How did you get started in Traditional Archery?

[Keoonik]

When I was around 13 or 14 years old, a friend of my fathers gifted him a self bow. We took it camping and my father set me loose with it to go stump shooting. That bow wound up mine and I still have it to this day, although it’s no longer shootable. It will always have a place in my bow rack.

[Brokearcher]

I was always into archery and had started with the training wheels my freshman year in high school. I dated this girl in high school whose uncle was a big trad guy, he let me shoot his silvertip a couple times and I was hooked. Had a talltines on the way shortly after that.

[Red Beastmaster]

1985, age 26, I bought my first bow, a Bear compound. I killed a doe with my first arrow shot at an animal. Later that year there was an ad for Bear Archery on the back of Bowhunter with Fred walking down a path with his recurve. Something clicked.

I bought a Black Bear then a Howatt Hunter and completely switched to trad in '87. I killed a doe my first season. Strictly trad since then.

Its been quite a ride!

[Gunleather]

In 1988 I came home on leave and my dad had made me and my brother Howard Hill kit bows. From there he started cutting and grinding his own lamination and making his own risers.  In about 97 he stopped using any fiberglass all together and started backing laminate bows with bamboo. Then he started making self bows out of just about every wood you can imagine. He made me a static tip recurve out of two hickory pick handles. One of my favorites is a bow he made out of bamboo wood flooring

[Sean B]

I would read my dads friends bowhunting magazines when I was a kid in the early 70’s. That’s all that I could think about by here we’re still a lot of stickbow shooters back then. Dad bought me a Stemmler fiberglass recurve for my birthday one year. Christmas’79 I got a compound. 10 years later Tradional Bowhunter magazine came out and I went out and got me a Hoyt recurve. I haven’t looked back!

[Doug S]

   These are really neat.     What I hear in these stories are is what motivates me to try so hard to get people to try traditional archery.

[Tactical Draftsman]

In 1980, I was in the 7th grade and my dad bought me a Browning wheel bow on the way to a UGA football game. Shortly thereafter, we were invited to an archery demonstration by a work colleague of his from Delta Air Lines named Roscoe Reams. Roscoe for those unfamiliar, was a multi-talented sportsman, conservationist and longbow trick-shot artist in the Atlanta GA area. Roscoe had a buddy that did this show with him by the name of Dan Quillian. I am in my 50’s now, so I forget who exactly had top billing at this exhibition, but they proceeded to do things that I had never seen before, like hitting targets without using any sights and shooting stuff out of the air. One of them was actually using a little piece of leather to grip the string, which I later learned was a “tab”, ha ha. My wheel bow lost a bit of it’s shine after this show and eventually led to me getting a way-too-heavy Martin longbow and taking it to Dan’s shop in Athens to get a string and arrows. We lost both Roscoe and Dan within a year of each other back in 2007, but I will always be grateful for the impact they had on my traditional journey.

[JAH518]

A long story short.
Watching my father and brother 10 years older practice in the back yard almost every day. At 3 dad handed me a red fiberglass bear bow to play with to keep me out of their way when practicing. At 5 dad put me on a squirrel while tracking a doe he had just shot and I haven't put recurve or longbows down since.

[TradBrewSC]

My first job, around 01' (15 yrs old) was with Jeffery Archery here in Columbia, SC. It was just myself, the legend Owen Jeffery, and his son Tom at the time. I was certainly into compounds at the time and working under Tom on the "modern" side of the business, but every chance I could I would go over and help Owen on the wood working side.

Whether it be sweeping, hand sanding handles/limbs, or just being his muscle to move things around.. That turned into me picking up his personal "Classic 60" recurve as he told me I was doing too well with my "training wheels" ha! The next thing you know he was my mentor or for him his muscle in keeping our Congaree River pigs fed for the taking. I learned more in a 5 year span from that man than many do in a lifetime and so grateful for it. Needless to say by the time I graduated high school (05') I sold my last compound and have never looked back.. I certainly miss Owen Jeffery dearly and the daily belittling he gave me haha.

We are in a special community and encourage everyone to not shy away from mentoring those that show an interest. They may work out, they may not, but showing people that traditional hunting isn't just for crotchety old men that hate compound/crossbow/rifle hunters is of the utmost importance to me. 

[Friend]

Started building bows from stiff branches and arrows from light branches for arrows at age 9 in 1967. Graduated to a Little Bear in 1969. A Sierra Shakespeare followed some years later and the beloved journey still continues with much fervent passion.

[RIVERWOLF]

Fun reading about everyones Journey....

 One on page 1 =A Lex .... We have a few similarities

I also remember making willow bows and we had  twine and such laying about the farm.Seems we always had a willow tree toooo close in my youth, as it was often the choice  of the times for corrections ;^)))They made crude bows , just enough to fling a stick a few feet . I also remember a marbled green glass little longbow when I was around 7-8 ...It was the first REAL bow I remember shooting. Also remember shooting cow patties in the pasture & one day I shot straight up and recall thinking "I can't see it" .... now running , I turn and look back just as the arrow stuck with authority close to where My mad dash had began ;^)))

Fast forward a few years .... you would find me and my best bud Mitch shooting recurves every chance we had down  the then abandoned RR tracks behind his parents place . We would rove miles . Shooting sticks , stumps , leaves....and then chasing critters like Ground Griz and the likes as the years marched on. Somewhere in the late 70's he found compounds and all the bells and whistles  .  He used an aiming system of some sorts so switching to sights was natural for him. I did own two compounds for about 2 yrs. I shot instinctively , but could never get used to them nor did I like them .I Never could shoot sights well either. It just messed everything up in my shooting. So those collected dust till sold.
Anytime I would visit his place ( most weekends;) I would always grab one of his recurves while he would grab  his compound and off we would go looking for adventure.   

I trapped heavily  back then, and for a good number of those yrs just carried my .22 rifle for small game. That was my life
Fast forward again  yrs , and after hunting with some other weapons . Taking several deer I felt like something wasn't right....I missed those recurves !

    As Luck would have it, one day at work an older gent was looking to purchase the  Newest  Greatest   compound of some sorts and got wind that I used to shoot sticks.   He had a bow to sell to help him fund his New Toy;^))) It was an early Kodiak Hunter...I Took a squirrel with it  that season & the joy of my youth returned....The "circle" now complete........Nothing but Longbows and recurves since .Since my second stick & string journey some 30 yrs ago, I made up my mind then...It's how I came into hunting & it WILL BE how I GO OUT !






* Another "in common" moment with A-LEX ..My second  custom Longbow (Hybrid) built by Tracy "Tree" Trickett  was a Mt Ash Longbow I named babamadizwin...which in my best ojibwe means "Journey";^))
That is a LONG overture .....

 I couldn't be happier with my choice .....
It just feels more connective ....Balanced ....Natural....Right........

[Farmingdales Finest]

I’ve been shooting compounds since 1982. This year I found out several friends were planning to hunt with recurves. It got me thinking about getting one too.

Once the season started and I wasn’t seeing the number of deer I normally see in my public land spots due IMO from the EHD breakout NJ was experiencing so I decided to get the recurve. I had only seen 12 deer total while hunting from September through November. I figured if I got good enough I could hunt winter bow with it and was willing to not fill a tag for the first time in at least 25 years. I bought an EXE Scream 21” ILF riser and paired it with Long Galaxy Bronze Star Limbs. I am shooting uncut GT Hunter 400’s with 225 grains up front and 4-4” feathers with Nockturnal lighted nocks and Original Muzzy 100 3 blade heads.

I got the bow the week before Thanksgiving and was able to shoot my first 4 arrow group at 12 yards in the vitals of my 3D target with 3 in the 10 ring and one just outside it.  I practiced about 50 shots before work most mornings. After a few weeks of this and having most shots in the ten ring at 10-20 yards I was confident I could kill a deer with the recurve. I hunted with the recurve starting the end of the first week of December exclusively. I would have been able to shoot a doe on New Year’s Eve morning if I had the compound but the 5 deer never came closer than 27 yards. I wasn’t comfortable trying it with the recurve.

The last week of january we had a heavy snow and i went in looking for sign with the climber.  I found and area with more sign than I had seen all season. Of course I have a buck come in from the place I least expected! He came to 15 yards and with the front cross bar of the climber I couldn’t come to full draw with my normal form. I canted the bow which I had done in practice but had to lean it more than I practiced with in the past. I promptly missed 3 shots at 15 yards. He never moved more than a few feet and eventually just walked off. I was never nervous and was confident I could make the shot but the angle took me enough out of alignment that I guess my eye to arrow form was off. After he left I got the biggest adrenaline rush probably since my son shot his first buck at 11. He’s 23 now and just started with the Navy so this year I have been missing my hunting partner.

Fast forward to the following Saturday. Now that I have a spot picked out I go out early to pull my hang on stand from a different part of the park I am hunting but with the temps in the teens and a heavy rain the day before I can’t unlock my lock from the tree and I left the stand dangling. Fortunately a friend had given me an old API Bowhunter Climber a couple years ago for my son. I threw the top piece in my truck and I climbed the same tree as earlier in the week. I now could shoot where the buck had come and my original plan for behind me. Fast forward to 5:35 and I am so cold I am going to climb down early. I have two hoods over my watch cap pulled over my ears and I hear something. With the reduced hearing I think there is a deer on the other side of a holly tree next to me. I reach back for my bow on the hanger and as I am pulling the hoods off so I have a better field of view I see a doe standing on the trail behind me and too my right! I am able to get up without it or the trailing doe seeing me. I have to turn around and start to come to full draw only to be so stiff from the cold the arrow falls off my shelf. I was able to get it back on quickly and now the doe stepped out to 18 yards very slightly quartering away. I execute the shot and end up sticking her in the shoulder blade. She runs down the hill and turns in front of me to stand almost exactly where the buck was earlier in the week and I promptly miss a finishing shot. She then runs up towards the trail she was originally on but now on the opposite side of my tree and I miss again. She runs another 10 yards and stops and looks back. I come to full draw and realize I now have limbs in my way and let down. I decide to sit figuring I have nothing to lose with her looking right at me and I execute a perfect hard quartering away shot at 20 yards that stops on the opposite shoulder.

I see her run up the hill with both arrows sticking out. As it gets dark I lose sight of her and decide to come back in the morning. I find great blood starting about 10 yards from the second hit, then at 60 yards I see a bed with a lot of blood in it and panic thinking I just jumped her. I reach down and touch it to find it’s frozen. I continue on the trail and find her about another 40 yards.

I am so pumped now with this success and new found confidence that I gave up the compound and have been shooting 3-5x a week plus several 3D shoots and can't wait for September!

[808trad]

This is a great thread!  I love hearing the stories and the people who have connected us to our collective passion for traditional archery.

My story centers around two key people... 

First, my grandfather was always making me homemade slingshots.  He was always working in the yard and the garden and would fashion slingshots out of wood found on the property.  I know it isn't archery, but it was a five year old's start at shooting and the many imaginary hunts in the backyard.  Thank you, Grandpa, for instilling in me a love for the outdoors! 

The second person was my high school shop teacher, named Jay Linthicum.  The highlight of his wood working class during my sophomore year was the chance to build a recurve bow.  I remember him giving the class several options on our major project, but all of us chose to make a bow.  I'm so glad he did.  The bow pictured in the center with the black glass is that bow.  Honestly, it doesn't shoot really well, but it sure does feel good in my hand and reminds me of the hard work that went into the making of that bow.  Thank you, Mr. Linthicum, for your passion for wood working and archery!

[Terry Green]

Sorry, that link was bad... How I started is about the 11:00 minute mark to 16:35 mark.

Why I came back to trad is 16:35 to 18:10 and learned to shoot again but for hunting is after that, and the Magic T, St Jude Auction stories, and the 'Uh Oh' Cohutta Bear story.

https://backwoodsgrind.com/podcasts/ep-20-back-to-the-basics-traditional-archery-with-terry-green-of-tradgang/

[Gun]

I remember back in the early 60's my Grandpa making a small bow and arrows out of some willow branches while on a family camping trip. I think I may have been 6 or 7? When I was 8 a friend of mine got a Bear Recurve for his birthday. He called me over to come and shoot it. After some instruction from him on how to hold it and pull the string I was soon shooting it better than he was. That was the spark.

I started saving up to buy my own bow and spent a lot of time at the local hardware store admiring the fiberglass kits (bow, arrows, armguard and tab). Eventually I purchased a York kit with a 25# all fiberglass bow.

A couple of years later I received a Browning Wasp for Christmas. It was my first real hunting weight bow @ 47#. I still have my first bowhunting license (age 12) which cost $1.00. I didn't get my first deer until I was 17. I hunted with a couple of friends I grew up with. We were mostly just killing time until gun season as we didn't think that these "toys" could actually kill big game. That all changed when I spined the doe and we realized this was serious stuff!

I did spend 2 yrs or so shooting Mechanical Advantage "Bows" and was in a league. I had 3 compounds blow up on me during that time. I learned how to refine my instinctive shooting from a World Class tournament archer while shooting at the range.
 
When I went back to trad the first Bow I bought was a Black Widow "A" frame riser.  Then a Bear Mag TD and a number of custom bows over the years and finally back to the Bear TD about 10 yrs ago. It's been a fun journey!

[Al Dean]

At about 6 I remember trying to pull my Dad's longbow.  Could not budge it at all.  My brother and I had " toy bows".  To this day I cringe as I remember playing cowboys and Indians and shooting him in the left eyebrow.  Just damn lucky.  Next I remember was about junior high stealing my dads hunting recurve and a hunting arrow and off for a day of shooting carb.  Didn't have a reel or a line, so if you shot one you had to swim out to get your arrow back.   Great memories

[David Smith]

I was shooting asa tourneys for a few years with a compound, when a shop opened up in town where I live. A fella by the name of joel smith was running the archery side of the biz. i walked in on a lunch break one day while he was in the range flingin arrows. I mentioned that i always wanted to try a trad bow. He handed me his pronghorn and said 'shoot a few'. The very first shot sent the bow downrange with the arrow. I was mortified! he picked up the bow and said shoot it again. been hooked ever since.

[George Tsoukalas]

Such great stories! Makes me happy! Jawge

[awbowman]

I got really tired of worrying about all the things that can go wrong with compound bows.  Love the simplicity of the longbow AND truth be told there are far more bow shots under 20 yards with the right setup than past that.

[PABuckeye]

Fifty two years ago, when I was five, my Dad gave me a fiberglass recurve and a quiver full of arrows and allowed me to follow him on small game hunts and roam my grandparent's farms flinging arrows at stuff.