why i bowhunt

[coonskinner]

why i bowhunt...the first time cabelas put recurve bows in their catalog somewhere around 1964 i knew that was what i wanted tuh hunt with...i ordered the catalogs from several companies,gander mountain being another to buy fishin gear from...than one day my cabelas catalog came an they had a couple pages of recurve bows...that was the only type bow they had...they had bear,an shakespeare an ben pearson...maybe even browning...i chose the shakespeare neceda,i liked its looks and i could afford the 30.00 price...and i knew this is what i wanted tuh hunt deer with...it just felt right...at first i never even thought about it being harder than a gun...but i knew it would be special huntin with a bow...everybuddy gun hunted...i knew of not one person that bowhunted in 1964...i picked up some info in the outdoor mags bout bowhuntin...than i learned of a bowhunter called fred bear...and soon i was orderin his catalogs from bear archery...there was a wealth of info an tips from fred...i learned a lot from the archery catalogs of other companies too like ben pearson an shakespeare...an the outdoor mags were writin more on bowhunting an more fred bear articles too...i learned about the challenge of usin the bow an arrow...how we intentionally make huntin harder...an more satisfyin,especially when we finally bag a deer...or in my case in my first years...just gettin close to one...gun hunters couldnt believe i was getting so close to the deer...i knew i could easily kill a deer with a gun,even a very big buck...and that i would never do,it would be too easy compared to using a bow...a continued doing it the hard way or i just dont think bout it...sometimes i sorta forget why i hunt or why i started hunting,better yet ,with a bow...just being a bowhunter was enough for me back then and just recently i have realized that it is still the same for me as then...an this happened 2 weekends ago...i was reminded by a 37 year old friend that i went bowhunting with me...that freind was not there in 1964...but it didnt matter...this friend reminded me why i bowhunt and mostly why i started...i was sittin in a tree stand ,just got settled in with my freind close by...actually my freind was laying across my legs...and i cast my eyes down on the shiney risor with an accent stripe...my freind was a 37 yr. old browning xplorer bow...in new condition...i looked at it awhile thinkin back to all those bows in the 64 cabelas catalog...i remembered how i felt looking at those bows...how i fell in love with them at first sight...i remembered workin the long hours in stalders lumber yard on the plains so i could buy that shakespeare neceda ...i remember ordering it and runnin to the post office every day just hopin it would be there...and i remember the lady there tellin me that special package i been comin for was there...and her bringin it around and out to the front an giving it to me...i remember running all the way home an hurridly opening it up...i remember being so puzzled when i first seen it...i didnt know how to put the string on...shoot i didnt even know the front from the back...i believe i first gripped it an was holdin it backwards...an then i seen a lil book called the a.b.c."s of archery...an i started readin it...an i learned a lot about the bow right there...i tried stringin it by the step thru but this lil 45# bow was much stouter than i figured...an it took me awhile but i finally succeeded...but i was in for a bigger surprise when i tried to shoot my first arrow...i now knew this bow was really a 100# bow mismarked 45#...i couldnt begin to pull it back...but a week or two i was shootin arrows like the a.b.c.'s instructed...i waited a year before i decided tuh bowhunt,i read that somewhere,prolly from an article by fred bear...and in a year i was bowhunting,i felt special...even many older hunters soon came to respect what i was doing an even askin me where the good spots were...a few of these guys even bought bows a couple years later and i taught them how to shoot a bow,most gave up deer gun huntin for good...they liked that special feelin too,even though they werent killin any deer...
finally i got back to the present and remembered i was huntin tuhday...but just those few minutes gazing at that nice but old shiney,beautiful risor...took me back to that time when i believe i was a ninth grader...it all seemed so clear...and i realized i still hunt for the xact same reasons i did when i hunted my first year...:mischeif:

[Redhunter1012]

Great story Coonie. I have a higher respect for experienced fellas like you. I'd love to come to your deer camp even for just a night to pick your brain. I'm really gonna try. What are the dates?

[coonskinner]

be there startin friday eve...and will be there 10 days til sunday...i feel the same way when i'm talkin huntin around a campfire...everybuddy knows somethin worth listenin to...an we enjoy this talkin huntin an planin the next days hunt...we just enjoy bein in such a nice place too...:bouncy:

[TritonBill]

Yea I agree, nice story and wish I the campfire was burning nightly. For now though it's just me and my bow and the next adventure, I have lots to learn on my own for the most part!

[buckbacks]

he bill did you get my email 10 minutes ago?

[deerhunt45]

good read coonie :D

45 :coolgleamA:

[Andy Gehle]

Well, I aint been at it quite as long as Coonie, but everyone has their reasons for hunting. Each reason is personal and unique, each reason is equally as relevant as the other, but different.
The reasons I hunt have nothing to do with what kind of weapon I carry, and everything to do with the places and manner in which I carry those weapons.
I love the feeling of being alone amidst a vast expanse of timber. Knowing that another human has never walked the exact same steps and maybe has never walked on the same piece of earth. I love knowing that I answer to no one in the woods, other than my own conscience. Knowing if a deer steps in front of me, that I alone will decide my course of action and that I've prepared myself to accept and own my actions.
Seeing a bald eagle, a mink, a bobcat, a beer, a flying squirrel and those critters never even aware that I was present. Knowing that the vast majority of people on this Earth will never see the same things I see when I sit quietly in a woods.
I love that at the end of the day, it's me against nature. Am I clever enough to outsmart a wary criiter on his own turf? To get close enough without it knowing that I am?
I feel no less of a hunter when I have a rifle hanging on my shoulder in the north woods of Michigan's Upper Pennisula than I do when I have a bow across my lap in a woodlot than I do when i'm carrying a 20 gauge for grouse. In fact, the huge expanses of timber and lack of paved roads makes a guy like me feel more alive and closer to the reasons why I hunt.
To this day my greatest personal trophy has nothing to do with the size of the animal. It has everything to do with the first buck that I took completely on my own. No one helped me scout, or pick a tree, or told me where to look. I began and finished the search for this particular buck completely on my own and in a place that others wouldn't think to look.
Whether it's big racks, solitude, companionship, or love for a particular weapon, there are just a ton of great reasons to hunt. I feel sorry for guys who will never understand why there are more to those reasons than appears on the surface. Guys who squint and ask you why the hell would you ever get up at 4 am and go sit out in a snowstorm, probably don't have something in their lives that they feel as passionately about as most of us do about hunting.

Great topic, Coonie!

[eschatts]

Where did you get the money for a bow from Cabelas in 1964 Coonskinner? You must have been in high school. Maybe you had a paper route. :)
Great story regardless. ;)

Ed

[traphunter]

Good post coonie!


Andy, where did you see the beer at while you were hunting?:bouncy:

[Andy Gehle]

Good post coonie!


Andy, where did you see the beer at while you were hunting?:bouncy:

A bear was drinking it.:D

[traphunter]

ah okay I see now

[coonskinner]

Where did you get the money for a bow from Cabelas in 1964 Coonskinner? You must have been in high school. Maybe you had a paper route. :)
Great story regardless. ;)

Ed

"i remembered working long hours at stalders lumberyard on the plains"...:mischeif:

[OhioHunter88]

Wow coonie, that was great, i felt like i was you, man i loved it, so you was about my age when you got your first bow...great story

BTW: We all know what andy thinks about and its not bear...hehe

[dal61]

coonie - thanks for postin your story....just like a window in to your soul :) ....enjoyed readin it.
dal

[BuckSlayer]

Coonie great read. Longest post I think Ive ever read though!!!

[COB]

I just finished reading this. I cried like a baby.

[coonskinner]

i'm still the same...:D