To get deep about it, I guess that I've always been a bit of a loner, not afraid of but not comfortable with huge crowds. I like the open spaces, quiet times in the woods by myself to get my head cleared out. When I discovered bowhunting, that was all that I needed to feed my soul. The seeing of nature close up, the learning about the cycle of life and the desire to take my place it it. It was probably initially the pictures and words I saw about bows, from "adventure books" written about American Indians, Robin Hood, the cave etchings in France which depict archers hunting. Hmm, question...are we all R-CHers or are we R-Kers like the "ark" of the arrow? Personally, I like to "ark" them right into the target. Oops, TANGENT!
My dad taught me to shoot a 22 as a kid and fish when he had time, was always a busy man. We moved to Mason City, IA from Madison,WI when I was 10. Went from Urban to less urban and a lot closer to rural. Dad got into hunting via the local outdoor writer/naturalist at the paper and I soon joined in. If only I had known about deer when I lived there. Back to WI for Dad (Rhinelander) and for him more opps. to fish and hunt. I finally decided to do something about my interest in the bow, went to wheel-store ("faster than a recurve, sights will make it easy") and started teaching myself to shoot. Several years later, got everything nailed down, screwed down tight, adjusted perfectly and got bored with the vertical cross-bow. Pin on target, squeeze release trigger, arrow in target, additional arrows smacking the first. Practice became almost too easy. Sure there was an "ark" but it was pretty flat, pretty fast. And compound bowhunting became "Look at this "X-brand" bow and great "X" carbon arrows that I shoot with this "X" broadhead, off this "X" fall-away rest.......and I just killed this massive whitetail but he only scores less than 200 PY. Oh did I tell you that I shot him on my food plot that I planted with my "X" ATV and "X" discing seeding unit and I planted "X" Deer Magnet food plot seed and....." CHEESE mon!! C,mawn! So the over commercialism stimulated every Tom, Dick and Mary to pick up a bow, shoot a few arrows a year and go out and shoot AT deer and spend a lot of money getting the next big thing that would guarantee that they will shoot a deer just like their TV he and she-roes do!! So the crowd got bigger and a little "fuller" of that which yon cows in yonder pasture lay forth upon thine ground as they feed. Frankly, I became disinterested in competing against others who's main mantra was "faster, faster FASTER need my bow to be 3 fps faster" Then when it's 3 fps faster they're still not satisfied. My GAWSH, I had to pull myself away from that to keep what remaining sanity that I appear to have left!!!
Now I have an **** Darton Ranger, a gun-traded for group including a B.Pearson Palomino, a '53-ish Bear Cub Longbow, a recently purchased '66 K-Mag and an upcoming order for a Whip that I'll probably just start foaming at the mouth when I see it's beauty and know that she is mine! AND I have constant reminders every day of how great other humans can be when I get on the forums at trad sites and talk to fellow "R-kers" on the phone or in person. It's the down-to-earth, helpful almost to their own expense-attitude that has renewed my idea that most folks are generally good people. I guess the wheel bow crowd and the TV commercialism of that portion of bowhunting are fine but just not the folks that I feel more comfortable with and the folks that SHOW me how to be a better, more caring about others type of human being that my father was. I am SO fargin DEEP!! I still have my wheels but someday soon I'm gonna have to make some room and the non-wheelies will be the LAST to go IF you can pry them forth from my tight vise-griped phlanges. na. don't even try.
Best of luck to all and thanks for readin' that book I just wrote. I mean, get me rollin' and I'm ROLLIN'! 'bout trad.
Keep the "ark" alive. Wasn't Indiana Jones chasing the "ark"......?
Just another hooman bean,
TomBow
Topic: how did u get into trad (Read 818 times)
