YOUR STORY!

[Captain*Kirk]

..."and you may ask yourself, well; how did I get here?"-Talking Heads

How did you get here?
Everyone has a story...a mentor, friend, parent, or influence like movies, books, etc. Something grabbed you by the sleeve and whispered, whether it was a year ago, or 50 years ago, when there were only two kinds of bows...long, and recurve.
I find it amazing that most of the trad shooters and hunters I've talked with have similar stories.
So, what's your story? What got you started down this path less traveled?

[Roy from Pa]

Stickbows were the only kind of bow there was when I started shooting a bow.

I ventured over to the dark side for a few years and then came back to longbows and recurves:)

[Petrichor]

As a young pup I got a recurve for my 12th birthday.  Eventually I lost interest and 5 years later picked up a more conventional bow and immediately put it down.

Several years later I grabbed another conventional bow and yet yearned for a stick and string. As a first generation archer and hunter for that matter, I truly felt I was on my own with no guidance. But the allure of owning a bear grizzly bow drew on me like no other and finally it was mine. For some reason I felt connected to the sport and since then have scarcely gone a week without shooting a trad bow. As I delved deeper into the sport I found inspiration in the greats fred, howard and byron and quickly soaked in all of their available videos.  Since the. I have read a few books as well and perhaps my favorite the witchery of archery.  Then the allure of selfbows caught me and I am working on my first. Several custom bows and years later I have passed the love of a stick at string to my children. Fred said it best "Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow." It truly has been and a release for me.

Forums have also been a constant source of information, wisdom and encouragement for me.

[razorsharptokill]

When I was about 7 my dad made me a bow from a willow limb and some kite string. Later he brought me a small fiber glass bow maybe 10lbs? Been shooting trad off and on for 40+ years I guess.

[Terry Green]

Click below....

https://www.traditionaloutdoors.com/2018/11/18/to36/

[ron w]

I was 12-13 when I would watch my Uncle Herb come home and hang his Shakespeare Super Neceda on the wood shed with his back quiver. I thought that was so cool. 2 years later I bought a Browning Nomad with money I made washing dishes in the local Diner. In 1968 I started hunting........in those days you could wander all day and never see another Hunter.

[Hot Hap]

I got started in 1958 when I was 14. A friend had an old bow and every few days we would get the bow out and shoot. He is long dead now but I think of him often when shooting my bows.

Hap

[Wudstix]

Started in the dark ages @1964 with a SEARS fiberglass bow @15#.  Terrorized the mice and pigeons on the farm.  Perhaps a rabbit or two.  Upgraded to a green Fiberglass 25# stretched my range.  Started stalking groundhogs, when I got my Ben Pearson 45#@28" which was about 39# at my 26"+ draw.  Continued to hunt groundhogs for many years, until I was old enough to hunt in PA, at age 12.  Didn't have anyone who bow hunted for big game in those early years.  @18 years old when I could hunt unaccompanied was the real beginning of my bowhunting career.  Hunted may of the same places that we did with gun.  Wish I could remember what happened to that first hunting bow.  Lucked into a small doe at 21, was drawing 27"+ at that time.(44#)  Did not get a pass threw from 13 yards, probably due to my broadhead sharpening skills.  Finally, upgraded to a DH Hunter 65#@28" drawing 27.375" - 63/64#.  When we moved to IN (1979).  Went to the dark side for 2-3 years, before the DH Hunter.  Did OK there for several years pre-cell phones.  Took a couple next bucks from the spoil piles and swamps around Terre Haute.  Went to work for DoD in 1985 until 1992 in Germany and bow hunting was put of hold.  Moved back to Texas and got draw several years for Government land but it was pretty tough hunting.  Got lucky a few times, but added restrictions and limited hunting days available have put a damper on deer hunting for me.  Still hunt hogs on WMA in Texas and some private land when invited.  Have moved to Big River recurve, MOAB and Big River LB.  Have a Kota(71#) that has not been hunted yet.

[Captain*Kirk]

These are some great stories...keep 'em coming!

Terry, that's quite a resume!

[SlowBowKing]

Dad was “always” a hunter. I had a red fiberglass Bear bow as a kid, and shot it all the time (still got it) out in the yard. After I got old enough to shoot guns, I laid the bow down. Started shooting compounds with Dad in my early twenties and really enjoyed it, but never went back to try out trad, and eventually I got more interested in working, school, and girls and stopped hunting all together.  When Dad retired a few years ago, he decided to go back to basics and shoot/hunt strictly Trad. I shot with him from time to time just messing around, but just never really got into it like I had when I was younger and had lots of free time. Dad passed away last year, while deer hunting, ironically enough. So I inherited about a dozen recurves. My brother-in-law shoots trad, so he’s taken me under his wing and helped me get back into this awesome sport. I’m hoping to take my first deer this season with one of Dad’s old bows, a Ben Pearson Raider from the mid-70s.
 

[Terry Green]

Thanks Kirk.....luckily my start was at the start...but also there's the start of Tradgang, St Jude, Group hunts and  much more than a lot of folks don't  know....

[Captain*Kirk]

Like most of you, I started out shooting "B.C." (before compounds) with a green glass Ben Pearson recurve my dad bought me. I shot it through high school (still have it!) and ended up going over to the dark side for a spell, until I tired of the '1-up game' and on a whim, bought a Sage with the intention of hunting with it. Then I re-discovered the old classic Bear bows and started buying them after watching a bunch of Fred Bear classic videos on You Tube as I realized that a 50 year old bow is just as simple, quiet and deadly today as it was 50 years ago, and who needs all that technology, anyway?

1968


2016


Three generations have learned to shoot with this bow, not counting my dad, who shot it a few times as well!

[Roy from Pa]

 

[Petrichor]

Click below....

https://www.traditionaloutdoors.com/2018/11/18/to36/

Terry this podcast. Which I listened to in my unit today during my free time was truly eye opening to the site and the ideas behind it... this should be required listening for everyone on here. Really enjoyed that.

[dnovo]

I was born and raised on a farm. When I was 5 my brother made a rough bow out of a hickory sapling with baling twine for a string. A couple years later we moved to a different farm and my uncle gave me a little fiberglass bow. I’ve never looked back. That was 58 years ago and it’s been a lifelong journey. I’ve never not shot a bow. I did venture to the dark side for a couple years when I was young and gullible but I’ve been shooting a longbow exclusively since 1980. I’ve still got the Red Wing recurves I bought when in high school. When I was 14 I was shooting a 55# Shakespeare Necedah and killing a lot of squirrels with it.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

When I was 12 started with a bear grizzly.  My little brother broke it trying to string it when I was 14. Bought a compound because at the garage sale it was in my budget. Bought a new compound on clearance a few years later because I could afford it and was what was available since I outgrew the garage sale bow. Lost interest in shooting it after 5 or 10 years.

Always had an interest in selfbows ccx and such. Tried making one but never finished the tilleriing process.

About 2007 I was at a fair with my wife's 8 year old nephew.  Paid a buck to shoot some arrows at a 4h booth. Had too much fun and bought a 20$ wood longbow off craigslist. It wasn't that good but got me started. I found mohawk Hudson traditional archers and Met a bunch of great people.  Found trad gang, and Ron w. Also a member of mhta, loaned me a long bow. Loved it ever since.

[Terry Green]

Click below....

https://www.traditionaloutdoors.com/2018/11/18/to36/

Terry this podcast. Which I listened to in my unit today during my free time was truly eye opening to the site and the ideas behind it... this should be required listening for everyone on here. Really enjoyed that.

 You have no idea how much that means.... Most folks don't have a clue why this site was started and what its objective is...... Thanks again sir.

[Captain*Kirk]

Click below....

https://www.traditionaloutdoors.com/2018/11/18/to36/

Terry this podcast. Which I listened to in my unit today during my free time was truly eye opening to the site and the ideas behind it... this should be required listening for everyone on here. Really enjoyed that.

 You have no idea how much that means.... Most folks don't have a clue why this site was started and what its objective is...... Thanks again sir.

I'll have to second Dave's comment.
It was a fascinating story and I wasn't aware of the long history behind TG either.
Well done!

[SDMay]

Like most I started with the fibreglass kids bow in the yard.  Got into compound shooting in my late teens.  Sold my compound to make some money and stopped archery all together for 20 years.  At 43 I wanted to get into an activity that would get me out of my house a couple nights a week. Decided archery was what I wanted to do.  Could not justify spending what they wanted for a compound setup and wanted to do something different so I got a Sage at a closeout sale for a sports store.  Two years later I still have the Sage and a Black Hunter longbow and am enjoying it immensely.  Got a cheap recurve for my 13 year old to start shooting and now we shoot in the back yard on the weekend. 

As to hunting I have got a license the last two years.  No freezer at my house so I didn't try too hard to harvest anything but that is my intention when we get into a new house and have space for said freezer.  It is going to be interesting starting out at 45 but I have lots of area to hunt, public and private and just want to get outside and explore.

[Wudstix]

Terry;
Just invested some time in this podcast and as mentioned it should be required reading.  Uh - OH!!! Cohutta, Thanx!!!