Trad Gang

I had too much time on my hands rehabing this shoulder here at home. Thinking about "The Good Ol Days" when bowhunting here was super. Plenty of land and large deer herds. Circa 1969-1975. Recurves and Cedar arrows ruled the woods.

I have an old Kittredge Catalog coming in from Tom Phillips. I just love looking through the pages filled with the latest bows and arrows that highlighted that era.

All you bowhunters out there who were around from the 60's and 70's...let's here about your favorite bow shops, catalogs or hunting gear. We had 3 stores here that sold Bear,Browning and Pearson bows along with Bear and Pearson arrows.

The catalogs that held my attention more than my Math books were Feline, Robin Hood, Anderson Archery, Kittredge...and who can forget those large Herter's catalogs! All filled with eye popping bows, arrows, quivers and accessories.

Let's here how it was in your neck of the woods back in "The Good 'Ol Days"......

Bought a Browning recurve in 1967, Worn out the Herter's Catalog, read about hunts on Catalina Island and Fred Bears trips to Alaska. And at that time you could walk out the door at home and start hunting......Ah' The Good Old Days......

Who you calling old!?! Oh, just checked my drivers license and I am old.

Used to be archery shops were in garages next to houses - just like motorcycle shops in the 60's. Cabelas "catalog" was two page mimeograph sent if you mailed them a SASE. Loved the Herters wish book. Still have the recurve from the garage shop near Cedarville, OH and the flyrod from Herters.

Those were the days; Doug Kittredge Bow Hut, Herter's, Sears and Montgomery Wards.
Prices were a bit better, too.
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And, could this be considered longbow blasphemy????!!
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I wasn't around and one of my regrets is not making to Glenn St Charles's shop in Seattle.

QuoteCirca 1969-1980. Recurves and Cedar arrows ruled the woods.  

I gotta disagree with your time frame Joe. From 1970  to 1980 compounds and aluminum arrows were just about all you saw...they ruled the woods during that time. There were a few holdouts from the 50's and 60's that clung to their  Stickbows but they were few and far between. The 80's saw the beginning of the resurgence of traditional archery but it was a slow process.

Through most of the 60's I worked part time in an archery shop on weekends and some evenings after my regular job. The racks were full of recurves by Bear, Wing, American Archery, Hoyt, and Wilson Brothers Black Widow. I made custom arrows in the back room, where the pot of ferrel-tite glue never cooled off. The smell of burned feathers and cedar filled the air, and Bowhunting was spoken there...   :thumbsup:

I was a late bloomer. Started bow hunting in 1975 or 76. I was 16 or 17 yrs old when my Dad took me to the locale bow shop in Ithaca to pick out a bow. I remember all the Bear, Martin, Darton, and other bows they had. We decided on a Martin x-200 with the old fiberglass arrows and Wasp broadheads. I still remember the salesman fitting me to the 45 lb bow and taking my draw length. Dad bought a Martin Hunter and we started Deer hunting that year. I do remember the Herter"s catalogs and I'm sure I must have picked up others at the bow shop. Thanks for sparking my memory banks Joe.

Joe these are the good old days now. I started bow hunting in 1968.

The deer herds were much smaller than today. Also the seasons and limits were much shorter and smaller. Some states refused to let bowhunters hunt.

We didn't have the quality bowyers we have today or at least the amount of them.

Everything we learned was by hard knocks. There were few bowhunters so you learned as you went. There were many gun hunters. If you went gun hunting there was an orange jacket behind every tree.

We had limited communication so everything was by word of mouth. You had to find someone that new another bowhunter to get in touch with them to discuss archery. We didn't have the internet and sites like this. No email.

If you were lucky enough to find an archery magazine you were overjoyed. We would subscribe to Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and Field and Stream in the hopes one would have some archery article in it.

There weren't any archery shops so you had to find a Gun shop that carried archery supplies and the equipment was very limited. You had to take what they had.

Tree stands were in their infancy. Most were permanents made of wood. You find a great spot, spend a lot of time scouting and building a stand and when you got there, there might  be someone else in it. My first tree stand was a Pearson. You could only put it up as high as you could reach and it had a rope that hung off the front of the stand. I actually shot a nice 8 point out of that stand 7 feet off the ground. Then the Baker came out. It was a death trap. Saftey belts were unheard of. It took a lot of accidents and deaths before they became a fixture readily available.

Yep these are the good old days. I wouldn't go back for anything.

Gil

I don't remember any compounds in the 70's Ron, at least not where I lived.

Joined our local club in 79. Started taking archery a little more serious. Started hunting in 81. You could get permission to hunt from most anyone back then, especially if you were bow hunting. A yr. or two later I acquired a Jack Howard catalog, then ordered his Hunter recurve. I couldn't afford the Game Master, that's what I really wanted. In the early 80s there were very few stick bow guys in our club, that changed a little latter on .A few yrs. latter  I then ordered a brand new Black Widow 3pcs wood handle t/d, paid $219 for it. Ken Beck had taken over the business. Its been a great ride, still using my recurves  and longbows, and I'm still loving it.

In the 70s there were compound shooters in my area. Once that happened more gun hunters became bowhunters just to get in more deer hunting time. Finding a traditional shooter was rare in the 70s and 80s in my area.

The first one I remember seeing was Ridgid. It was parallel limb short bow about 30" long made from aircraft aluminum.

In my area we had 3 weeks of bow season. back then you didn't get paid vacation like today and if you took a day off you lost a days pay, if your boss took you back for taking off to go hunting. That left 3 Saturdays to hunt deer. Back in those days it seemed to pour every Saturday. I used to use my stand like an umbrella. I would stand under it to try to keep dry.

You're bringing back memories here Joe!!!

Back in th 60's and 70's, you could get practicaly anything you wanted out of the back of an "Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, Sports Afield" magazine... I had all of the old catalogs, spent HOURS looking through them! Never was one for "mail order" lol, it was a good 4 mile hike to the Post Office to get a money order and when you got there, they may or may not be open!!!We never really had an "Archery Shop" (that I knew of?) But the local "Department Stores" kept me well stocked as long as I had money!!! "Grant's, Bradley's, Barker's, Caldor's, Ames, Grandway" They're all gone now..... We had a Montgomery Wards up in Poughkeepsie, and the "Monkey Wards" catalog was my wish list!!! At least I had a good shot at getting anything I wanted,that wasn't in the store. They had a "catalog service" counter... You waited on line, placed your order, paid your money, then waited for the Mailman!!!!!

Those were the days!!! Thanks Joe!!!!! It's been a long time since I dug that far back.....

Bought my first recurve 1968 while in school in Ky.
Didn't see  a compound till about 1975.
Bought and used one for about 10 years.  Bought a bamboo hunter longbow and currently hunt with my own BBI or BBO longbows.

Long before Wal-Mart.....Big N, Western Auto, and the local hardware store. I got my first hunting knife at my Uncles Gas Station, it was a Kin-folk and I still have it!

I started hunting deer and hogs with recurves in the early 60's in Ft. Stewart, Ga. Most of Ga. had no deer season back then, but Stewart was overpopulated with them and hogs along with a fair population of turkeys...even had wild cows that were legal to shoot if you could ever see one. I would see tracks in the clay roads all the time, but never a cow.

Commercial portable tree stands weren't on the market yet, but you could get a home-made loc on if you knew the right people. Also a pair of pole climbers if you knew somebody working for the power co. or telephone co.
 
I worked in a sheet metal shop for a while back then and we made all kinda portable tree stands..and it's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves using some of the flimsy loc ons we made..also a few climbers after Baker came out. Never did any of us use a safety harness..only a climbing belt or rope with the pole climbers.

You would see a lot of bucks during archery season back in those days, since not many bow hunters in the woods and not many pre season scouting for archery season to spook them.

I shot a lot of Field Rounds and the area I was in American Archery Bows were popular. I do remember lusting after a Jack Howard bow, but not pulling the trigger. Bear bows were everywhere and kinda common. Watching Fred Bear on American Sportsman was kinda like the young kids watching hunting shows of today I guess..except it was something fairly new to regular TV.

I saw my first compound an Allen in early 70's. They weren't legal in Ga. for a few yrs after they came out due to being classified as mechanical.

Ahhh, Baker suicide treestands.....

Man, you all sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself.  I was saying today that I feel old (I was born in 1972).  I got my first longbow (a red fiberglass dual shelf) in '78, and made the switch in 95 when I got out of the Army.  Shot 2 deer and said "This Sucks", and went right back after giving the whole set up to a friend, and never regretted it one bit.

Back then (for me at least) there was no safe chipmunks, squirrels or woodchucks.  My dad used to take me to the hardware store to get me some kids wood arrows every time I would either break or loose the ones I had.

We only had one bow shop around that I knew of KC Archery. The guy that owned it was real independent. The sign on the door said Open when I feel like it and Closed the same. I mainly went to T.G.& Y, K-mart, JC Pennys, Sears and Mongomery Wards to look at bows and buy supplies locally. Kittredge, Anderson and Herters for mail order. Kittredge was my favorite and I bought a couple bows there. Got real lucky one time at a flea market and bought two big stacks of Bow and Arrow magazines from the mid to late 60's and read for ever the great stories Jim Dougherty wrote. Went hunting rabbits down by the Kaw or rats at a local quail farm almost every Saturday. The first deer season I hunted was in 1971 in Kansas.

Eric...that treestand is the reason I stayed on the ground hunting. Even though I fear heights, I was convinced to try one. Noisy, cumbersome...and no one told me never to shift my weight to the back of the stand...We both hit the ground one morning, me first. That was my first and last attempt at tree stand hunting.

Around my home town in southwestern PA, we did not see many compounds until the mid 1970`s.

The only archery shop I can recall when I started bowhunting(1972) was Feline Archery. They had a pretty good selection of bows back then.

I shot my first deer in 1970 with a Wing bow and arrows that came from Northwest Archery. My deer tag cost $2 and I still have it. Back then I had no idea who Glenn St Charles was or what he meant to archery. Over the next 30 + years I spent countless hours in Glenn's store drinking free coffee, drooling over the critters and collection in the museum and getting to know the St Charles family.

My wife bought me my first bow in 1958. I don't remember the name but traded it for a Ben Pearson in 1963. The dealer was my insurance man and he sold Hoyt, Pearson, and later on Bear bows out of his garage. He taught me more about archery in a few sessions than I had learned by myself in several years.

Our deer season opened in my county in 1964. The deer were few and far between. I hunted mostly with a Pearson Conquerer but never killed a deer with it. Took my first deer, a muley, in 1969 with a Bear Takedown. Still have the Conquerer and the Bear. Killed my first whitetail in 1970 with the Bear.

Odd but there were very few Bear bows in my part of the country. Pearson and Hoyt dominated. Hoyt primarily because the factory was only 90 miles away in Missouri. I had purchased a Bear Magnum sometime in the mid sixties but it exploded the very first time I shot it. The takedown was only the second Bear I had owned. Another thing that might surprise some is no one in the sixties that I knew shot wood arrows. Easton had come out with the 24srtx aluminum shafts and they were the cats meow at that time. Personally I have only experimented with woodies and have never really hunted with them.

I used to go with my dealer, his name was Bob Hill, to the Hoyt factory when he went to pick up bows. Earl was a hero of mine and it was great to listen to his experiences. He was a person that willingly answered a novices questions with patience.

These were the good old days for target archery as there were literally hundreds of shooters in the area but hunting was a different thing. Illinois' deer herd was very thin in the sixties and when someone killed one with a bow, it made the front page of our little county paper. There were a couple of twin brothers named Ron and Don Riley that scored most every year though and they are bowhunting legends in our area. Don passed away a few years ago but Ron  is 82 and still shoots. I talked with him at length at Cloverdale this year.

I grew up in north central Florida and never saw a bow shop or bowhunter in the late 50's/60's time frame.  My grandfather gave me his bows and gave me a little instruction-enough to get me started.  I lusted after Herter's products-we always had a Herter's catalog laying around for flytying and lure making stuff.  I read Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield, as well as my grandfather's True magazines.  My father considered bows to be toys so serious hunting with a bow was not allowed.  I wandered our 25 acres shooting at rabbits, squirrel, quail, armadillo, snakes-got exactly 1 rabbit and 1 armadillo in about 10 years.  I also left several arrows standing in the woods with very pissed off water moccasins attached to them.  I bought my first real bow in 1971 at the BX on Lowry AFB in Denver-a Browning Safari ll (still have it).

I grew up on a small farm in West Tennessee.  The Western Auto was the only place that carried any archery gear.  I got a wood recurve for Christmas, and cried and pleaded for those .25 arrows to keep me shooting.
I practically taught myself to read with the Herter's catalog.

I spent most of my spare time at Jerry Hill's shop in Harpersville. When we wasn't working in the shop we would be out at the bale seeing who could hit the most quarters tossed in the air. Great times.

I remember when my father taking a 4 point buck back in the mid 70's with an old Ben Pearson and people came from all over to take a look at it as hung from a tree in the backyard. It was unheard of people taking deer with bows back then. Then I remember my oldest brother bringing home a Bear 6 wheeled compound that my dad nicked named "the screen-door" because every time he pulled it back it an old screen-door opening. But it sounded like an old screen-door slamming shut when he released the arrow. My first bow was a Indian that my dad bought for me at a local yard sale. My dad started taking me hunting with him in 1980. He would give me one of his Easton aluminum arrows tipped with a Bear broadhead and tell me to sit on that dead fall until he came back. My first portable deer stand was a Baker that was death trap!! My chest would be rubbed raw from just trying to climb with it!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Eric Krewson:
Ahhh, Baker suicide treestands.....

Yep I had a slim Jim   :scared:

I started deer hunting in New Jersey in the late fifties,first real deer bow was an old ParX aluminum bow my dad bought off a fellow along with an old King quiver loaded with cedar arrows tipped with zwickeys.It was a bear of a bow to draw,probably in the fifty plus # range but I did kill a few bucks from home made wood stands.The amusing thing with this bow was when it got cold in the low thirties when you pulled it back it made cracking noiseys more then one deer lived another day because of the noise it made,I still have it but don't shoot it because the metal fatigue could cause it to blow up.Ah baker tree stands took more then one slide down a tree with them especially a smooth bark tree fond memories glad I survived.

My first bow was given to me by my cousin. He was a great hunter. My father started him hunting since his father didn't hunt. He paid for his college tuition by trapping the Passaic River in NJ. He had friends with farms in NJ. Every year I can remember he had a nice buck. He used to hunt with a 40# lemonwood string follow flatbow. He gave that bow to me to start with. It had no shelf and you shot off your hand. I can't count the number of times I got quill splinters in my hand and boy did that hurt.

Then right before I started bowhunting I bought a 52# Bear Kodiak Magnum from Paterson Rod and Gun. I wanted a '67.5 Super K in the worst way but couldn't afford it.

I have many archery magazines from the '40s, '50s and '60s. It seems that California was a big archery state. Back then if your local stores didn't carry archery magazines you were out of luck.

Little shop in the backyard of Pappy Kennedy,maybe 12 x 12.Always had the smell of cedar and burnt barred feathers.He taught me to shoot a bow,a 45# Bear Grizzly.I shot barred feathers because I could not afford solid colored ones.

Let's see.  A guy came to my school when I was in 7th grade wearing an outfit that was half camo & half red advertising Bear's "Be a two season hunter" campaign.  He had an archery shop & I worked all summer to earn enough money to buy a Bear Bearcat, 8 arrow quiver & 1 dz. green cedar arrows tipped with Bear Razorheads.  That was 1966/67.  My daughter-in-law now shoots that bow.  The shop owner was Smokey Wagner and he had the oldest Bear Archery dealership in the US until he finally gave it up a few years back.  I can still smell the cedar arrows as I walked into that place.

Here's something to ponder...

I started hunting with wood arrows in the mid 70's But toward 1980, Woodies were getting hard to find...

You could buy Easton "Gamegetters" or Bear "Metric magnums" right off the shelf of just about any department store. Aluminium, Plastic vanes, interchangable points... They were the cat's nuts!!! Weatherproof, hunt in the rain/snow, unscrew your field points & screw on a broadhead!!!!! We all shot them out of our Bear recurves, off a Bear Weatherest!!! All of the mid 70's & later Bear bows came with one right from the factory.

I'm too young in terms of "archery years", but my dad was an old-time bowhunting guy.  (He passed away a few years ago.)  He ran a shop in southern California, and was a big proponenet of Jack Howard's Gamemaster.  He even took Jack's personal hunting bow for a field test for Bow & Arrow magazine in 1968.

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But I remember my dad and his stories of taking groups of bowhunters out to Catalina Island in the late 60's/early 70's.  I'll bet there's a lot of West Coast old-timers that remember those days!  But since I have never been there, all I can talk about are the stories and dad's many many pictures.

In 1975 we started bowhunting. I was 15 years old.
Dont remember seeing compounds till later 70's in this area. Wood and aluminum were what was available to us. Dad bought me and younger brother  Bear bows but the previous year he had bought me an Indian Archery recurve but wound up hunting with Bear Kmag at first.
In our clan we had Bear, Stemmler, Darton.

I tried to get my recurve out to CA when i came back from overseas-only to find it delaimanated.  Went to Roman Grrey's in San Diego and he sold me a Carroll compound-in 1972.  Shot compounds for a few years and took up the longbow when i retired-

My first real bow came from Ward's catalog. A 55lb. Pearson Pinto. I lived in Chicago area at that time. Deer were hard to come by, most guys went to Wi or southern IL. to hunt. That was 1963 and I was 18 yrs. old. There was a store I knew of and visited a few times in Forest Park. They had many target bows there but I was to young to know what was the better choice in bows for me. In 1972 I joined Tinley Park archers and saw my first compound, Pete Sheply of PSE was selling compounds out of his garage. My favorite catalogs were Bow Hut and Anderson. My first hunting arrows were 2020 from the Bow Hut. I had bought my Bear SK that year. Ya, some great memories but I think we have it good now days also.
Tom M

tks for the memories guys...

i still have my younger brothers first bow...came from montgomery wards in the mid 60's

mine delambed in the mid 70's...but my brothers is still useable today...maybe cuz he barly used it...and i used mine up...still have a few woodies from gambels hardware store from the mid 60's also

the good old days are any day above ground.

I love this thread! I'm only 25, but have been around shooting a stick and string since I could walk! Some of my most find memories are from going to the GLLI shoots at marshal, Brighton, and berian springs with dad and my uncle when I was younger. i would walk around the tents beggin dad for all the awesome arrows, bows, and other stuff i thought i needed! i can still remember when dad let me put the great nothern quiver on my ben pearson bronco! we atill have that bow and i cannot wait till the day comes when my daughter can shoot it,I will never forget the first time dad took me bowhunting he was shooting his great northern ghost and missed a doe! Shot my first deer at 12 with a selway Lil shooter legacy 2016s and bear razorheads.  Thanks for this thread, I love hearing stories about how we all got our start in the wonderful world of traditional archery, to me there is nothing better than listening to the more " experienced" guys with your wisdom and knowledge! One day I hope to be one of the " old timers" I look up to so much. Keep them coming! God bless

Drew

Bought a 52 in Browning Cobra at the Smoke Shop in Kirksville, MO in  1976. Killed my first deer 3 yrs later. It was a interesting 3 yrs for a city boy.   :) .  Nice 8 pointer that is imbedded in my mind.  It was awesome, hooked me for life. I turned into a hardcore trad guy and never looked back except for 2 yrs of compound.'   :) . Last count was about 14 stick bows.   :)

To this day, I will never forget my Father and Uncle burning and shaping feathers in the basement. The smell of burnt feathers is awesome...   :eek:

Along with the sweet smell of a broken PO Cedar arrow. This photo of my uncle taken in the late 50's.

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Joe
The best is yet to come.... It's a journey, you can never say I got it all figured out.  Trad guys are the best.

If it was easy everybody would be doing it.  :)

It was my uncle that I watched come in from hunting with his Super Necedah and camo coat [just like Fred's] that got me turned on in about 1963-64. He had on a Jones style hat in woodland camo and a Buck knife on his belt.....I have that knife now, he passed in January of this year at 84 years of age!

I remember as a kid going to friends of my dads and seeing their recurves in their basements, and wood arrows tucked her and there. and seeing bear bows on display in the local hardware store.  I also remember picking up issues on Bowhunter and Bow and Arrow magazines from the early 70's and reading them.  That's when I fell in love with the idea of hunting with a bow and arrow.  my eye was drawn to the recurve.  There were still a lot of recurve shooters in the magazines.

In my neck of the woods you didn't see anything but compounds from about 74-86. I went to OBA shoots every weekend and usually saw 2 other recurves besides mine per year, n that was Roger Rothaars n his sons at the OBA state shoot.


    Deer were so rare when I got my first with my new bow in Jan 67 it made the local newspaper. To me what made it the "good ole days" was the comradery. There weren't so many bowhunters so the ones you saw always wanted to talk and get together to shoot or hunt.


    My favorite hangout was Vic Bergers World of Archery. That was the only shop around till I opened mine in 84. I still remember the side of the building had painted on it "Bowhunting Spoken Here". Vic was always willing to help with any shooting problems you had, plus had a great sense of humor about it.


   We really didn't have a decent herd of deer till about 1980, but even then it was nothing like today.

This thread made me go back to old archery magazines I have. I was looking at 1961 Archery magazines. Something I never noticed before was the article author not only had his\\her name printed, but it also included his or her address.

That is something I miss. It was different in our society back then. You didn't have to worry about someone stealing your identity or coming to your house to rob you. Ah now that was the good old days. Kids could play outside and neighbors would keep an eye on you like you were their child. If you lost something someone would go out of their way to find you and return it. Everyone was much more respectful to each other.  

Yes in a way those were the good old days, but today is the good old days in archery terms.

I was lucky to live in Pine Bluff in the mid 60's not far from the Ben Pearson factory and outlet store. They had everything but I still remember ordering my first set of aluminium arrows from Herters. Bent, broke or lost most of them within a few weeks, so back out to the Outlet to get some cedar arrows (seconds were cheap back then) they are ALL seconds now.

When I was growing up we had very few deer and no turkeys or bear. My dad was an absolute diehard bowhunter. He killed an 8 pt. buck in 1962 and there was only one other doe killed with a bow in our county that year. We lived about 70 miles from South Charleston where we would go to get all our hunting supplies from a shop called Babe Tucci's. He was a wonderful gentleman who helped you out any way he could.
 Dad would save his money and we would go there and buy feathers,nocks and arrows and broadheads. One day I spied a solid black Wing Thunderbird that I fell in love with, it was 54# at 28". Summoning all my strength I pulled it back and held it. Of course my great Dad bought it for me. At 14 years old I was soon king of the woods in my mind. I killed my first deer with that bow and several more before getting another bow. Oh the memories, you just can't replace them.

a name from the Past Herters, my Dad and I would wait for there new catalog and just put in the bathroom and look at the photo's of all the great items. Got my first adult bow from them and a doz cedar shaft, then two years later got the first set of fiberglass arrows, were with 5 inch fletch, tan shafts, the  feathers were 2 yellow and one black. MY Dad said they were to good looking to shoot and lose one. But within a month he ordered some for himself. They would bounce off trees and were still good to go. I do miss that all these sites no longer have members put in were they are from , like New York state and the county you live ( Delware ) and nearest big city for me is Oneonta  ....sure would make it easier to then go back and try to meet other archers in your area.

Joe, I'd like to chime in but as you know, I'm not old enough.

:laughing:  

Ron

TTT, I love threads like theses! A real pleasure to read    :campfire:

Good one Ronnie....I'm getting back to form, you better find time to bowhunt with us this fall....Tri-State Terrors looking for new people...

  :eek:    

Around 1971...I remember talking to Jack Howard about why should I shoot cock feather in....Arrow maker Rube Powell answered my letter and said I should shoot 4" 4 Fletch...

We tried making the Howard broadhead by epoxying on razor blades....tried the Dougherty 003....A few guys built leather backquivers, arm guards and it was easier to find barred feathers than solids.

Whether you bowhunted Ulster or Dutchess Counties...plenty of farm land, orchards that held big bucks, plenty of does and very little pressure. Bowhunters had it made back then, you could hunt for one week and maybe see 2 other guys in the woods.

Skipper, no Im not an old timer but I like the stories they tell like these in this thread. They remind me of the 2 garage shops up here that I remember. Lennys and Jacks. There was Lemmes too but it was a bigger shop and I could hardly get a ride all the way to Albany from Troy, it was far away back then. They must have closed in 82 or 84, right before I was old enough to bowhunt but I can see them in my minds eye like I was in them just today. Hell, I can remember run of the mill conversations with strangers in those shops. I sure miss when the world was a bigger place. Thanks for the stories fellas.

Opening morning of the bow season, October 1, 1962 found this 15 year old boy in the "Deer Woods" not far from Fred Bear's plant in Grayling, Michigan.
Carrying my new Herter's recurve with those great yellow wood arrows, less than 15 minutes after good shooting light I sent a Herter's Ram MX broadhead right over the back - if two feet can be called right over the back - of a great looking doe at about 20 yards. I was hooked for life!
I haven't hunted in Michigan for many years now so
my hunting buddy from that day sent me last fall -50 years later - a current picture from the spot where I got that shot.

Loved watching American Sportsman with Fred Bear and I think it was Curt Gowdy, sitting around a camp fire and just talking about hunting. Very little camo, lot's of flannel and some cool hats....lol! I went to the Bear Museum in Grayling in 1977. My wife and I took a motorcycle trip out there, what a great time. Seeing all the stuff Fred had shot and his collection of Archery history was amazing. Really liked the movie of Fred shooting the Elephant.....unreal! You could see all the films that were made, really cool!

I remember my first camouflage was Brown Woodland, like WWII. We had an Army/Navy store that sold surplus. Bought my first set of Tiger Stripe camouflage there.

He also sold Ben Pearson hunting arrows...bright yellow with blue crests, yellow/blue feathers. I can't tell you how many Bear Razorheads and Pearson Deadheads we went through. Lost or broken off in trees...   :eek:

My favorite back then was Camp Clan Tiger Stripes.

My first season was 1970, 12 years old.Hunted with a Bear Panda 35#. License was $1.25 and Wisconsin bowhunters app. was a buck. Overspined arrows with razorheads in a back quiver or a uncovered Kwikee. Put on something green and hit the woods on the ground. Good clean fun and adventure. We were told by peers if you don't practice you don't hunt. A deer was a trophy period. We were not a management tool. No posted land. But today on a frosty morning with the deer on the move it's still the same in my heart.

I remember getting my first recuve directly from Howard Hill. Of course, to me Howard Hill was the gentleman who owned Hill's Hardware Store in Paoli Indiana. I didn't even know there was a famous archer by the same name!
For my 12th birthday in 1974 I got a Darton Ranger from Mr. Hill. My dad bought a Black Bear later that year and we began stump shooting and later hunting. I still have both of those bows, they mean a lot to me.

About 1980.....

I was home on leave from the Marines. My future(and now) brother inlaw, his youngest brother & I, took a trip up north, to my uncle's mountain in Schoharie Co. My brother inlaw had 1 of the first compounds, a 50# nonadjustable Bear Blacktail Hunter. His younger brother had a Pearson recurve, and I had my old 50# Bear Alaskan. I had camo painted the old Bear and it was now wearing a green tape on 4 arrow bowquiver. We were all shooting 2117 Easton "Gamegetters" with plastic vanes, off of a Bear Weatherest. Mine were tipped with old green Bear Razorheads. I was dressed head to toe, in my Marine issue woodland camo utilitys, and my face was painted with G.I. camy stick face paint. We were SERIOUS Bowhunters!!!!!

I stillhunted my way up the upper logroad of the mountain, bumping a few deer along the way. 1 was even a buck, a nice 4 pointer!!! On top of the mountain, was a big overgrown pasture field. I stillhunted along the edge of the field, and came acrossed another bowhunter sitting on a rock alongside the field. I slowly walked up to him & said "Good morning".....

He was an old grey haired gentleman with a grey beard. He was wearing green wool pants & a Red&Black wool Mackinaw. On his head was an old Red&Black wool "Jones Style" hat and he had L.L. Bean Guide boots on his feet. He had a backquiver of arrows on his back. In his hand, was what looked to be Ben Pearson recurve, with black glass & white limb tips. Nocked on it's string... was a beautifuly crested cedar arrow, fletched with barred turkey feathers. It was tipped with the BIGGEST Pearson Deadhead that I had ever seen!!!!!

We talked awhile, He lived at the base of the mountain & knew my uncle. I told him about the buck, and he said he had seen it a few days before. It had spooked before he could stalk close enough for a shot. We wished each other "Good Luck" & I stillhunted on my way.....

I remember thinking how COOL he looked, and wondering how long he had been bowhunting??? Looking at me, I'm sure he was thinking that bowhunting was going to hell in a handbasket, Lmao!!!!! I wish I could have got to know him better, I'm sure he had some stories to tell.....

Kinda getting away from Joes question a bit. But my favorite Good old days of bowhunting good fortune was parking my'71 Ford LTD off a Kent County  country road and going hunting. I was 17 at the time and had a gentleman pull up behind me in the field and say "You Know This Is Private Property Don't You??" I apologized up and down and said I would not do it again and was getting ready to get back in my car and leave. The gentleman (Neil) said "son- It will be alot easier and I would appreciate it if you parked up at the house alongside the barn." I was estatic, I had access to 300 plus acres and my relationship with Neil and his family lasted the better part of 30 years. I have great memories of my current spots, but the best years was hunting Neil's property where I cut my teeth. The very much UNDESERVED and UNEXPECTED Blessing I recieved from Neil resulted in some of the best times of my life.  Well then after my morning hunts I'd go Down to Bear Archery Center on Leonard St. in Grand Rapids Mich and talk with "Pops" (Ken Englebretsen) and drink some of his coffee.

Neat Thread.  Thanks for the head's up, Ron!  And Joe, I qualify as "OLD" so I'll chime in!

Vernon Kinsey was injured in an industrial accident and liked archery.  Story goes his coworkers set him up in his garage with a bow shop to run from his wheel chair.  Kinsey Archery was born!

By the time I was in HS, he was in the Mt. Joy Paper box plant.  He kept it growing till he had a huge wholesale operation and also a retail store before his death.

I bought a Wing hunter Recurve there... by year or 2 after graduation, I noticed I couldn't hit anchor...my arms grew to catch up to the rest of my tall self.  Hit a wall!

I went up around 1968' with my bow--confused.  Guy handed me a Jennings T2 hunter with those awful brackets on the ends w/ "wheels!"

I pulled it back but it wouldn't budge...guy said to keep pulling...when it rolled over, I about broke my nose, went to my knees, and he laughed.  I swung at his head w/ the bow but missed.  

Period on the "dark side" cause I didn't have much time to hunt or shoot and shot the T2 w/ fingers and no sights. That was the first compounds around here...67-68'.

You could shoot buck or doe on your buck tag back then w/ an archery tag. That didn't last long. Now it's antler-less permit draw by county or WMA.

Used to see deer every time out...they had no idea what we were trying to do.  Shot at deer standing looking at me and watch them duck a quiver full of arrows...then meander off!

Also remember Slim Jim Bakers! Wore all the hair off my sternum not knowing how to go "up"...we pulled ourselves up...ouch!

Great memories.  Now deer all have Ph.D's in "avoidance" but still fun time afield.

Just too many people out there, but numbers preserve the sport they say!