Old guys, where were you summer of 69?

[Jerry Gille]

Sitting in a hi chair watching the moon landing on tv.

[Tedd]

Getting sun burnt in the sand box.

[A Lex]

What a cool thread....

I would have been 4 years old, terrorising tin cans in our back yard with my BB gun, prowling like a Zulu Impi through the creek and gully below our house with a stick as a spear, and sometimes riding with my Dad while he drove his early morning paper round.

Bows came a very short time later.

Best
Lex

[RIVERWOLF]

Love these type threads ..

           They stir the mind of days & times  we have seen that will never be again.....
Funny how much many of us here have in common.  Like A.Lex ( only a couple yrs prior and on the other side of the pond;)
Though many seasons between us, Ron and I have many things in common as well , which is a good example of a bond forged between Nature and those exposed so deeply  at a very young age.   I thankfully had busy parents that chose to raise us in farmland with woods & streams ....Lots of nature and habitat to learn from , and  (Thankfully)set free to let the great teachings begin .

        The kind of freedom that would likely have a parent arrested these days;^)))  Thank the heavens I was right where this wolf was meant to be with the right parents to let me feed my mind , body , and soul what it graved.....The freedom to go it alone undistracted , pure to take in  these  GREAT teachings. To see, hear, feel  how nature truly works . I spent all but a couple of years out of my first 25 yrs of life doing just that....it will carry on till my last day.....and I am forever Thankful.     Every child should live at least  several years of youth exploring , learning , and hunting the truth of nature like many here and myself were gifted.

......... For  such natural exposure to nature builds an unbreakable bond....  with that is a Natural desire  to protect all aspects of  Wild places & life within  that we love beyond measure . For it is part of us........

[supernaut]

Very cool thread. I enjoy reading other's experiences. Thank you to all the brave men and women that served in our armed forces as well! 

Summer of 69'

A portion of me was in Vietnam with my dad and a portion of me was with my mom in nursing school. I made my grand entrance in 72'.

[Papadeerhtr]

Playing little league baseball lol

[George Tsoukalas]

I was working at my Uncle's store, may his memory be eternal, getting enough money for college tuition. I was about to start my senior year. I was also busy falling in love with my soon to be wife. We were married Aug. of '71.

I was not shooting much back then. I was too focused on getting an education.

I enlisted in the USAR in 1970. The next 6 years were taken up with serving and teaching.

Our first daughter was born 1977 and our second 1981.

My brother of eternal memory and I spent  time together shooting and hunting.

Making all wooden bows came about 1990. I shot with my brother back then and now do some shooting with my oldest daughter.

Spending time with family is a joy and my family is my blessing.

This is a great thread. Thank you.

Jawge

[Wudstix]

Similar to Ralph, I spend many hours on the "back 40" and on the "Crick", getting wet and muddy chasing whatever.
 

[smokin joe]

Working in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[2fletch]

This was a time between when I had a bow in my hand every day in the summer as a kid, and when I rediscovered archery in the late1980s. There was a period of about 25 years where I was just too busy. In the year 1969 I was working as a 2nd shift supervisor, going to school, renewing our first house, and trying to be a good husband, and dad to 2 kids. It didn't leave much time. However, when the kids were grown, I picked up a bow, and it was like I had never put it down. For several years there was a 3-D shoot every weekend, and deer to hunt. Now, at 78 years, I find myself still interested, but less involved in hunting.

[PrimitivePete]

I was 5 years old living the Bronx, NY dreaming of one day pulling my Dad's Pearson longbow and begging my Mom every time we passed the hardware store to buy my arrows and a deer target. I used to cut branches from my Dad's bushes and use any string I could find to make a bow and I used to "hunt" the crazy squirrels in my tiny backyard.

[Terry Green]

I wa 5 years old, on Sherwood Drive, watching men land on the moon at 3am.

[elkken]

Driving my 65 Chevy Nova at Alki Beach in Seattle WA .... and learning all about archery at NW Archery from Glenn St Charles

[kennym]

65 Chevy Nova  !!  Sure wish I had one now!! 

Had a bud who put a built 350 in one to beat his bro with a built 409 in a 63 Impala SS. 

[elkken]

That little 65 could burn rubber, I can't imagine a 350 in one, changing the spark plugs in my 283 was a wrench and finger twist job. I saw a 67 Nova SS with a built engine sell on Barrett Jackson auto auction the other day for over $250,000, it was a full custom build and beautiful. The 66 Nova SS 327 was my favorite.

[Kirkll]

Wow! Serious flashback …. 1969 was an incredible year for all kinds of things. I was in my first year in high school in Sherwood Oregon. Back in those days it was a sleepy little town and our whole high school only had 327 students. Every year there was a Robin Hood  Festival and they put on a feild archery competition that was attended by a group of archers from England…… But life was way too busy for me to be interested in archery in those days.

Every minute I wasn’t in school was devoted to working in those days. I wanted a car really bad. I was an apprentice carpenter and had started with my dad at age 12. I spent time working with my grandad too. I had carpentry in my blood from both sides of the family, so I was destined to work my hands in wood. My dad was a doing mostly finish carpentry in those days, so I learned to hang doors and trim windows at a young age.  We hunted each fall together for deer in eastern Oregon with rifles. I wasn’t even introduced to archery until 1990.

The  60’s and 70’s were great years to grow up in. Living in a small town in the country was excellent. The muscle cars, the music, and the freedom the kids had to go and do most anything unsupervised was incredible…..     it was a great time in my life.      Kirk

[Wudstix]

Yawrp, pretty much had free rein, as long as I was home about dark.
 

[Mike Bolin]

I was either bucking hay bales, cutting brush or running around the woods. I was thirteen and spent all of my free time in the woods down by the creek near our house. An old gentleman down the road cut and baled hay for most everyone in the western part of our Indiana county and into eastern Illinois...clover, alfalfa, timothy, straw, orchard grass. Kept me in .22 shells and traps and out of trouble for the most part!

[Pine]

Bailing hay convinced me that I wanted an education. 

[SS Snuffer]

I put my name up in the creamery for bailing hay from the end of May till 3rd crop was done. Was never without work. 50 cents a load about 45 bails. Some people had them nice square balers (simple to stack) some had the old round bails that laid out in in the field and had to be pitched up onto a rack, all paid the same. But boy did I get good meals for dinner! At 14 and 15 I could almost eat my weight! 22 LR shells were 30 cents a box but I always bought shorts for 22 cents. Had a bow and a Ithaca single shot. Stayed at my uncles farm by the Wing River.     Life was GOOD. West central Minn.