Is There A Person That Got You Started In Archery?

[achigan]

Back in the day, I hunted with a smoke pole. My brother won a Bear Whitetail Hunter in a raffle and gave it to me. ...... Three years ago after swearing off hunting due to stuff at work, a co-worker of my wife's encouraged me to meet him over at Cloverdale. I left with a Thmberhawk Falcon and haven't looked back.

[GreyGoose]

Oh Lord, what a great topic for a thread, and so many good stories.  I was nine, and at one of our cub scout meetings our den mother's husband brought out a selfbow he'd made from a pice of hickory, carved/chipped a wooden arrowhead which he threaded to a split shaft, and shoot it with impressive force against an old bathmat.  That was the day I deserted the cowboys for the Indians.

[Panzer]

When I got out of the Marines and came home, my good friend had taken up bowhunting with a compound so I did the same. It was his father who had been a traditional bowhunter in his younger days that encouraged me to make the switch, which I did and never looked back.

[Danny Rowan]

Howard Hill, he came to my school in the 50s and put on an exhibition. Loved it since then. Then my best friend growing up, we tore up the rabbits and small game and finally deer with our bows as kids and young adults. Been a fun ride and hope to have many more hunts in the future.

[Bill Turner]

I was introduced to traditional archery in 1969 by Fred Balmer from Hampton, VA. and what a ride it has been. Fred and I speak regularly via phone and although he is no longer able to shoot a bow due to a shoulder injury, he enjoys hearing about my bowhunting successes and failures. Thanks Fred for introducing me to lifetime of fun and entertainment.  

[glass76]

The man that started me on this path was a friend of the family. He had a big pond at his house that my grandad would take me fishing there. This man also had a small sport shop beside his house a was a Hoyt dealer. When the fish weren't biting I would walk up to his shop and look around and talk to him. He would talk to me about his hunts and I was amazed at the animals that were hanging on the walls.
 
Later that summer my parents got me a Ben Pearson recurve. Next time Grandad came by to pick me up for fishing I put my bow in the trunk with my fishing pole.

After shooting my bow and hanging out at the shop more than fishing Grandad wondered why I even brought the fishing pole. By the following year the man invited me to go hunting with him. Like they say, "The rest is history".

This man that I've been writing about was named Art Hanseman. Art passed away three months ago. I'm sure glad Grandad liked to take me fishing.

[Producer]

I was a young lad and I saw Errol Flynn in Robin Hood and that was it for me.

[Joe2Crow]

I got into archery as a natural progression to being able to spend more time in the woods chasing whitetails.  But I got into traditional archery as a result of a friend named Keith.

Keith was a great hunter and woodsman.  He was an easy going, gentle soul whose company I thoroughly enjoyed.  He taught me a lot about trad bows, turkey hunting, grouse hunting and general woodsmanship. He sold me my first trad bow, a takedown recurve made by Wilderness Archery.  It is 58#@28" and was Keith's lightest poundage bow.  I still have it today.  Keith" favorite bow was an Asbell Bighorn Takedown pulling 64"@28" and he shot it well.  

Unfortunately, life's difficulties led Keith to a lifestyle that eventually cost him his life at the young age of 45.  There's not a fall that I head to the woods with stick and string that I don't think of Keith and wish he was still here and going with me.  RIP my friend and thank you.

[Pointer]

My Dad...when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I remember him taking me with him during the season when I was about 10 or so. I had a Paul Bunyan fiberglass recurve that was 35 lbs. I carried one arrow..an original Bear cedar shaft with a Bear Razorhead.

As years past Dad drifted away from the bow and hunting altogether. In recent years he did not like the cold but I did manage to get him out bird hunting a few years ago.

Two years ago, while NY was buried under a foot of snow and temps were frigid he was going crazy with cabin fever. There was some old archery equipment in the basement and one of my really old foam targets in the garage. For some reason he picked up the bow again. He was able to get 10 yards in the basement and became nearly fanatical about archery. What a joy it was to set him up with proper gear so he could pass the hours down there improving his form and shooting the center out of the target. This past winter was much the same..I got him another target and made up another half dozen arrows for him. I had him switch to 3 under which further improved his accuracy and he was wearing out a tab every couple of months. Now and then I or one of my nephews would shoot with him a little. When the weather improved enough he would go outside and shoot in the garage like he and I did 35 years ago.
His cancer came back in May and he passed last month on July 7th. He was a man of faith and I take some comfort in that but his loss is absolutely crushing for me.

I wish I could describe how gratifying it was to me that he picked up the bow again in what would be his final years. My most cherished memories of him were always to be those times he took me into the woods with him when he hunted. And now I add the memory of these past 2 years when he came back to what had been our first real common interest. This will be an emotional and special season for me but I can't wait to get out into the woods this fall.

[Stump73]

My Dad  but that was with a wheelie but later in life I got him into the real deal traditional bows.

[reddogge]

Sure did. His name was Robin Hood and the 1953 movie set the spark that continues to this day. The other guy was Howard Hill.

You see, my dad wasn't an outdoorsman and we lived in he city so I had to pick this stuff up on my own.

[STICKBENDER98]

My Dad, he started letting me tag along with him when I was 6 or 7 and sit in the ground blinds he built, and one tree stand that was big enough for us both, and it was only 10 foot off the ground and we saw a ton of deer from it.  (must be they hadn't learned to look up yet) He eventually quit taking his bow and took his Super 8, 8mm camera. I don't think he ever shot a deer with his bows, but I sure had fun tagging along with him.  He definitely stirred the embers to my archery fire!  I started hunting using his old Bear Polar recurve and later used his wheelie bow when my brother wasn't.  That's been 30 plus years ago and when I made the switch back to traditional it was with Dad's old bear 20 plus years ago.  I still have both his bows hanging with mine, and still pull them out and shoot them from time to time.  I don't think I can ever thank him enough for fueling the fire that was inside me.  I just hope he felt the same pride watching me on my journey through the archery world, as I do watching my two girls on their journeys through theirs.

[bowheadhunter]

Here 2015 Eaglewing GOT BACK INTO TRAD after 15 years being a speed freak----
With his frontier longbow I seem a lot of nice immurements and IMPROVEMENTS with new material and riser limb design ,,Thanks Steve keep it up and the rest of the great bow makers,

Kind a like to See Steve POSTING SOON NEVER BEEN MUCH OF A politics guy myself forgive and forgive life too short.I hope I don't start bleeding out now lol lol

[tomsm44]

My dad got me started in archery originally, but traditional archery came from somebody else.  I had played around with "toy" bows growing up, but around age 14-15, I could pull back my dad's old compound and he let me start hunting with it once I could shoot good enough.  I never got a shot with it, but I bought a new one just before my senior year of high school and killed several with it over the next 8 or 9 years.  

I also had an old 35# Bear Black Bear that belonged to an uncle who passed away when I was a kid.  I found it in the back of my grandmother's closet when I was a kid and she let me have it, but I never really shot it much.  A few years back, my wife agreed that if I could learn to shoot it accurately, I could buy a "better" recurve.  I had no idea what I was doing and my arrows weren't even almost tuned right, so I got frustrated and gave up pretty quickly.  A few months later, I mentioned it to an older gentlemen at church, Mr. Terril Hester, who used to own a little backwoods archery shop.  As luck would have it, he had hunted with a recurve for years and gave me a little encouragement and a few pointers.  He has been an amazing mentor to me the last few years and I have now sold my compound and rarely hunted with a rifle the last two years, even though I haven't gotten a shot yet with my recurve.  Even without getting a shot, it's still the most fun I've ever had hunting.  

I'm hoping to have an opportunity to go on a traditional hunt with Mr. Terril in the next few years while he is still able.  So far haven't been able to afford it, but I'm still hoping.

Matt

[BWD]

Yep, two of them...then both went back to compounds. Got nothing against them things, but got nothing for them either.

[Jakeemt]

I was always into the outdoors but, never had any hunters in my family. When I was 19 I bought an old rifle in at a pawn shop on a whim and then really started to become interested. My old man and I (he'd been a rabbit hunter as a kid) started hunting small game together. After 4 years of it I found a free book through kindle called "Hunting With The Bow and Arrow" by Saxton Pope. I was hooked from then on. I killed my first squirrel with a longbow and a xx75 a year later. Still chasing tree rats but, I am going to tag a deer for certain this year!

[jwhitetail]

This guy here...
Mr. "OE" Berry of JD Berry Archery.  He has taught me most of what I know of long bows and wood arrows.
 
Tell you what, though.  It has been no easy ride learning from a Berry... losing dollars almost every Sunday and listening to that cackle when I botch a shot!  

[bowheadhunter]

Become the arrow book by B.F and also Howard Hill ,,

[John3]

 

An old pic of my Dad (1990 I think) with one of my deer...

My Dad who worked for Earl Hoyt in St. Louis in the early 1970s.  Dad brought me home a small recurve bow and that was that.. Thanks Dad!

[hitman]

My father whose love for bow hunting was deep rooted. It wasn't too hard for me to pick it up as a youngster because I was beside him like a magnet. Those times we had together wil l always be cherished by me. Thanks Dad for everything.