Man have things changed in 22 years!

[BillW]

Hey Tim, Been a while buddy, Ive been at the trad thing for 12 years. 1988? Archery never crossed my mind till about 1994. In '98 I was so busy with career etc I was not even hunting. Fishing was my passion then, now archery has taken over.

Me and my Black Widow are going to ND to chase mulies with Ron again. So far I have gotten close but no cigar......... Passed up more than I should because I have held out for a big one.... Probably would have 3 if I was not so picky.

Take care,
Bill

[shick]

Might as well jump in this mix.  I shot a Bear mag td until I ordered my first bighorn td in '84.  Won a CVS muzzleloader kit at a deer banquet, sold it and used the money for a down payment to GFred.  Over the years I sent quite a few payments to GFred.  Still shoot Bear mags and an '84 bighorn td(not my original).  It's been a very good ride and I'm still cruisin'.

Shick

[tukudu]

Tim you will love this one. Goes back around 15 years ago I had to write a contract with my wife ( I write them for a living) that I would not sell the bow. I violated that initial contract about 10 months into it and have lost count since then. Somewhere along the line I spent a whole weekend with Dave Kinsinger and built my first selfbow. I still own that one.....whew.

[Tim]

I've only held on to two bows and both of them are here to stay.  One is a bamboo backed self bow that just happen to show up on my door step unannounced one day.  Took me a week to find who sent it.  The return address was the name of some Disney character if I remember correctly!  The bow was a gift from Ken Swann.

The other bow I'll always hold on to came from my friend Billy Shipp, another inmate from Trad Gang!  The bow is a Super Shrew Delux Limited Edition with matching knife.  It also showed up unannounced but on Christmas Eve last year.  My son and I share time with this bow.  

Yes.....I have met some incredible friends at Trad Gang.     :D

[Elk77]

My brother James of "J D Berry" is another old timer, he's been at it 30 years now. Dang seems just like yesterday. It was about 1988 he comes over with is latest recurve. Ohhhh he was proud of that bow. So he's going to show me how quick it is, he draws back and BANG that riser breaks right in half and comes back and hits him square in the nose. Oh man he drops to is knees and  blood start pouring out like a faucet. Like any brother would do I start laughing and laughing. He's learned allot sense that day-------Dan Berry

[GregD]

Tim, I laughed out loud when I read how you USED to go through a lot of bows. That was a good one.

[30coupe]

Originally posted by Dale in Pa:
Dave Mitchell.....Sounds familiar, I too started about 50 yr. ago. Started with home made cut down sticks,then a yellow all glass Pearson recurve, then the ultimate to a young teenager,a Herters laminated recurve.

I did shoot and hunt with compounds for about 10 yrs until I got bored with them. Then ordered a new Custom Bighorn about 1990 and never looked back.

Man, does that sound familiar! I had a lemonwood recurve instead of the Pearson, then I built a 44# laminated glass recurve that I still have, but my eldest (30 year-old now) son still shoots my old Herters Model Perfection 56" 50# recurve that came next. He's also going through the compound phase right now. That's fine with me, even though I never did it. As long as he's in the woods, I'm fine with it. My youngest shoots a Kanati and took a monster buck this year.

I'm afraid I have to admit to about 50 years of trad, too. Like the song says, don't blink!  

[Tim]

Easy there Greg....    

Hey Dan....Back in the early 90's I had a JD Berry Longbow.  It had really neat looking tips and an awesome array of woods in the riser.  Your brother's riser splices where absolutely incredible and definitely way ahead of his time.     He was "the man"!

[algstick]

wow! this post is a blast from the past!
i bought my first bow a bear kodiak in 84 after shooting compounds a few years. then my first custom in 86 a colorado bighorn funny i shot that bow better than any i have had since. over the years i have had some great recurve bows, bighorn, shafer silvertip, rocky mountain i have sold them all like an idiot. i always was the tinkerer alum arrows, elevated rests, plunger buttons etc. these days i stick to my longbows and woodies for me simple is much more fun.

[L. E. Carroll]

Had recurves since the early 60's finally popped for my first "Custom" from Fred Asbell in 84...70#@30" 3pc Bighorn Custom TD...Lots of $$ for a young guy with a young family. I'm only 5'7" but at that time that 30"..."was" my draw lenght ]...boy what 25+ years and surgery on both shoulders does   :confused:      

[longbowman]

Like some others have said, I've been trad since it was just called bowhunting!  To echo Dave Mitchell, when I started you practiced, got good and killed your deer.  The things we waste brain time on now is amazing.  EFOC, R-D bows, carbon limbs, graphite arrows...wow!  I still pick up my plain old bow with plain old arrows that shoot straight off the bow and with broadheads file sharpened and shoot through everything I kill. Contentment is a beautiful thing!

[Red Beastmaster]

I bought my first recurve, a Martin Hunter, in '87. A few years later I bought my first custom, a Brackenbury Drifter. Sure wish I still had it but 65# is awfully hard on the neck and shoulders when you "mature".

Now I'm shooting a 45# Brackenbury Quest. Niiiiiice!  

[Nick559]

Tim -

I think I followed in your footsteps only a year later.  I got my first custom from Jim too.  A 64" Legend that I still have.  A couple of years later I met a guy named Steve Gore and ended up with one of his Cascade Super Black Hawks in 62" length.  Still have them both.  Now I'm looking for some limbs in the 45 to 50 pound ranges to get those bows working again.
There just were not many custom bow builders  around back then compared to today.  Too much quality to choose from now-a-days.  It was easier back then with fewer choices.

Nick

[The Night Stalker]

Tim, my first was a black widow after shooting Earl McSorley's and Guy McNairs down the club. My second was a Silvertip after shooting Bob Palmers on the range. About the same time, we were all working at the bow shop and shooting weekend 3D at New Castle 100. Thats when we met. You and Sam always came together. Do not remember the year. That Sam could shoot and he always had that big furry side quiver.

[Big Ed]

I shot compounds for years,working in the Archery Industry for most of those years. I started to dabble in the Traditional Addiction in the late Eighties with some Bear and Martin bows. Then in the early 90's I picked up a Brackenbury Shadow 64" 72# at 28" and you can say the rest is history. I still own that Brackenbury to this day, and have traded and purchased more than I can count, Ed

[Tim]

Hey Tim...(nightstalker)....Hard to believe it's been 20+ years.  New Castle 100 was a blast back than.  3d shoots were just coming on the scene and they'd draw a few hundred shooters every weekend.  We had our little group of about 15 stickbow shooters flinging arrows and having a good old time.

Sam still shoots everyday.  He's 68 years old now and went back to a compound this fall.  He still shoots instinctively but is now shooting a compound.  Shooting his traditional bows every day really started to bother his shoulders.  He started shooting around 12 years old and has shot a bow 5 days a week ever since.  He's won several state titles and set several recorded records with the English Longbow.  A few years ago he competed against England. At that time he was shooting a 75lb English Yew Longbow.  He's still a bear of a man and health as an ox.

[joevan125]

Tim

Sam sounds like he really loves the bow and its good he didnt stop shooting even though he had to go back to a compound.

[Bob Palmer]

Nightstalker, Good to see you are still at it! Funny thing, I bought a Roberston Falcon after shooting yours over at Jeff Hopkins farm! Good times! Sure wish I had the time to go to shoots like that! We always had a ball!!

[ottertails]

Tim, funny...I too got my very 1st custom from Jim back in 88.....a 64"  61# @ 28" Legend....the only recurve I ever hunted with. Took a 150" class Whitetail w/it 89 or 90. It's been all longbows since then till now, as I recently ordered a Chinook Classic from Dan Toelke. Bracks were the bomb back then, it was the only bow I've ever sold....wish I had it back!

[John3]

Compounds just quit being "fun".. I bought my first traditional bow in 1992.  A SKY Hawk takedown recurve..  Earl made great bows.