I mentioned him before but got few replies and only had one reply on the Australian Bowhunters Association site. In the 70s, Dallas Conway wrote two great articles for Bowhunter mag. One was entitled Cracking the Jackpot, written about a feral goat hunt. The other was entitled A Boaring We Will Go. I kind of viewed him as the Aussie version of Fred Bear. I'm just curious as to whether or not anyone here ever met him or knows anything about him. His stories were among the best I read in Bowhunter.

Joe

Hello there Joe! I know this is quite a "delayed reaction" to say the least..but I was doing some searching and came across your question about Dallas Conway. I'm very proud to say that he is my father! I hope to god that you get this Joe!? I would love to have a chat to you about my dad and the great amazing stories that he wrote! He was indeed a funny bugger! I would love to ask you if you would be interested in exchanging copies of articles? I would put forward the total costs incurred! I have only 1 that he wrote and then a tribute that was wrote in his memory plus lots and lots of pics. He passed away (sadly) on September 11th (yep can't forget that date now!!) in 1986. It would be really great to hear from you!? I was really bowled over when I just learned that he had been enrolled into the 'Archery Hall of Fame" just last year! Thanks so much for your keen interest in my father and his writing talents..god bless you! You brought big emotions up Joe! Please contact me anytime, I'd love to hear from you! email: [email protected]

Donna I may have that issue if I can find it.Let me look and I wil get back to you.Kip

Good morning Donna I found the issue in my office been sitting in a drawer for years.The article I have is "A Boaring We Will Go" Bow and Arrow Dec. 1975.If this is the one you need P.M. your address and I will send it to you.I seem to remember another one but that one may be in my attic will have to look.Take care Kip

Hello Donna, My name is Dennis Walsh, I worked with Dallas at the Chevron hotel in Sydney and later became a Dialysis Technician, I met Dallas when he was on dialysis, if you want to email me on [email protected] I can give you the info on all I remember about him Best regards Dennis

Dennis- I don't think Donna is checking in with us here on the Leatherwall, but I'm going to send you an email.

Joe

Hi Donna I knew your Dad in the late 60's early 70's...He was a character....I remember he used to fancy himself as a bit of a country singer too :)

He used to go out with my mother's best friends oldest daughter Lorraine Cooper.

I remember he used to go hunting in the Warrumbungles a fair but and I remember seeing his goat horns of one huge goat he took down there.

I don't have any photos unfortunately...only memories

He was a very nice man

Regards Jackie

Nice to read something nice..

voodoolady: He is pictured carrying out that goat, a world record at the time, in his article Cracking the Jackpot. I tried to get in touch with Donna, but the email she left us did not work. Numerous people at the Australian Bowhunters Asso. site were going to try to track her down but never got anywhere. I don't think she ever came back to check this site.

Joe

Here's the pic of the record goat.

TTT

Hi there I have just discovered this site due to the mention of Dallas. I was friends with Dallas for many years, and have copies of some of his songs. He was a good friend and a brilliant bow hunter. I don't know Donnas whereabouts, but I am friends with one of his friends who used to play in his band Regards Frank

Hi Frank! A brilliant bowhunter he was! That's why I mentioned him here. He would have made quite a name for himself as a bowhunter/writer had his health held out. If you ever come across some of his bowhunting pals, please steer them our way.

Joe

Hi Donna,

If you read this, some info for you.

Dallas was best man at my wedding in 1972. He was my best friend or years and I was the drummer in one his bands in those days. We had great times when he lived in Sydney. I have photos and even a little movie film that might interest you. These were before he and your mother moved to Warren. Lots of memories and I remembered you as a small child. If you want to get in touch, my e mail address is [email protected]

Dennis Matthews

Hi Donna, my Dad Ray Payne was a mate of your Dads, We used to call your Dad Uncle Dallas, I've sent you an email, not sure if that is still your email address, I was only 7 when your Dad sadly passed away but I think of him often and always put flowers at his memorial at rookwood,

And I have 4 records of your Dads to, Would be great to hear from you, Cheers Ray

Yeah Frisky Dallas was my hero when I was a kid .I mean it was like the fire in me to become a bow hunter/archer had been lit but Dallas and Ian Fenton poured a gallon of gas on it.Dallas was fond of Greb kodiak boots and his inverted tooth brush arrow rest was fool proof.I still use the tooth brush arrow rest.Those were the days of great times in bow hunting.I never had the pleasure of meeting him but I kind of remember catching a glimpse of him exiting an Archery shop in Sydney in the 70 s.I can't confirm that but I was told it was him.If I had only turned up 10 minutes earlier I may have been able to say g'day to him .He wrote articals for books too. OSR

Hi Donna, I'm Ray Payne, my Dads name is also Ray Payne,& My Dad was mates with your Dad, and my sister & I called him Uncle Dallas, (& Aunty Carol), I have 4 of his records, and remember their house near St. George's river I think it was,& Uncle Dallas used to sit on the jetty and play his guitar, I was only 7 when your Dad sadly passed away but think of him often, I always put flowers on his memorial at rookwood when I'm down there, Would love to hear from you, Cheers Ray

Here is apicture of Dallas demonstrating stringing a bow with a ankle collar.Thats the way we used to do it to prevent twisting limbs. OSR

Dallas's invented style tooth brush arrow rest.All my best hunting bow wear them .You can't wear them out. OSR

I find a lot of young folk talk about bow hunting but really don't know or appreciate Australian bow Hunting heritage and it's unfortunate Dallas is not well known with young folk.Us older Bowhunters are be holding to Dallas Conway and also the other father of Australian bow hunting Ian Fenton.It was a pleasure living in those times.Those guys left us a lasting legacy which I cherish to this day.I am passing this on to my grand children now. OSR

I find a lot of young folk talk about bow hunting but really don't know or appreciate Australian bow Hunting heritage and it's unfortunate Dallas is not well known with young folk.Us older Bowhunters are be holding to Dallas Conway and also the other father of Australian bow hunting Ian Fenton.It was a pleasure living in those times.Those guys left us a lasting legacy which I cherish to this day.I am passing this on to my grand children now. OSR

Ray- Dallas'Daughter checked in with us back in 2012, three years after I first posted about him. When I was alerted to her posting, I emailed her and got a returned email. In time, I think I got ahold of her or a family member, maybe a son, and I sent them copies of both articles he had written for publication here.

I had written about Dallas, in an Australian Bowhunting forum, and received thousands of views and dozens of replies! Four months later, he was inducted into the Australian Bowhunting Hall of Fame and some of what I had written was retold there. I've always liked to think I helped inspire them to place him in the Hall, but maybe it was just coincidence? Anyway, he was a great bowhunter! He wasn't any sissy, tree-hugging bowhunter, that's for sure! He hunted with a Pearson Huntsman. To my knowledge, there were at least two bows called the Huntsman, but his family confirmed his was a Pearson. It was 55 pounds. I'd love to get my hands on that bow! I saved correspondence I had with some of his close friends. I wish more Leatherwallers knew of Dallas Conway.

Joe

Yeah Joe there are lots of folk who shoot Bear bows and haven't got a clue who Fred was.Its a sign of the times I would say .Aussie Guys and girls know about Dallas but they are older folk or if they are young their parents or grand parents have educated them .Good luck with getting recognition of Dallas as I reckon it's long overdue.I for one am a fan of Dallas .Hey Joe he apears to have been a lefty too just like Fred was and also me. OSR

Yes, Dallas was a lefty. Back in my teens, I overlooked the flaw. Today, I wouldn't invite a lefty to shoot in my royal presence, but back then, it was fine and dandy.

Joe

Here is Osr144's diagram of the toothbrush rest. I think it's a Dallas Conway illustration.

Joe

Thanks for your hard work Frisky, Dallas meant a lot to a lot of people,

OSR? It's obvious that Mr. CONWAY was a "BRILLIANT" archer but I'm curious about was HE a famous advocate of Bow Hunting in Australia? Helping to bring it out of the shadows ( so to speak) STAY SAFE / WELL / COMFORTABLE & BLESSED BE! Batman PS? Do wish that You had gotten to meet HIM! DRAT!

Ray- I can't find the article I scanned on his world record goat hunt. If I get time, I'll rescan and post it here, so check this thread out here and there. I think people would like to read the article.

Joe

Yeah Batman, Dallas was along with many others too.You can rest assure Bowhunting in Australia is well established. It grows in popularity every year.The folk who shoot compounds are increasing at a good rate.Traditional not so much though.Thats OK by me as lots of folk soon see the light and convert to trad.It don't matter it's all archery to me OSR

I'd love to hear from you! email: [email protected]

Joe, I noticed in the email that there is no 'a' at the end of her name. Maybe it is a typo, and it could just be the reason the email got returned. ...?

Awesome thread! Please write more. Matthew

On you tube there is a recording of Dallas singing a tribute song to Elvis . OSR

OSR144- Last Christmas, I downloaded the song, lol! I'll get my favorite Conway hunt scanned and posted here.

Joe

Here are a few Conway pics.

might want to ask Aspirinbuster. He knows all those old writers

Great picture Joe.Dallas is wearing his Greb Kodiak boots in that picture.He wrote a bit of Murrays guide to archery or may be all of it. I have an old copy but a few pages are missing.The picture on the front cover is from the Archery center shop in Sydney.It has a York Dyna bow being drawn by the shop owner. They were York distributors at the time. I bought my first decent recurve hunting bow there.I will see what I can dig up on this side of the pond.(Pacific Ocean)You can still get pigs like that here and plenty of goats too.Whilst deer are probably the most common game in the US it's been pigs and goats here in Australia.Dallas and others sowed the seeds and its growing well.Bumper crop so to speak. OSR

Interesting thread. I hope Donna sees it.

I'm now going to put up all 4 pages of a great article by Dallas Conway! The first page wouldn't scan properly, and it cut off a few letters in the 1st paragraph. Otherwise, it scanned ok. I was only 14 when I read this, and I didn't care whether or not Dallas was a leftie. Over 40 years later, I know better and have learned to discriminate against sinister ones. This article takes you on a hunt with a real bowhunter! No sissy tree stands for this guy!

Joe

Oh- I'm posting this under fair use, for info purposes only, as it's a part of bowhunting history I'd like to share.

Joe

Thanks Joe .You know us Aussie 's relate to those kinds of hunts a lot it's just that most of us don't have the talent like Dallas to write about it.Sometimes you just just think what the hell am I doing out here chasing big bully goats around these treacherous hills .?One slip and you could get seriously hurt or killed.My best goat hunting has been in rain storms .The rain kills your scent and you have no noisy dry sticks of leaves under foot to give you away.Its a hard slog just to get back to camp at times and combine that with a set or horns and skin you know ya have your work cut out for ya. OSR

Yep. Not for sissy tree climbers, that's for sure! When you compare this guy's greatness to a particular leftie in this forum, you'll have to ask, Ron who?

Joe

I tracked down Dallas's resting place at Rookwood cemetery in Sydney.I want to visit it and pay my respect to Dallas on my next trip down there.Hey that story makes you wish you could be hunting big billy goats now.I hope to get a hunt or two in later this year. OSR

Let us know how your hunts go. That would be fun!

Joe

Question how do you get the smell out of billy goat skin.Even fully tanned skins still sink of bully goat urine.It always has that faint smell in it.Dallas is right ya can smell them.Those bullies piss every where all over their beards and in their mouths too.Quite filthy actually. OSR

Disgusting! I think I'll stick with deer hides. I have one coming this month.

Joe

"the history of the bow is the history of mankind" and that surely fits this thread.

I loved all of the reads and input from those involved. Just think that this thread started in 2009 and is still around today.

History is great. Thanks all for the great info and then entertainment.

my best, Paul

Dallas Worte antiker article entitled "A Boaring We Will Go" that I might scan and post.

Joe

Stupid spell-check!

That should be "wrote another" article.

He was a hero of mine as a kid ... I remember him on horseback chasing old bruiser boats with his recurve in hand ... Dashing stuff to a young kid at the time...

Awesome thread!

Joe, turn off that damn spell check. They do more harm than good if you have more than a 5th grade edumacation.

During the late 1960's I was the Owner/Operator of a BP Service Station at 327 Pacific Highway-Artarmon-Sydney. During this time Dallas worked for me as a Driveway Attendant. He was a fantastic employee & was most entertaining. He would play his guitar & had incredible humour. I still have caricatures that he did of my Wife & myself. I also recall that he had a finger or the tip of a finger missing? I tried to send an email to [email protected] but it was returned undelivered. My email is [email protected]

Its great to see folks not allowing past icons,to disappear un noticed and appreciated... One of my main mentors,wasnt famous,outside our circle,but i thought,, i may be the only one left to speak about him to others,lest he be forgotten....Recently,i stumbled upon his Grandson on Facebook..Although he hunts with a C bow,after talking with me,i think he is considering taking up the recurve,in honor of his grandfather..

BP- Her email didn't work for me either. I ended up getting the correct email and sending them copies of articles Dallas wrote. I'll see if I can find the email address, but I believe it was accidentally deleted. If I find it, I'll email it to you.

Joe

Thanks Joe-I would appreciate that. Regards-Max.

It was so good to read that article on Dallas. He was a gifted man, poetic and artistic as well as a great archer.So many people over here would now not know of him, as is the way in the passage of years.

He was great! Someday, I'll post the other article he wrote.

Joe

Max- I'm sending you an email with contact info that might work.

Joe

I'd say Aspirinbuster knows him

I doubt Frank would have met him. Tink might have, but he didn't respond when I asked him about 5 years ago.

Joe

My great grandfather. I Have being doing abit of research. This thread of conversation is very nice and good to know different details. Im going to actually start doing similar to a school project on him so i have photos and info sitting infront of me. It will take some time as theres not too much people knew. I met him but was way too young to remember. Though i remember meeting his other son my uncle, dads brother, I was around the same age before he died also. Dallas died when i was nearly three. my brother would have been just born. I do wish he was here atill just to find out from the horses mouth what it was like to be him. Or what he did with his life. Sorry for the boring convo from me but ????. Are u people in australia? Or in nsw? Any who have any extra info. Im here ready for yarn and a listen. He seemed like a brilliant man and reminds me of my own dad in many different ways. Dads kind loving helpful and very handy with anything. He may start things and not finish them at times but he really can do nearly anything and fix stuff and work problems out himself.He also sings too. And back when i was a child was very good with a bow and taught us how to hit a targwt in a tree ????.

So everyone have a nice day. And i dont know what else to say.id like to dind you donna also if u are out there anywhere i have a facebook page.??.

Trax who is his grand son ?? How did you contact him? I have a brother but i dont think its this grandson u are talking about he har atleast one being donna or two other kids. Other than my day and uncle. Which maybe his grandson but this makes him my cousin too. How old is he? Id love to know. Im trying to teach my children about him. He is alot like my dad from what ive read.

His my grandfather dont know why it came up great. My kids are his greats ??????

Hi my name is Bruce Jackson. I was a friend of Dallas, I nominated him for the Hall of Fame and as a consequence of that I am in posession of his nomination, medals, etc. Plus over 20 of his articles, one of his bows and other items. I believe all of these items should go to Donna. If there is anyone that can help contact Donna, please contact me on [email protected]

Thanks

Bruce...Fine gesture indeed...I enjoyed Dallas's stories when I was a younger lad....4finger

Bruce did he get in the AHOF?

Just to answer for Bruce, yes he's in the hall and rightly so! I think I once scanned and sent articles Dallas wrote, to Donna. Bruce, what bow do you have? Is it a Pearson?

Joe

The bow is a lefthand person huntsman it is is first huntsman he damaged it on a hunt and replaced it with another huntsman in about 1973 a frind of mine Ron wynne has that onebow there where four of us who hunted together Dallas Ron Ian brydon and myself we hunted all through nsw and qld Ron has Dalls quiver and hat I have about twenty magazines that containe his articles all the hall of fame paper work trophies and medals I allso have his record pigs head that had been mounted he gave to me before he died i was with him when he got that one I will all ways remember that shot the main reason for this is to find Donna and return all the h o f stuff plus articles and photos any help would be appreciated

Hey all! I finally made it back on here, and found this thread. It's Donna, Dallas' daughter. Please reach out to me if you have any information, photos of my Dad ? I would greatly appreciate it so much. Thank you - I look forward to hearing from you. Hope that everyone is well, and thank you for your replies over the years, reading them has warmed my heart.

Hi Donna! It took a while, but you made it back here, lol! I'll have to look for your dad's article, "A Boaring We Will Go" and post that here. I might have gotten it to you in the past.

Joe

Looking forward to it Joe

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