How Long??
 

How Long have you been Bowhunting?

For me this will be my 42nd season if the Good Lord allows me to live and have the health to hunt this year.

I started shooting a Shakespeare recurve the spring of 68 and started hunting that fall, a couple of years later bought a Pearson Spoiler recurve, then a few years later I bought a custom recurve and valued it very much. I killed several rabbits, squirrels, birds, as well as tagging a few does back then.

The compound bug bit me in the mid 70's and finally consumed me by the later 70's even though I continued to shoot fingers for several years. I killed over 50 big animals shooting fingers, but the drive to be better and shoot more accurately ate at me until I finally gave in to using a release.

I will say the switch from shooting fingers to working a release properly was the hardest thing I ever came up against, but once I learned to properly use a release the benefit in increased accuracy was very substantial.

I have owned at least 60 to 70 personal compounds of all brands and models. I could go on, but whether it's arrows, bows, releases, sights, rests, etc., etc I am an equipment junkie!!

I was told a long time ago each has their vices or wants. For some it's jewelry, some it's clothes, others it's about a car, or a Motorcycle. Some practically work to support the house they live in.

I Love my Harley, but my True passion is Bows and Bowhunting equipment. I'll never get tired of setting up a new bow either for me or someone else.

Let's hear your stories!!

Try to keep it civil and not nit pick at anyone's posts.

Dan

I am in my 12th year of bowhunting. I started with an old PSE, and I mean old. It was my cousins bow, I was 13 when I picked it up and as old and hard as it was to pull back, the first time I released an arrow, I was hooked. Noone in my family hunts let alone bowhunts, my cousin bought that old PSE back in the mid to late 80's he said cause some friends wanted to get him into archery. Little did they know that they wouldn't get him, but another member of a family.

Today I shoot around 2 to 3 times a week for as long as I can. I will shoot just about anything as far as targets go and a few friends and I continually try to come up with different challenges for each other to make each better.

You and I started with a bow the same year, mine was a 45 pound Bear...I only had 3 Bear heads and 6-8 arrows, but I killed a few deer with that rig...

I remember the first time I ever pulled a compound, I thought, "Dang, I'll pile them up now"...That was in 1976, the bow was a Bear Whitetail...I used that bow until the mid 90s and then bought a Mountaineer, which is what I still shoot...

Still shoot fingers, aluminum arrows, feathers, no peep, 2 pins, about as simple as you can keep a compound...

Love these responses!! binb there was no one in my family that had ever bowhunted or hunted deer either.

nchawkeye, If they show up there are some older farts around here than you and I.

Bowhunting is such a diverse sport and it is rare that any of us do it the same way, but we should remember that we all enjoy the same sport, hobby, pastime, or as I like to call it Obsession!!:)

Dan

Started 15 years ago.. My first bow was a old bear that my dad had passed down, wow have they came a long way since then!! I have had the opportunity to hunt a lot and I thank god for every chance I get! Bowhunting is my true passion which my wife feels that I need serious help for (because of my addiction), but I guess if I have to be addicted to something there is nothing out there I would rather be a addicted to then bowhunting!!

I bought my first bow in Oct. of 2005. I hunted that year, taking one ill-advised shot (clean miss) on a doe - closing evening.

I took my first deer (7 point buck), in Sept. of 2006. I ended up taking 2 does and my first wall-hanger (3.5 yr old 8-pointer), that year (along with another buck, taken in our eastern zone). 2007 - 10 bowkills (my first archery turkey; an injured 6 pointer and a 4.5yr old 8 pointer I'd been chasing for 3 seasons). 2008 - 7 bowkills (5 does; a really nice, wide 6-pointer and my 3rd mature buck in as many season - a 3.5yr old 8-pointer).

In 2009, I knew I needed to switch it up. I'm only speaking for myself....but compound archery wasn't doing it FOR ME. I switched to all traditional gear, last year. 2009 - I took 4 does and a nice 7-pointer.

I've been hunting/fishing "something" for over 35yrs. I've hunted in several states and 3 countries....and fished in and offshore from Maryland to FL.

I want to hunt as many different species as I can, going forward. Hunting one species (or 2 or 3) of game would likely bore me to tears. I'm gonna mix in some various animals every season (at least one) for the next several years. I've got plans to hunt 4 states and 5 species (3 new) this year alone.

Good luck to all.

diamondrack you are right! Bows have came a long way in the last 15 years. Guys that were not shooting back then really can Not appreciate that!

Jeff, Already getting bored after 5 years? Interesting! :)

Dan

Really, Dan?

I explained myself just fine. I was bored with compound archery.

I got my first bow in the late 90's, dont remembeer for sure what year. I started shooting 3D with the guy that I bought it from right away. Did that for a year, and then got out of it for a couple of years. Finally the bow hunting bug bit me, and did it ever bite hard! I have been an addict ever since. My first bow was an old Martin, and then after hunting with it for a couple of years, I got my first NEW bow. It was a PSE FireFlite. Killed a few deer with that, and then just last year I bought a new in the box 2004 Hoyt Vtec. (not sure if it was a 2004, but it was not a new model, but it had never been set up. I have not killed anything with it yet, but hopefully this year I change that. My Dad past away when I was 13, and I never had a father figure after that to teach me anything about hunting, so everything I have learned, has been either self taught, or learned from forums like this. I am 43 now, and I still have a lot to learn, but I still have a blast everytime I hit the woods.

Good Stuff!! My 1st compound was a Martin, and I also owned a PSE FireFlite.

I learn something every year and if I did Not I would probably Not be paying close enough attention :)

Dan