How long have you been into archery and bowhunting ?

[TnRidge]

I started shooting dad's recurve bow in the back yard in the 70's . I started bowhunting with an old Jennings Sidekick in 1980 .

[DTrain]

Since the spring of '05.

[Erik]

I got my first bow when I was 8yrs old. A Fred Bear "red bear" fiberglass recurve. I remember not long after I got it we went to visit my grandmother in concord mi. She had a fairly large farm, and at that particular time in my life it was the wildest place on earth that I knew of. So I took my bow and went "bear" hunting. To this day I can still remember it all. I ventured farther back onto grandmas farm than I had ever gone before. Exploring uncharted territory in search of the meanest animal that ever was. The elusive kodiak. As a young boy my father told me many stories about his days being stationed in alaska during the korean war. Those stories very often included tales of huge kodiak brown bears that were in his words "bigger and meaner than any other creature on earth". I guess he left out the part about them only living on kodiak island in alaska. So at the time, at least in my own mind, it was entirely possible for them to live in the wild untamed wilderness of my grandmothers farm :)

It wasn't until the early 80s when I took my first deer with a bow. That bow was a proline hurricane. And the deer was a young 5pt. In all I've owned 8 different bows in my life. And currently I have four, although I pretty much only hunt and shoot with one of them. I honestly can't remember how many deer I've taken with a bow any more. I started keeping good records since the start of 2000 and right now that number is at 13. I'm fairly certain I've taken over 30 deer with a bow in my lifetime thus far.

[Michihunter]

1979!! Old Bear Whitetail;)

[skipper34]

Bowhunting since 1970. Started with a Black Widow recurve, cedar arrows which I made myself, MA3 broadheads. First compound was a Browning XCellerator II. Shot first whitetail in 1977.

[Kelly Johnson]

Summer of 2001

[Pinefarm]

I started bowhunting in 1978 with a Bear LTD. However, I just started getting into the finer aspects of "archery" in the last few years. For example, I had no clue what effect brace ht had on a bow until some 5 years ago or what weight arrow was best or how to figure KE.
In my own mind, I feel vey well versed in the knowledge of deer and deer hunting. However, I still have much to learn about "archery".

[Backwoods-Savage]

Started serious archery 1963. Someday I might learn how to shoot!

[Thunderhead]

32 years this year.

[Joe Archer]

I started with archery and bow hunting in 1982.
It is still just as much fun today as it was back then.
Seriously now.... how many other things in life can you say that about?:D
<----<<<

[mich buckmaster]

Well, I was born in 1972 and I started shooting a bow when I was able to walk. I used a Bear recurve for YEARS and then got my first compound, PSE. I started HUNTING small game and my dad was a founder of many conservation clubs, and was a SERIOUS BOWFISH hunter. I was rowing a boat and shooting carp WAY before I was shooting deer. I started shooting deer at age 12, and now I am 34. I guess you could say LEGALLY I hunted deer for 22 years. I have shot bow for probably 30 years.

[Rustyaxecamp]

First took to the woods bowhunting in 1989. Armed with a Darton 20MX and GameGetters tipped with hand me down re-sharpened Savoras.

[kingfishcam]

30 years plus...

[fairfax1]

40 years.

Went bowhunting for deer that first year and never went back to gun hunting again.

Was hooked.

Still hooked.

[dtg]

I got my first bow as a kid, a red fiberglass recurve and picked up quickly. No site pins, rests, etc so I learned to shoot instinctively. I didn't shoot for 10 years, from 18yrs old to 28yrs old and bought a PSE Spirit and wanted to learn how to hunt. Even though that bow was a tack driver, i got frustrated with the big drops from 20-30yrds and picked up a Browning Afterburner on Ebay and have been hunting with that bow for the last 10 years. So I've shot bow for a total of about 21 years and hunted for the last 10 years.

I really wanted to hunt as a kid, but my mom didn't like the idea. Nobody in my family hunts, I'm the only one.

[Buddwiser]

Oh man........compared to all of you, I must have started when the indians were still around. I started shooting at (GASP), my elementary school in Lincoln Park around 1954/55. Yes, its true. There was no politically correctness to contend with back then and archery and hunting was still concidered an ethical thing to do. My dad had acouple of old, old bows of around 30#'s (wish I still had them), that my younger brother and I used at the classes that were given. Dad made us a target out of straw and we would practice shooting from outside the garage, shooting into it at the target so as to not bother the neighbors who wound up sitting there, drinking beer and critiqing our shooting, not calling the cops about some reckless, bloodthirsty animals endangering the subdivison. Back then, I-75, obviously did not exist and between Outerdrive and Southfield roads was open fields, full of rabbits and pheasants. A young boy and his dogs' dream world. We even managed to bag a rabbit or pheasnt or two over the years. I haven't bow hunted in sometime now as the time to be able to do so just isn't there but if DaimlerChrysler makes me an offer I can't refuse next week, I'll be back at it. I often think about those times and wonder how things have managed to so drastically change for the worse. What happened to the country I grew up in?

[Oct.1]

My dad was into archery hunting and bought me my first bow when I was 6.
I shot my first deer with a 30 lb. white fiberglass recurve when I was 8.
That was in 1955, so long ago I forgot how to do the math.

[fulldraw]

Starting bow hunting in 1997 bought a Martin Jaguar from Bass-N-Sport killed my first deer with my bow Oct. of 1999 a doe. Have been hooked ever since.

[PWood]

2006 was my 5th season.

[deerslayer#1]

Somewhere around when the bi centennial quarter came out. I remember getting a red fiberglass recurve and a shinny new quarter on my birthday. I used the string off a bail of hay for a bow string. I also remember making a license out of paper and putting it on my back, so I could go hunt with the big guys. I was around 10 or 11 years old.

[wally-eye]

Got my first bow in the spring of 1964. Browning recure. Practiced all summer with it and that fall shot a nice spike with it..............not bad for the first year. Wasn't about bait or treestands back then. On the ground in your face hunting.

[SR-Mechead]

Started shooting in the spring of 1971. Purchased a bow and a dozen arrows for the tune of $20.00 .Shot my first deer that fall at 3 yds. Been enjoying it every year since.

[chrisu]

17 years hunting (bow and gun). I have been more successful with the gun, but enjoy bowhunting far more, probably because of the challenge of having to get close and really beat the animal at it's own game versus being able to get within 200 yards...

Started with a pawn-shop PSE, then bought a Hoyt a few years later and been shooting Hoyt since then. Haven't changed my setup much over than time. The biggest change was adding an overdraw and switching to carbons.

[KalamazooKid]

7 years .... didn't start till I was 43 (do the math). First bow was a Hoyt MagnaTech. Now I'm a full blown "ArcheryTard".:D I really didn't start deer hunting till I bought that first bow either (outside of the occasional outing). Since then, I've taken 9 deer with a bow.

HEY, 1,000 POSTS!!!!!

[Little Roober]

I've been target shooting since about 6 or 7 (1997ish). Shot my first (and only) robin hood at 11 or 12. Then on the first youth hunt I started hunting with my pse spyder. I have only shot at and missed on deer so far. Since then I've upgraded my bow to a parker.:D

[laterilus]

I started in 1986.

[thornapple]

1984 with a "well used" bear recurve.

[TnRidge]

There is a wealth of experience on this forum .:cool:

[ESOX]

I got my first bow, a Bear recurve in '73 but didn't hunt with one till '77.

[archerjustin]

Found my first bow, a Bear recurve, in a barn when I was 11. Cleaned it up and shot my first deer with it when I was 13. Hooked ever since, so I guess that makes 15 years. I can't think of the last day that archery hasn't crept into my head. Be it a magazine article, shooting my bow, building arrows for my friends or watching the outdoor channel etc. At least it doesn't sound like I'm the only one out there with this problem!!

[FullQuiver]

My dad started shooting archery in 1948 at the ripe age of 22 with a custom made recurve froma guy named Bill Loomis. (He still has it.) He's been bowhunting since 1951 and has had very few unproductive years.(They were all successes though) He turned 80 this year and still loves the sight of an arrow in flight and still gets his deer. He brought me and my brother up with a love for archery, that I have passed onto my children. To him it's not about the fastest arrow or the biggest buck it's about striving for the center, and peace. He saw enough guns during the war and looked for his own peace behind the string of a bow. ( I think he found it.);)

[glockman55]

1968, I was 13 yrs old. My neighbor always shot in his back yard, he got me started, been hooked ever since.

[aquaticsanonymous]

I Just Got Into Bow Hunting This Year, And Harvested My First Bow Deer As Well.

[Ack]

I have been bowhunting for 22 years. Started shooting probably 2-3 years before that with a little blue fiberglass recurve.

[Skibum]

1973. 45# Bear Kodiak recurve. Shot my first deer in 74 No treestands or second tags back then. Hardly ever ran into another hunter.

[trout]

3rd grade I made my first bow and arrows.
I rarely hunt with a bow today, although I enjoy making a self bow now and then.
I give tham away as gifts.
Too many other things to do in the fall for me to just do one thing.
I have great respect for traditional archers, I just don't have time to bowhunt.

[blk82072]

I started shooting a home made long Bow when I was 6 and have been shooting since (28 years). I have been hunting with a Bow for 22 years now. I find myself carrying my Bow during firearms season sometimes.

[fishinmachine2]

1984, MY first bow was a Darton SL 50

Scott

[GVDocHoliday]

Well...I got my first bow in the summer of 2001...a PSE Baby G. Broke a limb in August, picked up an old Darton 400mx at a yardsale for 50.00, got it tuned, shot my first ever buck with it on Halloween of 2001, and I've been hooked to bowhunting ever since.

Started shooting a league in Winter of 2004, started 3d in the Spring of 2004, won my second ever 3d shoot, which was the Michigan IBO State Championship that summer and now I shoot as much as possible. Archery because my life and I don't think I'll ever look back.

[One Eye]

I have personally bowhunted since I was 12 (1978) and I followed along with my dad since before I can remember. I have shot bows since I could walk. I am now 40.

Dan

[oldrank]

as soon as i figured out how to take some kite string and wrap it around a tree limb........got my first real bow when i was 11 or 12..a $1.00 recurve at a garage sale......i am 32 now......still have the recurve but it has been long since retired.......i shoot a champion now.

[buck37]

Started bowhunting in 1977. Had shot bow for at least 5 years prior to that. Hunted with a 45# revcurve bow and cedar arrows for 2 years. Started hunting with bear whitetail in 1979 a shot my first deer. I haven't turned back since becoming a complete bowhunting fanatic. I wouldn't know what to do without bowhunting. :)

[don]

I started in 1972.Began with a Bear recurve,but my first compound was a Bear Whitetail Hunter.4 wheels-slow and noisey but not much to compare it to at the time.I would love to know how much I have spent on archery equiptment since then,but I wouldn't want it back.It's my passion

[ArrowHawk]

This past season was 22 years of hunting seasons under my belt
And it has been 26 years of archery

[cgc Zephyr]

started in 92 with a darton viper bought from golden arrow archery in Bay city. This past season was my first on i've missed since then, to many commitments with the Coast guard and being stationed In San diego, this forum is my salvation till i can get some where more archery orientated. Thanks guys

[DJC]

Started in 1979 with an old Bear Whitetail Hunter that I got at a garage sale for $20. Shot my first buck with it the next year. Wow, have bows changed alot since then!!!!

[USMCSniper]

I could even draw it. My first memory is about 6 years old with an old bear, not sure which model. My dad and grandpa showed me the basics. that would have been 85-86. I really got interested after meeting Ted Nugent at Grand Ledge in 89 I think, I know we talked with him for like 45 minutes he signed a ton of stuff for me.

[webfarmer]

Started in 1977 with a Bear recurve. Didn't hit a deer for a few years until I learned to aim low (DUH). My ex-brother-in-law got me into it and to say I'm glad he did is an understatement!

[RIVER LADY]

I started bow hunting in 91. Been addicted ever since.:evil:

[fishergirltc]

Just started last year. I love it!

[Bonz 54]

I made my first Bow out of a Cherry sapling at around age 8, store bought arrows from the Plum Hollow Hardware in Southfield. My parents bought me my first Fiberglass Recurve at Starlight Archery near Detroit in 1963. My step-dad lied to a lady selling hunting licenses, he told her I was 12 when I was 10. This was on our way up north to Deer hunt. We hunted east of the Pink Store on M-33 just south of Mio. That was in 1964, that would make it 42 years of Bow Hunting. I have Bow Hunted for Deer, Elk, Caribou, and Black Bear every year since. Not all in the same year ofcourse. I went through the normal progression from recurve to compound and I am back to Traditional Archery as many Archers have. I now teach a Bow Building class out of my garage once a week. And I have enjoyed every minute of it. FRANK.

[DRHUNTER]

I started bow hunting in 1964 at the age of 12. Used a Bear recurve,wood arrows and 145 gr. Bear Razorheads. If I recall I bought the bow either at Gells in Universal Mall or Acme on Woodward. Hunted along the Ausable river near Mio. Still hunt in the general vacinity to this day.

[1wildchild]

I bought my first bow in Oct. 1998. I hunted for the first time in 1999. I love my bow. PSE Mini G (no not Baby G...Mini G!!!). :cool:

[Gone Coastal]

My Grandfather was president of the Detroit Archers Association My bowhunting did not start till 1969 with a 45 lb recurve w no sights. No hunting from trees.
Had a Browning Explorer compound till it exploded during practice. I have had a High Country - Trophy Hunter for about 15 yrs. and have 0 problems putting the arrows through deer.
My son is 16 and has had great success with the rifle but now wants to go bow. He is left eye dominant so soon we will be picking out a new bow for him.:cool:

[Tooth517]

Started in 2000 with an Alpine ridge runner lite. Fast but noisy. I didn't know anyone who was into archery growing up. I have a family full of 12 guage fans! Definitely enjoy carbon over lead now!!!

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

Started yesterday. 2006 Whisper Creek Innovator; looking forward to it!

[huntincountryboy79]

Started in 97 with compound & the last few years have switched over to the long bow.

[TnRidge]

Howdy-

Started yesterday. 2006 Whisper Creek Innovator; looking forward to it!

Good luck with the new bow ! :)

[bucklessyooper]

27 years. First bow was a darton, 1979.

[saginawbowhunter]

started 5 years ago, love it every minute.

[Tink]

I have been shooting a bow since about 91'. Started with a 45lb bear recurve. Learned to shoot instinctive. I now hunt with a Black Max and heavy arrows.

[unclecbass]

23 years this year. My dad used to take me to the archery club when I was an ankle bighter to shoot baloons for candy bars. Couldnt even pull back a compound at first, then got myself a bear and eventually a darton. Been shooting dartons ever since.

[Joe Archer]

... for the "better" part of my life!
<----<<<

[NEMichsportsman]

Started shooting in '80, started bow hunting in 1983.
Loved every single minute of it!!

[Airoh]

Longer than most of the people who post here have been alive.:xzicon_sm :SHOCKED:

[bc993]

Got my first "real" bow, something that could actually kill a deer in 1974 (14) it was a Bear kodiak hunter... that was a beautiful recurve . Killed my first archery whitetail with a Browning Explorer in 1978... remember it like it was yesterday. Back then we didn't need / have tree stands or couldn't afford one, we just climbed the best tree we could find and improvised.

[CHASINEYES]

My first bow was a little red bear fiberglass back in the later 70's. I started bow hunting in 1983 with a hand me down Darton Trailmaster, the draw lenght was waaayyyy too long. Deer didnt seem to look up back in those days, a good flannel, jeans and tennis shoes fit the bill just fine through most of october.

[gamecock]

My first license (which I still have) is from 1986 (I was 13)...It's a brown tag about the size of a dollar bill that you were supposed to wear on your back. I started with a longbow and graduated to a recurve...Now I'm 100% compound. I love the sport more now than ever.

[toots]

Had a bow since forever. Shot first deer in 1962. 6pt. buck. Bear Razor Head. 45 lb. Bear Grizzly.

[Yukon1]

I bought my first Bear recurve while on vacation with money my grandma gave me for 4 dollars. I was 8, that was 33 years ago.

Yes I still have it.

[john warren]

yup 63 here tooStarted serious archery 1963. Someday I might learn how to shoot!

[bouf5]

Started in 93' with a 55lb Sl-50. used it till last year when i bought my Switchback. i love this bow!!! but i killed quite a few does with the sl-50. :) Still waiting to kill a buck with a bow.:dizzy:

[Crowhunter]

I killed my first deer with a bow in 1958 ,it was the first deer I had shot an arrow at ,some would call it luck .I always thought THE LORD WANTED me to have that deer .Bud

[redshirt32]

1972 with a 50 lb. Darton recurve. I think there were 15,000 bow lic. sold that year.

[Chasin]

Been bow hunting since 14yrs old (1977)
Got my first deer a 5 point in 1979 with a Darton Trailmaster.
I have bow hunted every year since. 31 years.. WOW!!! I didnt even think it been that long.:chillin:

[jcurtis]

I have been bow hunting for 14 years, shooting bows for 18 or more. Started shooting recurves at targets as soon as I was strong enough to pull them back. Bought my first compound when I was 14 with money I worked for. I got it from Meijer of all places and it was a Bear Black bear. I used it until 2004 when I bought a 2003 Hoyt Magnetec. Last year I sold the Hoyt and bought a Martin Cheetah because I like the size better and wanted a different draw weight range.

[D-BEAVER]

Been into archery 22yrs... bowhunting, 19yrs.

Believe it or not, I've spent about only about 10 days total in the woods with a firearm during this timeframe. Guns just don't do it for me...

[2PawsRiver]

An oldy thread, but a goody thread.:)

1969.....25 pound Pearson recurve hunting rabbits. 1972, Bear 45# recurve, hunting Deer.

[fishnpbr]

I bow hunted deer for the first time in 1974 with a 45 lb Fred Bear Kodiak Hunter recurve. Those are some of my best memories of hunting.

[MIfishinGuy]

just this season. i bought a used darton lightning (the compound, i know they make crossbows by that name now too)

i shot it for 3 weeks got form (the form that works for me anyway) down, can hit 4-5 inch groups at 40 yards but i probably wont take that long of a shot, at least this year.

i've gun hunted for 4-5 years and am still deer-less. i did a sci hunting camp in 3 rivers and got a ram. (canned hunt it was kind of lame but i learned the ropes). i've hunted with my uncles and have tracked, field dressed, dragged deer out, butchered, everything but gotten my own.

i figured i could extend my season and the odds by bowhunting, but i do prefer it now. the weathers a little fairer, and you get CLOSE. i thought i got buck fever gun hunting, but its nothing compared to being on the ground with a bow and waiting while one walks by at 10 yards. even this undersized doe ive let walk by me 3 times this year still gets my heart pounding like its the biggest deer i've ever seen, just because its so up close and personal and your trying not to get busted.

what a rush. i think i'll be at it a few more years, maybe even go as long of some of you good ole boys :lol:

[TnRidge]

Wow , just came back to visit the forum and was surprised to see the thread I posted still on the front page . I enjoyed reading how everyone got started in archery .:cool:

[antlerhog]

26 years. The first 10 were off and on but then when I got married I dove in deep. now I spend 2-3 weeks a season in Illinois bowhunting/filming.

Jason

[Laid Back 57]

Close to 35yrs.Just as geeked out today as when I was back in the 70's over bowhunting.

[wolverines]

I got a late start...I got my first bow in 1994, a Martin Lynx, when I was 19 for a HS graduation gift from my parents. Started working on archery equipment full-time in 2000 and I am still doing it part-time now at Al & Bob's in GR.

[FishKilla419]

27 years old. Been a die hard bowhunter since the age of twelve. On my 7th bow (Hoyt Vulcan). Shot my first doe and buck (6 point) at 13 years old with a High Country Supreme Lite @ 55#'s.

[wally-eye]

Shot my first bow in 1958 and have been shooting off and on since then up till 6 years ago when it became impossible to practice with my compound.

[U of M Fan]

1982:yikes:

[3tail]

i have been at it for 25 years or more.:tdo12:

[ridgewalker]

At least 30+ years with every type of bow, until I became too injured and disabled to pull one back. Those hunting days are dearly missed.

[double_b]

I got started by my dad. The first bow i had was a Bear Panda, i think it had a 15lb draw weight. I started shooting that probably back in 89 or 90. I started bow hunting when i was twelve. I shot a Oneida Tomcat EXP that had a draw weight adjustment of 45-70 lbs with the power cables being changed. I bought another onieda and now have a AR 32 that i've been using. Theres nothing better than getting into the woods on an early november day.

[symen696]

Shooting since 1986 hunting since Ive been legally aloud. Wow Im only 31 and that just made me feel old. But hey my 3 year old already shoots! Cant wait till someone asks him this same question when hes 30.

[FISH]

i've been shooting since i was 5. started going hunting at 4 ( with my dad) started carrying when i was 12, so 8 years now

[xtrema312]

Started shooting a toy bow at 4. Then a yellow fiberglass one. I got a long bow at a garage sale and shot that a couple years until I cracked it. Then a 35# used Bear recurve that killed a lot of stuff. I used it to start hunting deer at 12. By then I had done a pile of small game bow hunting. Carried a bow all the time all year around and not varmint was safe. I probably didn't go two days in a row year around not shooting from 9-18. Shot under a couple deer early on because no one I know was into bow hunting to explain how low a big old broad head flies compared to a field tip. I figured out about shooting broad heads to practice and moved up to a 45# Bear and killed my first deer at 14 on the ground still hunting. Moved up to a 50# Browning round wheel wood/fiberglass limb one piece compound that I shot instinctive. Took a break from bow hunting for collage. Since then I have hunted 22 straight years with at least one bow kill every year. I shoot Mathews now, but I still have all the old recurves and shoot them some with the same old wood arrows I have had for over 30 years. I still think about going traditional again. Those early years bow hunting with the traditional equipment when I never saw another bow hunter was a special time.

[schoof]

I got my first bow 21 years ago and have been hooked ever since. Gotta love it!!!!!!!