Was this anyone else's 1st archery influence?

[Jim now in Kentucky]

I was interested and active in archery from my childhood, with no clear influence except that we occasionally found obsidian arrow heads on the farm in Oregon.

Indians and bows and arrows were always an interesting combined subject.

Made sapling bows, had a hickory "toy" bow with suction cup arrows, bought  a better hickory youth bow and had a blast with it. I knew my uncle hunted deer with his bow--in the 1950s--but nobody in my immediate family hunted deer at all.

It was just the concept that inspired me and kept me coming back to traditional archery.

Reparrow man

[BigArcher]

I don't remember a obvious influence when I was young.  I did save my lawn mowing money and get subscriptions to many outdoor magazines. Had most availabe by time I was 10.  
First bow was orange fiberglass that I strung backwards and shot off of the wrong side.
Eventually saved enough money and found a friendly archery shop. Bought a bear Grizzly.
Been going at it ever since.

I hope to be the influence in my grandsons archery career now.

BigArcher

[Jock Whisky]

VI Archer are you talking about Peter Halbeg???

[Jack Guard]

This is my Dad, he is the primary one who introduced me to archery and hunting.  Sure do miss him.  

[Lurefish]

My introduction to archery came while vacationing in northern Wisconsin as a very young boy with my family and meeting Art LaHa at his small grocery store/archery shop. He went out of his way to talk to my dad and mainly me about archery and hunting. That day he went out the back of his shop and got a small piece of pine board and put it up on his counter top and shot a broadheaded arrow into it and signed it " Good Hunting Ken, Art". He also gave me a flu flu arrow which I thought was the coolest thing ever and one of his archery catalogs. After 50 years I only have the broadhead arrow left.

But even more of a influence to archery had to be Fred Bear on American Sportsman and the fact that I could always get a new Bear catalog down at the local gun shop......Ken Jeffries

[Leland]

American Sportsman and Mr. Gowdy got me fired-up,loved that show.Nice picture of your dad Jack.
Leland

[JDeanP]

I spent my summers with my grandparents when I was growing up and used to wander around their basement that was full of old toys and books etc. from when my dad and his siblings were kids. One summer I came across my dad's old recurve and a couple of longbows. It never crossed my mind that I might hunt with those sticks. I was too busy trying with all my might to pull the string back so I could watch the arrow soar over the cattle field next to the house...and spend the rest of the day searching for said arrow. I remember thinking the arrow's flight was something amazing in itself, no matter what the arrow hit when it was finished.

More recently I was influenced by, of all things, the latest Rambo movie. The bowfishing scene really got my imagination going (like that takes much, right?) and I had to get myself a bowfishing setup. After that I shopped around and bought myself a recurve, loved shooting it and eventually got myself an AMS rig. One of the best decisions I ever made was to buy that bow.

Today, with my line of work etc., it's sometimes hard to stay motivated on my few days off to do the archery "thing" (whatever that is to each of us), but TradGang and magazines like Traditional Bowhunter help me stay inspired and enthusiastic about the sport.

[Gerry]

The July 1969 issue of Bow and Arrow... I was hooked the moment I picked it up.

[d from phx]

Was inspired by Howard Hill and still am. I have watched all the movies he made and am blown away everytime.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

A lady name Bonnie Sayers show me a book on Howard Hill and I saw Fred Bear.

[Bonebuster]

Fred Bear...no doubt.

There was a hardware store near where I lived in Taylor, Michigan. Crowleys Hardware.

They sold a few archery related items. I remember a box of Bear arrows leaning against the wall behind the counter. Six Razorheads, six field tips. They also had a cardboard cut out of "him", bow in hand, and a look in his eyes I simply had to live.

My dad and older brothers would go "up north" and deer hunt with guns, but there was always SOMETHING about hunting with a bow that called me. My dad saw it early on and even though he knew NOTHING about bowhunting, he and my beloved mother always made sure that I was able to experience the October magic that archery season offered.

Thanks mom and dad.

I was a city boy, born with a hunters heart.

[Ironfist_Canada]

I watched every episode of Robin Hood when I was a kid in the UK . But the person who got me into it in Canada was Wayne Lantz (Leech) .To whom I am eternally grateful.

[hayslope]

Fred Bear was born in Waynesboro, PA in 1902. Fred's Father Harry, moved to Greencastle, PA after Fred was born.

Fifty one years later, my Mother gave birth to me in the Waynesboro hospital.  My family lived in Greencastle, PA and still do to this day.

While I grew up in a hunting family, there were no bowhunters.  However, there seemed to be plenty of bows and arrows around.  I know my Father scratched his head concerning my early facination with the bow, but never attempted to discourage me.

Until I started using catalogs to order archery items, the only archery-related anything that I was aware of had Fred's name all over it.  Prior to seeing my first Herter's catalog, I probably thought that the only company that made archery equipment was Bear!

My family instilled the hunting spirit in me, but Fred Bear was my hero when growing up and was no doubt the most influential individual driving this addiction to bowhunting.

When Fred was on American Sportsman, NOTHING was too important to interrupt that show!

Dare I say that, prior to this current era of hornporn huntingTV and its instant experts, Fred Bear probably influenced more bowhunters in this country than any other individual.

[Hunter 709]

I don't remember where the urge to build bows out of tree branches with rubber band strings came from but I still have a scar on my thumb from cutting "bows" from trees with my Dad's hacksaw. My interest became more solidified at Redberry bible camp in Saskatchewan were archery was offered as an activity. It was here where I was first exposed to "real" bows and arrows. Many thanks are owed to the camp counsellors that spent time teaching proper form and safety techniques. Later in my teen years I became that camp counsellor teaching archery skills. I still remember the kids excitement when they would pop their first ballon with an arrow. My interest has been rekindled in the past few years as a friend has gone back to traditional bow hunting, he has helped me a lot with form and technique. Shooting with stick and string is relaxing, enjoyable and a lot more challenging without all the gadgets.

[Zbearclaw]

My dad and I always shot bows in the backyard from 6-12.

I remember askng him why we didn't hunt with a bow.  He told me he didn't know anyone that had taken a deer with a bow.

I told him I would.  Second weekend of the 91 season I got a fat little forky.

When I went to get dad to help me get it out he didn't believe me.  I was 12, and I think I was the first person he knew to get a deer with a bow.

[Jim Keller]

My Dad got me started. I have lots of good memories of burning feathers ,dip tubes and my first bow, a yellow fiberglas recurve. That was a long time ago. He was a Howard Hill fan which made me one also. I still have Dad's original Howard Hill backquiver. Still wear it. You guys who still have your dads, cherish your time with them. I miss my dad.

[Zbearclaw]

Originally posted by Jim Keller:
You guys who still have your dads, cherish your time with them. I miss my dad.

I have that as a priority with my dad.  He had me at 25, and I am 31 so he isn't old, but he and I are neither getting younger.

Going to Kodiak Island in August to add the first of hopefully many adventure laden hunts.

We hunt together a few times a year, but are now committed to go to far away wild places every year while we can.

Life is a combination of memories.  Make some...

[bushytail]

My dad did in a way.I saved up some money to buy a cap and ball black powder hand gun.My dad said NO.I got mad and said i was going to get a bow.He was ok with that.It was a Bear whitetail hunter.But I always liked the looks of the compounds with wooden handles.Got one that had a wooden handle(Browning Explorer),Favorite bow of all the compounds I had.Years later I seen a trad guy shoot at the club.it realy sparked the interest in traditional archery.Got a PSE Impala.Got a doe with it.But went back to the wheels to be more accurate for about 1 1/2 years.Then got a longbow.been traditional ever since for about 8 or 9 years now.

[Sam McMichael]

When I was 10 or 11 my Air Force dad was stationed at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. Sgt. Mel Morrow lived just up the street from us, and he ran the base archery range. My sister and I both got into archey through him. There were no wheel bows then, and we shot green fiberglass bows made by Indian Archery, (I think). Later, when I got old enough to shoot the rifle, I got out of archery.That was in the 70's. In the 90's, I got back into archery and have stayed with it since then - always traditional. Sgt. Morrow's son ,Mike,also intoduced me to the legendary stories of Howard Hill, who is my biggest archery hero.

[StickBowManMI]

I remember back in the middle 50s that my brother and my cousin and I would cut limbs off Pine Trees and use a string tied around the limb with homemade arrows from dowels that we bought from the hardware store as arrows. We would sharpen the dowels with a pen knife and cut a slot for the nock. We had great fun shooting at stupms and trees but never hit too many of them. Those were the days. I got into hunting and then bowhunting. I remember reading everything I could find about Bowhunting and having a Doug Kitteridge catalog from his archery shop.