When and How....
 

I was sitting here reading all the topics and such so it made me wonder when and how everyone got interested in bowhunting/fishing. I've been coming here for almost almost two years now and I became more interested in it by reading all the stories in here and in magazines. I have been bowhunting for a year now but haven't been able to pratice as much as i like due to one reason or another. Once the weather gets alittle better, i plan on shooting every other day if not everyday. Thank you in advance.

RE: When and How....
 

I have been hunting for 8 years now. After my first year rifle hunting, I intended to start bow hunting. I bought a bow and started practicing. I was planning on hunting with my brother in law. We had a falling out shortly after and it took me 4 years to be able to do it.

Now that I am into it, the things that get me are watching the Outdoor Channel, this BBS and talking to other hunters whether they are bow or gun. Now I want to hunt more and more often.

However I am in a new state, not knowing where to hunt. So I am doing research on where to hunt and that too is getting me excited for hunting season.

RE: When and How....
 

My family all hunted when I was a kid but nobody bowhunted. Around the age of 13, my best friend and I were reading the the Arkansas state hunting regs and noticed that bowseason went from Oct 1 to Feb 28th.....5 months of deer hunting. Well, it didn't take us long to save up enough money to buy our first bows, his a pse and my an old Bear Kodiak Magnum. Our dads made fun of us saying stuff like "It's hard enough to kill a deer with your gun, you kids think you are goning to kill one with a stick and string."

It didn't happen right away, as a matter of fact it took me two years of hunting nearly everyday to finally kill my first deer, a small four point. I'll never forget the look on my dad, uncle, and grandpaw's face when I told them I needed help dragging it out of the woods.

RE: When and How....
 

I've gun hunted off and on for about 12 years, and have always been intrigued by bowhunting. i just started reading the bowhunting forum recently and have become very interested in the added challenge as well as the extended season that bowhunting has to offer. I have yet to buy my first bow, but intend to soon. I hope to be ready by this fall to head out into the woods with my bow in hand. Before I make the purchase I'm trying to find out as much as I can about bows and bowhunting. All of you guys on this forum have been a tremendous wealth of information.

RE: When and How....
 

My dad got me into rifle hunting as soon as I was old enough. He bowhunted when he was a kid but gave it up at some point. I rifle hunted 3 years without getting my first deer and I just loved being in the woods. That's when I decided that 2 weeks per year of deer hunting wasn't enough for me so I got into bowhunting. It was the best decision I've ever made. Now I have 4 months of deer hunting, and 12 months of shooting to enjoy.

RE: When and How....
 

No one in my family hunts. A friend of mine bought a bow from Wal-mart and though it'd be "cool" to hunt deer with it after he got good enough. Growing up I had a little exposure to shooting a recurve, so I said "sure, sounds like fun".

I bought my first compound bow a few weeks later. This is 2nd season in the woods with the bow. No deer yet! :(

RE: When and How....
 

I started hunting with family when I was 10. At 16 durring P.E. class we got to try archery and a couple of friends brought in compounds and from the first shot I was hooked. I bought my first bow three weeks later and started bow hunting that fall. That year I bagged a 115lb doe 45 minutes into the season and I've never looked back. This year it's to the point I don't care to hunt with a gun. I'm hooked on the arrow!

RE: When and How....
 

I started 17 years ago. I had gun hunted the 1st 2 years until I was strong enough to pull back a bow. My dad was my teacher and mentor in all my outdoor adventures.

RE: When and How....
 

I have hunted and fished literally since I was 3 years old. My dad and other family always hunted and fished a lot. So I grew up emersed in the life style. One of my dad's good friends bowfished alot when I was about 13 (17 years ago) and I shot his bow some bowfishing. Well I decided I had to have my own bow. So one of the other guys that my dad worked with at the time was a bow wizard and even invented an electronic rangefinding pendulum sight (Mason Rangefinding Sight). So he talked my dad into buying me a good bow so I could whitetail hunt if I wanted to. So I got the bow and practiced a bunch and wound up killing a 4pt that first year with my bow, which was my first deer. I have been hooked every since then. Ironically I never really got into bowfishing although I did do it some. I always spent more time catching frogs in the summer or I didn't want the batteries to be run down so I could fish the next day.

PS The day that I killed that 4 pt I was about 1.5 miles from our cabin. Well I jogged all the way back to the cabin. My dad said he could hear me coming so I asked him how? He said he could hear me smiling:D I guess you have to be pretty happy for someone to hear you smiling.:D

RE: When and How....
 

I started bowhunting in 2000. Most of my buddies had been doing it for a while and I was more into pheasants and ducks....not much fun do that by yourself so I gave it a try.

Killed my 1st bowbuck in 2000. he was a 6pt that to this day is one of my most rememberable deer, because he lit a fire in me that no one can put out.

Now, my buddies that got me started are trying to catch up with me!!!!:D