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40 years ago

It was forty years ago today that I finally filled my first archery tag, during my third year of trying. It finally came together on that morning on the last day of November. A Western compound made by Darton was my weapon at that time. There were no peep sights. Fifty percent let off not the high let off of today. No mechanical release. Things sure have changed. If anyone has pictures from the past feel free to add them. I thought this might be interesting.

Thats COOL lee. It brought back good old memories . My first also came after 3 years in 1974. It came from Bonnie Res near Goodland Co. the lake is no longer there. I got it with a Jennings 4 wheeler that as I remember has about 30% let off. That bow has a broken limb but still hangs on my wall. The buck took second place in the KBA that year with a score of 86 1/8. It also still hangs on my wall.

My first was 71, my second year. Bear 48" Magnum, 58 lbs, figerglass shaft, bear head. It has a split limb and is on the wall.

I attempted to attach a picture but it will not let me. I still cannot attach a picture. Maybe later. Anyway if any one has old pictures feel free to post them. Dave and Charlie that is neat. I knew you guys beat me to it by a few years.

was 1972 Nov. 30th also . Rifle hunters scouting in the section west spooked the 1 1/2 yr. old right to me. In 1973 I kept count of the deer I seen, Total was 534 sightings . Made hunting a joy. Now days I'm lucky to see 50 sightings a season. I had been married for 1 year 5 months. Now she awaits for me just beyond the moon.

I've been bowhunting since 89, 91 was my first year to tag one. We didn't start seeing deer regularly at our place until the mid to late 70's early 80's.

First hunt was in the middle 70's, I was 14 when I killed my first deer in 76. We didn't have a bow season until late 70's, killed my first archery deer in 82. Shot at 4 deer that morning, had to go retrieve my arrows, climb back up and finally killed a doe 10 yards away. Carried my 4 arrows in a athletic tube sock using borrowed broad heads. Deer populations bounded in the early 80's, but the 70's I'd been lucky to have seen 6 deer a year. Sorry no picture, I don't think cameras were invented back then.

1977, first with a compound was 1980.

I didn't hunt deer until 2000, but I sure like reading these stories and about your encounters...thanks for building the foundation fellas!

Started bowhunting in ‘84. Killed this guy in ‘85 (I think) Shot him in Oklahoma. Golden Eagle bow. Gamegetter shafts. I think I used a Razorback broadhead on him. Hit him too far back. I remember tracking him at night with a Coleman lantern with a piece of tinfoil covering half of the globe to reflect more light forward. Lost his trail and we backed out till the next morning. Couldn’t find any more blood, so we started grid searching and spotted him bedded in a plum thicket, still alive (barely). Snuck in closer and proceded to put the next arrow right through his ear! Hit a twig. I finally put a good shot on him in spite of being wound up tighter than an 8 day clock! I remember it like it was yesterday. I was hooked after that.

BTW....I have since left the Mennonite church ;-)

Got my first tag in 79, as I recall you had to be 14 years old to even deer hunt then. Shot my first with a Bear Polar II compound in 80 or 81, one of the early compounds with wood limbs using 2514 arrows (friend called them Lincoln Logs) with Razorback 5 broadheads. Slow as heck but blew threw anything. The draw was too long for me so my dad built a bracket and wood handle that basically moved the grip back two inches, if he only knew he had the whole brace height speed issue figured out I'd be a spoiled rich kid now. Now 40 years later an awful lot has changed except one thing, still get the fever and shakes when a good buck comes by and hopefully that never changes. Nothing better than bowhunting!

Who else misses the day when any archery deer was a big deal, and you’d drive 30 miles to see what we now know to see a 1 1/2 year old six pointer killed by a buddy....or even a stranger?

Having someone say “he needed another year” would have sounded like a foreign language...and nobody thought like that.

When I was getting into it, many of us got archery tags because we could get one every year rather than every-other like a rifle.

After so many years of reading about deer hunts in the Rockies or Great Lakes, just being able to deer hunt on the family farm and maybe see one or at least fresh sign. was such a huge accomplishment.

Geez, when the first issues of Bowhunter came out it was like the tablets on the mountain. They had articles about ordinary guys killing deer and elk with arrows? There was hope!

The learning curve was so much slower back then. The only way was to get out there and make a dozen mistakes, hoping you’d find one thing to do right.

I often feel sorry for the late-comers (anybody who started after about 1980 because there’s no way the sport can seem as magical.)

This year I took a kid ten times, trying to get his first bow kill. He has no clue how many years of trial and error I saved him. But, thanks to Youtube, he came into the sport with a trophy hunting t mentality. He passed up easy shots at big does and young bucks. When I asked him why he didn’t shoot a nice six-point we had at 12 yards, he said, “well, he needs another couple of years.”

It was so discouraging.

Time flies. I'll be 40 next month and I still feel and act like a raging 21 year old with some new aches and pains. I had no idea how to bow hunt at the age of 14. I rode bus 18 after school on Wednesday evenings and hunted my parent's friend's ranch with a Browning bow I bought at Bass Pro in Springfield on the Science Club field trip. My stand was an aluminum ladder I painted camo with a plywood seat I cut to fit against the tree and into the top of the ladder. My very first hunt I had a doe and two yearling come under me but were on the wrong side. I was so nervous I barely moved, but I remember I could hear them breathing.

I don’t know maybe I’m wrong I’m 63 and still think any animal takin with a bow even the new bows is quite a feat. I wouldn’t be ashamed of killing a doe or small buck

I’m certainly never ashamed to shoot a doe, Frank! I shoot several each year, and am proud of every single one! I eat a lot of venison, and fill my freezer with does every year. As long as the deer you take makes you happy, that’s all that matters!

You own the tag, nobody owns the deer!

2X What Sito said. Shoot what makes you happy.

The friends who got me started bowhunting were hardcore trophy hunters. They told me to shoot what made me happy, but constantly harped about not shooting young immature bucks nor the first one that came along. I listened to their tales of big tall and wide racked bucks lurking near their set ups when we got together to shoot our bows, I do miss those days of shooting with them. They always said something bigger will come along during the rut or when you least expect it. Hunted many hours the next two years, and most of the third one, had passed up many does and small bucks to that point that just didn't meet the "trophy quality" deer my friends talked about. I was getting tired of not getting one, the wife and kids wondered when they would get to try some deer meat. The day before rifle season was to begin the third year, my first buck/deer came walking down the trail, and stopped directly below me. I shot him and dropped him where he stood. I had tried to go down between his ribs into his heart, but my shot drilled into his spine instead. I had to step over him when I climbed down the tree, had to shoot him a second time to stop his heart. He was a very young six point, my friends insisted that I have him mounted. It was my first, his left ear had been pierced at some point by a broadhead, very big stuff according to them. You could clearly see the five blade broadhead pattern in the ear that had healed up. I killed bucks every year for the next 6-7 yrs following the first one, each larger than the year before, the only limit I imposed on myself from then on. Had I continued trophy hunting only those early years, I probably would have sold the bow and moved on from archery hunting. I am pretty much back to the trophy only mindset now, I really do not care if I kill one or not is the difference, will only pick up the bow to shoot if the rack is large or unique.

This a picture of my first archery deer.

I remember the days when the wall phone would ring right after dark and everyone raced to answer the phone because it was one of dads friends calling to say he hit one. We would all gather at the local hardware store and head off with lanterns and lights to look for the deer. Seemed like back then 9 times out of 10 we came up empty. But that one time it was a celebration. Most deer back then were 2.5 year olds taken. It was rare for a 3.5 or older to me killed and if it was the whole town came down to see it hanging on the scale at the hardware store. You could also pretty much hunt wherever as most landowners thought of bow hunters as crazy !

That's a good looking buck Lee, you haven't changed a bit!

Kyle: That is what I keep telling myself. However, I did have to get ride of defective mirror. Every time I looked at it, some old, bald, fat guy was looking at me.

I think I picked up that same mirror at a garage sale bud ;?)

I'm sure you sold off a truck back then that had the opposite kind of mirror. Maybe we all should try to find our old trucks and get that mirror instead.

My old deer wagon.:)

old deer camp

affordable tree stand, easy to carry.:)

Great stuff I’ve used a lot of that style of tree stand

Did you measure that big one Chief?

fish and game did. I think it was 187NT and 161T or there about. Lots of deductions against typical score.

As you can see in the picture, the river came up while field dressing and had to float it on a rope across 50 feet of dang swift belly button high water.

They don't make many like that anymore Dale, neat pics, thanks for sharing them with us!

Cool pics, and a dandy buck, Chief! Congrats!

I love this kind of stuff Thanks for posting

My first year bowhunting was 1977, killed a small 8pt my 3rd sit. Just climbed a huge Willow that had a giant broke off limb about 8ft up. Wing Hunter Recurve, killed a lot of deer with that bow, than killed my first compound deer in 1989. Shawn

Hmmmm the good ole days of being young.

Great pics, Chief.

Thanks for digging them out.

Dale and Matte: Thanks for sharing. I love the old pictures.

That's what dreams are made of! The last pic I mean...not 100% sure what's going on in the "camo" pic ;?)

What a specimen Dale, I'd heard tales and seen your name at the top of the list. Thanks for sharing the pic!

Kyle, After floating a deer across the rain swollen creek, when I came out of the water this was stuck there, and the guy helping started laughing and asked if it was my new style camo. Was funny at the time. I guess you had to be there.

Covering the acorns

Dale you would be the type of guy that I would love to have a cup of coffee in the morning with hearing you recap some of your hunting stories...bet you have a lot of interesting ones.

My first was in October, 1978, a small Michigan doe. My bow was a Bear whitetail hunter. Of course, Easton aluminum arrows and a Bear razor head broadhead. That was my second year bow hunting. My first year, I missed a doe, twice.

I shot my first 44 years ago in 1976. Was shooting a new fangled compound a Jennings Model T, 60# with Easton 2018 and a 4 blade Zwickey Delta. Hunted 2 years with out seeing a deer from the stands. Picked a place on the ridge above where I had been hunting. Day before my eyes were swollen shut from a welding flash burn at work. Climbed the hill to get to my tree . We didn't use a stand then because we didn't want anyone to find our places. Finally climbed a hedge near where I was looking. This guy walked under me. Six yard shot 50yd recovery. I can still see the blood blowing out his sides after the arrow passed thru. Wish I still could grow hair! LOL

Very nice, Ben! Love the classic Woodland camo Jones style hat, too!

t-roy funny you would say something about the hat. Keepemsharp shot a broadhead thru that hat! Remember doing that Dave?

Still have the twin to that hat. All should know that it was laying on the ground at the time.

Funny our tradition is a hat gets shot if we get skunked. Say i take the boys on a dove hunt and we fet skunked my hat im wearing that day gets shot. If a buddy takes us duck hunting and a shot is not fired his gets some love.

Ben, that is one of the best pictures I've seen, the story may even be better...just cool!

Thanks sito, I still have that bow hanging in the shop. Those were tough bows as I remember on a KBA rabbit hunt someone left his on top the car. We took off down the road and the driver said " a bow just came off the roof and is skipping down the road" turned out it was his. Those were fun times. As far as the picture I remember how happy I was with that first deer even after dragging him around a 1/4 of a mile down hill to get to an area where I could drive the truck to. The simply amazing part to me is I could not open my eyes to see the day before. I had bad flash burns thru out my career but, that was the worst. A compliment from a story teller like you really means something!

Neat pictures and stories guys, thanks for sharing. Please write up some more!

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