When & Why?

[shylopolito]

When and why did yall start bow huntin?

When did you take your first buck?

What were some of your memories from then?

[Switchback]

For me it is and was the challange....Nothing like the spot n stock with a happy ending

[Gr8 White Jr]

When I was 14 I drew my 1st big game tag, a muzzleloader cow elk tag. While scouting for my elk hunt my dad and I were seeing little muledeer bucks every where just milling around without a care in the world. I looked at the hunting regulations and realized this was all during archery deer season and over half of the bucks that we saw were all within archery range. From that point on I started bugging my parents asking for a bow. A little over a year later, Christmas came and I got my 1st bow, a PSE Nova. It became my passion as I would race home from school everyday to shoot in the backyard. I would literally shoot hundreds of arrows a day. The next August found me up north in the pines chasing muledeer. I ended up killing my 1st deer a few weeks after my 16th birthday on the last day of the season with 10 minutes of light left. It was a little 2x3 mulie buck in velvet. I couldn't have been more happy! From that point on I was hooked! Today, 11 years later archery is still my favorite way of hunting and my passion in life as I have taken more big game with a bow than any other weapon.

 

I think the best thing about archery hunting is that the odds are against you so you get to experience the stalk/ hunt over and over again. On a rifle hunt when you stalk up on an animal it is a lot easier to get into range. Once you do, boom and its all over(not always that easy). With archery you stalk in close, your heart is pumping as your adrenaline is maxed out. You get that addicting rush and 9 times out of 10 you get busted and the deer take off. Then you get to do it all over again, and again and again. All the failed attempts makes it that much more sweet when you finally connect!

 

 

-Tracy

[ghost hunter]

A friend who bowhunted asked me to go with. After seeing some deer that weren't all spooked and then I realized that there was no one else out there but the two of us, I made the switch.

 

But the biggest reason, other than the solitude, is the challenge. You don't have to work too hard to get a 300 yr+ shot, but try and get one under 40. Now that's saying something.

 

Been going for longer than I'd like to admit. (Hint) My first bow was a Bear 4 wheeled, 50# killing machine (lol) and yes, I still have it.

[HEADACHE]

Started bowhunting when I was in my Freshman year of college. Had nobody to teach me and the internet was brand new so I had quite a learning curve to overcome . . .

 

 

 

Took 6 years before I shot my first buck! He is a dink 3x3 in velvet and hanging above my head right now. super trophy to me.

 

 

 

I remember shooting AT my first buck and feeling my knees go weak and wondering what the heck that was all about!!!

 

I remember missing six or seven bucks due to mechanical errors and fletching issues and you name it! I learned it all the hard way it seemed.

 

I remember accidentally sneaking up to about three yards from a huge old black bear one morning and all I had on me was my bow! (pre "you can pack a pistol days") I was afraid to breath or blink.

 

I remember hunting every waking moment of this one season and never saw one single buck period! I bet I hiked 70 miles in the mountains. . . would do it all over again too.

 

I remember missing this one large 4x4 buck who was perfectly broadside, looking away from me, and was only about twelve yards away. . . my heart was beating so fast I could barely draw breath! My old PSE Elite was set at an amazing 110 lbs and I jerked that sucker back like it was nothing! I bet I missed him by over a foot! ha ha that one still haunts me to this day.

I shot my first buck at 43 yards and he was standing about 200 yards away from where I missed this 12 yarder ha ha ha.

 

I remember talking with my grandpa about how exciting and perfect archery hunting mule deer was and how he loved to hear about every adventure. We relished those stories.

 

God willing I will have lots more memories in the years to come.

 

[Jcubed]

I bought my first bow this year and have yet to hunt deer with it. I'll be tagging along on a friends archery hunt and may buy my own tag. Don't know if the skills are good enough yet to take the bow into the field. I would hate to would an animal because I jumped into it too quickly...

 

That being said what attracted me to bow hunting was the length of the season and the fact that it's an excuse for me to get out into God's country more and learn about everything it has to offer.

 

 

 

[bowsniper]

After many years of trying (no shots taken) for a long range buck, I finally rifled killed a mulie at 565 yards. The next day I bought a bow, and haven't used a gun for hunting since. I was extremely lucky and killed a 108 coues on my first archery hunt, and was hooked. All my bucks since then have been smaller, but I just can't stop! My memories of that hunt are peeing in pants!

 

Mark

[MRL1984]

In all honesty I started tagging along as soon as I could walk during archery hunts with my dad. Best memories from the youth was at about 4 falling asleep in dads camo jacket while he went on a stock and waking up to him freaking out that he couldnt find me. Another great memory was getting to see a great mule deer tending the heard of does. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 and didn't really understand why the buck was standing on his back legs behind the doe.

 

I had one of the little red bows for kids that came with 3 wood arrows at some point and would shoot bails of hay in the backyard. Got a bow that was legal to hunt with around 10 or 11 and chased javelina around a little bit, but never connected. Got a little more serious when I was about 16 and roundabout traded a mini 14 for a Matthews MQ32 which I still use.

 

I like many others have not connected with any deer, but could fill a book with unbelievable stories of blown stocks and missed opportunities. Thats how it goes when you spot and stalk. One day it will all come around, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

[ibowhuntaz]

Started when I was 11 years old, had hunted with my Father as a observer for a few years before that. This was Indiana early 70's. I remember the feeling of being left alone in my blind before daylight and watching my dad walk off into the darkness. How every sound was amplified and how I couldnt wait for enough light to be able to see. I had a recurve and shot fingers, only had 3 arrows as I remember and 2 that matched. I was hooked right from the beginning, the excitement when animals were seen was and still is a rush. I took my first deer, a doe, when I was 14. Made a terrible shot but was able to still seal the deal. It was a feeling of pride when my family and I sat down and had meals that came from that doe. I think it is a feeling that only hunters come to realize, and being a 14 year old kid it was extra special. Its still a great feeling today.

Ron

[cmc]

When and why did yall start bow huntin?

 

Over 16 years ago.

 

When did you take your first buck?

 

I have yet to kill a deer with a bow & arrow.

 

What were some of your memories from then?

 

All those close calls playing cat and mouse with all those deer trying to spot and stalk them. I'd love to live them all over again year after year. What a rush, what a blast!

[standman]

I started bowhunting when I was twelve, and killed my first deer in Utah, a doe when I was 14. I was started on archery by my dad when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Archery has always been a part of my life just like my dad. He was one of the original founding fathers of the ABA. Now here I am 35 years old and 25 archery deer later, and I get as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning when archery season rolls around. It is just too bad I have to wait till January. Thanks to my dad, I have a passion that I hope will last forever.

 

Brian

[krp]

I've told this story before but not here. I guess it's time. Started archery in 1983.

 

First a guy at work asked if I wanted a bow he been given and he would never use it, I said ok because there was an archery deer season that ran from thanksgiving until the end of January. Quail season ran from Oct. to Feb, and I had a lot of close encounters with deer during that time, so it was worth trying. I knew zilch about bows or bow hunting and had no idea what I had been given, except it was a bow with wheels on it. This had to have been one of the first attempts at making a compound bow because it was all one piece, all wood like a recurve with wheels on the end. It had no adjustments possible, about 40% letoff, and probably a 30 in. draw ( I have a 28 in. draw). I didn't know what any of that meant then, just bought some arrows and started shooting. Had a lot of fun that year chasing deer in the desert, never came close to getting one.

Second was, my brother's ‘brother-in-law’, came down from the state of Washington, and worked with us doing concrete work. He would tell me stories of shooting elk with a bow, I was hooked. Back then bow hunting wasn't as popular and the draw odds were like 60%, I thought, why not, and sent in an application and was drawn on my first attempt. I bought a new bow, a Golden Eagle brand, because that's what my " brother's, Brother-in-law " shot, they were made in Washington or Oregon and were the Mathews of that time. I practiced and practiced, learned a lot about fitting and tuning a bow through trial and error, and actually became a pretty good shot. When I told my hunting buddies what I was doing, they said I was crazy, no way would I be able to hunt elk with a bow, of course I had huge doubts myself.

There weren't a lot of elk calls available but there were some, I got one that had a reed inside and the harder you blew the higher the pitch, it actually was good call. I had heard elk bugling before, when trout fishing in the fall. I just didn't know what those extremely loud birds, waking me up in morning, really were. I had never seen a live elk in my life.

The hunt finally arrived, I was excited and nervous, this was my first solo hunt. I drove up the morning before and setup camp just off the main dirt road in the area. Around noon I decided to drive through some areas that I had seen some sign in while scouting, and no I had still never seen an elk yet. I'm driving on a road that bisects a steep slope, going slow looking downhill then uphill back and forth. I was looking uphill when something just seemed wrong, I backed up and could see a wishbone shape sticking above a log. After a few seconds a 4 pt bull stands up and slowly walks uphill out of sight. I've seen my first elk and Wow, am I excited! There's my bull, he was only about 70 yds away and not even scared, I'm going to get him in the morning.

I drive back to camp, grab my fishing pole and head for the lake a couple miles down the road. After fishing awhile I decide to get back and make dinner before it's dark. Not far from the lake I see a spike eating just off the road in a small meadow, what the heck, I'll see how close he'll let me get before he takes off. I get out of the truck and start walking at him, he's still eating, I walk right at him to about 20 yds, he's still eating, He finally looks up at me for about a minute and then goes back to eating. I walk back to the truck, look back, he's still eating. Wow, there's my bull, he'll be easy to kill, I'm excited! I drive into camp and there are cow elk eating everywhere, two are standing almost on my tent. Wow, I'm excided! I eat dinner, build a fire, trying to relax with a million thoughts in my head when a bugle blasts out from across the road. I grab my bugle and answer, we trade bugles for a least an hour. It's getting late and I have to get some sleep. There's my bull, did I happen to mention I was excited?

I didn't bring a watch or clock but I am used to waking up before sunup working construction, where you have to start early to beat the heat here in Az. I'm sound asleep when a bugle just rips through me, my eyes pop open, the bugles are coming one after the other. I didn't know what time it was but it had to be close to first light. Back in the stone age, before computers we read magazines to get our info. The experts wrote articles so we could learn about the animals we hunted, It was common knowledge that the Bull would round up the cows just before dawn and when it got light would head for their bedding area. I was just lucky that bull woke me up, because I would have slept for at leased a couple more hours.

Ok, I got to get ready, get my cloths on, get my equipment ready, put paint on my face and hands. I knew every trick ever written in a magazine and I was prepared. That bull wouldn't shut up across the road and I was ready for it to get light so I could go kill'em. I went into the truck and turned the radio on to pass the time and find out what time it was, back in the stone age we didn't have clocks in the vehicles, we had to listen for the DJ on the radio to tell us. So I'm sitting there listening to the radio waiting until I can go get that bull, I don't know if I told you this but, I'M EXCITED! A DJ finally comes on and says " It's 2:something am "… That was the longest 3 hours of my life, fully clothed, painted up, laying in my cot staring at the tent top, listening to a bull going crazy a few hundred yards away. I don't think I read another magazine article again.

 

I hate to mention it, but even with all that, I WAS EXCITED!

 

The sky finally starts getting grey and the bull is still bugling across the road. I cross the road and work my way through a jack pine thicket to where I can see the opening on the other side. A 5 pt bull and about 10 cows are on the other side of the clearing, 100yds away and moving through the jack pines on that side heading off slowly. I waited until I thought it was safe to move and stepped into the opening. As soon as I stepped out there was a noise to my right, I glance over and there's a 2 pt standing on the edge of the thicket I was hiding in 25 yds away. I tried moving slowly and draw back on him but just when I

was getting to full draw he bolted, ran across the clearing, and caught up with the elk on the other side. They never ran off but always kept a couple hundred yards from me just walking slowly. They knew I was there, I followed them for a over a mile and over a couple hours until they disappeared into a canyon and that was it. Strike one.

On the walk back I was beating myself up, I should have done this or that, how stupid can I be. Walking along feeling sorry for myself I noticed legs on the other side of some jack pines, deer legs. Back then if you had an archery elk tag you could continue to hunt deer and turkey, it was called a fruit salad hunt. I sat down on a log, put my bow on my feet and glassed through the trees to try to see if it was a buck or doe. I couldn't tell and started to bring down my bins and two does step out of the thicket right in front of me.

Less than 20 yds and feeding, I'm froze with the bins half way down my face, sitting on a log, with the bow resting on my feet. The does are eating to the right taking their sweet time, my arms are cramping being frozen up by my face, but another deer is coming through and I can't move. The does have finally worked to where they're to the right and slightly behind me. Out steps a nice 4 pt buck in velvet, he's right in front of me, gets his head behind a big pine tree and stops just chomping away. I turn my head slightly to glance at the does, they've got their rears at me still eating. I slowly lower my arms, grab the bow, start lifting and the does bust behind me, the buck busts in front. I was left sitting on a log, with egg on my face. Strike two.

Of course the next two days I never found those other bulls and didn't get another opportunity. All was not lost, even though I couldn't afford to take off much work I still had one more weekend to hunt. After I got off work on Friday I was gone, drove up, set up camp and had an hour to hunt. I drove 6 or 7 miles to a spot I heard bulls bugling the weekend before, made a few calls, no answer. I waited till after dark and still nothing. Driving back I see something big crossing the road in the headlights, it was the world record elk! No other elk ever could be that big. Standing in the middle of the road with the lights on him, 6 pts on each side, he looked massive. After he crossed the road I got out and piled some limbs up so I could find the spot in the morning. I was excited again.

 

Morning came and it was lightly raining off and on. I didn't care, I was at my spot and ready to go when it got light. I made a big circle, calling as I went, with no answers. Working back close to the main road I came onto a overgrown logging road, I could see the main road a couple hundred yards though the trees. There was fresh elk droppings still steaming on the logging road, allot of them, probably a herd of cows. I was standing in the middle the overgrown road thinking about my options, did they cross back over the main road or stay on this side? There were so many tracks going in different directions, with the light drizzle I couldn't tell. I decided they must have went back over and started following the old road that way. I took maybe 10 steps when up in front of me about a hundred yds, The World Record Elk, jumps out of the trees, comes hopping and flopping down the old road right at me. He acted like a hound dog on the scent, nose to the ground, ears flopping around as he bobbed his head and so excited he couldn't contain himself. I noc an arrow and he's getting closer fast, a whirlwind of motion, at about 30 yds he leaves the road a short distance and starts spinning in a circle with his nose close to the ground. I pull back but don't take a shot because of a few small jack pines and he's moving to much. All of a sudden he took off into the forest, hopping and skipping away, disappearing into the trees. Now this all happened in about 30 seconds and my mind was trying to grasp what had just occurred. I was upset at myself for not attempting some kind of shot, that was the world record elk. I didn't know what to do, should I wait for another bull to come jumping down the road at me? Should I go after the world record elk? I was still in shock.

I have to go after him there's nothing else I can do. I start into the forest and I see a rack and then an elk coming back from the direction he went. It's him and he's still in crazy motion. I'm done, I moved into the worst place I could, jacks on both sides with only a small lane right in front of me. The only way in the lane is blocked by a huge ponderosa pine log. He's going to pass me on the right, no shot, why the heck did I move and not wait?

Instead he turns left, jumps over that big log, puts his nose to the ground and stops dead still 20yds broadside in a lane the width of his body. The World Record Elk. My mind is screaming, shoot, shoot, shoot, I can't miss, shoot. The world record elk. I pull and shoot as fast as I can, he could start moving at any time. Right over his back, never even aimed with a pin. THE WORLD RECORD ELK! Strike three.

 

Now of course he wasn't a world record. It was five years later that I drew another tag and saw what a big mature bull really was. He was a nice bull a year or two from being a contender for the herd. A 290 to 310 bull. The memory sure haunted me for a couple years though. I told it like that because that's what I thought and felt at the time.

 

Kent

[JACK]

Great topic!

 

Started shooting a bow when I was ten or so...remember gettin drawn for javis in 42M...open morning got up... got camoed up...got my bow tied her on to the good ol bmx bike...my dad asked me where I was going "Pig huntin" I told him..."ok be careful" he said skeptically and off I went pedaling as fast as I could. Walked up a little hill and right into a herd of pigs...shot the closest one and it just dropped...rode home as fast as I could and told my dad I needed his help packin a pig out cause I couldn't carry it on my bike... ...he didnt belive me until I showed him my bloody arrow...Shot a few more pigs through the years and then in '03 I shot a rag horn 6x6 bull and I hadn't shot a bow since...until three weeks ago...when I broke down and bought a new X-Force...wow this thing is bad@ss. I have never killed a deer with a bow...come August 21st I hope to change all that! All I want is a 100" fuzzy horned coues

[Coues Archer]

I started when I was 14 and in the peloncillo mountains with my dad. And I killed my first buck with a bow. And ever since I have been snagging deer every year.