What is the story behind the reason you got into archery?

To keep it short and simple, I was forced into primitive methods of hunting, because of mistakes I made while I was young and dumb (3 DWIs). It sounds stupid, but I got caught up on that 3 time offender clause. I can't own any firearms, and can only use bow or muzzleloader. I like the challenge anyway! ;-)

 

My brother used to be hardcore about bow hunting, and really wanted me to get into it. So for my birthday one year he took me on a boar hunt in TX, and he also got me setup with a new at the time Parker. It's what he and I do together to bond, I have a lot of great memories out in the woods with my older brother.

Bow hunting kind of ruined gun hunting for me, I just can't find it as fun anymore. Not as much of a challenge IMO.

 

I started with a compound when I was seven I believe with just a finger tab and my dads old aluminum arrows. I didn't shoot or hunt after I was 13 for about 4 years due to losing property and my father losing interest in hunting. Got back into when I was 17 and when I shot my first spike on my own on state land. After I had my fix I have not dropped my bow since.

 

Started with the gun but as I grew up and times changed around my part of Minnesota, archery became the only way to go. Too much competition during gun season. Too dangerous during gun season. Longer season. No brainer.....

 

I was always a gun hunter, My father in law has been bow hunting for 30-40 years with his brothers, they have a week long bow camp on the national forest. They have been doing the camp for 37 years so it's a big tradition and kind of sacred to them. When my wife went to their house the night we got engaged (I asked permission, but the ring hadn't come in yet when I asked her dad, so her mom wanted to see it) they decided to to take us out to dinner to celebrate. In the truck on the way to the restaurant her mom who I had always called her Mrs. Last Name looked at me and said "you can call me mom now" We all laughed and we all looked at her dad who I called Mr. Last Name and he said " you can call me First Name, but you can come on the bow camp now" I then looked on craigslist for a while until I found a good used bow, he helped me set it up and getting in the stand and having deer come closer than I thought was possible and feeling the adrenaline. I've been ADDICTED ever since

 

Well i just started..recently this summer i purchased my bow and got my hunting license this will be my first season but im starting because i moved to a heavily wooded area with a lot of deer population and thought it would be cool

 

It IS cool, congrats! And Good Luck!

 

My dad has always been big into deer hunting and hunting in general for as long as I can remember so I was born and grew up in it. Dad started taking me along while I was 4 or so because I clearly recall going with him well before kindergarten.

Got my first bear compound before I had a bike, youth bow that I have to this day, think the draw weight was maybe 20 pounds, but it shot well enough to kill squirrels and rabbits. Jeeze, I think I was maybe 6 or 7. Same christmas I got a little battery powered motorcycle, and a BB gun, lol.
Remember family spending time over hunting seasons at my Grandmas (dads mother) with uncles and their families for hunting camps basically, up until I was 12 when we moved to our own farm. By then I was strong enough I took one of dads old recurves and compounds and started bowhunting on my own at home. Was an avid archery and gun hunter until three years ago and only had time or desire to rifle hunt and bird hunt. For whatever reason the archery bug hit me again hard this year so got back into it and decided to try to make time for it. My cousins are the same way, just grew up in it...I didn't realize how sort of unusual it was to be that integrated into hunting until I was almost through grade school.

 

I used to watch bowhunting shows when I was younger so that's how I got interested.

 

My father in law is very much into archery and now that I am done with grad school, I have the time to devote to hunting besides the week of shotgun season Ohio allows.

Its also a new and different skillset to learn and master. Challenges are fun.

 

An odd combination of Hunger Games and Darrell Dixon from the Walking Dead.

I shot an el cheapo fiberglass recurve bow when I was a teenager with the hopes of proving skill and responsibility to my parents and them agreeing to let me hunt. Didn't happen. A term in the Air Force, got married, college, career, kid. Hunting just seemed a selfish pursuit so I never really pursued reviving the dream.

Last fall my teenage daughter started asking about deer hunting out of blue. Needless to say she didn't need to ask me twice. January we bought our bows and have been practicing. Right now we are practicing every day until opening day. She's enrolled in the September hunter safety course.

She did fess up that Hunger Games and Daryl got her thinking about it and was encouraged to try it by a couple girls she plays softball with that also hunt. Thanks to my kid, her friends and some pop culture, my dream is alive. Since it's more or less my daughters idea my wife isn't really complaining about how much it's costing...yet.

 

I grew up shooting bows in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. We had a kid's compound bow and a really old fiberglass recurve at home as well. I finally got to hunt late in high school with my Uncle but it was only shotgun. Saw a deer and totally missed it (was using a Mossberg 16ga. adjustable choke). I always wanted to bow hunt because I loved archery as a kid and I thought it was cool. Now I've got a job that pays well enough, the time to practice and go out, and the land to hunt on so I took the course, got the bow and I expect to be doing this for the rest of my life. I've already gotten my buddy into it (we were both in scouts and such he just never got a bow either) and I've been asked by several people if I will teach them to shoot and if they can come out with me hunting this season. The investment is well worth the reward. Even thus far and we're not even into the season yet.