Question for all you "Old Timers"

[tippit]

I was a shotgun/bird hunter back then as there wasn't a deer season in OHIO...no deer to be seen.  I never shot a recurve...went straight to a longbow in 1980.  Tim Meigs longbow 65# kicked like a mule but I didn't know any better.  Probably why my teeth are falling out now     tippit

[Sean B]

Hey Tippit, still have that bow???

[tippit]

Sean,
No...but several years ago I found the longbow that I first saw at deer camp in 1979.  So I have the bow that started my journey  

[Kituwa]

Yes i remember those snap on quickie quivers.In the 70's a properly outfited recurve had to have a quickie quiver, a set of those three prong rubber quickie silencers,brush buttons and some of those rubber no glove finger thingies.We usuasally had one of those stick on bear rests too.The broadsheads i remember useing were bear razor heads,those hilbri's with the plastic ferrule,pearson deadheads and a few three blade bodkins.Dont remember seeing many other broadhead types back then.I cant remember ever paying attention to arrow spine,,we just bought whatever arrows they had at the hardware.Most bows back then were around #45 or #50 so most likely thats what most arrows were too.We knew nothing about arrow weight, broadhead weight or things like that.I also never remember any of the deer i or my friends shot that we got pass throughs like we do today. Most likely because our arrows were never tuned right.

[Pat B]

1978 was my first year of hunting. I started then with a used 45# Shakespear recurve and mismatched aluminum arrows.

[Barry Wensel]

I shot my first buck with a Red Wing Hunter. Then in 1967 I made the big jump in poundage because I liked the way a heavier bow shot flat tradjectory. I got a 77 lb. Wilson Brothers Blackwidow that was used. Supposedly the previous owner, some guy from PA, shot a 10 point buck with it. So I figured it might carry some good luck. I immediately painted the beautiful 60" bow with a can of flat finish NAPA #7844 olive drab. I also glued a piece of non-skid chamois leather on the handle/grip. I probably should not fess up to my immaturity but I also used to notch the riser whenever I killed a big game animal with it. You know... those four little vertical lines then a horizontal fifth line. Seems like I got that brainstorm after watching an old WWII movie involving fighter planes. Or maybe it was a cowboy movie about some gunfighters pistol handle being notched. Fighter pilots and gunfighters were cool. I remember the old bow had seventeen notches on it when I retired it. I also remember when Paul Schafer saw it in my shed for the first time. He picked it up, looked at the notches, looked at me and said "What the Hell"? Ha! We had a really good laugh about it. BW

[kstout]

Started with a Paul Bunyan, 60" longbow, 40# @ 28", then in 1970 inherited a 67 kodiak Hunter, 58", 45# @ 28.

[JEFF B]

when i was 13 i had a supple jack vine for a bow and hay bale twine and arrows were made out of hedge row sticks scared a lot of rabbits and  magpies. LOL!!!!

[amar911]

I still have my old clamp-on Kwikee "suicide" Kwiver. (And, no, I haven't used it in 30 years.) It scares me to look at it and think about those three Bear Razorheads staring at me as I climbed up into trees and sat in a home-made tree crotch stand with no safety belt. Heck, I didn't even use tree steps or a ladder, just shimmied up the tree, usually hanging my bow from branches above me as I climbed. I can remember falling asleep sitting on branches and waking up when deer came near my tree. It's a wonder any of us survived our youthful foolishness! My old Browning Nomad did not have reinforced limb tips, and the top tip delaminated when I was at full draw and sprayed my face with fiberglass and cut my arm with the string when the explosion took place. Although I loved that bow before it failed, I never wanted another Browning. Besides, I was dirt poor then and couldn't afford to replace the bow for a long time. Browning gave me no warranty assistance, either. I think it is a much better company today than it was then, at least as far as customer service is concerned, even though their firearms are no longer made in Belgium.

Allan

[Zbone]

Was self-taught and killt bunch of small critters as a kid with a fiberglass kids bow, but (if I remember correctly) 1974-75 as a teenager was my first season bowhunting deer and bought a 45# Ben Pearson Cougar along with cedar arrows tipped with Bear Razorheads at Western Auto with my lawn mowing moneys.

Hunted with the Pearson for a year or two before advancing to a compound, Fred Bear Whitetail Hunter...8^)
Although had killed a few deer with firearms prior, looking back, hadn't killed a deer with bow until the Bear compound (I think 1976, maybe 77, when they were brand new on the market and first out) and it was a big deal in my area back then. Had flinged dozens of arrows at deer with the Pearson, but not until that high speed Whitetail Hunter did I connect...8^) and it was a running shot directly away from a long, long ways...8^) Looking back, probably the best (luckiest) shot I ever made. I believe the head was a Savora Sweptwing, but don't remember if it was the 3-blade or 4-blade version. The shafts were Easton aluminum but can't remember if GameGetters or XX75 Autumn Orange but think the Autumn Orange. I have a picture somewhere.

Sure would like to fine some 2018 Autumn Oranges now for the nostalgia...

[R. W. Mackey]

I shot my first big game animal in 1964, a Louisiana Hog, with an old Wing, dont remember which one. It was a used bow. I got my first new bow in 1972, right after i got back from Viet Nam. Bought one of those new Bear Takedowns, got the Mag Riser, couldn't afford the Wooden one.  Still have the Riser, limbs busted several years ago. RW

[30coupe]

Herter's Model Perfection 50# recurve. I think it was 56". My eldest son has it now, so I can't look at the bow rack and check. I think I bought it in 1973 or '74. Paid $37.50 at the original Herter's store in Waseca, MN.

I guess I'd have to say this was my first store-bought hunting bow. I did make a glass and maple laminated recurve, 45# @ 28", with a black walnut riser when I was a freshman in high school for shop class back in 1967. It looked like a bow built by a freshman in high school, but I did slay some bunnies with it. And I still have it. I believe mine is the sole survivor of 12-15 bows made in class. One managed only one arrow before delaminating, LOL! I have since cleaned up the riser and tips a bit. It shoots pretty well for it's age and maker.  

[Eric Krewson]

Bear kodiak hunter, actually killed a deer with it, my first bow kill.

 

[doubleo]

My first hunting bow was a used Browning Safari II. I bought it in 73 i think. My first new bow was a Hoyt Hunt Master TD.

[Sam McMichael]

Ben Pearson Gamester 45# about 1970 or so. I still have it.

[LC]

Started bow hunting big game (deer) in 1970 using a Ben Pearson recurve bought from local Hecks department store. Don't remember the model but remember it was black and extremely short. I only knew two other bow hunters back then and neither were family members so it was a huge learning curve! Looking back it was a horrible bow! I always dreamt of a new Bear Kodiak bow but it was out of my league mowing grass. I was graduating high school in 1976. My mom and dad said they'd either buy me a class ring or that new bow I was wanting! Lets just say I NEVER was into jewelry! Still have that Kodiak bow!

[Greyfox54]

In around 1968 or  1969 I bought an Indian "Deerslayer" 45 #  @ 28" and 60 " long . It may have been one but I sure wasn't . Took several seasons to bag my first deer . And even then I should have changed the name to "Doeslayer"  How you been Sean ? Well I hope , Fred

[Sean B]

This is great guys!!  I love thses old bows, and thinking of all of you heading out with them the first time is pretty cool!  Hey Fred, Things are good, Its good to see you on here.  Almost all the "Old Timers" from bear camp chimed in, well, except Larry and Bow Doc!I'll be there again first week this year!

[Zbone]

Found the pic and a correction to my story - it was a Jennings I bowkilled my first deer that traded my Bear compound in on.

The arrows were Autumn Oranges.

[Pops]

The first bow I hunted with was a 68 Kodiak Hunter
           mike