A little about Jay Massey... Please?

[Archie]

Would anyone be interested in telling a little about Jay?  I see his name pop up from time to time, and have watched some hunting movies with him in them on YouTube.  But I know very little about him.  What made him a legend?  How did he live?  How did he die?  Why do some people rank him among the greatest of bowhunters?  

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[Charlie Lamb]

Jay was a man of the wilderness. Perhaps he wasn't as famous for what he did as for how he did it. His word was his bond.

[reddogge]

Maybe this will give you some insight. It's almost an hour long.

 

[Ron LaClair]

I was privileged to hunt with Jay in Alaska. He stayed at my home when he came to Michigan. I had tremendous respect for the man. As Charlie said, "his word was his bond"

Read his books if you want to know more about him. Cancer took him from us way too soon.

   

[Orion]

Jay was a helluva guy.  I hunted with him once on the Moose John.  He wrote four books and contributed to a few of the Bowyer's Bibles. Also started a periodical called Alaskan Bowman. Unfortunately, only three issues were published.

Was very active in encouraging the Alaska Fish & Game dept. to develop realistic, ethical bowhunting and guiding regulations.  

He died of a brain tumor or brain cancer in his early 50s.

His books are still around.  Can learn a lot about him by reading them.

[Archie]

I grew up in Alaska, and was no stranger to hunting there.  Thats not to say I was a great hunter, but I did get out and beat the bushes a lot after mostly small game.  Those videos of Jay's hunts are of the Alaska I knew in my youth.  

I just wanted to hear a brief summary of his life, adventures, and accomplishments.  He seems like a pretty interesting guy from his videos.

[JR Williams]

I am always hopeful that his books will get re-published....or at least put onto digits for the new fangled readers.

[Ron LaClair]

The video of the float down the Moose John sure brings back memories. It appears to be a different base camp though, the bush plane dropped us off 9 miles from the base camp and we had to pack our 60# back packs into camp. Definitely the toughest part of the trip.

That was Jay's way of earning the right to float the river.

[JohnV]

Jay cherished adventure and incorporated it into his hunts.  Extended trips in remote locations.  Living in the bush in a teepee.  Floating remote rivers.  He preferred to do things the hard way and avoided technological assistance as much as possible.  He made his own bows, arrows, and broadheads.  He really did not kill a lot of stuff, but instead focused on the adventure and romance of the bow and arrow.  He was active in promoting ethical hunting.

[Gordon Jabben]

I didn't know Jay all that well but my cousin and I got to camp and shoot bows with him for a few days over in Arkansas.  He was putting on a flint knapping seminar. Good guy, even cooked breakfast for us each morning.  What stood out to me was his total love of traditional archery and his firm commitment to ethics. There was an old barn on the land where the knapping took place and someone had shot an arrow into the side of the barn up high.  It really bothered Jay that someone would set such a bad example for archers and if he could have found a way, he would have taken the arrow down. Later I traded him some river cane shafts for some sitka spruce square dowels.  When the dowels arrived, I made an arrow out of one and it was still a little green so I put the box of dowels in the attic.  A couple of years later after Jay had passed away, I again opened the box and found a letter which I hate that I never got to answer.

[Zbone]

Great inspiring man, soft spoken man, and although we talked on the phone a couple times, but only had the great pleasure to meet and shoot with him once,,, if half the so-called celebrity hunters had his mentality the hunting world would be in a much better place...

His four books personally signed to me are a few  of my most cherished possessions... Speaking of his books, heard him divulge just prior to his diagnosis he was working on a history of archery type book and always wondered if it got finished???

[Pat B]

I never knew Jay personally but his books, Primitive Archery and The Bowyers Craft got me started in natural archery. I ordered both books from Jay and he signed both to me. Both are cherished parts of my archery library.

[Blackhawk]

I never met him, but I feel he is one of the archery greats.  As an outdoor writer, Jay was tops on my list and feel that reading his work will give you a great insight into his life and philosophy.

[Jack Skinner]

Didnt know him well but like Pat B he was my spark for primitive archery. At a Alaska bowhunters banquet he and few of his friends had a table with their primitive gear on display. Had no clue who he was at the time. Shot with him a few times on the outdoor range on Elmendorf. Man he would give the compound shooters crap if they took to long to shoot and they would let us shoot thru just to get rid of him. I switched to a recurve after my first talk with him at the banquet and have never looked back. His book The Bowyers Craft was my bible as I began my primitive journey and later of course the Bowyers Bible came out. I had 3 of his books which to my greatest regret I lent to others and never got back.
On leaving AK I ended up in WY and finally using his book built my equipment and began hunting primitive. After leaving WY I ended up in NV., and I was building a osage bow. I was getting ready to hunt muledeer as I got a tag and the bow was in the white and as I shot it I was letting it give me its name. Thats when I found out about Jay's death and the bows name was easy. I took a nice fork horn with that osage bow and Jay now sits in a home made bow rack in my living room at my home and always will.

[Zbone]

I know Jay wrote many magazine articles over the years and the 4 books I own are "The Bowyers Craft", "The book of Primitive Archery", A Thousand Campfires", and "Bowhunting Alaska's Wild Rivers", but was there another book, as said I knew he was working on a archery history type book...

[Orion]

Ron:  The base camp in the video is nearly 20 miles further downstream than the original camp.  I did the 9 mile pack in from the mountain top on my first trip as well.  Sometime after that, Jay or his pilot, Earnie Holland, found the "landing strip" closer to the river.  

I hunted the Moose John twice, 10 years apart, the second time with Ernie Holland after Jay's death.  Ernie, of course, used the lower landing strip and  camp.

[james hoffman]

I didn't know jay that well either but every time I ran into hi I would seek him out to talk to.met him at pbs banquets and the Michigan longbow shoots.by the second time I met him he sat and talked with me like we had Ben hunting buddies for years.i bought several of his books from him and he always signed them on the spot with a personal message.its what inspired me to make bows and hunt primitive. I really miss that man.

[Blackhawk]

TTT

[Bill Turner]

Thank you "Reddogge" for sharing your video. What a great keepsake. Jay was something special for sure.

[Kevin Dill]

I don't recall the year, but it was sometime in the early '90s I believe. The Great Lakes Longbow Invitational was being held outside Howell, MI. I was there with a hunting buddy and doing the usual thing through the tents. Dick and Vikki Robertson were there along with a bunch of other people I knew. Dick asked us to join them for dinner and drinks at this place called 'Memories' which was a '60s themed restaurant with a bar and dance floor. It just happened to be Vikki's birthday and a few others would be joining us. So we rolled in to Memories about 6:30....

The parking lot was full of cars and motorcycles. Some were classics and restorations. Very cool. We finally got seated. As I recall it was (of course) the Robertsons, Don and Lori Thomas, Larry Fischer and TJ Conrads from TBM, Jay Massey, me, Jerry and a couple other people. The dinner was great and we all headed to the bar after eating. A drink later and Vikki wanted to dance to some oldies. Dick wasn't exactly a dancing fool and so Vikki kept asking who wanted to dance. Finally Jay took the challenge and they hit the floor. I am here to tell you that Jay Massey was more than capable of doing about every dance move needed to impress American Bandstand. He had Vikki going in all directions and she was nothing but smiles and laughter. It was so out of character for what most people think of Jay.

That was the last time I saw Jay if my memory is accurate. Good memories last a long time.