how did you get started in archery

[bob1961]

i started archery hunting when i was 21 in 1982 in N.J. with my 1st deer as a 9 point buck....



got him after only 12 hours hunting over 4 days after work ....now after 28 years hunting i have 54 deer to my credit with only 10 by bullet, rest by arrows........bob

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[TPM]

The first time I had a chance to shoot a bow I was about 7 or 8 years old. I was in Cubs and while at Camp Everton we got the opportunity to use the archery range. I loved it and did okay at it. One evening at camp we had a turkey dinner. Every one in our group had to sit down at the table but no one would get served dinner until some one from the table went out to the archery range and shot a paper turkey target. I got picked and had no trouble hitting the target so I was a bit of a hero at the dinner table that night.
I managed to talk my parents into getting me my own fiberglass bow which I used into my teens. When I was in high school we had an opportunity to do some archery. My school actually had an indoor rifle range (ya, those were the days) that also got used for bows. We actually had an archery unit as part of gym class! By then I was pretty focused on rifle shooting and I gave up the archery for a number of years. Eventually I bought a PSE Mach 4 which I still have. I never gave crossbows a second thought until Vix said she wanted one a few years ago. As she mentioned, she picked up her Vixen at the Sportsman Show in Toronto but I still had no interest in getting one for myself until I finally got around to shooting hers at the range. I fell in love with it after the first shot and told her I would pick one up on the way home if we had the money! A few months later on my birthday she surprised me with my Phoenix. I knew I had a lot to learn about crossbows so I went to the Excal website and found they had a forum. Life hasn't been the same since.

[RDPress]

i got started a few years ago when my hunting rifle accidentally misfired 3 times and shot my exwife i still wanted to hunt so took up bowhunting i find it very calming

I thought you got started by a fireside...shortly after inventing fire.

[munch]

i got started a few years ago when my hunting rifle accidentally misfired 3 times and shot my exwife i still wanted to hunt so took up bowhunting i find it very calming

I thought you got started by a fireside...shortly after inventing fire.

ryan i been watching this since i posted that remark can't believe no one wanted to touch that one with a 10 foot poll.you either have a good scene of humor or more nerve than dick tracy with a shotgun
i did take up bow hunting very early in life .like 6 years old with my brothers and willow limbs and goldenrod for arrows.then gave up until maybe 25 and bought a barnett wildcat. never shot anything the first 3 or 4 years so gave up again for a few years.in my eary 30s bougth an excal and shot a couple deer with it then on to compound .can't say how many ive shot now but i think my share and by far many more bow kills than with a gun.could care less if i ever gun hunt now i do it but only for the sake of hunting with family and freinds that are not archers

[agingcrossbower]

I started when I was 7 or 8. I had a bow with suction cups on the arrows. Great fun. My really big aunt broke the bow. Not over that yet. My brother had a stick bow which I played with. Not much power gus we could'nt pull it back far. In high school I made fast friends with a guy named Terry and we started hunting seriously. The first deer I shot was on Christmas Eve and I remember I had to eat at the supper that was prepared for us. Then my brother and I we went out to track it and found it right away. I remember breaking down crying because it was my first hard earned deer with the bow and my Dad passed away the year before and I so wanted to show him. Odd, but it still chokes me up not having him there to share in it. After that I was hooked. Nothing else compared. Gun hunting for deer seemed like cheating after a while. I just loved the hunt.

[mitch]

I was 54 years hold wen my friend keep asking me to go in is tree stand with is cross bow ( i shoot it a few time before) the second evening in is stand I shoot my first deer with a crossbow and I was hooked.

[BBDOWN]

I got my excalibur 3 years ago, I was tired of hunting rifle it last a week,bow last two and ahalf months and it just me and my 12yr old son.

[RDPress]

i got started a few years ago when my hunting rifle accidentally misfired 3 times and shot my exwife i still wanted to hunt so took up bowhunting i find it very calming

I thought you got started by a fireside...shortly after inventing fire.

ryan i been watching this since i posted that remark can't believe no one wanted to touch that one with a 10 foot poll.you either have a good scene of humor or more nerve than dick tracy with a shotgun
i did take up bow hunting very early in life .like 6 years old with my brothers and willow limbs and goldenrod for arrows.then gave up until maybe 25 and bought a barnett wildcat. never shot anything the first 3 or 4 years so gave up again for a few years.in my eary 30s bougth an excal and shot a couple deer with it then on to compound .can't say how many ive shot now but i think my share and by far many more bow kills than with a gun.could care less if i ever gun hunt now i do it but only for the sake of hunting with family and freinds that are not archers

A very good sense of humour...you need to have it in order to laugh at yourself. My wife also advises that yes, I'm too 'cheeky' for my own good sometimes, but, I don't look good in yellow, so don't be looking for me to sport a trenchcoat and fedora in the aforementioned colour anytime soon.

I hear Tim and Monica have a really cool blue and silver wig, though.

I'm much like you. I could give up on hunting with a gun altogether, very easily. However, since I have a soft place in my heart for things that go 'boom', at least pieces of paper will shudder in fear for the forseeable future. There's just something about the mystical flight of the arrow that sucks everyone in.

[vixenmaster]

In my yrs of shooting Bows the Longbow i can't remember brand name, next was a Red Wing Hunter recurve, Bear Black Bear recurve, Damon Howatt Hi-Speed & Super Diablo, Jenning Forked Lightning, York Excaliber, Hoyt, Marten Warthog, Darton SL 50, Proline Point Blank. Then started my Excals E'cet 165, Phoenix, E'cet 200, Vixen, Phoenix. At this time all i have left is the vixen! Its been some great yrs owning & shooting Bows when i became disabled i sold the Super Diablo & Red Wing Hunter the only 2 recurves i have kept thru the yrs. I do have a regret in that i sold my E'cet 165 to buy the then new 05 Phoenix & the E'cet 165 was as good if'en not better than the Phoenix. Live n learn

[savage]

Long hunting heritage in our family, my grandfather grew up in Kansas, in his era, if you have an unsuccessful hunt, you went hungry. Needless to say he was an excellent teacher.
My dad was a little my laid back, not having to hunt for food, but enjoyed the outdoors greatly. We fished, target practiced and loved the time outdoors. When I turned 10 we went on our first archery hunt around the Mio Michigan area. I was able to take a nice doe with my Bear 28# recurve and have never looked back.
I think I've had every bow out there, a Darton Trailmaster was the first compound. I shot around 1000 arrows a week, when leagues are going. Gets kind of boring shooting spots.
Actually when back to a long bow, for the challenge of shooting. Archery hunting was kind of loosing its place in my life until I bought my Vortex last year. Man I love my Excalibur!

[DuckHunt]

I grew up hunting, but never with archery. I had a few cheap fiberglass bows growing up but never considered hunting with one. I picked up a cheap Bear Kodiak compound bow ($99) at Kmart in 1993 and only got one chance to hunt with it that year due to military duties. I really got into bow hunting in 1995 when I got stationed in Maryland.

Between 1995 and 2002 I took four deer with my Bear bow and seven with a slightly better Browning Bridger Plus. I took a few years off till I picked up my Exomax in 2006 due to a shoulder injury once Virginia legalized crossbows. Since 2006 I have taken sixteen deer with my ExoMax and five more with my Diamond 'The Rock' compound bow that I picked up back in 2009.

I love bow hunting. Since 2006 I've killed more deer with archery than with firearms. I really enjoy the early season and getting close to whitetails.

DuckHunt