management game reserve every five years .Otherwise I don't think I've been able to hunt deer then,Because there were too many around like there are now .
It's great fun .It's been quite a journey ,
Carl
1969 kill a button buck on my first hunt with a bear recurve, went to wheels 1973, rifle hunted 1973 to 2003, back to recurve in 2004.
1961, a 35lb. Outdoor Mfg. flatbow, I still have it & it's still a shooter! Never had anyone get me started, I guess I fell in love with it the first time I saw an arrow fly when I let it go! I was hooked forever the first time I stalked through the woodlot a few blocks from my house and caught a bunny holed-up about 5 feet in front of me--I can still recall vividly the whole day-50 years later-Especially the look on my Mom's face when she caught me skining it with her paring knife! If this happened today I'd be at some shrinks office & labeled a future "serial killer." I've been blessed with a son who is mentoring his boys to be a part of the circle of life, bows in their hands and a respect for themselves and wildlife, and the simple truth that fuzzy bunnies belong in a good stew and not on TV talking about the bad men with traps,guns, and bows!!
started in 1984 ,just after my 18th ( target shooting with a recurve )met a guy who shot instinctively & was so blown away i went home & threw my sight away !!!! didnt hunt until 2006 though ( africa ) my widow will always be at my side in the woods or on the veldt.
1968 with a Browning bow
1976
In 1966 my great granpa built for me a longbow & arrows at age 10. First real deer hunt in 1972 in the Routt forest in N Colo. Had a looong lay-off from archery starting around 1980 to 2001, got heavily into rifles during those years but never got into mechanical bows.
1958 lemonwood longbow, did my first bowhunt (deer) 1966.
I started in 1957 with a shrub bush bow and milk weed arrows with a nail in the end for forward weight! Those were the days!
First bow hunt 1966 for a 3 day week end in Vermont by myself, first deer harvest 1967 also VT.
2005
I was 8 years old (my birthday, even) when my dad and I went to Coney Island Boardwalk. He knew I loved archery and there was a archery booth there run by Bruno Bows. Dad bought me 20# lemonwood longbow and i have not been without a bow in my hand since. That was in 1951.
I started about '64, but got right into it in 66IIRC, after I watched my hero shoot his Admiralty Island bear and his elephant on the same showing of American Sportsman! :)
I simply HAD to have a good bow then, and my father allowed me to trade my Iver Johnson SXS for full gear with a father of a friend down the street. Fletching burner, the works.
Still have the Fred Bear back quiver, but the bow is long broken - kid brother left it strung behind the furnace one week end while I was away fishing!
Shot for more than a few years without a knock point, and other stuff like that until I got some decent books - pretty much self taught , I am! :bigsmyl:
D.H.
First shot traditional in '82 and got a deer the first year. Got my 2nd trad deer last year. Hoping for an elk next week.
Lets keep them comming ..Its cool to see so many
last summer, I think this fall is my fall to connect. I have a few great hunts set up!
ps I'm a convert from the louden boomer
I started bow hunting in the late 70's with a Browning Safari 2 . It took me about 10 years to shot my first deer. I think it was in 89 with a Hoyt Hunt master TD.
1970. I bought a Bear Grizzly - still have it and its' in great shape. It is still my go to bow for bowfishing.
The guy who first interested me in archery ran neighborhood archery shop out of his garage. His father was a writer for the Minneapolis newspaper and was a friend of Fred Bear!
1961. My Dad took me to the local Archery Shop, the owner, Frank Eicholtz, showed the basics. Dad bought me a little 35# recurve, 1/2 doz. arras, tab and armguard away we went. I've been fling'en em ever since, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. "Thanks Dad."
TradArchery, You catch it on your fingers and it crawls right up your sleeves!!!
My dad started me in 1956 when I was 8 years old. 2 years later I got my first real bow. It was 25#. Used it for about 2 years and the handle cracked. Then my parents gave a solid fiber glass Ben Person, 35#. I still have it. I used it until I was 15 and dad and mom gave me a Ben Person laminated recurve, 45# for Christmas. I sold it about 5 or 6 years later. In 1970 I bought a Kodiak Magnum, 55# @ 28". I still have the Kodiak Mag.
From 1976 to 1988 or 1989 I was out of Archery. At that time I started again and have shot a lot since then. Jim
I started July 2008 with to heavy spined arrows, PSE Impala and no clue. The next month I discovered TG and what a help it was. Got 2 does that October and nothing last year. Hoping this year will be better.
1971 - hypnotized by dads Bear Recurve. I couldn't pull it all the way back, but I took out in the yard and shot it everytime he was gone.
Just seeing the arrow fly was magical to me.
The party came to an end when I stuck a Bear Razor Head in my leg. Still got the scar.
Made and bought bows and arrows in the '50's as a kid, started bowhunting deer in 1963, I think. Tried compounds for a few years in the late '70's and early 80's, but went back to longbow and recurve in '88. Haven't strayed since.
Started shooting my dad's K-Mag in 1980. Was still on the wheel at that time but sold the compound the next year and bought a used Hoyt recurve and have shot nothing but trad since.....Randy
Started around 1956, just kids bows until I got out of the Army. In the early 70s I bought a Bear Kodiak Hunter shot it until wheels came out.
Hated wheels and all the attachments but shot them until 89 then ditched them for good.
Shooting 1955, hunting 1967. But before 1955 we made bows out of saplings and arrows out of dowels.
Shooting, around 1949. Hunting, 1979. Boy, am I old!
1968. I was 8 years old, using an old yard sale recurve given to me by my Dad. Been shooting recurves ever since.
about 3 months ago
Shot recurves when I was really young, 4-5 till I was 12 - 13. Dad bought me a wheelbow when I started hunting (Minnesota min age to hunt was 14 at that time), even though he hunted year in and year out with his Bear 76'er...
The but tradbows were still in me though, and I bought and sold several different recurves and picked up a Bear Hunter T/D... Bowfished with it and stump shot with it and would take it hunting from time to time. Took several deer with it, and lots of small game, but I wouldn't call that my full switch to traditional bow hunting... more of a part time trad bowhunter.
2000 was the year I switched to all traditional bows for my bowhunting... Can't say I haven't shot a wheelbow since then, but I can say I haven't hunted with one.
Started with a recurve in the late 60's. I was hunting small game in the early 70's. Killed my first deer with a recurve in 81. I guess it took me 30 years for my first bow kill and that was 29 years ago.