Hunted with an old friend today

[jmr40]

Archery season started Saturday. I hunt mostly on public land and avoid the crowds by hunting mid week. Especially early in the season.

This is my old Browning Nomad 51# recurve. This thing has to be around 50 years old. I picked it up used about 30 years ago. I had it set up for sights and painted it camo. I have several bows including a Ben Pearson 45# bow that I got for Christmas 1972. But this is still my favorite.

I have a Martin single cam compound that I shoot a lot better, but I just enjoy hunting with this one so much better. I still have about 10-12 arrows with real feather fletching that are needed for this. There used to be a really good archery pro-shop here in town. But when they made cross bows legal his business died almost overnight and he closed his doors.

Don't get me wrong, I hold no animosity towards those who hunt with a crossbow. But it just isn't for me.

 

[troy fairweather]

Nice I used to have one of them when I was a kid, think it was setup for 45-50 pounds. Remember it shot well, dad put a newer 3 pin on it and a peep. I've had many bows and most were great once they were tuned and setup, only old bow I've got left is a bear whitetail ii that I don't trust the limbs on anymore and my first bow. It's a pse team Fitzgerald, think there the same as the nova, last time out I had a limb crack drawing on a deer. One day I'll see about some replacement limbs since it was my first bow that was mine.

 

[.38 Special]

Ah, you kids with your new-fangled recurves.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My 1st deer i shot with a Bear 45 lb re-curve. It was a doe. She decided to die in a creek. My father still has the bow.

 

[troy fairweather]

I've got a nice old Shakespeare maple recurve, think it's 62lbs at 28" so pulls pretty hard at my 30" draw. Shoots good but have to quick on the draw . I've read the maple came from the island in Michigan fred bear used for his early bows.

 

[jmr40]

Georgia was the last state to make compound bow's legal, it around 1980. When I first started hunting in the early 1970's a recurve or long bow was the only option. I bought a Hoyt compound shortly after and hunted with it for years. I ran across this Browning a few years later and just liked it a lot better.

I can lay off shooting the compound bows for months and still shoot well enough the 1st time I pick it up. But I need a few days of practice to get back my form if I don't shoot the recurve regularly.

Before the local pro-shop closed he made me a great deal on the Martin compound. Someone had traded it in and it was already set up with everything I needed and the price was right. If I'm serious about trying to kill something I will take it. But if I'm more interested in going for a walk and doing some scouting like this morning the old Browning gets the nod.

 

[Paul R Zartman]

Now I'm gonna have to pull my recurve off the wall and hit the bag a few times...see if I still got the aim...

 

[Armored farmer]

<<<<<Another recurve hunter here <<<<<<
Archery season opener is October 1. Harvest hasn't allowed us to hunt early Archery for years. I miss that.

Years ago my friends and I had a little recurve league that met one night a week and kept score, then drank a beer and ate venison salami or other game or fish fry..that was fun too.
I have a Bear Grizzly that draws 52#

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Ah, you kids with your new-fangled recurves.

View attachment 1102929

I hear ya brother!

Well, there be a couple re-curves there. Very top bow I got when I was sixteen years old. 40#. Actually killed a deer with it.

Second from top a hickory with rawhide backing that I made, 65#. It's kind of "sluggish" shooting, but I like it.

Third down the nicest bow ever, 65# tri-laminate of bamboo, hickory, and "EPE". No handle section, the whole bow bends. Horn tips and everything. I love the feel of the handle section bending, although most people would find that weird feeling.

Fourth down, an Omega 56# reflex/deflex. It shoots faster than the 65# bows, and very close to my Browning Fury II #72 pound bow. The Omega is my main squeeze now, when I want performance and accuracy. Otherwise I like to use the tri-laminate longbow.

The bottom bow is the Browning Fury II, 72#. This is the bow I used all through me younger days. I can still pull it, but to get good with it again I'd have to shoot it about every other day to stay in shape, and even then it might strain the old frame. 65# is about my limit these days, for shooting on a regular basis. I take it trekking sometimes, faced off with mama bear and cub one day with it, and felt confident. One deer I got with it, I hit the spine and dropped it on the spot.

Yeah, the old Brownings were some good bows.

 

[.38 Special]

Third down the nicest bow ever, 65# tri-laminate of bamboo, hickory, and "EPE". No handle section, the whole bow bends. Horn tips and everything. I love the feel of the handle section bending, although most people would find that weird feeling.

Is that an "Archeybowman"? I have several, and I really like them.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I can lay off shooting the compound bows for months and still shoot well enough the 1st time I pick it up. But I need a few days of practice to get back my form if I don't shoot the recurve regularly.

Right, the "real" bows take more time, practice, and dedication. And that's something I kind of like, as shooting every other day, or a couple times a week is good for the soul, hand-eye coordination, upper body strength, etc. No offense to your compound, I had a hunting partner that got one of the first compounds. Used to give him a lot of ribbing, called it his/the "contraption". It was really primitive compared to the compounds today, just kind of a recurve with wheels on the tips of the limbs.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Is that an "Archeybowman"? I have several, and I really like them.

I don't think so, long story on that bow. I tried to order just the stave from an outfit years ago, ("Rudder Bows"?) and they kept putting me off for like eight months, then I finally sent them a nasty-gram, but a "polite" one. Then I get a phone call from them saying "would you be interested in a finished bow". I said yes, figuring I'd be lucky to get anything out of them, and a few days later they sent me that jewel. !!! It is a beauty. Shoots like a dream. For the price of a stave. Dang! That was my lucky day.

 

[.38 Special]

Don't get me wrong, I hold no animosity towards those who hunt with a crossbow. But it just isn't for me.

I get it. Just like anything, some folks enjoy "Hunting the hard way" and others are trying to make it as easy as possible.

Having said that, the latest generation of crossbows hit me in the same place as, say, the Desert Eagle: they're cartoonish and silly, and I still kind of want one. I mean, electronic cocking? How can you live without one of these things?

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I like old-fashioned cross-bows. Don't think I'd enjoy hunting with one, but I have a "Whammo Crusader", classic! At one time I was thinking about making antique-style cross bows and selling them. Never got around to it.