Im only 53 so I don't have quite the history of some of you gentlemen,but here goes anyway.
I first decided to use a bow after seeing one of my mates fathers walk into his shed one morning carrying two rabbits and a .22 rifle.
At 9 years old I fast worked out I wasn't going to get my hands on a rifle,but I,d seen a small longbow in a local hardward store and from that day I made sure my folks remembered about my up coming birthday,,,and what I really wanted.That was how I came to own my first bow and a hand full of arrows to go with it.
I never shot a critter with that bow but it set the path,,and it was my next bow which I now know realise was an indian archery static tiped fiberglass recurve that I took my first rabbit with.I no longer have that bow but I do have another of the same brand an model which has now been my fishing bow for about 20 years.
Following that bow was a Ben Pearson Hunter,,,I'd really wanted a Fred Bear bow as he was my absolute hero at the time "an pretty much still is".
The Ben Pearson was a very steep learning curve for me because my other bow had been only 38lb and I'd bought the Ben Pearson due to a real stroke of luck while visting a sports store to buy arrows for my other recurve when a gentleman had walked in wanting to sell it.
It was a 55lber and I was simply offered a deal I couldn't turn down.
That bow was really my most important bow and even though I'd never heard of Mr Ben Pearson at the time,I fast gained a lot of respect for the man.I took my first big game animal with my wildly over bowed Ben Pearson Hunter in 1975.
He was a big horned feral billy goat out of one of our Northland forests.
That day was another of those big stepping stones for me becauise in NZ at the time,bowhunter just didn't really exist,,,ok they did but I never knew one an nobody else I knew did either and I was constantly told by anybody that thought they were something that I couldn't do it,bows and arrow couldn't take big animals and I was just being stupid to belive they could.
Little did they know I had this book with a picture of a man with a longbow and an African elephant,so I knew it could be done.
This story could go on forever so I think I'll just leave it at that.
Thanks to all those that came before and helped lay my path.