I find it very interesting how each and every one us got into bowhunting. Everyone's road is unique. I just recently played back, in my mind, how and when I got interested in shooting a bow. Well, it was just 4 short years ago that I was browsing the hunting section in a local dept. store when I noticed that they carried compound bows. I picked one up and drew it back with my fingers. I remember being surprised at how hard it was to pull back. Right away I realized that this bow must be very powerful and, I needed to know everything about it and what it could do. In that same hour I bought that bow, some arrows, a target and, a caliper release. It was a Bear Archery "Jackie Bushman" Signature series bow in the RTS variety. I assembled everything(rest,sight and quiver) and commenced firing!! WOW!!! What a rush it was to shoot these arrows, even though I was shooting a bow that was a full 5 inches too long for draw my length and, I was shooting 30 inch arrows (I now know my draw length is 26" ). Needless to say I lost all 3 of my arrows w/out putting so much as scratch on my target. Fast forward a little, okay maybe a lot to when I realized I needed some professional help . Got the help and advice I needed and I have been on a quest for the ultimate thrill ever since. I can still remember the adrenaline rush when my arrow made contact with my target for the first time 8) . It's been 4 years and I still get a thrill every time I hit my target. What I think is unique about the way I got started bowhunting is the fact that no one told me about bowhunting, I'd never known anyone personally that bowhunted and, I had never even watched a bowhunting show. I had no idea what I was getting in to but, boy am I glad I stepped into it. Nowadays hunting with my "bow and arrow" is the only way to go for me. There's no greater thrill in hunting than getting close to my quarry and delivering a kill shot by my hand. What's your story? Who or what influenced you to bowhunt? How long have you been bowhunting? Everyone is different. I just want hear how you got started and what it does for you.
I really think I was destined to be a bowhunter.. I began shooting a bow when I was about 11 yrs old so that would be 1986. I tried miserably to hunt with a Bear recurve for a year in 1988...I could shoot well, just couldn't find a deer for anything..bought a compound in 1990 and have bowhunted every year since except for my last semester in college, which was a fall semester and I was loaded with work. Nobody brought me to bowhunting, it just called to me, that's why I say I was destined to be...
I started bowhunting 3 years ago. Never had shot anything like it except maybe a kids recurve. I had hunted deer since I was probably 10 yrs old. (Shotgun/Rifle) I had always wanted a compound bow for a long time. I bought my first, second, and then third over 2 seasons. I now shoot a Bowtech Allegiance and a Bear Recurve. I like shooting them both. This season will be my first to hunt with the recurve. Since I started bowhunting I have not hunted with a gun since. (Other than taking my kids hunting) All that said, I hunt for the meat, the rush, the experience, and most of all, the peace I find in just being out there. If I did not have the latter, I would stay home. Hunting is/has been always a part of my life. I don't look for that to ever change. It's just a part of my culture that I was raised in. Thank God for parents who spend the time teaching there children about the outdoors.
I started bowhunting about 5 years ago after my first year of deer hunting with a rifle. I really enjoyed deer hunting, but I hated waiting until November to get out in the woods.....so I asked for a bow for my graduation present haha I went out that fall and stuck my first one with a bow and I was hooked. Now I am even debating to just give up gun hunting all together because the bow is just addicting lol
My dad has been a bow hunter since berfore I was born. I remember his old knarley looking cable type compound bows from the early eighties (I guess). I would sit on the floor of a tiny lock on, with him in the seat. He would tie a piece of rope around my waist for a safety belt (see, I invented the Hunter Safety System, lol) in case I fell asleep. Thats when I was 6. Thats when it all started. Two years later I took my 1st deer at eight yrs old, 20G buckshot baby! For the next four yrs. I shot youth recurve's and got a youth compond to practice. Shot my first deer with a bow at age 12 with a pearson bow, it was a big nanny, I gut shot her. We did recover her close to mid-night. YEE-HAW, I'M HOOKED! That was 20yrs ago. Since that time I've only gone through 3 other bows (yes I'm a bow keeper). A PSE Polaris, a Mattews MQ1, and now I shoot a Ross Cardiac. I owe the feeling I get in the bottom of my stomach this time every year to my dad! Guess what, my little boy is SIX this year, right were I started. He's PUMPED! THE TRADITION CONTINUES, YEE HAW!!!!!!!
Awesome stories, fellas. I love everyone's unique introduction into bowhunting. I see your names and now I can identify you with your name because of your stories. I wish that someday I could meet some of you and, hunt with ya' too. Keep the stories comin', fellas!!!
My dad gave me a bow in 1998 or so, a Bear Whitetail Master that I still own. It is a heavy bulky thing, with very little let-off. I didn't even hunt with it until 2000 or 2001. I started using it because a buddy of mine invited me to go bowhunting in the archery season here in VA, and I wanted to get more time hunting. Each time I entered the woods with my bow, the better I felt about my hunting existence. I just felt "something". I hunted for 2 years before I got a shot off at a deer. After I killed my first deer with my bow, I slowly began to phase out gun hunting. I went bow only in 2005 and have not looked back. I love it. By the way Alpha, congratulations on your early season doe, great job. Brett
My dad has been bow hunting for ever, got me into it when i was little...however i didnt really get into it big time, until i was done with college, and football. Now however im addicted and i can share this time in the woods with my father...so its been about 4 years now bowhunting. I have been shooting deer with a gun though since i have been about 10 years old.
Season, seaon, season... ...got sick of hunting only 4 weekends in November...yes I'm stuck being a weekend warrior, as vacation time is extremely scarce in these parts...firearms season being so short. And if you cross the border into Maine where you can't hunt Sundays...like I was doing...well you're down to just 4 Saturdays a year. For the price of a single tag, there's no getting your money's worth there. Archery season runs Sept 15th to Dec 15th in NH...good long season if you're stuck able to hunt weekends only. ...also with the limited real estate I have access to - bowhunting is a little more descreet. Cannot fire within 300' of a residence in NH (unless you own it or have written permission)...and it's difficult NOT to be skirting that 300' limit in the woods I hunt. It had been on my mind for a while, and once I saw the Trading Post clearing out their $550 Parker Trailblazer Outfitter Packages for $350...I got set up. That was three years ago...
I started out gun hunting. To be honest it didn't really tickle my fancy shooting something 75-100 yards away. Nothing against gun hunters at all, just not for me. I was immediately drawn to the challenge of bowhunting and loved the up close and personal aspect of it. So I grabbed a bow and pretty much got myself into it. Everything about the style of bowhunting is completely different and I love it. 21 years later I don't take a gun into the woods during shotgun season here. Like Greg MO said, when you see a deer gun hunting the hunt is pretty much over...... when you see a deer bowhunting the hunt has just begun.
I was pretty much born into hunting as I would sit with my Dad in the deer stand starting at around age 5. I obviously started out gun hunting because I wasn't strong enough to pull the required weight to bow hunt. However, I've been shooting a bow since about age 7 through our local 4-H archery program. I absolutely loved shooting my bow whether it was competitively or just having fun with the other 4-H members. I ended up actually hunting with my bow at age 14, and had a rough start by losing the first deer I shot. I was pretty frustrated but didn't let it keep me down and I was back in the stand the next weekend. The next weekend I shot a 9-point basket rack that only my it 20 yards after the shot (who ever said you need to pull 70 lbs and have an arrow that traveled 330+ fps to kill a deer?). I was pulling 45 lbs and who knows how fast my arrow went. I got down and walked to my dad's stand to tell him I'd shot a buck, but didn't let him know it was down in sight. I decided to have some fun with him and let him walk up on the deer with me, not knowing that I knew exactly where he was down at. From that point on I've been hooked on bowhunting and would much rather prefer to hunt with my bow. I still go out during the gun seasons whether it be with my shotgun or muzzleloader, but it still doesn't get my blood pumping as much as bowhunting. I can't wait until I have kids and can introduce them to hunting as well!
I grew up as a kid obsessing over anything that had to do with whitetails. I didn't really have anyone to take me when I was really young, and my parents didn't trust me to hunt alone with a gun when I started at 11 years old. I was allowed to hunt with the bow though at that age, so that's how I started. I didn't have anyone to teach me other than what I learned from magazines I could beg/buy/borrow from others. Lots of trial and error, that's for sure. Somehow I managed to kill a pile of dinks and slick heads though in those first several years.
My cousins who i look up too were really big into bowhunting. I got my bow for my 16th birthday and havnt looked back.
My brother is the one who first got me into bowhunting three years ago,But since then the master has been over taken Just kidding bro, don't come hurt me cause i can't run away.
After buying our property in 2006 (16 acres) I got the urge to hunt. I decided on bowhunting because it seemed challenging. Having never hunted before I took to the internet and gained most of my knowledge from HNI and here. I bought a bow and after lots of practice went out a few times that year. I had deer near my stands which was very encouraging and really gave me confidence that I could do this. In 2007 I shot my first doe. Also met some of the guys from here and have gone hunting with them which is almost as good as hunting itself. To say the least I'm hooked ! I found it's never too late to try something new....started hunting at 43 !
My neighbor is a bow hunter, and now my mentor. after looking at all the cool pics of deer ( and other wildlife) i thought that has to be such an adrenaline rush to get up close and personal. Have been gun huntinting for 20+ years. when i told my mother last year that i wanted to start bow hunting she gave me her old bow, as she is not hunting with a bow anymore (62yrs. old) So after buying a lone wolf climer and hittin the woods last year, and seeing so much of nature i was hooked even though i didn't get to harvest anything in range of the bow. Now i take the family out with me scouting and setting cams and attractants out in woods. This year i have a new bow and another climber, summit ultimate viper ss. I'm still wondering why i didn't start earlier in life, iv'e been depriving myself of a wonderful experience.
I just thought it looked awesome to shoot a bow, so when I turned 14 I asked for a bow for my christmas present, with the intent of bowfishing with it. Got a browning youth bow (still my bowfishin rig), and hunting came as an after thought with it. I gun hunted, and began bowfishing....then season rolled around and it was like a lightbulb went off, HEY I can hunt with this thing too. As with a lot of my hunting, I had to just get myself into it and learn it on my own. Still in that process with most of it! :D
My sisters boyfriend took me out into the stand with him and we saw 25 deer in two hours in southern Illinois. We came back to camp and my sister and girlfriend both stated that it is not always like this. We went out again that after noon and same thing. The next day for morning and evening, guess what, same thing! After that I was hooked for life!
I gun hunted for 2 years with my dad who wasn't a bowhunter. My brother bowhunted for one season so I had a bow to use and I practiced with it. After school almost everynight I would see this 9 pointer cross in my back yard. I asked my dad if I could hunt him. He got me my tag and I had to wait 3 days to validate the tag. On the fourth day I shot the buck. The rest is history.:D
I got into bowhunting because I wanted to see the animals up close, and the challenge of getting in close was something I wanted to try. I had no idea that meant I'd be watching a deer straight below me through the mesh of the treestand, on my first bowhunt . After that, I was hooked. My cousin gave me my first bow, an old Indian compound when I was so young that I couldn't even pull it back. It sat around forever, with a bad string, no sight, etc.... I really wish I would have started bowhunting at that age. Glad I found my passion eventually though.
