When I was 8 or 9 I had a dollar and back then I was rich. One could go to the five & dime and get lots of goodies for a dollar. I bought this wooden bow and the arrows and stuff that came with it. I played and played with that, not knowing anything about “bows and arrows” other than the feel good when I hit what I was shooting at.

One day I was snooping around the neighbors garden, actually more interested in the raspberries than anything, when this cottontail hopped out not 5 feet from me. I drew back and hit him and killed him with that little bow. I was hooked.

Then, like a lot of us, I went away from archery for the most part for a long time (til 25ish) then a work acquaintance had a Bear recurve and I’m still hooked 40+ years later.

I still remember that rabbit and being 10′ tall as I carried it home for supper.

Mine started when I was 9 or 10 with a friend and his dads bear take down. I worked at picking up sticks and making slash piles for 2 months to get enough money together for a small glass long bow and fiberglass arrows from the local hardware store. Shot it until I lost all the arrows, went to get more, but the hardware store couldn’t or “wouldn’t” order in arrows only at that time. 😥

Plus my dads opinion back then, (being the meat hunter he was) was that bows were not good enough to hunt with since you had to get so close. It was more important to feed 4 growing boys so he used an old ’06 for deer and elk, a 16 gauge Ithaca pump for ducks and geese, he did use a sling shot to take grouse though, to fill our freezer.

I sure missed that feeling when I was flinging arrows in the woods behind the house and didn’t know it until….

Archery interest was rekindled when my son decided he wanted to hunt with his bow he was shooting for 4H archery.:D

Trad “obsession” was rekindled one year after buying my compound and continued to feel something just wasn’t right, then I went to the ITBS rendezvous in Iowa, it was like I was 10 again!! I went ahead and bought my first real long bow and never looked back, that was 12 years ago, and more bows than my wife thinks I need, I just love shooting again! :D:D:twisted:

Wow what a revelation about the great feelings from my youth actually brought me back to the long bow:shock: