i would like to hear about some old bowhunters that you remember from years ago. im in central va and hardly anybody hunted here with a bow before compounds.

Go to Schafer silver tip website and read about Paul Schafer

Check with Tom Kidwell, he hunted in Virginia back in the day. I'm sure there are a bunch of bowhunters from there...before compound bows. Lots of folks around Pennsylvania back in the day that many never heard of, and some they did. Bob Swinehart would be one of the well known ones. Rit Heller, Keith Schuyler, Bob Kirchner, Harold "Dutch" Wambold, Fred Bear...born and raised near Carlisle, Pa. There were others I can't recall.

Check out the Archery Hall of Fame, and Bowhunters Hall of Fame for other names.

By the way, a lot of us old fart here have been at it since the 1950's...well before the compound.

Up on the mountain past the apple orchard lived a very old hermit.This was in Hardy county WVA. spent most of the winter in a great old cave. (not kiding) never knew where he came from or anything. He kept to himself. He must of been in his 80s when i was young. He had an old longbow he clearly used all year on anything that represented meat. I once shot a buck with my 243 and hung it up by the cave and it was gone the next day. Did that every year for another 5 years. One year the buck was still there hanging and never saw him again. Yep a very old bowhunter for sure.

Ron LaClair has been hunting with a bow 60 years he started bowhunting in 1955. That's pretty good and he still keeps the fire burning!

What George said.

My Uncle Vance deer hunted in the early 50's. He was a big man and had a 100 lb. bow, but hunted with a 65 lb. He Past away in 1970, he got me started.

I started in the 50's with small game. Then deer and hog in the 60's.

There was a big difference in deer hunting with bows in the early 60's even in parts of the country where deer weren't all that numerous yet you would see a lot more during archery season..especially big bucks.. just because so few people in the woods hunting them.

Give-em heck George......wing

"Ron LaClair has been hunting with a bow 60 years he started bowhunting in 1955. That's pretty good and he still keeps the fire burning!"

The night is dark but I have a friend that keeps the dark at bay

warm and friendly it draws me close sending dark and cold away

I watch the flames as they dance turning wood to coals of red

The glow soon fades and the cold creeps in reminding me it must be fed

As I stare so deep into the flames, what do I expect to see?

could it be ghost from long ago that are wanting to speak to me?

Men have stared into such flames for hundreds or thousands of years

In the woods at night the bravest man may realize his inner fears

But I have a friend so I fear not, for it keeps me in warmth and light I am safe and warm in the friendly glow.. of my fire...

throughout the night

I shared w/my son on the opener that this was my 45th archery season. You could not legally hunt from trees and the compound was just a couple years away. We thought it was the end of bowhunting as we knew it. Mom did not like bb guns so we took to slingshots and bow and arrow. Not as old as some but there were quite a few men in town that bowhunted. The sport shop on the corner sold howatts so that what was used except a friend shot a Bear and we made fun of him! you could go to the theatre and watch hunting films and very little land was posted. American Sportsmen w/ Curt Gowdy had lots of hunt and fish programs. To get a deer was rare but all the more the challenge. We have come a long way with sharpening broadheads. My dad hunted with a straight end bow. Bought my first bow a Howatt Hi-speed and the guy gave me 100# spined arrows for my 45#er. It still hangs strung in my basement. Bought some four fletched arrows back then and thought we had it all..

Very nice.

I thought this was going to be about really old dudes hunting. Having just had a triple bypass I am not sure that is something I need to read about. But it is impressive to hear of guys still out there at 85, or more.

Nice one Ron.....wing

Up here in North Dakota the oldest bowhunter I know is Paul Shannon still going strong at 89. He gives me hope to keep going for another 20 years. A nice article about him in the last North Dakota Bowhuhter Assoc. Newsletter that just came out. You should be able to check it out on line if still interested. Some of you will recognize the name as he was very active in PBS and Pope and Young.

Thanks for the replies.

Ron, those are good words for sure. Good hunting.

I spent many a night reading articles and reliving the hunts of Larry Bamford who was a past president of the Pope and Young Club and Hunting Editor for "Bowhunter" magazine back in the 70's. Got to hunt elk with him once. Remember seeing him shooting his 84# Grable Take Down. Very ethical bowhunter.. We lost him too early to cancer. Marvin Clynke is another one who paved the way for me and admired his DIY backcountry and high country pursuits.

In my area of MD I know of very few who bow hunted in the 50s or early 60s. One man, Joe Thompson, was older than us but now I can't say how old. My brother in law's father took his first deer with a bow in 1956 in PA and he is in his late 80s or early 90s now. He was quite the bow hunter and I saw a picture of all of his racks displayed on a dining room table. He wasn't a trophy hunter for sure.

African cave dwellers.They just found artifects said to be arrow heads in Africa said to be the oldest evidence of Primative early man using bows .If that is true than they would be the oldest recognised bow hunters . OSR

In the beginning

Red McLachlan, the bowhunting legend of Gila County and throughout Arizona, began his archery career in August 1935 at Hannigan Meadow. While camping with his wife, Idell, he noticed a gentleman at a camp table with a bow. This person was Judge Rudrow from Phoenix. He showed an amused and interested Red a yew wood bow and some arrows and this was the beginning of an incredible archery and bowhunting career.

One of Red’s greatest accomplishments was getting the first archery hunt in Arizona. Red and other pioneers of bowhunting formed the first Arizona Bowhunters club and thru persistence and determination they convinced the Arizona Game and Fish to conduct a research archery hunt in the North Kaibab. After many heated meetings and arguments they succeeded in convincing Arizona Game and Fish to legalize archery deer hunting in 1954 and eventually all big game in Arizona.

The next big accomplishment for Red was the formation of an archery club in the Globe/Miami area on October 16,1947, called the Gila Archers Club, later to be renamed ApacheBowhunters, Inc. The majority of the members were converted to archery by Red, and most shot Red’s homemade bows. The club has had its ups and downs over the years and has survived continuously from its inception largely due to Red’s dedic Red died a few years ago, somewhere around 100 years old, he shot bows as long as he could pull them, he was a good friend and is missed by many.

I got my first "real" bow 65 yrs ago. At 73 I still use a climbing stand and hunt with my recurve almost every week day that the weather is good. My wife is also an avid bowhunter.

James

I still have my first hunting license, issued in 1954 in Maine. When I returned to Maine a couple of years ago for a Bear hunt I took it as proof I had hunted before. The clerk was not sure what to do, until I produced a current Virginia license.

Marvin Brendan; lives on the upper Rappahannock R

shot a bear in his 80's with a self bow

a few P & Y's with his John Shulz longbow was planning on hunting this year

Has anyone heard from Larry Hatfield lately? He's a local legend as far as I'm concerned. I second the mention of Ron building a book! I would definitely buy it. DJ

My father-in-law hunted with the longbow when he was 91, so he had a good run of it. He was near 97 when he passed.

I am going to be 79. Been shooting recurve and long bow since 1955. Shoulder problems prohibit me from pulling more than 25#. Not legal weight in NY. But I still shoot. Use a Sage with 25# limbs. Far cry from 65# HH big 5 and my 65 # Bear Super Kodiak.

Owen jeffery shot his first deer in 1936 with a broadhead he made from a spoon.

I started bowhunting 60 years ago.

God bless, Steve

I was 11 years when I got my first archery award in 1947. I had already been shooting a bow for 6 years

My friend Dick Mauch is now 89. He talks of a mutual friend of his and Fred Bear's from Charlottesville, Va named KK Knickerbocker. That's all I know from VA but I'm sure there were many. There were many in WV.

My mom took her first buck with a recurve in 1970/71 and her and my father were bowhunting before the compound.

Fred Bear was the first one to truly get archery into the mainstream media and Spotlight. After Fred showed us how many followed his lead and helped promote the sport but he was a pioneer in this area. He took celebrities and high profile people hunting... This helped get attention on archery.

Frank

I started to hunt with a bow in and around the same time as Ron did, I shot my first deer in 1958 in Pa. 40lbs rec. made by Sanders bows of Cortland N Y. I hunted this took a Pa. 8pt and Ill 8pt also got a bear in May in Canada, looking forward to my next hunt. 6-GOLD

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