how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I thougt it would be interesting to see how everyone got into bowhunting. I started out a birdhunter at age 6. My dad found out real quick that he was in big trouble if he left me at home while going out pheasant hunting. From age 6 to 17 all I did was pheasant hunt. At age 17 I started turkey hunting on my own and at age 18 my buddy started taking me duck hunting. I always wanted to try deer hunting but my dad only hunted birds. Finally at age 22 I started working a summer parttime job at Dick's sporting goods and one of the guys there brought in his bow to shoot in the range. He let me shoot it and from the first shot I was hooked. I used christmas money to buy myself a bow in Jan 06. My very first deer hunt I was lucky enough to shoot a doe right out of the gate and the obsession began. I must say i enjoy this forum because I can discuss issues with guys who have the same passion I have. Most of my friends and family think I am crazy and don't understand it. But here I am just one amongst many like me. It's great.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My girlfriends dad got me into bowhunting quite a few years back...I took it up pretty quick and am now more hardcore than he ever was!

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I bought an old york bow back in like 99-00, shot the heck out of that sucker with having set it up myself it sounded like an innertube stretched tight and plucked, arrows went every which way, oh yea and they were the already bent, after season, walmart sales arrows. Took an old ottoman and used it for a target in my back yard and shot it untill it was gone. Then I went out one day and killed a turkey with it, never thought it would be possible to kill a game animal with a bow untill then. From that point its a blur, saved money, found a pro shop, got a good bow, learned how to shoot, and have had the best time of my life since. I cant find a better place to be than in the presence of deer with a broadhead tipped arrow nocked. I LOVE IT.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I have a buddy that has a bow. And after just rifle hunting and seeing how much more he got to hunt and hearing the excitement about his story of getting a deer, I just decided to go out and buy 1. Never shot one, no knowledge of them, but now I'm hooked and live for bowhunting!

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I got myself into bowhunting. I grew up with a single mother and an older brother. I had a cousin who's older brother taught him to hunt and I'd tag along. It started with squirrels, rabbits and doves after I borrowed a single barrel 16 gauge from my grandfather. I then started hunting small game on my own at 13 (illegal). My cousin had a fiberglass bow and some field tip arrows and I decided to go deer hunting. (I didn't have the internet or supervision to know it wasn't right). Thank God I didn't hit anything. My experiences hooked me for life. At 15 I begged for a compound for my birthday which I received, A 50-60 lb Bear Black Bear II 50% let off. I bought some 2117's and 160 grain Thunderheads with my birthday money and went hunting. (My birthday is in Nov). I actually hunted with that bow into my early 20's. Since then I've owned nearly 20 different bows and have been at it for 27 seasons. The only gun I pick up anymore is my Mossberg for gobblers and even then, sometimes the bow gets toted to the woods.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I myself just had an intrest in bow hunting and learned everything on my own, and I love it...

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

A desire I had for a very long time. I decided at 38 (2 yrs ago), I was not getting any younger. I picked up the bow, practiced like crazy, lost one the first season, 3 does last year, and 1 this year (so far). I really do not see me going back to gun hunting.

LT

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My Dad got me started when I was about 8 or 9 with the old recurve wood bow, wooden arrowsand no sites. After my brother and I took to the Bow hunting we would ride our bikes to an oldfarm place just outside of town we had permission to hunt on. We did take some deer back in those days but nobody ever thought of horn hunting. If it was brown it was down! Well that is if we got the chance. You see we did not have scent protection or tree stands or even good hunting clothing. We just stood on the edge of a corn field in the woods and hoped for best. Once in a great while if there was a good tree we would climb up and just stand on a branch.
Boy have things changed since thenbut I wouldn't trade them old memories for anything!! The good thing is that now after all this time (45 years or so) I'm still out there creating new memories for myself and my kids. Thanks Dad!!!

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I grew up with a Dad who introduced me to the outdoors as soon as he could, as I'm doing with my boys. We did a LOT of fishing, frogging, and rabbit hunting -- things that were easily accessible in the area I grew up. There MAY have been one deer in the surrounding six counties, so we didn't deer hunt.

When I moved off to college, I was attempting to supplement the grocery bill by going out and kicking up rabbits out of fencerows. Not having the benefit of our outstanding beagles from home, my return on investment wasn't nearly as good. I went home and pulled out the state's regulations (I was in college in another state from the one I grew up in...) and began thumbing liesurely through it -- and happened to come up on "deer hunting." I looked at their gun season and saw it was something like nine days long. Kept reading, and came upon their archery season: Oct. 1 - Jan 15. Hmmmm.... four months to kill a deer? Surely even I could do that with no experience. Drove to Wal-Mart that night and bought a used Bear bow package off their shelf (have never seen a used bow in Wal-Mart since) complete with brass pins and a rubber "flipper" rest and a 2"-too long draw length (I had no idea), but it got me started.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I got into bowhunting on my own. Taught myself how to shoot as well. I just loved this part of it the most.;)

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

my grandpa started a love of archery and the outdoors in me. my dad wasn't into it much... but my grandpa used to take me for walks in the woods and this was how i came to love the outdoors. i started hunting small game at 12-13, and at 16 started hunting with a bow. i wouldn't change a thing.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My parents both bow hunted as I was growing up. Heck, all of my parents friends were bow hunters. I've been surrounded by It for all my life.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

In 1985, at 11 years old I was asked to enter the world of hunting.It was a warm July evening back in 1985 when my uncle Paul asked me “How would you like to go hunting with me?” My answer was yes! In 1986 my uncles Paul and Mark took me under their wings to show me the way of the woods.I can still remember how they use to get mad at me for breaking a branch and making noise as we stalked through the woods in search for those white-tails.By 1989 I had learned to step in their footsteps and move through the woods like a cat.(I was only 13) On Nov. 8th in 1986 I took my first deer with bow and arrow.A Martin Tiger with a satellite broad head, Easton 1916 arrow @ 42 pounds!From that day forward I was bit.Hunting was in me just like I bet it is in you right now.When it gets into your system it’s a feeling like no other.As I transitioned into the early 90’s I took various animals with long bows and recurves.Groundhogs, wild boar, deer, birds, I harvested numerous animals and sharpened my skills as a teenager.In the late 90’s I entered a traditional phase that truly made me realize what it was like for the Indians when they used bow & arrows to survive.I took a handful of deer with Osage stick bows and flint heads wrapped in sinew.This phase made me realize that it’s not the broad head that counts.It is the shot placement that makes a hunter successful.

As I crossed over into the year 2000, I held a compound and still continue to do so.When I finished college I expanded my horizons and harvested a Newfoundland Moose and Caribou.In addition, multiple black bears with my bow & arrowin Quebec.
I have grown to bepatientin the last 10 years and I've only taken 3 wall hangers for myself on the lands I hunt in Michigan.

In 2008, I have now logged...- 87 bow kills and62 gun kills - I have taken 149 White-tails in my lifetime.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I've been "hunting" WITH my dadsince I could walk, but I started taking a gun when my dad felt I was mature enough, which was a turkey hunt when I was 8. I had never stepped foot in the deer woods until I could carry a gun myself, my dad thought that it would bore me at first. I started deer hunting at 8 also. When I started, we only hunted evenings, for a couple hours, a couple days ayear. I missed my first couple of years[8D]. When I killed my first deer, at 10, I toyed with the thought of hunting more. Well that winter, one of my neighbors gave me an old Bear bow that his son had outgrown. I used that until I was 13, then I bought a new PSE Deer Hunter Package. I shot it a lot, but didn't bowhunt a lot, just a couple weekends a year. This year was my first serious year bowhunting. I've killed one doe, and lost another (made me sick, but a learning experience). That's as much as I'm willing to type right now[&:]

Forgot to mention:
I have been shooting bows since I was 5. They were just cheap 20# Wal-Mart specials.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

Had an uncle into it...parents bought me a recurve for Christmas when I was 12.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

For me it was taking my first deer during last years firearm season. I had hunted before both gun and bow but never got a deer, different scenarios just didn't allow me to hunt like I would have wanted to so I gave it up for about 15 years. I promised myself last year I was going to start hunting again and bought a shotgun. I was fortunate enough to get a decent buck and the sheer energy and sense of pride from that hunt hooked me on deer hunting for life. Weather ruined 2nd season so Ibought a bow to get back out there.

I practiced for 2 weeks straight and took a small button buck on my 3rd hunt, the deer was smaller but the rush was the same if not even more intense. I won't miss a year again, health permitting.

I've taken 3 with the bow and 1 firearm this yearbut Ithink after Spring Turkey season the shotgun may stay with the smooth barrel on it. I didn't have that same feeling this year sitting on stand with it as I do with the bow. Time will tell I guess, but I do know I'll never put down the bow.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

Didn't have wally world or the internet so I could be on forums when I was 5. Dang..I am getting old.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I got myself into it with a desire to make my hunting season as long as legally possible.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I went hunting with my familiy since I was a kid but when I was 14 I wanted to extend my season so I bought my first bow it was like $35 from a neighbor.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

Interesting concept. Having you shoot arrows at 4legged deer instead instead of shooting other things at his 2 legged dear. I'll have to keep that in mind when my girls get older.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

For me it started with my Dad, Grandfather, and uncle and some other family and friends. We all used to get together and go gun hunting in Eastern Ohio. We'd go up and cut some wood and camp for 3-4 days. We had a campfire and played poker at night...Basicaly a big guys time out. during the day we'd go out and sit in the woods and hope we'd see a deer. soemtimes we did but I realy loved it. We only had a few deer in camp over the years. I started carrying a cap gun musket toy. I was told to treat it like it was a real gun. I was 9. I quickly graduated to a BB gun. I carried it when we went it and hunted and shot it a ton. Eventualy I was carrying a muzzle loader. Unfortuntly I never got a shot. However for my 13th birthday my dad bought me a used Bear polar 2 from a guy at work. The bow was way to long for me but it flung arrows. I spent most of my time trying to wear out the limbs on that bow. Also we lived on 46 acres so I had plenty of places to run arround. When I found out I could hunt with my new to me bow I was all for it. I remember the first shotI ever took a small 6 point (at the time you had to kill a buck unless you got lucky and had got the special doe tag) I saw this buck at 15 yards at last light. I was on the ground. It got dark and we went back out to find my arrow had hit a limb and buried in the ground... I was heatbroken but more determined.

I never got another shot until I was in the Army at my duty station. We had a on post hunting club. I shot my first deer the first day of the hunt. I spined the young doe and was hooked forever.

I got into Trad years later. I had taken woodworking in High school and loved it so making my own bow was a cool tie to two hobbies I realy love.

Ok a little long winded but thats the story. Many deer later with gun and bow. Not as much as most as I usualy only take one a year. But thats what I eat so that all I take. This year I'mwanting a second just for extra meat. My daughter is hunting nowtoo so I may end up with 3 this year if everything goes right. :D

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My Dad started me gun hunting. I wanted to hunt more so I took up bow hunting.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

Dad took me gun hunting in the fourth grade once, later that year he took me pheasant hunting. After that, thats all i wanted to do. In 9th grade a buddy of mines dad got him into bowhunting, so he made me get one too. Together we started bowhunting and pretty much taught each other everything we could through trial and error. We got pretty serious and got permission on peices of land and bought stands and the works. Loved it so much i got my dad intobowhunting a few years ago, and now he is hooked and even admits its way more fun with a bow then a gun. My dad was more of weekend warrior hunter then anything, since i took it to the next level and he is now retired he is taking it to the next level himself because of me. Its what i love

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I started as soon as I realized that I could get into the woods almost a whole month and a half earlier than I could before.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

my Grandfather go me started. I started hunting as soon as i was old enough. i wanted to go deer hunting right off the bat. but my grandpa didnt want me taking a high powered rifle yet. so he told me if i could pul his older model PSE i could start bowhunting first. for me it was my first miss. i had such a big rush of being that close. i did rifle hunt for a while because with school and work my time was limited.
one season i walked to my stand and within 30 min i had a 8 pointer down. i thought to myself that was to easy. i haven't picked up my gun since.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I started as a kid. At the age of 8 I bought a bear glass recurve and taught my self to shoot. No one in my family cared about bows, so I was on my own. I then started hunting rabbits, fish, frogs,and tree rates with it. When i got a little older, my brother bought me a real bow, a herters recurve which I could use to shoot bigger game. I hunted with that bow for years, and sometime in the early80s I bought my first compound, a person bush master. I hunted with that bow a bit but soon went back to my recurve. I went through several compounds, but never stuck with one as my go to bow. Just used them as back ups. I then got into bowyer and started making my own recurves and longbows. I pretty much hunt with my own custom bows now, with the exception of that old 1978 Herters recurve (shot two deer with that bow this year;)). I did take some time off from bow hunting durning college. No time or money. But did take several deer with a rifle. Only chance I had to hunt was with rifles and on friends land.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I started hunting small game or anything that moved at a very early age mostly on my own-my dad had hunted during the depression mostly for the meat & really wasn't into it when I started. In 74 I rifle hunted for the first time & shot a decent 10 on opening morning that I still have hanging on the wall. At that time residents had to draw a tag & it usually took 2 years to draw a tag for rifle season. When they made it legal to apply for a rifle tag & buy a bow tag when unsuccessful in the draw I started bow hunting. I think that was 83. Been bow hunting ever since & it is pretty much what I look forward to every year.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

closest place to hunt.

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RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I started going with my dad when he was hunting geese in kindergarten, i with him bow hunting once a few years after that. i went rifle hunting for deer when i was in high school i shot two deer with a rifle then after that i started bow hunting. my dad kind of showed me the ropes and i started to take my self out. I learned there ways pretty fast an i now have my first bow kill after two seasons of bow hunting. needless to say i am hooked.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My Dad...I owe him bigtime

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I started shooting a long bow at a summer camp my dad ran when I was seven (1972). Archery was oneof the courses offered and I thought it looked cool so I took the course. As the years went by and I got olderI actually became the instructor and taught other kids how to shoot. I really didn't hunt much with it back then just squirrels and rabbits but I was hooked.

I still have one of my old bows from back in the day, a Ben Pearson960 "Colt". I shot the hell out of that bow but alas, like me it's falling apart now and has de-laminated slightly at one of the tips. Maybe one day I'll have it fixed....for old times sake.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I fiddle farted around in my teens but didnt learn much, till I wanted more time to hunt whitetails in my 20's. It was the difficulty of killing a mature old whitetail buck with a bow that really lit my fire in the early 90's. Pretty much self taught and helped by a few very important to me whitetail hunters along the way.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

Many reasons.. I wanted to hunt the prime time of the year, and I've always loved hunting white tails a but I didnt get intobowhuntinguntil2 years ago. This is the first yearIve been very motivated and serious about it and it ended up becoming anaddiction. Thisyearduring early archery I learnedmore about deer behavior in 2 months than I have my whole life. Plus, there is no other feeling like taking a deer with a bow. Gun hunting doesn't even compare to the adrenaline rush oftaking an animalwithin 10-20 yards with a silent weapon. Its pure joy

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

My dad used to bowhunt, but was only gun hunting when I was a kid. I saved up some cash in high school for new bow. I mainly started just to gettwo extra weeks of hunting, but now it is my passion.

RE: how did everyone get into bowhunting?
 

I did alot of gun hunting when I was younger, when I went into the Air Force and was stationed in Montana, I picked up a recurve, and have been addicted ever since. Today, I have rifles that have not been hunting for 30 years...I shoot them every once and awhile (target), but for hunting I use my bows, and always will...