"Be a 2 Season Hunter"
I remember that advertisment just like it was yesterday.(instead of over 30 years ago) I have always considered myself just that,and I am proud to say I am a 2 Season Hunter!!!!! For years I bowhunted during the bowseason and then picked up my old 16ga.Ithaca "DEERSLAYER" and headed for the woods on the opening day of "gun season". I started bowhunting with an old 50# Bear "Alaskan" recurve,and cedar arrows tipped with Bear "Razorheads". I hunted with a recurve for about 5 years before switching to a compound for another 4 or 5 years.(I still had and shot a few recurves but didn't hunt with them though) Soon,I became "dis-enchanted" with the compounds and gave up bowhunting. I continued to gun hunt every year but something was missing..... BOWHUNTING!!!!!
Fast Forward to 1999 and enter my good Friend and fellow TradGang member Joe Skipp. Joe sold me a 55# 1967 Bear "Kodiak Magnum" and a dozen cedar arrows that he made,and I returned to my roots. I was reliving my youth all over again!!!!! Over the years,every season,I hunt with both bow and gun,Just like I did years ago. A few years ago, I realized just what it was that was missing. It wasn't bowhunting,it was "tradition"..... That old Deerslayer is as "traditional" as my recurves and longbows are. It has stood the test of time,just like my old Bear recurves,and I have killed many deer with that gun and I have fond memories of many days afield with it. I like "old things" and I have a tendancy to "shun" technology. I have no use for scopes even though they have been around longer than I have LOL. With my eyesight,my effective range with that old Deerslayer isn't what it used to be!!! Actually,it's probly about 40 yards.(double my 20 yard bow range) I totaly respect my fellow TradGangers who go "Bow Only" but for me,something would be missing. It just wouldn't seem "traditional".....
I'm a 2 Season Hunter!!!!!