What Year did You start shooting/hunting Traditional gear ?

[Sean B]

went to a recurve in '90 after 12 yrs with a compound.

[Mitch-In-NJ]

If you count shooting backyard critters, I started in 1969 or 1970 at age 5 or 6.  Got my first grown-up recurve when I was 13 I think.  Then around 1981 or so I went to a Bear Whitetail.  In 86 I stopped hunting and shooting for about 20 years.

When I started again I shot wheels for 1 season and then switched.  Last year I had really bad tendonitis and shot my compound again, but I really just don't like it and won't be using it this year.  I don't like the feel of it.

[John3]

Dad gave me a small Hoyt recurve bow in 1974 (which my parents gave back to me 30 years later) and that is all it took.. Compounded a few years in the late 80s and bought my first SKY Hawk recurve bow in 1993...

[Chris Shelton]

some of you guys are old  

fall of 2005 is when I got my first "real bow" 40# galaxy mars, got it about September, killed my first deer with it that November  

[glass76]

Shooting in '67, hunting in'69 with a Pearson Puma recurve.

[JCJ]

1968 with a pink Ben Pearson Fiberglass recurve. A friend gave me a Herters Sitka Perfection in 1976. Purchased my first good bow a Black Widow in 1978.

[Jwilliam]

2004

[CLOVIS]

1959 with a orange and white solid fiberglass Pearson recurve 40# Rubber grip and shoot off either side of the shelf.

[StickBowManMI]

I started in 1970 with a Fiberglass shapespeare Recurve that was 50 Lbs @28"

[StickBowManMI]

I forgot all about shooting and building bows back when I was 10 years old. My brother and I would make a bow and shoot it until it broke. Must have been a senior moment that made me forget these details.

[njloco]

It's 57 for me, just target shooting until 1974. then nothing until 1996, that's when a friend of mine talked me into shooting against his wheeler. I was able to go shot for shot out to 30 yds. Started practicing and took it hunting for the first time in 1996. shot my first doe with the same Ben Pearson bow I bought in 1973, but I spined it and it just tore me up when I had to go down and finish it off. That is when I became a wheeler and said that would never happen to me again. Shot a lot of deer with that compound, but now I'm back shooting Trad. for two years now and will be hunting with it this year.

I just don't seem to have any interest in shooting or hunting with compounds any more.

[StickBowManMI]

That would have been 1952.

[3blades]

Strung up my fathers bear cub that he had sitting in his house for many many years unused and that was the summer of 2007.

[Night Wing]

1964. It was a target recurve that I bowhunted with.

[Brook Trout]

Bought and started shooting my first longbow in the summer of 2006, although I have shot some of my uncle's bows on and off since about 2003.  I started hunting with a longbow in the fall of 2007.

[nutmeg]

1962 Ben Pearson Jet recurve. Been shooting recurves and long bows ever since. (nut)  

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

in 1985 used a  damon howat Ventura

[Yellow Dog]

1994. I'm the only one that had permission to hunt a very large Family farm about 10 minutes from my house. I've taken a ton of deer on this farm and I always called my buddy when I put an arrow in one to come out and help me track and assist with the recovery. I shot a real nice buck in 1992 and I gave Dale a call to get out to the farm, because we had work to do. Dale met me and I took him to the stand I arrowed the buck out of. I told him "he went that way". After a short tracking job Dale told me the reason he liked helping me track was because I would be so excited about the harvest. On this buck, which was my best to date, he said the enthusiasm was gone. I thought about what he told me and my bowhunting had become too "mechanical". I shot the compound as much as I could, and became very good at it. If anything came within 40 yards of me it was dead. At that time I told myself I had to do something different. Spent the next couple of months looking at and shooting recurves at the local archery shop. I mentioned to my Wife that I found a bow I really liked, a Martin Super Diablo. I was shocked to find that Martin under the Christmas Tree. Shot the Winter animal league with it along with the summer broadhead league. When it came to the next fall, even though I'd shot the bow alot, I just didn't feel like I was ready. Compound out of the case for one more year. Did the same drill the next year and shot the curve exclusivly. The 1994 opener found me in a tree with that Martin. Ten minutes into the season, with the the first deer in range and the first arrow I had my first tradition harvest. Haven't looked back since then. Not only do I love shooting sticks, I've had the oportunity to meet and make new friends in the Trad community. Best thing I've ever done.                

[randy grider]

Probably around 1973 i bought a Bear "Red Bear" fiberglass bow, 3 arrows,target, and quiver at our local western Auto hardware store. shot it, and a Indian fiberglass longbow several years, untill i started driving. Started back in 1993 with a Bear Kodiak Magnum.

[L. E. Carroll]

Shooting as a kid of 11-12 with the old 2 handed fibergass bows of the era.. I got involved in designing and building the press and built the heat box in high school to get us in woodshop with the desire, to build a laminated recurve into building our own bows... Still have that first bow..

First big game hunt for elk in 68 and then off to SE Asia after graduation in 69.. Back to trad since with a couple years in there with an Onida Eagle [but it did have recurve limbs]