I'm just wondering how early or late you guys started to shoot and what bow you started with. I just started right before Christmas. I'm 21 shooting a PSE Blackhawk Recurve 45# at 28".
I shoot almost everyday and can't wait to be able to shoot where I'm aiming.
I started with it when I was 12 because there wasn't anything else back then, you either bowhunted or didn't. I began with a 35# Stemmler fiberglass but shot my first deer a couple years later with a 45# Bear Bearcat that my daughter-in-law now uses.
I started when I was 6. Those little red bows is what I started with. I was a 10 year 4-H shooting sports member worked my way up and been hunting with my 55# Kodiak Mag for about 4 years now.
im 24 now and i started when i was 19. still have the martin x-200 i started with, and now a few others. had my own place and a huge yard in the country. lots of room to shoot and a spare bedroom for arrow building and bow tweaking.
I Went trad at age 55. Wish I had started at 21. I bought a new Checkmate recurve 42@28 and paid $195.00 for it. I now shoot longbows most of the time and have one for everyday of the week or more.
I started when I was 6 years old. Worked in my dads basement archery shop fletching arrows and stuff. Still doing it today with my own small basement operation. That was 1957. Whew, I'm getting old.
I started when I was 5. That was 56 years ago it was just called archery back then......stabow
I was about 30 to 32 some where in there. Man thats been over 20 years ago, dang now my knee hurts. Started with a Martin Hatfield 55 @ 30" way to heavy to start out with. I sat that thing at the enterance to the kitchen and every time i walked in or out of the kitchen i stoped and drew the bow back 3 or 4 times, did that for six months before i even nocked an arrow. At the end of that six months i was able to hold that bow at anchor for 5 sec with out a problem.
I was about 38 when I started the transition from the training wheels to trad. I have shot compound for about 25 years but the recurves and longbows have me hooked. Get the net and put me in the livewell!
I think that i was about 2. I beleave this is one of the photos of me when i was around 2 i think.
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af311/TraditionalBowman/youngmanshootin.jpg)
Schafer
I started hunting with traditional gear (that's all there was back then) in the early fifties when I was a teen ager. Although there were others, the only bows I can remember using when I started hunting were a York long bow and a lemon wood bow I made in my high school wood shop. I gradually owned & hunted with Bear, Hoyt, and a Browning recurve of 47# with which I finally took my first deer with.
7 shooting with daddy and started hunting at 8
About 10 with those cheap all fiberglass bows and 20 cent arrows hunting carp. Around 14 I got a real bow (Browning Nomad) and took my first deer then I went though the wheelie phase. The first was basically a Browning recurve with wheels hung in the limbs don't remember the name of that one. Then I upgraded to a Jennings Arrowstar..what a noisy P.I.A that was. Then I quit bow hunting for years & years, too busy raising a family and too broke. I got back into recurves about 8 years ago. Am 53.
I was 11, Then when i turned 22 I tried wheels, 6 months later back to traditional. Im 28 going on 29.
Nice form you got there Schafer :thumbsup:
I started trad when I was 26, wheels at 12, I'm 28 now.
I wish I had started when I was young. I picked it up at 39, will be 43 come November. I tell you what I dont see myself quitting anytime soon.
Started at 14, back in '64 - dad got me a Bear Griz 45#.
I do believe there are more trad archers today than then. Least wise, my father had one heck of a time finding a mentor to help me along. That was the beginning of bowhunting on a large scale - when Fred Bear talked a bunch of folks into being 2 season hunters.
My dad bought me a lemonwood longbow when I was 8.....that was 1951.
4, 5 maybe earlier, started with bows made by my dad, with nothing but practical experience he made a decent bow, dogwood or cedar was his woods of choice. First store bought was a 35 pound herters then my dad's 50 lb grizzly that I still own and shoot. Chris
23 years ago,ive always owned and shot a recurve but fully commited 4 years ago.
I don't know the exact age but it was 2nd or 3rd grade when my family lived on Randolph Street in Richmond, IN. Like a lot of kids I made this first bow and and unfletched arrows. I didn't know crap about bare shaft tuning but the neighborhood Robins knew to keep an eye out when I was on the prowl.
My first real recurve was at 14 years old -- Ben Pearson Cougar. Over the next few years, until 1975 I had Bear Grizzly and a Bear B Mag. Then I switched to the Compound in 1975.
I bought my next "trad" bow, a Fox High Sierra 26 years later, a Fox High Sierra. I hunted that year with it without taking a shot. I should have shot one of the small bucks that frequented my stands but I was still stuck with my compound standards -- big buck or does. I didn't have a shot at a doe that year and passed on the basket racks (how do they know?). Went back to compounds in 2002.
Bought a Widow PSAIII in 2004 but didn't hunt with it. I tried to come back to trad hunting in 2009 but hurt the drawing arm shoulder carrying lumber -- down for 8 months.
I made the permanent switch (God willing) in 2010. Two deer with my "Strickland Stick" recurve last fall. VERY exciting since I hadn't killed with a recurve since 1974.
I was about 8 or 9. Man had just moved up from atlatls around that time.
i started nearly 3 years ago with a roberson stykbow im 23 now wish i started at 16 but hey at least i got there and i love it. :archer:
15. started shooting bows around age 5 then around 15 my grand pa gave me my first longbow
Started Trad @ 35yrs. old. turn 45 next week
started out on a wheel bow at 10 but moved to a recurve at 12. the bow was a pse raven....50#! what a mistake that was. guys at the pro shop said that was the least that i should shoot deer with!
now im 28yrs old and all my bows are 45# :) ...and they do a good job!
I started when I was about 8 I think. I had a 33# ash selfbow made for me by my Dad's bestfriend.
Made bows and arrows out of shrub shoots and twine when I was about 4-6. Got my first real bow, a lemonwood longbow that drew about 12# and 3 wood arrows (25c each as I remember, may have been 25 cents for all three), when I was 7. That was 58 years ago. Been shooting sticks and strings ever since.
I was 7 or 8 and hunted bunnies and mice, small birds, bees, everything I could shoot. When I was 12 I started shooting a Ben Pearson and hunted my first big game with a that bow. 16 I went to a compound and hunted until I was 32 with one. I went back to a recurve than and killed my first buck that year with a Howatt Hunter. I have hunted with both for the last 15 years and now have killed 33 deer with a Trad bow. Shawn
Had a fiberglass longbow when I was 10 or 11 that i tied surveyors string to and got some arrors from the local k-mart. Just playn around having fun. Nobody in my family had a bow at that time.
When i was 16yo i got my 1st wheelie bow just so i could get more hunting time in. Fell in love w/ archery, and was always intriged by trad. Wheelie's just go to easy and was looking for more of a chanllenge. Longbows/ recurves just have a mystic about them that i am drawn to. I cant explain it.
I was 30 when i got my 1st LB from the TG classified. The next year gave my wheels to my brother and went full trad. No looking back now.
Since None of my Relatives ever shot a Bow, I was about 5 when I got my First "BigChief" Bow & Arrow Set. :archer:
I started making my own simple little bows when I was 7 or 8 but nothing serious at all, just to play with. I started seriously with it when I was 28. I am 34 now. For perspective I only had a compound for about 3 years.
I got my first real bow in 1962,age 12, shot alot of homemade bows before that and did alot of pretend. I believe the bow was from Sears and was a recurve with 3 arrows.
1962 when i was 8...just young enough to develope bad habits that took several years to break once i had some guidance...got serious when i was 12...dont remember what the bow was but it was the best thing ive ever recieved as a gift...that little bow was the start of a life long love affair even my wife cant compete with!!!
Around 1963/64 with a Pearson Jet, then a Pearson Ol Ben longbow, then a Pearson Cougar. Killed my first deer with that Cougar in 1966 or 67, got lucky, was eyeing a doe in the sage brush and had drawn the bow about 3/4 of the way, my friend Mike Womack wisseled and the buck stood up in front of the doe, came to full draw and released, spined him and down he went. He ducked at the release but did not duck low enough, lol.
1968....10 years old. Saved lawn mowing money to buy a fiberglass Shakespeare recurve. That bow and I shot quite a few needle nose/alligator gar in the bayou's of Houston and was responsible for my first "kill" of a groundhog at 20 paces that same year while visiting relatives in Maryland. I still have that bow today.
Started with an old Bear recurve when I was 17...I'm 59 now and still shooting the "stick 'n string'.
I was 14 years old back in 1964 when I first picked up a fiberglass recurve bow. That was my start.
Two years later in 1966 when I was 16 years old, I took my first deer (doe) with a one piece Bear 60", 40# @ 28" Super Kodiak.
Even way back then; I knew what a low poundage bow, by today's standards, could do with a well placed lethal broadside lung shot.
I'm 61 years old now and still shooting low poundage bows.
Around 6 or 7 years old. My dad got the while family bows and we would shoot all the time. I am the only one who continued through out my life. He shot occasionally as I was a young adult but just never had the time. Some of my best memories as a child are from those days shooting with the family and mostly my dad. Thanks dad! I miss you!
49 1/2, just last year
let see i was born in 1971
i know i was a bow freak before 1976
when i was bad and my parents took my bows away i made my own out of branches and baling twine
i took my first whitetail in 1986 with a old ben pearson recurve
then went to the dark side around 1990 and did that for about 5 years
when i was bored with that it was
back to the stick bow
16 and I am 55 now,WOW that seems like a long time
Great stories. I'm getting really excited for hunting season. I've always wanted to hunt but never really pursued it until now. I don't even care about getting a deer, I just love being outside in the wilderness.
But of course don't get me wrong, I would also love bagging my first deer.
8. it was a chinaberry longbow my Dad made me. that means i've been doing this for fifty years---does that make me oficially a geezer ?
I started at age 9 because my brother and I shot the windows out of grandpa's shed and our bee bee guns took on a new look. :knothead: Yes the would shoot around corners. :banghead: We talked dad into longbow by Ben Person and some arrows for rabbit hunting. The rest is history and I'll be 70 in March
:archer2:
21 I think...I'll be 31 in a couple weeks.
Don't remember when I shot my first bow, I know I saved up money from hauling hay, chopping and pickin' cotton, and milking cows for the neighbors to buy my first real bow a brand new 1959 Bear Kodiak... I was nine..about to turn ten..
I was 8 when I got a very used old recurve. Don't even know what brand that old bow was.
I was about 10 when I started making selfbows. A branch and dads duck decoy cord made for one heck of a day in the woods! I'm 24 almost 25 (in October) he he and this is my first year actually taking traditional gear into the woods for deer. Been shooting a compound since 14.
Joel.... yep, your a geezer...
Shot old fiberglass bows in the mid 50's to about 61. Left it for about 5-6 years then came back with an "I dont know what it was" bow. Stalked and killed ground hogs and anything else I could get to stand still at home in Jersey...
In fall of 1965 left for college. Had a Hoyt then. In 1968 got a Super Kodiak and then a Super Mag. Had transfered to school in Illinois and started my real bow hunting efforts there. Went over to wheels for a time but came back with a vengence when I got tired of "tweeking" the wheels all the time.
Those two Bears were gone and I regretted it. However, I managed to get a 1969 Super Mag this summer and have been shooting it. It should go in for a refinish next spring. I am looking for a 1968-69 Super Kodiak. Then the circle will be complete.
Been there ever since.... Not going back either..
I bought a bow from Ann Hoyt when I was 9. It wwas a blemished kids long bow. 1958
Shot wheels for a few but went back with a Meigs. Love it
i was 18, got a 66" curly maple zipper from Bob Thompson for my high school grad. present. Im now 34. I can not remember not having a bow of some type.
I had 2 older brothers and my dad bought 2 bows when we moved into a house with woods behind it. 1 bow was a 25# wooden longbow, and the other was a 45# solid fiberglass recurve. I was 5 when we moved and started shooting that wooden bow. Took a couple of years before I could pull that big bad 45#er back. Killed some squirells and rabbits. Then the woods behind got sold and a subdivision built. That was it untill I grew up and had my own family.
I was 12.I'm 52 now. I lost my mind for 2 years and shot wheels.( I was 18) Been back ever since.
Had made own stick bows for a couple of years prior to 1969.
Gifted my 'Little Bear' recurve in 1969 at age eleven.
Still have that Little Bear recurve.
I was 9 when I started shooting. Hunted my first bow season in 71'.
Hunted with the recurve until 79' and went over to the other side until 93'. Got tired of that and came back to the fun side.
'Bout 26 or so. Wish I'd got a longbow much sooner, but I probably wouldn't have appriciated it as much when I was younger.
Fall of 2006. I was 38 years old.
I started Trad when I was 32.
Started compound hen I was 14.
I'm 35 now.
Interesting how times have changed. Back then you could build a bow in shop class. ALL of us boys carried pocket knives. . to class ! Nowadays, you get suspended if you draw a picture of a knife or tell about one when it is your turn to say what you did on vacation.
ChuckC
When I started there was no such a thing as trad gear...it was just archery gear. Compound thingys had been invented but were glorified POS back in 1971. I got my fist bow when I was in the 4/5th grade. I was 9/10 years old. One of those orange & white dreamcycle jobs with the shelf on both sides. When I was 13 I got an Indian recurve. I still have it. I shot at a lot of deer back then but never connected.
I bought a Bear Polar II wheel bow when I was 16 YO. Shot wheel thingys till 2005 when I found my roots once again. I'm home, no going back.
I started at 5 years old, and I am almost 59.
Allan
Started when I was 14 in 1958. Hap
Grew up with Bear fiberglass recurves and even bought myself a Herter's Model Perfect (of course) Sambar Junior in junior high or so. But once I was allowed to hunt unsupervised with a gun, the bows gathered dust. Then at age 19 I picked up a compound, and at age 26 had converted over to stickbows. Am 49 now and haven't looked back.
Started with a red fiberglass bow at eight in '59. Killed my first deer at age 14-pure dumb luck. Wheeled from '82-90 and regained my sense. Still enjoy just being out there with bow in hand and enjoying the lifestyle. Wouldn't trade it for anything else. Will do it until I'm called home.
I was 26 when I got serious with shooting and hunting with a stickbow, although I shot some of my uncle's bows occasionally before that. This coming fall will be my 5th archery season since my transition from wheels.
35
I started when I was very young 2 or 3 maybe. When I was 8 I got my first compound. By age 11 I had gone back to traditional and that's where I am to stay. (I'm 17 now)
Glad to see I'm not the only one who started early!
My dad started me early! I actually can not remember a time when I didn't have a bow. In these pics I was about 3 years old. All I can remember about those days was gettin' a fanny whipped for shootin' at my Grandmothers chickens! LOL!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/Huntinfool7/Bowhuntin/Chuck3yrsoldshootinmybow.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/Huntinfool7/Bowhuntin/Dadteachinggoodform3.5yrsold.jpg)
Here I am with my first laminated bow a Browning Wasp in 1972!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/Huntinfool7/Bowhuntin/ChuckBrowningWasprecurve1972.jpg)
And then a year or so later I bought a Bear take down with B handle 64" long 53# @ 28 wish I still had that one! My first kill with her!LOL!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/Huntinfool7/Bowhuntin/Chuckchipmonk73res.jpg)
~HF~
I have had a stick bow in my hands since I could walk. I'm 30 now.
I bought my first bow, a Bear Panda in 1958 when I was almost 11. I never had anyone who used a bow to teach me anything and it's a good thing I never hit a deer since I didn't know you had to sharpen those Bear Broadheads.
Man, I wish I had gotten a chance to start when I was as young as some of you all!!
When I was a kid I had one junky arrow that I found and I used to THROW it at birds cause I had no bow...LOL (all I ever accomplished was breaking a big window one time and getting is big trouble) So all I learned was don't throw arrows at "skylined" targets when your parents big glass door is on the other side:(
I bought a cheap 25# fiberglass recurve at a flea market when I was 9 or so, but never got a decent string and arrows for it until I was 27!!! So, I finally got to start shooting arrows for real when I was 27! That was in February or March THIS year!... The great thing is that I realized that I have been wanting to do this since I was a little kid!! I am very happy that I have the chance to practice archery now and hopefully start hunting at some point.
Started when I was four. Hard to believe that was 66 years ago but still at it strong and appreciating it more.
Started when I was 16 with a friends 40# Ben Pearson all green 333. My first hunting bow is still a Pearson Hunter 47#. I got it new in 1967.
I was 19 and about one year of olympic style shooting just bored me.
I found a book about instinctive shooting and bought my first longbow (a Sky Hoyt trophy 40#). It's so much fun for me, I don't think I'll change the way I shoot.
I was around 10 shooting a fiberglass recurve,then I got a bear super mag when I was about 14.
Red bear bow when I was 7 yrs old, went to compounds at 11 and shot them till I was 19 yrs old. Have owned other compounds over the years but mostly tradtional and have not even shot one in about 8 years. so for a majority of my 42 yrs Ive shot traditional, wow time sure flys when your having fun.Don
Age 13 (1972) with a Ben Person 35# fiberglass bow. 1974 harvested a whitetail doe with that bow, that was in the barn yard.
If I get home and hunt this year 38, but if all goes as plans it will be with a bow I made myself. Well as long as the ones we made as kids don't count if so then 30+ years. :)
Started at 3, now 65. You'd think I'd be better at it!
I had an old green fiberglass bow when I was about 8 or 9. I think Kendall Techau and I had the same bow.
I remember waiting patiently for my dad to come home on my 13th birthday,(he worked away from home during the week). He bought me a Shakespeare Wonderbow, 40@28" Shot my first buck with it in 1972. My mom sewed camo covers for it from some old WWII parachute. I still have it.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd43/MnFn/apair052.jpg)
39 yo. Trad gear from the start. Never any other.
I was 23 when I started and I'm 34 now.
I started shooting those fiberglass recurves when I was a little kid. But my first licensed deer hunt was in 1967. I was 15.
I sure wish that I had started as early as many of you did.
I got started at age 56, and am still learning every day. But I guess you learn more every day no matter what your age.
About 10. Found a red bow with broken tip in dump while cutting pine poles for martin houses. Used dad's small round file to cut groove for string and used model airplane glue to seal and hold glass together. Found a string at hardware store w/loop in one end and tied loop in other end at what I guessed was right length. Cedar arrows were 25 cents at hardware stoe. Nobody knew anything about spine, etc. Shot rabbits and squirrels w/it. When out of hi-school and had a min wage job got a new 49# Red Wing Hunter. Been at it over 50 years now.
Which time I started with trad archery till I went into the army from the age of 7 and then went to the "dark side" compounds in 1982 when I got out of the army. tryed trad with a long bow in 1990-91 till a left hand injury stopped that,went back to the dark side. now two years ago I saw the light and have been all trad sence. :archer2:
I was 11 in 1955 and my parents gave me a Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow, 30#, and an archery kit. I bugged them to death after seeing the movie "Robin Hood".
1962 and I was 11 years old at the time.
Gene
This is my 46 archery hunting season all with recurves and longbows. Shot my first buck with a Hill longbow many years ago. Shot him at 6 yards from the ground. Started shooting at rabbits and chipmunks before that but couldn't tell you when.
Probably about 1973 0r `74 my mom bought me a Blackhawk/Cravotta longbow at a yard sale. It came with several arrows, a back quiver, a homemade finger tab, and a spare string. It was a STOUT bow for an eight yr old boy...but I adapted.
Went to a compound bow from `80 to `89, but I have been back "home" ever since.
When I was 10. I'm 72 now.