22 years ago....about this time in 1988 I bought my first custom recurve, a Brackenbury Legend 62"55@28.  I'd shot several traditional bows as a kid, but that Legend was my first custom bow.  

Like many of you I shot compounds for awhile, maybe 4 years in total but that Brackenbury was when things really got rolling for me and what a wonderful ride it's been!

I can't believe how many bowyers are on the street today in comparison to 1988.  There are so many choices today, so many options and so many folks who have learned the trade.  Everyday I see folks getting new bows from bowyers I've never heard of and they all look darn good!

Traditional archery has definitely grown and will continue to grow for years to come.  My hat's off to all the folks who have helped promote our favorite pasttime!    

Yep.  About the only other small builders I remember about that time were Bighorn and Rocky Mountain, though there were a few others. (Actually, I'm thinking more '88 than '98.)  The few of us who shot traditional shot wood arrows.  All of our compound friends were into aluminum.  Fiberglass had fallen from favor, and carbon hadn't made it onto the scene.

Tim I did the same thing on a 64 inch legend and got it from J. Probst. Hell I can remember when there were only 150 people at the Denton Hill gathering. tom

Yep, I got my first custom bow in 1990. It was a Zipper, which I still own. It is amazing the number of great bowyers out there today.

Now if I could only figure out how to buy a bow from each of them!!  LOL

Yes sir buddy!  My first bow was a Paul Shafer Silvertip in 1986...I can still remember talking to him on the phone...

Time sure does fly when you're having fun    

Hey Allen....for fear of your wife finding this post we won't ask you to provide the number of bows that you have bought since 1990?          but it sure was fun!

1957 first bow a double shelf all glass it was green and I whittled my own arrows with a carved point.  Not sure where I got the bow, but since then with a short stint with compounds I have been helping bowyers out with their mortages for quiet awhile.   I'm looseing my memory of Denton hill beginning years. Oh well

I'm with you Tim. My first custom bow was a Brackenbury Drifter. 75# 64" I got it as a back-up to my compound (which I shot instinctive), but I used it and took a caribou the first hunt out with it.
Mike

Thats when I bought my frist recurve a hoyt gamemaster,I didn't even know there was such a thing as custom for a couple of years. Coming back last year I too was surprised at how many made the custom stuff.

I'm also with you. My first was a Brackenbury Drifter 65#@29". I sold it a couple years ago, and man do I regret it. It's great to be a part of something so great as traditional archery!

Great post Tim!

Even more so for me, Tim.  I shot a Pearson 60" 40# recurve back in the early 60's.  Then school, marriage, and a career took me away from archery.  Now that I'm retired, got back into the bow & arrow scene again.  Things sure are different from my yourth.  Lot more technical even with traditional eqt.  But I do enjoy this site so much, it's become an addiction.  Thanks to all here.

Good post Tim! My first custom was a Bighorn in 86 or so. Bought a Schafer a few years later after seeing one at Gene's Classic Whitetails road shows...I believe it was one of Matt Riley's and was a brute to pull!!! I ordered one the following day!!

Tim, Didn't you have a Pronghorn up at New Castle in the early '90s and a Leon Stewart a few years later? Time sure does fly!!!

Sounds like I am as old as some of you guys. But haven't had the privilege of shooting recurves as long though. I was introduced to them by an old friend that was friends with Jim. Infact, Jim gave him a bow "because he shot it better than Jim did"....My friend had me shoot that Brackenbury one night in elk camp. After that hunt I went home and sold my compound and have never looked back. It's been too much fun!

Small world Mike...

I also shot a compound for a few years instinctively before I made the move.  I'd like to say the move was an easy one but not so.  The first deer I ever shot at with my Brackenbury went down inside of 20 yards but I still had my doubts about about stickbows.  I jumped back and forth between my compound and recurve for a good 6 months before I sold the compound.  

Those of you still hesitating to make the move to 100% traditional.  I understand, give it time...it took me years to become comfortable and confident!      


Bob...I was always in the shadows eyeing up that Schafer of yours.  In my eyes the silvertips always had great lines.  As far as what bow I shot back at New Castle Archery range???....What bow didn't I have!!!        At one time it was a new bow a month!

Tim, want to talk about change?  Try how things have changed in 50 years!  That's about how long I've been in archery--actually longer, just rounded off the number       I started with bows I made from green tree limbs and twine.  Got my first "real"bow at age 12 which was an Indian brand lemonwood.  I was trad when trad wasn't cool--when that's all there was.  I do recall seeing the first ads of a young up and coming guy named G. Fred Asbell for a çustom bow called the Bighorn Grand Slam--$150.  Man I would have ordered one if I had had the money!  Things have changed.  Back then we were not so technically inclined as now.  Didn't worry about EFOC, how many sides of the blade were beveled, how fast she was--just shot and had a great time.  By the way, I still am of that mind set    

Tim, I'm sure my wife has a running tally on my bows. Give me a while longer and I may actually catch up with you.    

I did the compound thing for quite a while before and after I got that first Zipper. Finally decided it was as much about the kill as it is the hunt. I sure do like it when I punch a tag though...probably ten times as much with trad gear!!

My first bow is been a present from the not yet,my wife;a SHT Corean bow in 1983.Then the compound crazy for almost 10  years.In the meanwhile I won a Chastain Wapiti and bought some Black Widows,then in 93 the complete switch.never looked back.

It's amazing how similar a lot of the stories are, I'm also in the Brackenbury first and then a Silvertip after a Wensel's classic whitetails show club. I'm pretty sure my Brackenbury was bought in 85 and cost around 175.00 it was 66' long and I think 60#. I think I paid around 500 for the silvertip, that included either 25 or 30.00 for the checkered grip.

David Mitchell.........50 years of traditional archery!       Congrats my friend.  

I have to agree with you...there has been quite a bit of high tech "stuff" that has come on the scene over the years, traditionally speaking.  Those ideas that are positive will stay and the others will fade.  Simple equipment and mind sets will always prevail here at Trad Gang!  

Dave Mitchell.....Sounds familiar, I too started about 50 yr. ago. Started with home made cut down sticks,then a yellow all glass Pearson recurve, then the ultimate to a young teenager,a Herters laminated recurve.

I did shoot and hunt with compounds for about 10 yrs until I got bored with them. Then ordered a new Custom Bighorn about 1990 and never looked back.