I agree with the post above, need a catagory for self....When I was fifteen, some 23 years ago all I wanted for my Nov birthday was a bow...prior to that I took an old fiberglass recurve for a walk in the woods every fall and thought I'd be successful....Well Nov 10th came and I did get a new compound. A Bear Black Bear II. I used that bow for the next 9 years with less than marginal success. At 24 I recovered my first deer with it, a young doe and it's the last I ever used it for hunting. I was ignorant to the sport and bows in general, I shot full length 2117's with 160 gr Thunderheads, off a flipper style plastic rest with fingers. Talk about underspined. I had sights on the bow and was rather proficient out to 20 yards but was a green horn to deer and bowhunting. At 25 I received a new Jennings Carbon Extreme XLR and a release aid.....started shooting 3D and darn did I get good at it....now with all those 20plus seasons and years of competition shooting...

Bowhunting is my life along with alot more of the outdoor industry....I was self taught in most intances in life growing up with nothing more than an older brother and a single mother....I didn't do too bad and praise her for it....But that's my story...self taught, addicted to the sport and promoting and prolonging it every chance I get....