Okay everyone spill it! When, Where, Why, What?????

How did you first get addicted to this obsession?????

I first started shooting those institutional bows in the Boy Scouts around 1979. I got my first recurve in '81 from a friend's dad and shot it till my fingers almost fell off:Cry: . Then I got my first compound in '82 a Bear Black Mag, I thought that bow was awsome and that was all it took I was hooked hard. I shot Instictively for about 10 years and the took about 4-5 years off for Only God Knows Why. Then a buddy talked me into a 3D and BAM!!! New bow, New stuff, HOOKED HARD all over again:D

That's my story, What' your's????????????????????:typing:

In a time long ago , In a land far away. No seriously I can remember making our own bows out of sticks and braided fishing line. Older brothers had recurves. I got one as a hand me down. Hunted with that with no luck. Got my first conpound bow about 13. Started 3d shooting a few years ago and upgraded to my bowtech justice.:biggrin1:

It was the deer season after 1983, Had just moved to KS that year. Got the opportunity to go hunting with some of my friends in school.We all piled into 2 different trucks with our guns, took out driving through the pastures till deer started running then the slaughter began. I was not impressed never even shot my gun let alone fill my tag. The deer never had a chance, this was not hunting to me. The next day at my part-time job I was talking about what had happened and the way I was feeling about not hunting anymore. When a older guy spoke up and invited me to shoot. I flung one arrow and was hooked. That week ordered my Darton 50mx have never hunted big game agian with a rifle. Some years I fill a tag and others never even have a chance but this is what I call hunting.

Well earlier this year my 13 year old son decided that he wanted to join shooting sports with 4-H and the only thing he could get into was bow so he joined.
Because he was a lefty they didnt have any bows that he could shoot so I had to go out and buy him a bow that he could actally shoot.
Well about five hundred dollars later he was set up and ready to shoot.... But neither of us had any idea how to set up the bow let alone make the needed adjustments.. Soooooo.. I went out and bought myself a bow too and figured how to sight it in and everything.. Then I was able to help my son...
A few weeks later I started dating this guy that was very avid bow hunter / comp shooter..He made it to the Nationals several times, so I guess he was pretty good. He really tought me most of what I know. Although the guy didnt work out for me, the knowledge I gained from him was invaluable. It didnt take long for my son to give up on 4-H but by this time I was shooting nearly every day and I was hooked.
Even though my son lost interest I just couldnt put it down. The more I shot the more addicted I got. I still shoot nearly every day as long as time allows..
So far the only thing I shot is targets but I would really love to hunt.. I also would like to do competition or league shoots.. I guess I just need to find something in this area or close anyway (Terre Haute, Indiana) I see this as being a very term hobby of mine. I think at some point I may even like to get into cresting just because I think it looks cool.

Anyway thats my story..

rdnkgrl_robinhood
valee_girl70@yahoo.com

I guess I had my start in 1972. Had an old 35# fiberglass bow and some wooden arrows that looked like bananas with Bear Razorheads on them. Missed 6 deer in a little over a week. Probably all 10-20 yard shots. I knew nothing about archery back then.

Well, for Christmas I got me a brand new Bear Kodiak Hunter (60") recurve for $35 at KMart. The following spring I got involved in field archery, winning my class in my first shoot. Accidnets happen. From there it just proliferated and I got seriously involved in field archery. Shooting is a joy and there isn't much of it goes on during the year so bowhunting is just a sideline---something to do during MY off season.

Got my first compound in 1973 and it's been nothing but downhill since then. My god, the money I've spent. Pretty much, I get a new bow every year, change arrows as the technology gets better, and whatever else comes along to try.

Wow, nastalgiasville. I traded a 1\2 bag of mexican dope for a Pearson 45# recurve in 73 this was Before Christ[BC]. My coach was my neighbor who would sit and sup on his Buds and say "keep shooting your a natural." Went hunting that fall just found a good looking palce , not any sign, and put some ink blots on my army greens,and some dark masquaria on on my face and hands. Saw no deer but I was bow hunting. Got me a PSE in 76,and shot a deer the next year. Like the other guy whew at the $$$ I've spent since chasing the deers around, I do dread the day I can't get in the woods. Maybe the Good Lord will take me out before then. By the way I got saved in 1980 and there is a new man walking in these boots. Love dem 3D's too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God Bless Y'all, Holy Smokes

my cousin and his dad use to shoot tournaments a lot and i got interested in it so his dad bought me a bow and i still have it and that was 11 years ago. Im 24 now. Probably might give that bow to my kid one day to start with.

WOW we have some old farts on here. Now I don't feel so alone.:laugh:

Ok the year was 1980 and I was 12 my uncles and cousins were all avid hunters and fishermen. One uncle in particular bowhunted and he seen I was interested so he loaned me an old old bow don't know what kind probably a bear thats what he mainly shot. It was 50# draw and I was determined to shoot it. Well at 12 this was a chore but I was killing myself daily for hours after school. Finally after about 6 months it all came together. :rockon: I could now hit a paper plate at 20 yards "pretty" regularly. Then I bought my own bow an Indian Golden Eagle used of course. I was stoked I spent a whole $35 on that thing. Hunted with it for about 6 years. Then bought a Bear Black Panther at K-Mart. Bought a recurve and hunted with it for a few years then in 1995 I bought a Jenning Carbon Extreme hunted with it for about 10 years then came the day I shot a Mathews and it was love from then on. So I guess I can blame my uncle for my obsession kinda. :peace:

I got started sometime in the early 70s with a Ben Pearson recurve. Shot that bow for years and years. Never was any good with that bow :biggrin1:

Then in the early 80s I got hooked up with compounds, went to work in an archery shop, got sponsered by an archery company and then an arrow company.

Still shoot a lot of 3Ds and hunt a lot and I enjoy the sport more and more everyday. Archery has been good to me and I try to give back by helping people get started in it but I can never repay what it has given me.

oh the money we have probably all spent......I know I could have probably bought a house at this point......

it was 15 years ago and my uncle was into bowhunting and Ted Nugent who is into bowhunting and well you get the picture.....

he set me up w/a used compound.....a PSE graphite from K-mart I beleive.......shot it w/fingers and and bare bow for a year....then upgraded three years later to a PSE Lightning Flight II.....killed more deer with that bow than you could shake a stick at.....oh the days when I lived on a farm where you get as many crop damage tags as you wanted.....I killed probably 30 deer w/that bow.....and my cousin must have shot another 20 or so......we donated alot of meat from those deer to food kitchens and the hungry people around......you can only eat so much venison......later upgraded to a PSE Durango......loved that bow also.....went to a Mathews SQ2 when I broke my back and it was too painfull to pull back 70lbs.....shot that for two years and then upgraded to the Switchback and have never been happier......

The person who started me off with archery was my cousin who shotgun hunted and fished with me. He called me up one day and said that he had a surprise for me... It turned out to be a ClearWater Archery bow. He took me down to the local archer shop loaded me up with some arrows and i was hooked :biggrin1:

It was along time ago, 1972. My brothers and I started bowhunting deer in the high Sierra Mts. It was beautiful there with huge rocks and all the big Sequoia trees. We hunted near a lookout tower called Buck Rock. I was using a Bear recurve, loads of fun and hooked for life. In 1978 I moved to the evergreen state of Wasington and bought a compound and started shooting some of the 3-D tournaments. In 1981 I took my first elk, a day I'll never forget. In 1991 I went back to the the traditional way and started shooting a Longbow. If you took the time to read this thank you, and good hunting.

Well, back in 1967, i started shooting target archery, then hunting. Many bows later, I dropped the habit. Now i want back.
this time, compounds---------
Steve

I bought a carbon extreme bow from my buddy in 1999, and have been shooting ever since. and in 2001, I won the first ever Central Wi 3-d Championship shoot. and I won it again in 2006

I started back in 1991. I started with a used Indian Bow. It was a compound. I was shootin' fingers with no sights. Then I met a buddy who was into archery and he showed me the light. He hooked me up with a Ben Pearson compound with sights and release. Man I thought that thing was fast. I became deadly accurate with that Bow. My buddy introduced me to 3-D and man I was hooked!!! I have owned many of Bows since then and shot many of deer as well. I currently shoot a 2006 Bowtech Tribute and man it is the smoothest and most consistant Bow I have ever shot. I hunt Deer and Turkey,shoot 3-d every chance I get and gonna shoot my first indoor leagues this year. I'm excited. :rockon: I'm always shootin' 3 or 4 hours in the local bowshop.

Archery is more than just a sport for me. It's a passion that runs really deep. I'm always trying to better myself and my equipment. Great Post. :thumb:

Well it was'nt that long ago for me. My wife and I were driving on our 1 yr. anniversary and I was talking to her about buying a new gun. The next day at work I was talking to a friend of mine Kieth about it and he told me to forget about it and be a real man and shoot a bow. Which I found strange coming from him because I knew he hunted with a bow and a gun. Found out later though that it had been about 8 yrs. since he hunted deer with a shotgun. Well anyway we got talking and he had been shooting since he was about 18 (he is 48 now). He told me that if I ever wanted to try just let him know and he would setup one of his old bows for me and teach me how. Well one saturday I told him that I would come down if that was ok, since I would not be racing that weekend. He got me all setup, the bow was a ProLine New Wave, gave me some arrows to use, shot about 30 arrows and left. the next day I went shooting with a buddy of mine and I just could'nt get enough of it. Kieth was real adament about proper form and technique, he would tell me its not how many arrows you shoot its the quality of the shots and all that comes with proper practice. I was down at the range at his house just about everyday after work. I ended up buying a PSE Nova with arrows form my buddy's brother, Second day I ever hunted I was out with my uncle and got a buck! Kinda messed me up though because everything was coming too easy for me. Started shooting leagues, joined a club, got on the board, five years later still going strong. Kieth and I don't work together anymore but whenever I have any questions or am struggling with anything and I can ask him and he can usually get me going in the right direction. Just thinking about all the money I have spent on bows and accessories. Now I shoot a Hoyt Trykon XL for hunting and I just bought a Bowtech Constitution for 3D. Hope the Bowtech works out, it is the first bow that I have bought that is not a Hoyt since I bought that first PSE.

this is my first year bow hunting and i've been shooting for a year. I got a new job 8 months ago and my co worker got me into it is and since the i've been hooked!!!

To be honest I started shooting a bow at about five years old. My father bought me a Sears special bow to shoot and ever since 1973 I loved to shoot a bow. My next bow was a Fred Bear recurve two years later followed by a Jennings Compound bow. I went hunting with my Jennings compound bow with my father, but I never got a deer and to be honest I got tired of freezing my butt off and not seeing anything so I stopped going in 1982. I joined the Army in 1985 and stayed in 21 years, retiring this year (never shooting a bow for the entire 21 years). I settled (for now) in Kentucky where my interest was resparked for archery and hunting by some of my fellow employees who bow hunt. I decided that if I got back into archery I would buy the best equipment I could get my hands on. My first compound bow purchase was a new Mathews Switchback. The only reason I chose Mathews was because everyone I worked with said they were one of the best bows and companies around.

I picked up my Switchback, had it set up with everything (peep sight, D-loop, sights and rest) and started shooting in my backyard. I couldn't believe how smooth and easy to shoot this modern bow was. I just remembered having a more difficult time shooting a bow in the 70s and 80s. Back then the only option was pulling the bow with your fingers using the three fingered leather glove and having to wear the forearm guard to protect your arm against the sometimes annoying string rub after releasing the arrow. I started shooting so good, it almost was too easy. I grew tired of the Switchback and sold it to try a split-limb bow, so I picked up a Hoyt Trykon, which also shot well, but wasn't as smooth as the Mathews and had allot more string noise. So I sold my Trykon and put another Mathews (Switchback XT) on layaway. I quess my biggest challenge now is finding a bow that I really like to shoot and want to keep. The closest so far has been the Mathews bow, but I want to try a Bowtech (The new Guardian specifically). I hope I find that perfect bow someday.:decision:

Take Care and God Bless the bow hunters!

Ed

Just thought I'd give this thread a bump since we have so many new members over the last few weeks.

So com'on everyone.......inquiring minds want to know......:biggrin1:

I honestly have no idea. :noidea:

I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC when I bought my first bow. I had never even been deer hunting and didn't know anyone with a bow. A buddy of mine earlier in my tour had talked about bow hunting and I guess that must have stuck in my head and sounded like a challenge. I bought a used Jennings Uniforce in 1996ish and just shot around in the back yard. After getting out of the Army in 1999 and moving back home to Indiana, I actually started bowhunting. This past spring I decided to upgrade and bought an '05 Jennings CK 3.5. I thought I was in hog heaven with that bow. My brother-in-law and I went hunting one day and he had an Outback. I told him that there couldn't be that much of a difference to justify the extra cost for one of those. He talked me into going to a couple 3-D shoots this summer and I really took to the bigger aspect of archery. I now own two of those "high end, overpriced" bows after making the mistake of shooting a guys XT at the range one day.
Since then, I have dumped a lot of money into my equipment. I have realized that quality does matter. I went from the guy that got his bow out the day before season, and put it back in the case the day after to the guy that shoots every day. My wife and kids all have bows now to and we use archery as a way to spend quality time together.
I hope others out there enjoy it as much as I do. :peace:

I shot my first time at Boy Scout camp. A fiberglass recurve. The first real bow I owned was a Browning Cobra, which I still have. Archery is one of few hobbies I've stuck with. Glad I did.

Watched it on the olympics 2 or 3 times and always thought 'I'd love a go at that' so after Athens 2004 I went out and had a go :biggrin1: Glad I got into field archery over here in the uk though, Id have definatly got bored with target before too long.

well lets see...

My Dad's always hunted (still hasn't taken a deer with a bow! haha) so it was sort of natural to pick on up. I got a compound when I was 14 or so and discovered I am a HORRIBLE shot right handed (I'm left eye dominant) so I pretty much never shot it after I broke a few arrows.

Then I did the work and school thing, then the work and college thing, then the working a LOT thing and had 0 time for hunting.

Finally got back into hunting about 4 years ago and decided I didn't like getting 2 weeks to spend in the woods during the freezing end of November and I hated the number of people in the woods. so I decided to try archery.

Took a doe my first year with a Fred Bear TRX36 and haven't looked back since. Shot another 1 this year and now I'm shooting a Ross CR331 and an 05 Old Glory :)

I started back in the 60's as a kid, my dad got me and my brother some cheap recurves to shoot when he took us fishing (so we would leave him alone so he could fish) and me and my brother started using them for hunting dove and rabbits. My dad was always having to take me and my brother down to the Yellow Front store so we could buy more arrows since the doves wouldn't sit still for us. Hunted with the bow till I got out of high school in 74 and just got the bug again earlier this year and will be going on my first archery deer hunt the 15 of Dec.

Got a ben pearson long bow for my 9th christmas in 1961 Shot it a lot till we moved to Japan. In 1966 my uncle took me deer hunting for the first time and I found Nirvana. I found out they had an archery season and the next year I borrowed a recerve from a family friend. Hunted until I went in the Navy. When I got out I killed my first deer with a recurve and saved up for a compound. Bought an allen custom and never looked back. Went through over 20-30 bows over the next 35 years. Still an addiction I don't want to cure:loco:

Boy Scouts in or around 1973-75... Played around with it for a long time with some old red fiberglass recurve bow with cedar arrows. Funny stuff now that I think about it. Got deep into fishing in high school and college and forgot about archery until several years ago when a friend of mine gave me a Martin compound he didn't want or care about any more. I don't recall the model but it had carbon arrows with it... WHAT ???? Carbon arrows ? That's crazy ! I thought aluminum arrows were the cat's meow...

Anyway, when I realized that the thing was smokin fast, relatively speaking, I was mesmerized and now I'm into 3d and bow hunting big time. I don't take 3d serious from a competitive point of view but I do take practice seriously and hunting even more seriously. I love it. I just wished my kids were more outdoorish like I am. They just don't have an interest in hunting and/or fishing. I'm still a big fisherman, and I'll never turn my back on that, but now I split time between having a bow in my hand vs being on water in my boat going for bass or muskie... I have more or less givin up ice fishing, which is fine since we don't have much of a hard water season it seems any more in the Midwest... Must be global warming...

Ron

Just thought I'd give this a bump...
We have a bunch of new faces around here so com'on speak up :biggrin1:

i used to be an rifle hunter. then one season i was coming up a unit, looked up and noticed i was being scoped. turned around went home gave up hunting. few years later a friend of mine talked me nto trying bow
hunting.
1st bow was a Jennings uni-star. shot fingers, no deer the first year but hooked on the bow. upgraded to a PSE fire flite 33, love that bow to this day. wanted something with a little more speed. Tried the Fred Bear Instinct and
liked itmy daughter shoots a recurve, my 2 younger sons shoot mathews genisis. we have a huge archery range a couple of miles from the house. several courses to shoot and a have 3d and safari shoots during the off season.

I've been shooting for less than 1 year. Got started thanks to a co-worker who bow hunts. Didn't take long to develop a real love for the sport and start looking into all aspects of it. ( helps to have an understanding wife )

Have been hunting, shooting spots, some field, and will start competing in 3D in the coming year. I've never been around a greater bunch of people than those I've encountered in this sport, always willing to help and give advice.

My only regret is that I didn't get started in this years ago.

Steve

Actually i got intresterested in archery through the medevil reinactment i do. i used to sit for hours watching them. a friend finally tried to help me out and get startedbut that didnt work to well . so atm im waiting for the guy at the bow shop to call and tell me my bow is done.

I got started way back in January of '06. I was stuck in Orlando for a couple of months and got to talking to a coworker about archery. I found a little shop and shot my first bow (Hoyt something elite). Straight away I was hooked. When I got home in February I bought a bow (Alpine Denali). And in April, I bought another bow (Bowtech Constitution). With work I don't get to shoot much. I just set up the Bowtech and have shot 2 rounds of Vegas 450. Sooo much fun! I love this sport. I just got my son abow. It's all he wanted for Christmas.

-Two_shoes

Lets put this back up top for a while let some newbies post up

Lets put this back up top for a while let some newbies post up

good plan........

well lets see...

My Dad's always hunted (still hasn't taken a deer with a bow! haha) so it was sort of natural to pick on up. I got a compound when I was 14 or so and discovered I am a HORRIBLE shot right handed (I'm left eye dominant) so I pretty much never shot it after I broke a few arrows.

Then I did the work and school thing, then the work and college thing, then the working a LOT thing and had 0 time for hunting.

Finally got back into hunting about 4 years ago and decided I didn't like getting 2 weeks to spend in the woods during the freezing end of November and I hated the number of people in the woods. so I decided to try archery.

Took a doe my first year with a Fred Bear TRX36 and haven't looked back since. Shot another 1 this year and now I'm shooting a Ross CR331 and an 05 Old Glory :)


Dredly,
I'm on my first bow. Bought it at a pro shop. I was sold a right handed bow and later discovered that I'm left eye dom. The bow (Hoyt magnatec 60 - 70#) is set @ 52# - I target shoot - 100 to 200 arrows @ a crack sso would never think to crank it up to say 65#.
My ? (one more thing - I was a welder for a while and have a practiced steady left hand)
Now my ? Should I consider just flat starting over again ?- shoot left with the poundage I'm comfortable with (knowing I;ve backed
the limb bolts way out and etc. etc.)
After all , I know now that I'm in the market for a new bow (poundage)
but I do feel real comfy holding the bow in my left hand.
...could be bragging, could be you'll laugh but I did shoot 32 Xs out of 60
shots (only one out of the blue) in five spot @ 20 yrds. Whatever. I'm proud of it. I say this to tell that I am real happy w' my accuracy which makes me really enjoy the sport ((sorry gettin' long)) on my way to being hard hooked. Whaddya say ? Left or not?