1st Bow?
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: Bou'bound
02-Dec-17
What was your first "real" bow. Not the toy kind.
Hoyt Pro Hunter for me
From: BigEze
02-Dec-17
Jennings Forked Lighting was my first compound 1986ish
From: wyobullshooter
02-Dec-17
Jennings T-Star Express
From: Brotsky
02-Dec-17
Jennings Artowstar II
From: Cobie33
02-Dec-17
1986-Browning Bushmaster Deluxe
From: LKH
02-Dec-17
Bear Panda
From: SBH
02-Dec-17
Some kind of PSE I bought used from eBay for $80...with everything on it. I loved that bow. Killed my first deer with it.
From: BOHUNTER09
02-Dec-17
Bear tiger cat recurve. Then PSE pacer
From: venison
02-Dec-17
Martin lynx
From: Scrappy
02-Dec-17
A bad bad piece of junk high country that I bought new in 99. It almost cost me to give up bow hunting that same year. As well as almost killing me when it blew up.
From: casekiska
02-Dec-17
Back in 1952 - a Ben Pearson Lemonwood straight bow, probably 64 - 68" in length, probably 40 # or so. Ordered from a catalog, probably Sears & Roebuck.
From: Bowboy
02-Dec-17
PSE Polaris
From: DS
02-Dec-17
Hoyt/Easton Ram hunter
From: Bowfreak
02-Dec-17
XI Impact.
From: greg simon
02-Dec-17
Martin Tiger in 1986. I still use it for bowfishing.
From: Kodiak
02-Dec-17
Bear Whitetail II. What a boat anchor that thing was.
From: Gulch an
02-Dec-17
Dad bought me a new bow in 1950/ 1951. It was a bear grizzly with aluminum lamination between the glass and maple laminations. Shot it for about two years. It was hard to shot with a lot of vibration. Shot my first deer in 1956 with a different Bear grizzly. Still have the original grizz
From: Bowboy
02-Dec-17
Kodiak my neighbor still has one. He still shoots it every so often.
From: Buck Watcher
02-Dec-17
Jennings Super T - 1975
From: NIson
02-Dec-17
Bear whitetail for me and my father. Had a ton of fun shooting those bows!
From: Bowbaker
02-Dec-17
Shakespeare recurve, don't recall the model. $20.00 bow tab, arm guard, and four cedar arrows. I was the next Fred Bear LOL
From: carcus
02-Dec-17
york express
From: rooster
02-Dec-17
Ben Pearson or Shakespeare Mustang recurve.
From: Ironbow
02-Dec-17
Shakespeare Sierra recurve, 52", 50# in 1973.
Dad bought me a Ben Pearson Broco recurve in 1967 that I shot before that. Still have it.
First compound was a Browning Stalker in 1979 because my Browning Explorer II recurve broke.
From: sticksender
02-Dec-17
Bear Grizzly recurve.The first compound that I bought new was a Browning Xcellerator in the mid-80's. Still have that one.
From: yooper89
02-Dec-17
Handmade recurve given to me by the owner of Northwood Outfitters in the UP. Then a Martin compound bow in middle school ~ 2002
From: 4araquiver
02-Dec-17
Hoyt Raider
From: kota-man
02-Dec-17
I have two “first” compound bows as I switched from left to right handed. My First was a Left handed Martin Cougar a Magnum. My first RH compound bow was a Bear Whitetail 2.
My first non compound was a left handed Herter’s Recurve. I still have this bow. This was my very first “real” bow. 1977 I believe.
From: tradmt
02-Dec-17
Wait,.....is this about "real" bows or the beginners bows?.... you know, the training wheel ones. :)
From: Ken Moody Safaris
02-Dec-17
Browning Nomad recurve. Also killed my 1st deer with it.
From: planebow
02-Dec-17
My first one was a solid fiberglass bow at 45# the I bought a Red Wing Hunter from Kittridge Bow Hut catalog. My first compound was a Jennings Model T which I still have.
From: BOWNUT
02-Dec-17
Bear 45# Grizzly 1968. First compound Darton SL 50.
From: Ny308Hunter
02-Dec-17
Some old Bear bow with little to no let off slinging 45lbs.... first purchased myself, PSE Brute X.
From: PECO
02-Dec-17
Wow I am really new at this, my first real bow was a 2008 Diamond Black Ice. My first real trad bow was a 62 or 63 Bear Polar I bought shortly after that.
From: butcherboy
02-Dec-17
Martin Tiger about 1986-87. Still have that bow somewhere.
From: mathewshooter
02-Dec-17
Indian something. Ordered from I believe jcpenney catalog. Complete package for under $100
From: Doubleforky
02-Dec-17
Early 80's Darton SL50
From: Jim Southwick
02-Dec-17
Bear Whitetail.
From: Bill Obeid
02-Dec-17
Bear Stag Hunter .... bout 1970 . Still shooting that bow, occasionally.
From: stick n string
02-Dec-17
Hoyt Recurve
From: fastflight
02-Dec-17
PSE Phaser.
From: mouse
02-Dec-17
Ben Pearson Golden palomino.
From: HighLife
02-Dec-17
PSE Phaser
From: Don
02-Dec-17
Jennings Forked Lightening
From: RogBow
02-Dec-17
Browning Heat II, it's like a .44 snubby going off. Still have it.
From: t-roy
02-Dec-17
Left hand Browning Deluxe Nomad ll. I Robin Hooded an Easton Gamegetter on the fourth shot.
From: Redheadtwo
02-Dec-17
A PSE two wheel compound.
From: bighorn
02-Dec-17
Hoyt Grand Slam Supreme
From: BigOk
02-Dec-17
PSE Polaris
From: Deebz
02-Dec-17
PSE Spirit--Got it for Christmas in like 1994
From: Scrappy
02-Dec-17
Reading this thread has made me realize the average age of guys on bowsite is old as hell..:)
From: drycreek
02-Dec-17
Scrappy, guilty as charged ! Bear Whitetail II was my first "real" bow, although the fiberglass recurve I had before that seemed real to a teenager, as did the hickory longbow before it. And before that were homemade bows out of willow with strings made of hay twine.
From: Bustalung
02-Dec-17
Jennings Lightning , I believe 1982.
From: DRR324
02-Dec-17
Bear Black Panther recurve hand me down. Killed my first whitetail with a 1982 or 83 PSE wheel bow.
From: Shaft
02-Dec-17
Bear Whitetail
From: pav
03-Dec-17
Bear Whitetail....bought new in the late 70's. Killed my first deer with that bow and still own it.
From: oldgoat
03-Dec-17
Bear 76'r as a young teenager, don't have it anymore, but a few years ago I bought one just exactly like it, killed a turkey with it too!
From: elk yinzer
03-Dec-17
PSE Nova
From: elkman52
03-Dec-17
Browning Nomad 1966,first compound was a Carrol Compound about 1972,30yrs later back to the recurve
From: Kevin Speicher
03-Dec-17
Browning Black Fox
From: Griz34
03-Dec-17
Browning Coyote. Killed first deer with it in 1989.
From: Ridge Rock
03-Dec-17
Ben Pearson Colt Recurve 1969. Sold it but was able to buy it back in the 80s. Still have it.
From: Ned
03-Dec-17
Ben Pearson compound, can't remember the model. Hunted with 55 lbs, teardrop, shot with finger tab, very accurate until I started getting target panick, but not the bows fault. Killed 3 or 4 bull elk with that bow, then bought a Hoyt ( longer bow, Chuck Adams model).
From: keepemsharp
03-Dec-17
1967 Bear 48" magnum, 58 lbs. Still have it but is now wall hanger.
From: LanceinPA
03-Dec-17
PSE Phaser II. Bought from Len Cardinale in the early 80’s
From: Knothead
03-Dec-17
An Indian bow but can't remember the model. 1977 from Sunset sporting goods on 35th ave and Norther in Phoenix. Freshman year in HS.
From: stick slinger
04-Dec-17
My first was a Bear. I think it was called a Cam one or one cam. Looked like a hunter, but had one cam.
From: BigRed
04-Dec-17
Ben Pearson 2400, circa 1979. Yes, it had wheels...
From: 12yards
04-Dec-17
Bear Polar LTD. Bought it at Kmart for $53 I think in 1976ish.
From: Franzen
04-Dec-17
Bear Shadow
From: wraith8
04-Dec-17
An Outers Astro. Bought it new in 1977. Still have it, too.
$120 got me the bow, sights, quiver, 1/2 dozen arrows, field tips, broadheads, peep sight, kisser button, finger tab, stick-on arrow rest, and got it all set up.
From: MathewsMan
04-Dec-17
Hoyt Ram Hunter circa 1983
From: x-man
04-Dec-17
First Bow : Herters 45# fiberglass recurve. First Compound bow : Bear Polar LTD
From: expeditiontraders
05-Dec-17
Golden Eagle Formula 3D. It was a real piece of junk. It did not have limb pockets. It had a set screw instead. The limbs constantly twisted.
From: Pintail
05-Dec-17
First bow- 50# Wing Thunderbird, bought it in 1970. First compound was a Bear Polar LTD, a 4 wheel masterpiece with 50% let off
From: Grubby
05-Dec-17
Bear mini magnum upgraded to a pse thunder flight a few years later
From: Dennis Razza
05-Dec-17
Indian.
From: ahunter55
06-Dec-17
1st real bow, 64", 45# Eddings Cadet, 1956. Killed my 1st Deer with it in Illinois 2nd ever Deer season 1958. 1st Compound 20+ years later Jennings mid 70s when compounds became the craz.
From: Nimrod90
06-Dec-17
1st Compound- Indian 1st deer I killed with a Browning Xcellerator compound 1986
From: Treeline
07-Dec-17
Bear Kodiak Magnum 45#. Loved that bow. Traded it for a 40# Red Wing Hunter that I killed more stuff with.
From: Wapiti Hunter
07-Dec-17
My first "real" bow was a Martin Damon-Howatt Hunter I bought in about 1988. Before that I had a 1984 Bear Archery Brown Bear compound I got after graduating from college. I bought both of them through our family's hardware store in Colorado.
Mike
From: midwest
07-Dec-17
A used Jennings Forked Lightning....1983. Had to find something to do for the month of October before trapping season opened but didn't kill a deer until November 15th.
From: jkirkus
07-Dec-17
Matthews SQ2
From: Heat
07-Dec-17
Browning Mag Reflex from the Bowhunter's Discount Warehouse catalog.
