Your first bow

[MULESKINNER]

Lets hear some stories about your first (bow that is).
How old were you?
What type?
How much $?
Do you still own it?

Mine was Sally. She was just 17 and we...ooops, I said BOW didn't I.

I got my first bow when I was 19. It was a Whitetail II. I worked for Spiveys Sporting Goods in Lexington and bought it for $45.00.
It was the loudest, heaviest, most obnoxious thing I ever shot, but I shot that thing until the upper limb cracked and still kept shooting it (you would be amazed what electrical tape can do. After you cover it up with cheap camo limb covers, it's like the crack isn't really there). I had every accesorie known to the bow hunting community on that thing and a few of my own "original" creations as well.

I never killed a deer with it, but I sure tried like heck. The first season after I bought that bow I only missed a total of 14 days hunting all season. I finally sold it to a guy who saw it in the back of my truck at a gas station for $30.00. I had to guide a hunt the next morning and needed the gas money. Talk about a catch 22. I went huntin the next day anyway (or nature watching I guess you could call it) and saw the biggest buck of the season at only 30 yards with no bow. My client was 400 yards away and didn't see a thing all day. I guess I kinda stunk as a guide back then.

Every now and then I get nostalgic for that old thing, but then I remember packing it up those hills in Nelson County and listening to those cross bars clanging and remember why I never got a deer with it.

Lets hear some stories boys.
L A T E R . . .

[BuckBuster]

I received my first bow when I was about 6-7 years old. I believe I received it for my birthday or maybe christmas, which would have been in Nov. or Dec. It was a fiberglass (stemmler?) brand stick bow 15#, which I still have today. I shot a many milk jug with it. I guess that's why I started out shooting a compound instinctively, even tho I've gone on to using sights. I loved shooting my bow and still do today. I guess that's the cherokee coming out in me.

[Marcus]

My dad bought me a whitetail II when I was 19. Deer were just beginning to be seen around home here in Perry Co. He got it used but it was set up and ready to go. It fit perfect! It was a heavy beast to lug up these hills. I practiced and practiced and felt ready to hunt when season came in. The first week, I had 7 deer under my stand before daylight walk by and a litle spike around 9 a.m. I felt like I was on top of the world. I was shaking so bad I couldn't even draw my bow back. I wasn't a bit nervous when I saw those 7 before daylight, but it came down to crunch time and I got sick all over. I had to hang the bow and hold my breath to calm myself down. Needless to say, I never even got drawn back to shoot. A couple of months later I got some time off from college and hunted 28 straight days and got my first 9 pointer. He had a 10 inch spread with 3 inch tines. I thought I had taken a monster though. I saw him coming toward me up a slow elevating point and I was sitting on a stump in a saddle. He turned and looked back. I drew back, took about half a breath and boinged an arrow right under his jaw and broke his neck. Let me explain; when I released I was on the boiler-maker, but he turned his head and dropped 15 inches by the time the arrow hit him. I never thought I'd see the day I could take deer off my own property like that. I've had the fever ever since.

[KYhunter]

Mine was a recurve- a Bear "Grizzly". Paid about $50 I think. Missed a few deer with it. A friend of an old girlfriend talked me into selling it to him for $25. About a month later he expired in a motor vehicle at age 17. That, unfortunetly, is how I remember my first bow.

[Highbow]

My first bow was a hickory stick with a string that my dad cut for me.
I shot small cane stalks and iron weeds from it. I was one tuff kid playing cowboys and indians. The first bow I ever bought for myself was a ole Jennings Forked Lightning.

[Boss Gobbler]

I got my first hunting bow when I was 13. It was a whitetail 1 bear. My uncle gave it to me. After two more bear bows I got smart and went to golden eagle.

[MULESKINNER]

Keep em comin' fellas.
Until bow season starts, this is all I got.
L A T E R . . .

[longbow]

My first bow was a bear blacktail I gave around 70 bucks for it. I can't seem to remember my age for some reason<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> Only a handfull of bowhunters in my area at that time. One of the best bowhunter that I've known learned me to shoot,later that year he lost his life in a hunting accident during gun season. Good topic Muleskinner brings back lots of memories. Lot of changes in bows and archery since then.

[spurrs]

I had a bear that my brother had gave me when I was 16.I remeber the sights had six pins and I had them all set.Even had 1 set for 100yds,I could hit the target way back there but was'nt accurate.Also had a hot shot release man I've busted my mouth with that release.Had about 12 arrows and I think all were different shaft sizes.Miss those good ole days!

[GSP]

My 1st was like Highbows. A genuine hickory stick with mason twine. I had better arrows, I used branches off wild cherries. They make good straight shafts. I them was given a recurve fiberglass 40# that I still have and shot fish, stumps, everything I could find, even killed a groundhog with it. Moved up to a 50# Indian Archery that cost $35 new (1976). Like Spurrs, I didn't own 2 arrows alike. Killed my 1st deer with a bow with it anyway.

[P. Beyer]

....A Bear Polar II, I believe it was. Man was it ugly, Heavy and extremely long. I shot that bow for a few years and became quiet proficient, well as good as I could be at 13 or 14, never took a deer with that bow, but I still have it around here somewhere. i actually learned alot shooting that bow........<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

[Ky Headhunter]

My first hunting bow was an Indian Archery Timberwolf. Got it for my 13th birthday. 50# non-adjustable draw weight. I think it has 40% or 50% let-off, but since I drew it 4 or 5 inches short of what it was set for (30") I couldn't tell. Still have it in the basement almost 16 years later. Did not kill a deer with it, but killed plenty of cans in the back yard.

Only guy I knew who bowhunted lived down the road, but he was a well-known poacher, so Mom & Dad made sure I didn't go to him for any advice. For years I thought the only places you could buy arrows was K-Mart or Bowhunters Discount Warehouse catalog.

I envy folks who were taught about bowhunting & archery from the start. I'm STILL unlearning bad habits. But it's always been fun.

[MULESKINNER]

KY headhunter,
I feel for ya.
I am the only one in my family (both mom and dads side) that hunts.
Out of 16 aunts and uncles, 36 cousins, all four grandparents and my immediate family, I'm the only one.
I learned everything I know from doing it wrong first. You should have heard me out in the deer woods the first time I got hold of a grunt call. I promise there wasn't a deer within a mile after I got through blowing that thing.
12 years later...still learning.
L A T E R . . .

[Ky Headhunter]

hehe, I'll do you one better... me trying to put up a hang-on treestand for the first time. Somebody with a camcorder coulda made some money from those video bloopers shows on TV.

Must've tried every broadhead on the market back then, thinking "this'll be the one that doesn't fly like a bottle rocket!" I thought bow tuning was oiling the axles so they didn't squeak so bad. Probably a good thing I didn't get shots at deer back then.

Have gotten pretty decent at the archery part, but still need lots of work on the "finding deer" part.

Looked at the old Timberwolf this morning, but was afraid to touch it. Best I can remember, it's still got the original string!