How old were you?

[Brook Trout]

I was 26 when I switched over from wheels, 31 now.

[30coupe]

I think I was 5 or 6. I'm 59 now, and I never did use training wheels.

[Friend]

Do recall shooting a feathered critter at the age of nine with self made bow and arrows from tree limbs.

Was gifted my 1st production bow(Little Bear) at age eleven(1969).

[Drewster]

I got my first dogwood self bow at eleven and am now 63.  Didn't shoot for quite a few years but am having more fun now than ever.  Hoping to shoot for the next twenty years :-)

[wildgame]

I was 20 and now 28, best 8 years of my archery years!

[Mike Mecredy]

I don't remember the first time I shot a bow, I'd imagine I was around 3.  My grampa had an old longbow, and it was so long I had to stand on a stool to shoot it, but it was just something I did at his house, I don't remember the first time, I just tell people archery is something I've just always done.

[Schafer]

I believe around 2. Now 18 its beens 16 years all ready:-)

Schafer

[Phrogdrvr]

I was ten years old or so, when my grandfather's next door neigbor gave me a Bear Alaskan (the orange and black one) 45# recurve.  It was all covered with brownish black crayon to help it blend in with the woods.  I spent days stripping that stuff off.  That bow was my constant companion for years until I left for Active Duty service in the Marine Corps at 19.  That was 21 years ago or so and just last year my Brother in Law handed me my Alaskan back with ireperable cracks in the working part of the limb (I was enraged, bu ton ly on the inside).  I recently found an Identical one for sale locally and, of course bought it.

Tom

[elkbreath]

I shot without wheels until 13, hunted entirely with a wheeled arrow-launching machine till 22, when I discovered the degenerative wicked traditions of my forefathers which I was then embroiled in, and have been 100% All-Natural ever since.  I am 32 now and not suffering any withdrawals.  :-)

I'm impressed with the amount of gray-hairs here who never succumbed!  I reverance your name in bringing us through the dark days.

Ron, may your poem never end!

[m midd]

I was about 9.. Had a red fiberglass bow  for a while then Dad won a 40# bear recurve at a 3d shoot and give it to me.
I shot wheels for a while when dad quit bowhunting . I sold
the wheel bow in 2004 and have been shooting longbows ever since. I am 32

[Groothewanderer]

Im 38. I started with a longbow, and compounds were forbidden. So you know, my Father was a commander in the Fedora and Flannel brigade. After I left home, and joined the Navy I bought a compound bow and shot those exclusively for about three years. Then had a spell where I messed with crossbows. When my father died, and my family squabbled over his money, I made off with all the bows and knives. That was in 97. I have been shooting trad exclusively for about two years and I am just now getting where I want to be with it.

[Dale Sharp]

I don't recall how old I was when I first shot the fiberglass kids bow that introduced me to the flight of an arrow. My first hunting season was in 1972 at age twelve using a recurve. It has been recurves and longbows only for the entire journey.

[Covey]

I'm 40 now, so probably 8 years ago. I must say, I have not regretted it one bit!

Jason

[buckeye_hunter]

30 or 31. Went right from guns to traditional tackle. Glad I did.

[Goshawkin]

I shot little longbows as a kid. My dad brought me home a used Martin Warthog magnum compound one day. I shot that bow for years (fingers and no sights)until it blew up on me,I was just a couple years out of High school.I was looking through a magazine for ideas on a new bow and saw a Black Widow ad. Remember the one with the Graybark MA leaning against the tree in the snow? That was it,I had to have one. Saved up some cash and ordered one.Nothing but recurves and longbows since then. I'm 42 now.

[cahaba]

I was 6 years old. Now I'm 54. I did try a compound for about 6 months and thats all it took to get that nonsense out of my system. I quit shooting for about 10 years while persueing a fishing career. i will shoot traditional till my old fingers can't hold the string anymore..

[myshootinstinks]

Great GranPa built me a little longbow and some cedar arrows in the summer of '65 when I was 9 years old. I got my first store bought bow a couple of years later, a 35# maple riser Indian w/ orange glass.  At 16 my Dad gave me a new Howatt Coronado for a muley hunt in NW Colorado and I still have that bow.

[stillhunter]

I am 54 and we always had bows as far back as I remember. Mom had a strong rule against BB guns so we had slingshots (Whammo) and bows.We had a hickory bow my uncle made for a scout project and a glass bow of 10 to 15 lbs.My brothers had a howatt hunter and a bear panda. My Dad had a bear cub longbow.Us kids could buy four arrows for a buck at the coast to coast store. Shot them till they were gone at anything and everything till they were gone. Aerial shot them as we walked to the grand parents home a mile away.Bought a Howatt Hi-speed when I turned 14 and hunted with it till I was 20 when i tryed a compound for 3 years. Bought a Shafer Silvertip when I turned 25. Started building bows in 1986 and still shoot 68" straight ed locust bows and a 64" osage self bow. Still have the Hunter of my brothers, my Hi-Speed and my Dad's cub.

[Cwilder]

I started off shooting a recurve when I was a kid. Got in to hunting when I was 16 had a bear recurve. Switched to a compound shot it bare bow until I was 21. I'm 36 now and have started to shoot the recurve again

[Dimondback]

Around 10ys but took some years off and got back at it around 1.5 years ago.