The Evolution of Bowhunting - from a personal perspective.
 

Throughthe 1960's - bowhunting consisted of some old hand-me-down camo or flannel, a recurve, a fistfull of arrows, a wing and a prayer. There was little-or-no methodology and next to zero expectations. Hunting in its simplest form. Few tried. Fewer succeeded. At least that's the way I understand it.

Over the next 20 years, bows evolved. The sport evolved. So did the people doing it. Wooden treestands began cropping up in funnels and field corners across America. Things were still simple.



You heard about people with compound bows. You even knew some. Somewhere along the line, you needed to try it. So, youscrounged up some spare dough and came upwith one to call your own.It wasn't long before you became the zenmaster of the release aid and the peep sight. It rocked your world, and you became a bowhunter.

You wore the green paint off of your Gamegetters. It was a testament to your dedication. You were a hero among men.



Success early-on was spotty, at best.

Before long, here comes thepre-fab treestand. What a joke. Youscratched your head, wonderingwhy any sane manwould pay for a metal treestand, when you can build a perfectly good one out of wood. Seriously.

The annualGander Mountain catalogs found a comfy spot beside your favorite toilet, and life was good. You dreamed of new broadheads and buck knives with every poo.You may haveeven circled the item numbers of the thingsyou wanted - subtle messages to Santa. Those dreams, however, usually went unanswered.

It wasn't long beforetheportable treestand made its debut, and it knocked the planet off its axis. Loggy Bayou changed your life. No longer anchored to your wooden stands, you'd gone global. It was like Jesus of Nazareth walked into your living room and handed you the golden key to the universe. You became a bowhunting machine.

Bowhunting was a snowball rolling downhill, but you didn't see the writing on the wall.

Giant overdraws, jacked-up pickup trucks,superslam arrows andsalt blockstook over planet earth. Out with the haybales and in with the McKenzie faux deer. What in the hell is a bow league? For the first time in your life, you saw a hunting poster, and you wanted one. You knew who Chuck Adams was. Roger Raglin was your hero. You knew a guy who had an autographed photo. The whole world was messing with you.



All the sudden, reality slammed you right in the face.

It happened faster than a one-night-stand. Everybody in the world suddenly wanted to be like the "pros," demanding high-dollar bows and high-percentage stand sites. Retirement funds were rolled out of IRA's and into hunting land in the golden triangle. Whose "team" are you on? Bow shops popped up across America like chicken pox.

Fiber optic sights and high-fashion camotook over the world. Gander Mountain abandoned your toilet andwent brick-and-mortar. Cabela's catalog now monopolized your restroom, sitting alone atop the magazine pile.You feel weird pooping alonewith Jim and Richard Cabelastaring you in the face. Your entire existence had been turned upside-down.

The words "Quality Deer Management" pierced our ears for the first time, and that conceptbegan sinking into the very fabric of our souls.

Your old wooden stands now serve as rotted reminders of the days of yore.

Things that never mattered before started to matter.



Bowhunting mania had begun. Your one-time lonely parking spot at the gamelands gate has become cluttered with traffic on opening day. The old guard found themselves entrenched in a bitter struggle for good stand space. You said less, and listened more. The politics of hunting started to play games with your life for the first time. You actually lost friends over it, but you adapted. The stakes were raised.

For the first time in the course of human history, you knew somebody who actually paid money to shoot deer. Thousands. You hoped with every ounce of your existence that you'd never have to lower yourself to that.


Scenes like this became a living nightmare.

What the hell is a bowtech? What the hell is a staff, and why does everybody want to be one? Is my camo pattern really that important? Hoyt has clothing? Your buddy shows up with a "Size Matters" sticker on his truck and says he's gonna start taking competitive archery more seriously. Are you fugging kidding me?

Some joke who took up hunting 2 years ago and couldn't kill a deer at the zoo,tells you that he's a "professional" and expects a pat on the back for his great lifetime of accomplishments in archery. You refrain from beating him with a baseball bat, and try your best to be nice. It's sad, ironic and funny all at the same time. At least you see the entertainment value hidden inside.


Seriously?

For some reason, nobody can bowhunt around here anymore without the assistance of a giant 4x4 quad. You try to understand it - but it's just too much.


Just what you want to hear at 6:15 a.m.

The whole bowhunting world is collapsing around you. You're alone on an island.

Making matters worse, the cashgrab continues as theDrury's showed up and pour gasoline on the fire. People were locking their guns away and picking up the archery tackle in mobs. Bows had become so user-friendly that one day at the shop with a fist-full of money could have you pounding the x-ring 3 hours later.Jokes about people leasing land just for hunting weren't just jokes anymore. It was happening. Not just in far-away places, either.

Your favorite treestand became a Walmart. You wish you could just quit, but this is your game. You will not be defeated, even if the whole world was tilted against you. You do it for the love of the game. You'll never stop.


Walmart is the antichrist.

Because you're the man, you clear the hurdles and make due and fill your tags. Things are as fulfilling now as ever.

Now here you are: you've joined a hunting website, and aremaking "hunting friends" on the internet.Hell has officially frozen over.At this point, you're officiallyexhausting every available option to keep your hunting hopes alive. You're marching on, because that's the only thing you know how to do. One foot in front of the other.

Then, gasoline hit the $4 mark, and it shocked the world, changing everything. Again. How will it change the dynamics? How will it affect you?



Gentlemen, we are entering a new era. An era wherethe avid bluecollar bowhunter is yet again forced to change the rules of his game and adapt.He will succeed, like always.

RE: Evolution.
 

Great post, Fran ....... I lived and saw most of what you talked about .... born in '65 and shooting dads recurve ... as far back as I could pull it :D...I think my kinetic energy was 47 ;)

RE: Evolution.
 

It also didn't hurt that the deer pops grew by astounding proportions.;)

In NC....our deer population has grown 400+% since 1977.

I don't think we'd have NEARLY the amount of bowhunters we have now if the pops were still at their >30yr levels. "Success", today,is achieved much easier than it was "back then". I knew NO ONE who bowhunted for deer when I was growing up. I grew up in very rural NC (on a farm) and I can count on ONE hand the number of deer I saw before going off to college.

RE: Evolution.
 

Great thread.I too started way back when,born in 1967.I'm still locked in where I started,recurve bow and a fist full of arrows.I was never swept away with the compound bowsand all their add ons.The only thing that has changed is alot more guys in the woods and I'm driving to my spot.

RE: Evolution.
 

This is a great post!! I to have seen all of this being born in 1963, That pretty much spelled it out!! Walt

RE: Evolution.
 

i know not what you are talking about back in the 60's no young but i do know what 4 dollar a gallon is costing me to put up my trail cam and go upstate pa. Great post but WE WILL ADAPT AND OVERCOME!!!! its not a passion its much more then that:D

RE: Evolution.
 

Been thru it or seen it all.15yrs agoI came around full circle,bought some hunting land,built a small cabin on it,bought me arecurve and a handful of cedar arrows and haven't looked back since.Gave up the hunting shows/dvd's years ago too.

RE: Evolution.
 

The competition that has evolved will surly be the down fall of bow hunting as we know it.
The cost associated with horn porn will driveprice and availability of hunt able land out of reach of Joe six pack.
Who growing up would have given second thought to shooting in your back yard,yet we had a thread this week with many people admitting that they fear shooting where they live.
The soul of a hunters is gone when blacktop replaces greenery and the the only tree youown is in your address.[:o]

RE: Evolution.
 

Great post Fran!!!!!!!!:)



I've been thinking the same thing for years now! Bowhunting is almost turning into a fad of sorts! There to many things involved now a days than just going out and hunting. Hunting as we used to know it is quickly becoming a lost "art" so to speak!

RE: Evolution.
 

I have seen a lot of people regressing (you may call it) lately. ;)

RE: Evolution.
 

Good stuff Fran, I was born and thrown right into the last part of your story, i can only dream of what it used to be like :D

RE: Evolution.
 

love it:D

RE: Evolution.
 

That was an OZ-some read!


You are the KING for a reason! Keep up the good work, when is the book coming out again!:D:D

RE: Evolution.
 

I bought my 1st GOOD recurve (64", 45# Eddings Cadet)in 1956 at age 14 & in 1958 killed my 1st Deer with it & a 4 fletched wood arrow I made myself tipped with a MA3 blade. 35 yardshot, double lung & went 30 yds. Pic isn't that great but notice my bowquiver AND CAMO....
I managed to take 38 Biggame animals (fingers-no sights) with recurves, wood, forgewood & Micro-flite fiberglass arrows b/4 getting my 1st aluminum "GAMEGETTERS. I have lived "THE" dream all these years & adapted to all the changes.
I remember Pete Sheply (PSE) & his STAFF shooting in COBO HALL (1968 I think) & everyone saying ARCHERY was doomed-ledge releases & Plastic Vanes were NOT GOOD for Archery. I was there with the same & managed about a 290 average. That is when the PAA (Professional Archery Assn.) made it's split & own set of rules for their pros. Stick bows-finges only ect.... I remember NEVER seeing another Bowhunter unless they had come with me. I remember when ANY Deer was hard earned. I remember my brother & I standing for HOURS in the crothch of a tree because it was better than being on the ground. I remember how hard it was for me to switch to a compound in the mid 70s. It was a great 20 % letoff & a Jennings. Yes, My brother has a autograph of Chuck Adams & a big Bear BUT I have "rubbed" elbows with several of those "famous" Bowhunting personalities. They are no different than us-they just travel Bowhunting everywhere & probably make more money.
I REMEMBER more than most Archers, Bowhunters will ever know.
Not because I am smarter-just that back then, YOU EDUCATED YOURSELF-there was little information available as there is today & of course-the modern tackle DOES give the average shooter an advantage.
I remember how I struggled to shoot a 20 yd. 300 with the 3" SPOT (FORGET Xs).
Several 299s with fingers but NEVER a 300. Now, I have had many 300s with LOTs of Xs. My tackle made the difference. Oh, I did own 2 Archey Shops/Lanes from 1965 to 80, so I got to shoot LOT's.
Archery & Bowhunting will continue to change & we will all adapt as they say.
"I AM GLAD"I got to experience those early years-I think they "WERE" the best.
We all go Bowhunting but to some theREAL experience has & is lost,,,
BIG ANTLERS don't make a better hunter.
I am starting my 52nd year of Bowhunting Biggame (yep I "AM" OLD-in 1967 I was 26 & had served in the Navy/Marines 5 years).
I am headed outMonday to meet up with a group of so called Bowhunters (friends) from several states & a few days of Hog Bowhunting.I already know the Best part of the trip will be seeing them all again.
Oh, I will have my Darton Compound with sight, Vaned Easton Aluminums, Rocky Mountain 3 Blades & wrist release BUT just in case I get a hog right away I am taking an old 60# Carroll takedown recurve I just put a NEW string on.A few practise shots barebow & bare fingered at 20 yds tells ME I may give it a go for 39 with a recurve.

IF ANY OF YOU get to enjoy HALF of what I have Bowhunting you will travel a great fun filled journey....Good Luck to you all.
It's the friends you make along the journey that you will enjoy the most....

If you don't beleive me-when you killed your last animal (if you have) what was the FIRST THING you wanted to do after? TELL SOMEONE & it was probably the one you consider your "BEST FRIEND"..

Sorry for such a long post......

RE: Evolution.
 

Can I get the Readers Digest version? A relective day for the King? As the last gentleman said for me while I have personal goals the experience and the sharing are what I enjoy most.

RE: Evolution.
 

Awesome read.I don't know you well enough to say your gay though.:D

RE: Evolution.
 

Awesome read. It brought back some good memories.

RE: Evolution.
 

Excellent post ahunter!!

How times have changed in the bow hunting world.[:'(]

RE: Evolution.
 

Good read there forsureFran and Ahunter.. Thanks for sharing..

RE: Evolution.
 

The good old days.

RE: Evolution.
 

WOW WOW WOW, Man Fran, thanks for the trip back down memory lane. I have experienced all of this over the years ;)And Jeff is right the deer population has excelled since back in those days. I remember when the baker climber came out. Man what a death trap :Dand when you could pick up a new bear whitetail bow at K mart with a hunderd miles of cable and a dozed wheels on it [8D]I went through the over draw craze with the rediculas short arrows. Miles keller was the man back then. I still have an autograped photo of him with a giant 8 point and he was sponsered by Indian archery--XI . love it, and would do it all over again ;) i voted awesome read.

RE: Evolution.
 

Enjoyed the story--It was the simple things that got me envolved years ago- Like bloodcreekI also went through the overdraw and shorties too--but now I thinking about building me a recurve bow and try that!!

RE: The Evolution of Bowhunting - from a personal perspective.
 

I voted awesome read more because of what Ahunter added in his post. Nice work also Quick!

RE: Evolution.
 

Just so some may see how just the TAG for Biggame has changed $$$$ wise for Bowhunting.
I paid $5 for a resident Ill. Deer tag-1 either sex & Non-residents were not allowed to hunt Ill..
I paid $10 for a NON-Resident Wisconsin Deer tag that allowed me a BEAR & all small game with a bow.
I paid as a Resident in N.C. something like $15 (not sure) for Deer, Bear & anything that moved
I purchased a Minn. Non-residentSMALL game license,OVER THE COUNTERto Bowhunt BLACK BEAR in Minn as they were NOT classified as Big Game. I had a hand in changing that law.
I purchased Colorado NON-Resident Elk AND MULE DEER tags for $25 over the counter any unit.
I purchased Non-Resident New Mexico Mule Deer over the counter for "I think" $25
Ontario Canada Black Bear tag was $25 & the lodging, baited area& guide fee was $300. I Bowhunted this lodge 5 times & for less than 1 Bear hunt today.

Photo is a small game license Bear

RE: The Evolution of Bowhunting - from a personal perspective.
 

That about sums it up. I was there for all of it.

RE: Evolution.
 

Wow Fran. Awesome post bud.

RE: Evolution.
 

Sorry guys. I came late to the party, started bowhunting 5 yrs ago at age 45. Never gun hunted for deer either. Don't use an ATV (don';t have one) but I'm gonna get a game cart this year. I'm not gonna apologize to all you old-timers out there but I guess I am one of the guilty ones. Don't hate me, my bow only shoots 228fps.