Call it what you will

[JEVANS]

#2662

New Topic! Who taught you to Bowhunt?

My Uncle Robby and my Dad are as talented a woodsman as you will ever find. My Uncle went to be with the Lord earlier this year; He called him home at 49 years old, and I have been thinking alot about him, as you might imagine. When he was 16 he went up to Alaska spending years learning the country and bowhunting. He took Caribou, Grizzly Bear, Moose, Elk , Whitetail, and many other during that time. He and my Dad taught me the concelment and stalking techniques that have produced a successful bowhunter. They taught me how to make wooden arrows and how to shoot instinctive. Many of Ashby’s theory’s were being put into practice in my Dad’s garage in the late 70s and early 80s.

My Dad is the best shot I have ever seen with a recurve. At a turkey shoot in Harper, TX he hit 3 consecutive turkeys in the head at 30 yards.

My Uncle was not as good a natural shot, but he knew it, and became a master of concelment and stalking. I remember a time when I was 10 years old and we were hunting whitetail with our recurves. We were laying down in a thicket, near a trail. Thinking back, the wind must have been perfect because two does came down the trail. One of the does stepped on my leg and spooked as she walked by. I can remember holding my breath, thinking “she is going to step on me!” It was a once in a liftime experince, I could smell her right before she stepped on me! I have never been closer to a deer. I can remeber Uncle Rob telling me that “if you know how to hide, you can get that close”; what a great lesson that day was.

I posted a story about my Dad’s tracking ability in the Blood Trailing Post. I think it’s worth a read.

Who influenced you? What stories do you have to share? I think this will be a great inspiration for the season and generation to come.

Thanks and God Bless, Jason Evans

[SteveMcD]

#11797

Jevans… you are blessed. I was moved by both of your posts. Thank you for sharing your stories.

Bowhunting and hunting I really did not have a mentor. My father was no stranger to the bow or the gun, but swore off hunting after WWII. Given that he knew enough to teach me how to shoot properly and be safe. And we spent all our weekends either in the woods on lakes and streams fishing, or deep sea fishing, since Dad and I still loved the outdoors. I learned to hunt from Field & Stream, Fur-Fish & Game, Fred Bear’s Field Notes, Pennsylvania Game News and other publications, and from my peers. Experience is a tough teacher, but a good one.

All The Best!
Steve

[Todd Smith]

#16328

Jason,

How nice for you… No one in my family hunted. I don’t know where I got the bug. But I’ve had it all my life. I hope you have a chance to pass on what you’ve learned. Keep the tradition alive… todd

[Patrick]

#16904

100% my dad. He really is the best whitetail hunter I know. He really took the time to learn their behaviors, etc., not just dump a pile of bait and wait like so many people do.

[aeronut]

#19453

I don’t really know what got me interested in archery. All my family hunted and fished but nobody shot bows. I asked for a bow and arrow set one Christmas and actually got it. I was the happiest kid in Kansas. I set up a hay bale and started practicing and a week later shot my first rabbit. That was 43 years ago and I still have that bow.

Since then I’ve had three nephews get into bow hunting and a couple of cousins and I try to pass along anything that I have learned through the years. I mainly learned the hard way, on my own.

Dennis

[PagosaBow]

#21375

Very moving story. I enjoyed it.

[Rocks]

#22558

Some great stories here, just brought back many memories.

My Dad, although he had given up hunting about the time I was born, taught me to shoot the 22 at an early age. He was a stickler for firearms safety and taught me well in that regard. Growing up on the farm one of the “fun” chores was shooting gophers, most of it was with the 22, but when I asked for a bow he obliged and got me a cheap fiberglass bow, which I became a pretty good shot with, my record was 32 gophers in a day with it, that was in my early teens.

We lived in a bow hunting only zone, so in my late teens I progressed to a compound bow to chase the resident herd of mulies around, and learned to bowhunt mainly on my own through experience.

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