5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I got to thinking, last night, how I've gotten so lucky in such a short time (and I DO realize how lucky I am). There are several factors that come into play....when you take up bowhunting when I did (40).

First of all.....I got into it at a time when I could afford whichever equipment I wanted. I have to think that's helped. I never lived through the (_________________insert name of crappy bow) era. I never bow hunted in jeans. I never hunted from the ground .....because I couldn't afford a treestand....or didn't think it was ethical to hunt from a perch.

I never hunted when taking does was taboo. My 4 wheeler has saved me several hundred yds of drag (though I can't use it in places, either). I never hunted when the internet wasn't a WORLD of knowledge....if you'd only utilize it. I never hunted when I didn't have the luxury of being able to take off work when I wanted to. I never hunted when my wife was B&$^&ing at me. I never had a small child that I felt guilty over spending time away from.

And lastly....I never hunted when I didn't have you guys and girls to learn from via osmosis........just hearing what you have to say. I've learned more since THIS season started......it's kind of unreal.

Everything I know......you guys/gals taught me....or are teaching me. I've also had the luxury of TV in the modern age. I can watch deer hunting almost at any time.

I also am 40........and gaining permission to hunt properties is easier than it would be for a younger man. I know this, too.

Yeah...I've been mildly successful....but I also had a little talk with myself to figure out "WHY". There are many reasons......but most of them are listed above. JUST like the man that goes and pays the outfitters.....I'm not that much different. I've just had the time and money to pay many people in different ways.

I've packed probably 5 or 10 yrs into 1.5......by havig the luxuries listed above. I also need to do my best to remember that.

Sincerely

Jeff

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I know what you are saying. When I started bowhunting 30 years ago there was no one in my family doing it, we were only allowed one deer of any sex with our bows, there was no bowhunting shows or videos to teach me how to do any of it, no compound bows, drop away arrow rests, fiber optic pins, releases, or commercial treestands, or freely handed out doe tags.I learned through trial and error and talking with buddies and reading mags. My boy at the age of 11 had an entire lifetime of what I know about archery, TV show bow hunting videos,top notch equipment, etc. His 1st day out in the deer stand I witnessed him get a complete pass thru heart shot at 20 yds on a big doe. Two weeks later I saw him do it again while I sat in a tree next to him. Too young to take the IA hunter safety course but legally able to shoot a deer with a bow and arrow; go figure.
I would say more like 10-20 years ahead Jeff compared to how a guy that is 44 like me and had to learn about bowhunting. Of course the only thing that helps you be successful over the average guy is your Enigma camo.;) My boy at 11 with his 1st deer.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I cant say ive ever heard it put that way,but yea,i guess we all gain from each other in one way or another.I think we all want to think we are slicker than the next guy about woods savey but without a tip every now and then we would have to live in the woods to get where we are knowlage wise.The truely wise man realy knows nothing,but surrounds himself with those who do.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Nice pic HCH. Congratulations to him. I had a similar joy last saturday when I stood beside my dad as he took a deer after a 5yr dry spell (Not much time off from work). I could not have been happier if it was me myself. Perfect heart shot. The ol' man still has it.

Jeff, I agree with you. I have been bowhunting for 9 years. I started in college when some friends encouraged me. I had been shooting a bow since about age 8 but never archery hunted. I too have learned a TON from the people on this forum. And I keep learning things every day through our discussions here. A wise man once told me to never stop learning, and I try to live my life that way. People who know me say i'm full of all kinds of useless knowledge but it is because I just want to learn as much as I can about everything I can. Jeff i'm sure you've heard people talk about the different phases of a hunter, well I think you just entered another one of those phases with your post.:D Congratulations buddy.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Excellent thread........

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Well I too started bowhuntingin the modern era..after a lifetime of gun hunting. I knew "hunting" and just had to learn the nuances of doing it with a bow. I picked up the shooting part very easily. My first bow was bought in 2002 I shot a nice 8 pt and won the Hunter"C" Class indoors.

I even got my Dad back into it. He couldn't believe how easy (easier) it had become from his recurve days shooting with fingers athaybalesby instinctand if you could hit a pie plate consistantly you were a pretty good shot.

Last year at 70 years oldhe won the senior division in our indoor league.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Well Jeff, I'm 45 and last year was my 1st bowhunting. I too have been lucky although without some of the luxuries you mention. I can't afford a 4 wheeler and I've had to drag all 4 deer I have killed in the past 2 years, not to mention hogs. My age hasn't helped me gain permission to hunt. Here in Tx a checkbook gains permission. I have a daughter at home that will be 2 on Sunday, ( I can't wait for the party!). I have a wife that started getting antsy after 2 months of me being gone almost all day on weekends. So it is all a matter of perspective really. Age has helped me get more responsible so I can do more with better stuff however I did start with lesser, (I won't call it inferior), equipment. I made my first bow kill last year, a hog, with an Alpine bow I purchased new at Acadamy for $200. My wife shoots that bow now. I moved up to a Diamond. My brother in law introduced me to bowhunting although I have learned much more right here at HNI. Its rather ironic that I now can teach him some things. So the net is a luxury we share. Greg

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I guess I've been doing this stuff for about 15 years, and when I have a question this is THE place to ask it, and get plenty of good answers. I have to say though, I learn a whole lot spending time in the woods, outof season,while NOT hunting, and just observing. I don't think there is a substitute for that. What I really miss are some of the old timers in my life, that taught me stuff along the way. Seems the old "Rancid Crabtree" is a dying breed...

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Just wait. It only gets better![8D]:D

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

SB,
Good post! You nailed this one. Most of my brothers had to start out with a recurve. I mean my dad was a great shot with a recurve but for most people shooting a recurve is hard. I was lucky enough to have a compound by the time I started hunting. So I think I had it much easier then thay did. Of course when we all got compounds more deer were taken. It's much easier to be a better shot now then it used to be. And with the internet information is much easier to come by.

MC Bowhunter

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I'm just giving credit where credit is due. I have spent over 40 days afield, this season, and I know its help me learn "my" herd better. I'll likely hunt less days, next year.....and do so more efficiently.

I appreciate all of your help....I really do.

Now...do I "call another shot", for tomorrow???....lol

Jeff

(I'm just kidding.......kinda;))

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Why not? It worked the first time.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

How about the era where treestands were still new and you had to hug the tree with your upper body and pull you legs up with the stand strapped to them. There was no seat and you HAD to stand all day. The platform was about 12"X12" so you could barely move at all. That was when I hunted from about 10 feet above the ground because I was so small and weak (still am but probably not as bad). Still was a load of fun though and I look back on where equpment was and smile. My dad was bowhunting when there were no treestands at all. If you wanted to be in a tree you climbed it and sat on a limb. I would say that today's equipment doesn't necessarily make it easier (except for the bows they are definitely easier to shoot accurately), but it makes it more comfortable.

Hey, I still hunt in jeans sometimes so don't make fun :DThe only two deer I have ever successfully stalked up on and killed I did so in jeans and a sweatshirt because I was just scouting with my bow at the time.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I'm down to a doe tag. That's fine. It has been an INCREDIBLE year....and if not for the doe population here....I'd sit tomorrow out. I need to take another one....and the meat's earmarked if I do. Though no one got the meat....a car helped me on the doe pop, Wednesday night. Coyotes gotta eat, too.

It may be the most fun hunting day of the year, for me, tomorrow. If I'm presented a shot....I'll take it.If not....I may take a few photos. I'm hoping to see some of the deer I talk about here (REALLY nice 1-1/2 yr old 8-pointer;Funky 4x1 or THE MAN). That would be cool to get a photo of either of them.

Jeff

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

An excellent thread SBG,

Here's where I started because I didn't have the luxury of the internet, this forum, educated bowhunters around me, treestands etc..etc everything you mentioned.

At 15 I had a Bear Black Bear II, plastic stick on shelf rest, fingers, 2117 GameGetter II's FULL LENGTH and 160 Grain Thunderheads, 3 5" Straight vanes, talk about underspined, out of tune and arrows flying everywhere. I didn't drive, I rode my bike. No one to teach me about tuning and everything else that has to go with a bow. I shot it instinctive and was getting good at hitting my mark when my arrows didn't fish tail. I shouldn't have been in the woods but what did I know? I didn't have anyone to tell me differently. I cringe when thinking back, I have experiences. I try to share so others don't make mine.

From that begining I've matured in bowhunting so when I answer questions it usually comes from a long line of painful failures.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

And don't forget about the grey/white turkey.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I haven't seen that turkey in a few hunts......but I'v eseen plenty of her brothers and sisters.

Oh yeah.....after reading Dan's post....you can't have that deer, anymore.

So there.

Jeff

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I arrowed my first deer in 1991.... Seems like yesterday, but in fact it has been 15 yrs ago... Hard to believe time goes by that fast... I've made my share of mistakes, as most beginners do...I've learned some very tough lessons the hard way.. In the end, those experiences do make you a better hunter....

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

You guys make bowhunting sound hard and tough, I am just a cherry picker:)

Nice post SB

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I started early with virtually no help - school of hard knocks for me. Nothing like learning it the hard way - you definetly don't forget. Read all about it or stuff someone's stocking with it:

http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~30043.aspx

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

SB,
I would like to see a picture of that turkey. My son killed one 2 years ago that was silver. My dad had a full mount done of it for him. It is a cool looking bird.

MC Bowhunter

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

MC....that's all you'd ever get to see.....and it'll have to be alive for the photo (or die of natural causes). I live in a county that doesn't have an either-sex season. She's untouchable, for me.

Jeff

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

Nothing wrong with that. I've done more hunting this year with my camera then my bow. That didn't fill the freezer though...LOL

MC

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I started shooting in 91 and was fortunate enough to learn from my Dad. His shop was a block from the archery shop/range soI ended up hanging out there a lot after school. I didn't join this site til thisAugust but lurked for last 2 years and picked up a lot of invaluable information here as well.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I started hunting when I was 12 and no one in my family hunted. My mom wouldn't let me have a gun so bow was my only option. I had to learn everything by trial and error. I bow hunted for 5 years before I gun hunted. It took me a long time to get to the point I am at now. I kind of envy everyone that is starting now because of all resources you have that make the learning curve shorter. On the flip side though I wouldn't trade in all those tough years of screwing stuff up for anything. When I was a kid I couldn't wait until I could get a gun and join the orange army for gun season. Now I have lots of guns that sit in the case and collect dust, my bow is my best friend again.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

I started @ 30 yrs ago and i forgot,I forgot how much it hurt to hug a tree!Just for old times sake i used my old stand and i couldnt take it! I hurt so darn bad on my chest!I wont use that old widdow maker again.

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

furgitter, I am glad someone else seems to remember those death traps. I remember one winter clammering up the tree and it was covered in ice. It was up 2 feet, down one, up two, down two and so on. Also went to set my feet one time, treestand slipped, and I slid down the tree until a stub of a branch i had sawed off broke my fall... and a rib. Had to climb the rest of the way down with one arm. Now I can sleep comfortably in my Summit :D

RE: 5, maybe 10 years into 1.5
 

excellent thread SB looks like you did some soul searching.

I to was one who came from a very tough learning curve in the world of bowhunting. No camo because my Dad thought it was senceless, a indian savage 45 lb recurve with full length aluminum over the counter arrows with bear razorheads. Dad would drop me off in the dark and come pic me up at set times. he would not allow me to build treestands so i just did still hunting and at the time there really was not many deer in the area and if you seen one you was the envy of all your buddys at school. And i remember the buck stop lure in grape, apple and cherry flavors. i used grape. man was i a dork[8D]

still on the left of the curve?
 

With gun season open here,I hadn't shot my compound in a while, so I took it out in the middle of the day today... and shot some of my best groups ever, surprisingly... however, what I was thinking the whole time was, I'll bet the HNI guys would get a good kick out of hearing the name of my bow... if any of them remember it... although modern compared to recurves and longbows, my "Hoyt/Easton Ram Hunter II" is certainly far from the latest in technology!!! More like a stick with squeaky wheels! However, you have to make due with what you have, and what I had when I bought it was $50 and a yardsale to go to... sooner or later, more money will come, along with faster arrows, sharper broadheads, tighter groups, and what matters- the same amount of fun I have now.

on another note, it was nice to fill the freezer today, my brother and i both took does within five minutes of each other 10 minutes after leaving the truck on a few short drives with the slugguns here in SE PA...

good post Jeff. another thing I would add about this forum is how positive everyone is to each other for the most part. I also fish offshore, and am part of a large forum dedicated to that. If you think we have negativity/disagreements here, try checking out that realm! One of my favorite things here is how uplifting and encouraging everyone is here!

Jon