Old school memories
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Box Call 11
23-May-19
Its the early 80's.you been saving up money for a new bow.walk into a bowshop.there is the martin mt6,cougar 11 on display.you buy it,get the cobra sights,cat whiskers,berger button,flipper rest,and a qwikee qwiver.I've added the limb savers and a limbsaver stabilizer.in the day,it would be a cobra stabilizer,and no stabilizers.and don't forget the zip tie holding the buzz cables together.get sighted in then put the rattle can to it.good times,dan
From: Hookedspur
23-May-19
My first compound was a Jennings Lightening that my mom and dad got me in 1979. Ace in the Hole quiver and simple pin sights (don’t remember what brand) flipper arrow rest. No peep, shot with fingers. And yup, rattle can spray paint camo. I shot Easton autumn orange 2117 with razorbak 5s!!! Killed my first 4 or 5 deer with it!
From: Brotsky
23-May-19
This is a fun picture from a few years ago when we stopped at the PY Museum in Chatfield. I had my first bow in my right hand, a Jennings Arrowstar II, and what was then my current bow a Mathew’s Switchback in my left. Crazy how far we’ve come in archery technology!
From: hawkeye in PA
23-May-19
I liked them old four wheelers, quite adjustable and with out a bow press. I was just given two of the Jennings Aerostar's . Not sure what to do with them.
From: bowbender77
23-May-19
For the senior members of Bowsite, how about the Baker treestand. Made my first deer kill off one with a recurve before compounds hit the market place.
From: Brotsky
23-May-19
I started out in a Baker, and just about ended in one a few times! Ha!
From: Box Call 11
23-May-19
Yep,had a baker slim jim.once ya got set up you was afraid to move.damn touchy.I've slid several feet in one.one time I took it down and hid it under a brush pile for next morning.well next morning it was gone.I hope the sorry bastards that stole it got a free ride down a tree.even had the hand combo seat.yep,bakers was a death trap,but you got a cool patch with it.my buddies all carried some chest scars.
From: midwest
23-May-19
Good ol' Jennings Forked Lightning.
From: casekiska
23-May-19
I see midwest posted an ancient photo of him and his buck from years ago...I like his Jones style camo cap...I still hunt wearing a Jones Camo cap...always have, always will...in the 1990's I realized they were getting hard to find...I bought four of them,,,still have one brand new (but old) to save for the future and one that's kinda beat up that I wear now...love the Jones camo hats!
From: Box Call 11
23-May-19
Getting this bow sighted in this week,some 2213 autumn orange arrows,then rattle can camo.yea,that was before the hydrodipping camo craze.sometimes a cable guard was added.but still old school.
From: Box Call 11
23-May-19
Getting this bow sighted in this week,some 2213 autumn orange arrows,then rattle can camo.yea,that was before the hydrodipping camo craze.sometimes a cable guard was added.but still old school.
From: wyobullshooter
23-May-19
Jennings was certainly a popular brand "back in the day"! My first "real" bow was a Jennings T-Star Express that I ordered from Bowhunter's Warehouse.
From: Box Call 11
23-May-19
Yea ,old autumn orange arrows.get ya some of that.
From: Jaquomo
23-May-19
We built Baker treestands from mail order instructions (cost $5 if I remember right) from a little magazine ad.
My first compound was an old Carroll 4 wheeler that weighed about 6 pounds and packed a wallop. I bought it used when my Black Widow recurve limb delaminated right before season and all my buddies were trying these newfangled things.
From: timex
23-May-19
my first compound was a Browning accelerator 1980 my first recurve was a Hoyt ram reflex 1982 & still have that riser converted to ilf have shot trad & compounds ever since never have understood why to so many it has to be one or the other. I enjoy both
From: Ben
23-May-19
Here is an original Jennings Model T and some guy I don't recognize now. He sure isn't the guy I see in the mirror now!LOL
From: bowhunter24
23-May-19
Martin Warthog with that beautiful bubugia wood that I rattle canned; Razorbak 5's of coarse; and who made the climber that gave you the hardware and a templete for the base you provided some plywood and a jigsaw?
From: Zeke121
23-May-19
Ben, that looks like a frontal shot! You were way before it was popular. LOL
From: IdyllwildArcher
24-May-19
I have a friend whose dad still hunts off of a Baker treestand. I’ve tried to at least get him to buy his dad a tree harness. The old man is stubborn as Hell.
From: Leatherneckgrandpa
24-May-19
Ben, from Kansas.....That Model T.....did that bow come with the "power wedges" which allowed for a + or - 5 pounds?
From: pav
24-May-19
First hunting bow was a Bear Whitetail Hunter. Killed my first deer with that bow and still own it today. Took my share of "rides" in a Baker treestand. Looking back, what a deathtrap those were! Mine too was eventually stolen. Good chance karma took care of that guy!
From: Ben
24-May-19
Leatherneck, No , not that I remember. I still have the bow and I had the box it came in with the paper work until a couple years ago. I finally took it down from between the floor joist and threw it away when cleaning the basement.
From: Vonfoust
24-May-19
First bow was a Hoyt/Easton Buck. Heard later on that it was the same bow that Rambo used?? Not sure how true that is. Bear 2 blade broadheads with the bleeders that I spent hours trying to tune. If I was lucky, I would get 3 that would fly well.
Baker stands. What memories. 14 years old and my Dad sent me to a tree, I knew where it was. Climbed up in the dark to a specific spot designated with a bow holder. Never got the stand 'set right' so every time I shifted weight I was sure I was coming down. When it got light out I realized how high I was. At 10am he comes to get me, by this point I'm 25' up the tree and holding on with both arms, and refuse to let go. Couldn't even lower my bow, couldn't move. He's 25' below me and I still, 33 years later, remember him saying "What the h*** do you want me to do? I can't come up and get you. You gotta come down somehow." I don't think it ever took me longer to get my feet in those straps.
From: darralld
24-May-19
Vonfoust, The buck was similar. The original Rambo bow didn't have a plastic grip. But the rest of it looks pretty close.
From: EmbryOklahoma
24-May-19
Dang, Nick... at first glance I thought the spare tire holder was your site bracket! lol!
From: White Falcon
24-May-19
Still have this one.
From: rooster
24-May-19
I shot my first deer with a borrowed Jennings "Super T". Mine had exploded in the dining room a few days prior to opening day. I was sitting on/in a Baker tree stand. I took a few of those Baker Nantucket sleigh rides. Not fun at all. I used to hug the tree, kick the stand down and then shimming down the trunk. Great ab workout!
From: Sitting Bull
24-May-19
My first compound was a Hoyt Impala. Would have been late 80's I think. Had developed really bad target panic with my recurve and the compound was the answer. Back then it was still barebow and finger release! After that It was an upgrade to a Golden Eagle, thanks to the writing of Judd Cooney.
From: TrapperKayak
24-May-19
My buddy had a Jennings Sidekick back in around '75, and missed a big 10 pointer with it, one we'd been after for awhile. Shot under it. It had rubs on 6" cedars. Will never forget all that.
From: ELKMAN
24-May-19
These threads are the coolest
From: elkstabber
24-May-19
When I was 13 I got a Darton SL50. Killed a dozen or so deer with it.
From: EmbryOklahoma
24-May-19
These are my first three bows from left to right... Browning Nomad deluxe, Hoyt Buck and PSE Nova. Still have the Browning and the Hoyt. Gave the PSE away to a kid starting up. Killed stuff with all three. :)
From: 12yards
24-May-19
This was my first major upgrade. I went from a Polar LTD to a PSE Pulsar to this Jet Flite Express. Killed a bunch of deer with that bow, autumn orange xx75 2317s and a Bear Super Razorhead. Still have it.
From: canepole
24-May-19
No mention of a Whitetail Hunter? I mowed yards that seemed a foot tall for $3.00 or $4.00 back in the late 70's to upgrade. It sure seemed faster than my Grizzly recurve but a lot noisier!
From: Ben
24-May-19
Elkstabber, I have a Darton SL60 that I shot for several years. Really good little bow. I shot the 3 compounds I had with fingers. Then went back to recurves.
From: fastflight
25-May-19
My first deer was killed with this bow which I still have.. i believe it's a PSE Phaser or PSE Pacer. Limbs went bad and were replaced with limbs that day Game Sport.
From: fastflight
25-May-19
My first deer was killed with this bow which I still have.. i believe it's a PSE Phaser or PSE Pacer. Limbs went bad and were replaced with limbs that day Game Sport.
From: Highlife
25-May-19
Damn Ken ya making me nostalgic. Got mine from Archery Custom Shop little Ralph set it up for me lol
From: M.Pauls
27-Dec-19
A friend found some original autumn orange xx75s in a garage and knew I still shoot xx75s, so he gave them to me and they happened to be the right length and spine. I re- fletched them and shot them this year. Killed a doe with one. Also killed a couple does with original bear razor heads this year. I get a kick out of re-using old stuff sometimes
From: shb
27-Dec-19
Spent the summer of 8th grade irrigating 2000 acres of corn, and other ag chores for a farmer friend of my Grandpa.
Filled out the paper order form from a cabelas catalog that was less than slick and glossy. My farmer employer wrote a check for me, and we sent that off in the mail with the order form.
2 weeks later A shiny new Bear Polar LTD and a couple boxes of Bear Metric Magnums showed up at lunch time. I think the arrows were 8 packs.
The learning curve was steep and I can remember whenever anyone asked what I wanted for my birthday, or Christmas, my standard answer back then was always more arrows.
I can remember mowing lawns like a demon cause you wanted to get your order in to Bowhunters Discount warehouse by august if you wanted your new arrows before hunting season started in Sept.
1 doz XX75 autumn orange 2216's were $34
Ok Boomer lol
From: Habitat
27-Dec-19
I have some of those xx75 and some gamegetters if anyone needs some
From: South Farm
27-Dec-19
All I know is when I was 14 I wanted a Browning Drake Flitemaster more than five minutes alone with the farmer's daughter! Never got either:(
I couldn't wait for the latest Bowhunters Discount Warehouse catalog to come...pages filled with Kwikee Arrow Holders, String Trackers, Gordon Graphlex Arrows, and that beautiful Drake Flitemaster! But where to come up with the $129.00?!?!
From: t-roy
27-Dec-19
My first bow in 1984, was a Browning Deluxe Nomad ll. Don’t have any pics of it. I upgraded to a Golden Eagle a couple years later. Can’t remember what model. Started out with olive drab 2117 Gamegetters, then Gamegetter ll’s, then finally to the XX75’s. The coolest arrows back in the day, were when the JDA Supernatural’s came out. I was positive that, between the Treebark camo and those grey Supernatural’s, the deer would never be able to pick me off! We used to take white and bright yellow modeling paint (the little 2oz bottles they used on model cars/planes/etc) and paint the tips of our sight pins to be able to (kinda) see them better.
This my first archery buck, that I killed in Oklahoma. Evidently, I used to be a Mennonite!
From: HUNT MAN
27-Dec-19
My Dad had a browning nomad. I would pull it with my feet until I got my own compound. Circa 1984. Hunt
From: badbull
27-Dec-19
1969 Allen Compound - Slightly quieter than a .22 rifle, 1970 Jennings Arrowstar- Big step forward, few years later-Model T- Maybe my favorite Jennings. These were my "old school " compounds. Seems like a lot of others liked the Model T also in the old days........badbull
From: stagetek
27-Dec-19
Here's a couple of oldies. Other than my recurves, that Arrowstar was one of the best bows I've ever owned.
From: keepemsharp
27-Dec-19
ben; I remember that Jenningts T had one that broke two months before we went to Thomas County but they got it back to me in time. Never forget Milt throwing feces out of that pit blind>
From: casekiska
27-Dec-19
Yep...Jennings Model T. My first compound, I remember mine well. Quite the bow for the day.
From: ahunter76
27-Dec-19
I say I started in 1956 as that's when I bought my 1st real bow & joined a club. My 1st Deer in 1958 with a wood arrow & MA3 blade
From: cnelk
28-Dec-19
An old Browning a long time ago.
From: 4FINGER
28-Dec-19
The Old Bronco and I Bowhunting the Utah General Rifle Hunt 1974...Jennings wood handle 2x4 haha...2117 gamegetters, Bear Razorheads stuffed into a CatQuiver backquiver...Popular Camo of the day also worn :)...4finger
From: Bowbender
28-Dec-19
I'd sell a certain part of my anatomy for that Bronco. Wish I still had my original bows. One was a Bear Kodiak hunter, the other was a Jennings Forked Lightning II.
From: RJ Hunt
28-Dec-19
Think my first (compound) bow was a Martin cougar or something similar. Even had an overdraw shooting an arrow the length of a cross bow bolt. The thing sounded like a gun going off even with the Easton 2216 game getter arrows.
From: BigStriper
28-Dec-19
My First Bow at about age 10-12 was a Orange Ben Pearson light weight Recurve, then at 24 in September 1978 I got a Bear Polar LTD from Bowhunters Discount Warehouse and killed a 7 point Buck on November 8th with some 2117 Autumn orange arrows with Wasp Broadheads. My buddy that got me started that fall gave up on deer hunting and gave me his Baker tree stand, for some reason I can't remember I didn't use it to much, but when I did I would put Bungie straps around the tree to HOLD it in place. LOL. Never did take a ride, but like I said, I didn't use it to much! After a few years I switched to Browning Compounds because they had WOOD risers and were warmer when it got cold out, still have my last Browning Compound and it has a Wood grip a 2002 model Mirage SX with a Trophy Ridge Drop Away rest. Switched to Longbows and Recurves in 2008 and that's all I have used since and Love it,killed a 9 point Buck that October with a Hummingbird Longbow. Oh , I also used some of those Razorbak 5 broadheads for a while some where during the journey, I'll be 66 on Jan 5th, hope I have a few more years left. Good Luck fella's.
Kurt
From: Shug
28-Dec-19
My first deer... a Button Buck after 6 years of trying. I remember it like it’s yesterday. I was hunting with my uncle and shot it right before dark.
I can remember my excitement as my uncles flashlight worked down the ridge closer to me and the deer and waited for his congratulations.
As he got closer he shined his light on it and said... “ nice you shot a baby deer”. Oh well...
From: q d m
28-Dec-19
Mark i'm 77 and i can remember my first it was in the backseat of a 49 ford.
From: BigStriper
28-Dec-19
qdm, I believe you tagged the other Dear, but I guess she was in season. LOL.
Kurt
From: DRR324
28-Dec-19
First deer kill was with a Bear Polar recurve at 12 years old, lucky as sh-& kill. Next year graduated to a PSE Phaser, next was Darton SL50 and then a Jennings Aerostar. Killed a pile with that bow, but then started working at Jays Sporting Goods in the archery dept in 1996 and got ridiculed for shooting something that old... my next one was a PSE Mach, was like like going from a Chevette to a Corvette.
