Traditional Inspirations

[Mark Baker]

My Dad lit the flame, as a young boy, teaching me to shoot, and letting me tag along to the indoor ranges.  We sat and watched Fred Bear on TV... then at 18, my Dad died.   I took up bowhunting at that time, and that flame took off as I read as much as I could "soak up" about traditional bowhunting from then on.   From buying up every available copy of Bowhunter Magazine (lots of great trad articles in those early issues), to books by Jay Massey, and Gene Wensel and the great articles by G. Fred.  There really was'nt anybody local I could learn from, but I did buddy up with a guy in college named Bart Schleyer who shot a recurve too!

[SELFBOW19953]

Growing up in Florida, we used to watch all the 1950's cowboy shows on TV.  We played a lot of cowboys and Indians and wanted to carry bows and arrows when we played. We made bows out of bamboo (cut off a pole 4 or 5 feet long put a string on it-it's a bow) and arrows out of shoots that we split for chicken feathers.  Eventually I noticed a picture of my grandfather with a bow killed deer in his den and got to listen to his stroeis about bow hunting.  When I was about 10 he gave me his lemonwood longbow and taught me how to shoot it.  2 or 3 years later I was stringing it up and it became a 3 piece bow.  For Christmas that year, he gave me the custom recurve he had killed the deer with (he'd had it made in the Grayling area when he lived there in the late 40's).  I killed a rabbit and an armadillo with it, but would mostly just fling arrows, usually for hours at a time.  In the Air Force while going to school in Denver in 1971, I bought my first bow, a Browning Safari 2.  I didn't get to hunt with it until was stationed here in Dover in 1975-killed a ground hog with the Browning.  I'm still in Dover and still shooting trad type bows.

[MCNSC]

Fred Bear. Used to wear out Bear archery catalogues when I was a kid, dreaming of one day being able to hunt with one. Also I had a 35# Indian archery bow that I shout all the time, but wasn't very good. Some guy (don't remember who he was)was at my grandfathers one day and saw my bow he proceeded to take a few shots and I was amazed at his accuracy. That was the first time I had ever saw anyone shoot a bow good. Never will forget those few shots and my desire to be able to do the same.

[Rustic]

My neighbor inspired me. 2 months ago, I went over to his house to talk about deer hunting, just like we alwasys do. He took me downstairs to his man cave and showed me a 28 pt Buck he shot in 1964 and some of his Turkey trophys. Then he let me draw on each and every one of his "Custom Recurve Thunder Sticks" and Longbows. I could'nt draw them but I was hooked!!! I really admired the simplicity of his set up and decided this was the last year for my compound. Since then, I bought a beginners recurve and am working on getting a Bear Grizzly. Have'nt looked backed.

[monterey]

My dad got me started when I was about 8 yrs old.  That was about 1954      He shot a lemonwood at 60# and was an avid field archer and hunter.  I only know of two times in his life when he hunted big game with a gun.  He got me a lemonwood that drew about 20# at my length and that was my roving stick for many years.  At about age 13 I broke that bow while carrying it in one hand while peddling my bike.  Got it into the spokes of the front wheel.  They don't build bikes like that any more!      Dad got me a solid fiberglass static recurve kids bow later that year that drew about 45# at 28".  Hunted and shot with that bow till I was 17!  Then my uncle gave me a solid aluminum static recurve bow that drew about 55#.  Shot that for a few years but then started hearing the horror stories about them breaking.  Lost track of that bow.  It was the slowest bow I ever shot.

When I got out of the service I got a ben pearson 45# recurve at the department store nearby and shot that for many years but it eventually made it's way around the family into my son in laws hands.

The bows I shoot now are mostly of my own making except for one Damon Howatt static recurve that draws about 50# and shoots very fast.

Sorry for all the rambling, this thread and the season just sorta got me reminiscing I guess.  

[moleman]

No need to apoligise for rambling Monterey,
Ive enjoyed reading about the ones who influenced all of you in this this sport.
Thinking of others in this season is what its all about.  

[pauljr]

When I was 17 my uncles then brother in law got a martin super diablo. He began shooting it with us around and it just fascinated me. I remember when i was a boy reading bowhunter magazine if i saw someone with a recurve I honestly felt bad for them cause i thought the couldnt afford a real bow lol. Anyhow the bug bit me and my first stick bow was a zipper recurve my parents got me in 1995 for my graduation preasent.

[SELFBOW19953]

Mike,

Isn't it odd that when we become "antiques" (over 50 years old) we tend to think we "ramble" about how things were when we were growing up?

My father firmly believed that a bow was a toy.  I made the mistake of taking a bow hunting once!!!!!

[DennyK]

For me it was my Uncle Thomas Kowalczyk. He was an incredible recurve shot and an excellent bowhunter. Besides that he was one good guy. Miss Him.

[Rodney]

Kiko Tovar from Waterloo Iowa inspired me & many others. He was a longtime friend of my family.
He could tell stories for hours, and they usually had a hunting lessen if you payed attention!

[Matthew Bolton]

I wanted to be like my dad and be a bow hunter. After a few years of shooting a compound and failing monumentally I decided to try traditional archery with my dad's old ben pearson hunter. Two years later (this year) I killed my first two deer with traditional equipment and am never looking back.

[MCNSC]

Fred Bear. Used to wear out Bear archery catalogues when I was a kid, dreaming of one day being able to hunt with one. Also I had a 35# Indian archery bow that I shout all the time, but wasn't very good. Some guy (don't remember who he was)was at my grandfathers one day and saw my bow he proceeded to take a few shots and I was amazed at his accuracy. That was the first time I had ever saw anyone shoot a bow good. Never will forget those few shots and my desire to be able to do the same.

[MCNSC]

Fred Bear. Used to wear out Bear archery catalogues when I was a kid, dreaming of one day being able to hunt with one. Also I had a 35# Indian archery bow that I shout all the time, but wasn't very good. Some guy (don't remember who he was)was at my grandfathers one day and saw my bow he proceeded to take a few shots and I was amazed at his accuracy. That was the first time I had ever saw anyone shoot a bow good. Never will forget those few shots and my desire to be able to do the same.

[NativeHunter]

This picture. I saw it on that other archery site. Then I found TradGang and it was all over! So if this is your photo, I apologize for stealing and reposting it, and thank you for the inspiration!

 

[monterey]

Denny, did your uncle ever live in CO?  I may have met him some years ago.

[fmscan]

Fred Bear films... if that doesn't turn you on, then your not meant to be a Trad guy..

[Hopewell Tom]

I don't think I've even gotten started at it yet! I've been farkulating around with it for the last three years, but nothing is dead yet because of it.

When I was a kid, maybe 10 or 11ish, I got a really nice light coloured wood recurve for Christmas. Must have asked for it for some reason, but don't remember why. I loved shooting that thing and it was the nicest bow around. A side note here: my Dad got a Super 8 movie camera a long time ago and was using it more than I knew. He died 2 years ago and Mom had to be moved to some assisted living. Packing her up, there's all these film canisters. My sister takes them to be put on a DVD. I'm watching and Dad had that camera rolling at every Christmas. There's me getting that bow! I'm 61, but I was close to tears. Seems so long ago. And that bows long gone.

In 1999, I found Traditional Bowhunter mag and bought a RH Caribow recurve and started shooting and hunted some, but my left eye dominance kept me from getting good enough to be good enough. Looked at that bow in it's rack for 10 years. Picked it up one day and fake drew it for the left side and thought, this is what I've been missing. Got a lefty recurve, found Tradgang, but I'm not working hard enough at it.

After no deer during bow season, empty freezer, pick up the rifle and fill the freezer, but feel I really let myself down. Then a thread about using the bow during gun season. Why not? Then SteveO's thread on bear hunting this season. One sentence is now MY mantra.

"I spend the first 8 months of the year getting ready for the last 4." I'm already getting ready for the last 4 months of 2012.
 
I told my wife the other day that it's bow hunting only, even if we never eat another piece of venison. She says "Go for it!"

Tradgang got me started in Traditional Archery.

[b.glass]

Sounds familiar Killdeer. Except I didn't get whipped much. (I was the good child). I learned to love the outdoors cause my dad took us fishing. But it was Jim Hamm's book "Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans" that got me into trad bows and bow hunting.

[JJB]

Mine was my dad (Bernie B here).  We've spent a lot of time shooting in the back yard and wandering the woods together over the years.  
-Jay

[Dimondback]

My Grandfather....I spent a large amount of time growing up in his shop tinkering with him. He used to crest and fletch arrows for money when he was a teen and taught me these things as well as leather work, and every other possible skill I could soak up. We spent hours shooting bows and .22's behind his shop. I still visit him every time I can and we still hang out behind the shop and talk about that stuff over a glass of the "good stuff". Still one of my favorite things to do. He recently gave me the leather tools I learned on 25 years ago and I have been using them to carve some of the stuff I have posted here (quivers, armguard, etc)