A quote from my friend Bob Gordon

I'm always seeing these heavy Vs light, penetration, FOC, KE topics popping up all the time and usually end up as warmly debated or sometimes real flame thrower material. Well...I have been shooting a competition recurve and hunting with a recurve since the mid 50,s, yea, that's a real long time so I have a pretty good idea what works and what was used and discussed back in the "golden years" of now called trad archery. Back then most everybody hunting with either cedar, glass or soft, bendy Easton aluminum's. Most used metal shafts as PO cedar was fast falling by the wayside and some used the heavy glass shafts. Most fletched there own and not many did the fancy arrows you see nowadays, just glue on some 5" feathers and go shoot. Most archers were NFAA target archers who hunted, not the other way around. Most in my neck of the woods used sights and bow quivers on recurves. Back quivers were seldom seen. H Hill made pretty cool poor quality archery shorts seen inbetween movies at the local theature, he was no icon, just a guy who could shoot well and did in a lot of exotic critters. NOBODY talked about how close they got to a deer or elk, most talked about how long the shot was with pride, remember, these guys were most all target shooters and COULD make the long shots and did, sure, some animals were lost but that was part of archery period. Most people have no idea how well many archers could shoot then they would roll on the ground cracking up over this "point blank stuff" so popular today. Funny nobody discussed penetration problems and most hunted with rather fat arrows two bladed boadheads and 45 to 55 lb bows, nobody I ran into thought it took over 55 lbs to kill anything in this country, tree stands? Never heard of them, Camo? never saw any unless somebody had some old USMC camo's they used. FOC, KE? never heard of that tec stuff, just go stick a arrow in the critter with a sharp broadhead and it's yours shortly. Longbows? never saw anybody hunt with them, only time anybody saw one was at a HH film short or a Erol Flynn robin Hood movie, guess they were around but never saw anyone shoot or hunt with one, why would they want to when you could get a good Pearson or Bear recurve at K Mart pretty cheap. I could go on forever on this old stuff but this is eneugh for now. Just use a sharp point, shoot well and don't worry about the slide rule stuff, critters are no tougher now than they were then...warf

:)

The new neo-trads would probably think those old wood risered Hoyts and black micarta risered Bear target bows "just ain't trad"...lol...Remember the old Herter's "Farbin glass" arrows" Still have a few I converted over to carp arrows, pretty tough shafts those old glass arrows. Never could remember anyone who could shoot shooting off the shelf, that was newbee stuff, wonder why all the better bows came with a elevated rest, could it be because they tightened groups? Hmmmm....Those old Easton aluminum arrows were not anodized and made your hands all black pulling them, no camo arrows then just six or so shining chrome like shafts in you bow quiver reflecting light everywhere, it's a wonder we were able to kill anything then, deer didn't seem to mind at all...Camo arrows is about the best thing Hoyt and others could do for arrow sales, you could lose one of those if you dropped in on your living room rug...warf

The main reason most of the stuff we used way back when, flipper rests, stabilizers, vanes, etc. isn't considered "traditional" by today's standards is because most new archers were never there, watch the Outdoor channel to much, believe everything they read in the one stickbow magazine at the supermarket and watch to many old Howard Hill shorts. They are sort of like the little kid who has no friends so he makes up a imaginary friend so he has some one to play with I guess. There is a world full of pictures, old magazines and equipment from the golden years of archery but I guess it's to much work to do a little research into history to see what archery was really like. And then you get a couple new era guru's selling video's and books, giving seminars at big trad shoots and the big lie just continues to grow...warf

Today, with so called "traditional" archery only representing about 10% of the total archery business (or so I've read and been told) it is hard to imagine, let alone understand how big archery was as a sport back in the Golden Age (basically the 1960s).

It was the fastest growing sport in the United States, and not just hunting but shooting at targets...all kinds of targets. Mid 60s there was an issue of Sports Illistrated that featured a female archer on the cover and the lead story was about archery.

As Bob said, every town and village had a field archery range. It was the most popular excuse for flinging arrows, but not the only one. There was formal target archery of course, but flight and archery golf were popular too. And of course there were hunting archers. (smiley face goes here)

The PAA (Professional Archery Association) held their own tournements and their indoor championship was one of the biggest events of the year (next to the NFAA Nationals). I remeber the PAA championship being held in Detroit, MI and they filled Cobo Hall with thousands of archers and archery fans.

This was all primarily recurve shooting although I'm sure there were some die-hard longbow shooters around. I didn't know any in my area but that doesn't mean they weren't around. Again, as Bob said, you could find archery equipment for sale everywhere. Almost every hardware store that carried sporting goods (guns & ammo) would also have a selection of bows and arrows to choose from.

I've asked myself many times, "What happened? What killed all that enthusiasm?" This may offend some but I have to think it was the introduction of the compound. Classical archery (holding the full weight of the bow on your fingers) is not easy. It takes lots of practice and once learned the skill has to be maintained with regular shooting. As the compound progressed and became more and more efficient (and consequently more popular) it became easier to be a reasonably competent shot. Yea, to be the best it still takes hard work, but that paper plate that gets discussed so much here is a slam dunk with a compound. And, the skill to hit that plate can be picked up again after a lay off with just a short practice session. Sorry but the compound did indeed dumb down archery as a sport for the average Joe or Jane. As for "traditional" archery...well, that's one we can talk about in another thread.

Dave

Thanks for posting this Hiram. Nice to see old archery pictures.

Yea, it was the golden age for sure. Most all towns and cities had a public archery field range, a lot of counties had one too along with the multitude of private archery clubs. Most were 28 target field ranges wandering thru the woods with straw bale targets. Guess land is to spendy and valuable to be like that now not to mention the liability issues and vandelism. There was no 3-D or anything like that just field archery and some formal archery like in the Olympics. The quality of shooting then would blow you away as compared to this dummied down stuff you see now. Before they changed the NFAA scoreing system of field archery there were many perfect scores shot each weekend across the county by the freestyle guys (recurve, sights) and close to perfect by the non-sighted archers. Three under was not allowed but string walking was popular, stabilizers were the norm along with small feathers or vanes and light weight Nibb target points. No such thing as a Flem string, all endless and as few strands of Dacron as you felt safe shooting. The average field target bow was from 66" to 70" long and most were in the mid to hi 30 lb range with a few brave souls shooting mid 40 lb bows. Remember you had to shoot 28 targets with four arrows per target and hike up and down hills doing it not counting all the practice arrows in the morning at the practice bales. There never was any infighting over equipment, styles or arrows, just run what ya brung and have a good time. Most archers had the wife and kids shooting too so it was a family thing all the way. Woman were never at much of a disadvantage with their little hi 20 lb or low 30 lb target bows, some could kick most of the guys butts day in and out. You should have seen those tiny little 1614 Eastons fly with 1" vanes from a light, short draw length bow. They looked like needles or flight arrows so they had a trajectory about as flat as us he men shooting a 40 lb bow. You might be getting the idea on how much fun old time field archery was and what Desert Archer has been talking about all this time...warf

Dave, Yea, those were pretty good days. Most every hardware, sporting goods, Wally World type stores stocked archery stuff. Even Sears and Montgomery Wards did. Colt (handguns) even had a line of archery equipment and then was the "model Perfect" Herter's store and there wonderful catalog full of neat archery stuff. My 3-D and target belt quiver has the famous Colt emblem on it, I think I won it 40 years ago or so. Hate to rain on anybodys parade but back then Bear hunting recurves were mass produced and considered K Mart quality bows along with Pearson and Shakespeare, the "real" bows were mostly custom or semi-custom like the Howatt line or Groves or a few prominent bowyers, yea, those were the golden years...funny how so many of those old bows have elevated rests, sight holes drilled in them and stabilizer inserts...warf

Hey George Stout,,, I have heard you on some of these things and thought of you when posting it,,,enjoy!

I can remember my Grandfather buying me a bow at Woolworths. He kept it at his house and I spend my weekends there shooting it.

It's really nice reading this history and I very much appreciate you posting it. Thanks, Hiram. I was around for much of it (1960 on) but was not sophisticated enough to do much with archery other than the self-bow I inherited from my friend Bob Jackson. I didn't realize I was part of history. I also didn't realize I was part of history with my first cars; a 49 and 53 Chevy and best of all, a 58 Rambler with fold down seats :)

Dave in North Bend, OR

Great stuff!!! My first bow was a Bear that my uncle gave me I was 8 I strung and shot it backwards, My first arrows wear from Ben Franklin 5 and 10 store for 15 cents, Watched Fred Bear hunt on the Curt Goudy show on Sunday afternoons, Yep Those wear the days!!!! REB

Cool thread. Why was 3 under not allowed but string walking was popular? Kinda contradicts the statement "There never was any infighting over equipment, styles or arrows, just run what ya brung and have a good time. "

My Indian bow was a department store purchase. Arrows came from hardware or department stores back in teh 50"s I may have missed those tec discussions, but I wass young and thought an arrow flying was just flat beautiful. It hooked me.

I only started hunting in '79, with a second-hand compound (one of those old Jennings with the brackets on the limb ends.)

Camo was military, unless you were lucky enough to own a bit of 'Trebark' (tm). The warmest boots were Sorels. Thermal underwear was cotton, unless you were lucky enough to find some of that new polypropylene.

Started fooling around with a recurve in the 1990's, an old Stemmler that a buddy had. Liked it so much that I went out and bought a custom Wapiti, which I still hunt with.

Today's boots and clothes are better, but I don't know if we shoot as well as they did back then.

One of the reasons I don't declare myself what others deem a 'traditional archer/bowhunter' is because I have virtually NOTHING in common with any of the gear and methods mentioned above. I understand it's all part of 'how it was', but it's not part of how it is for me.

I think some of the same folks who beat up the 'neo-trads' for being too narrow-minded about this stuff, themselves, are guilty of using a snapshot in time, relatively recent time in fact, to define 'how it was'... when archery has been practiced, for tens of thousands of years prior..

Hiram, best threat I've read here in a long time! I remember those days. In 1957 I was 10. My father worked part time at Montgomery Ward. He frequented a sport shop, Jamaica Sports, owned by a friend a few blocks away. It was on 165th St. between Archer and Jamaica Aves. I remember walking a mile to the train and taking it (I'd like to see a 10 year old do that today) to that shop and drooling over the many recurves and arrows there. I'd wait for my father to get off work and he'd come by the shop and talk with his buddies. Definitely not the same subjects as discussed here. My father and his friends all had recurves fashioned for shooting off the shelf. I never saw an elevated rest until the 70's on a compound. The H. Hill shorts and Robin Hood movies were the only place I saw longbows. I took them for old fashioned bows. Never saw or heard of a Flemish string. I wonder where and when they came around. Anyway, great post. It brought back some wonderful memories. Thanks, Frank

Somewhere I have pictures of my mother's high school female archery team. Graduated in '49 from a central NY high school in a class of less than 40 total.

I hear about the good 'old days from my husband enough to appreciate this thread. He has said ( many times) how much better the 60's were than today, when discussing the archery community. He keeps hoping that someone will bring back fiberglass arrows.

Thank You for the post I love this older stuff. I remember going with my dad to practice at a archery club or range when I was a small boy. He gave me a old Indian recurve for Christmas that I still have but not my brothers I wonder if he could see into the future. I now regret ever getting into compounds and wish I would have stuck with my recurve. Well things have gone full circle I do only shoot a recurve now and have no plans to ever stop I am having to much fun. Post more old pics if you can I just love them. Thanks again. Widow

I lived through the 60's 70's period of archery. I did have a very short spurt of "The latest and greatest" somewhere in the 80's. Found out that it really didn't do much for me.

I like the old pic's But i don't consider myself as being traditional, nor do i go out of my way to be a "non- conformist"

That being said My lifestyle and views make me in some way's vastly different than the run of the mill society.

I choose to use a longbow and recurve simply because it works. And works well. Not because of some romantic notion. (no pun intended whatsoever) I enjoy tinkering with wood arrows, and use aluminum also and they work as good as they ever did. I'm still married to the same wife of 30 yrs..raised 5 kids, still plant a garden, still cook on a cookstove in the fall and winter. Still butcher my own game and Still use wild game as a large part of our diet. Still go to church where they sing traditional hymns. Still use lard to cook.Hate boxed food. Still work with my hands. Still enjoy the old Andy Griffeth re-runs..Although i use a computer. I don't own an i-pod. And if i want to talk i'll call ya, i don't text. With that in mind it's only natural i'd still shoot a recurve and longbow....."If it aint broke why fix it"

I to remember how it was back in the 50's. I started with a lemon wood longbow, and got a recurve as soon as I could afford one. Bought my arrows at the local hardware, cedar of unknown spine, all with bear heads on them. some flew good, some didn't. I didn't know squat about matching them back then. When the coumpound came along, Unlike all the guys I shot with, I never switched to one, and never have switched to one to this day. I shoot mostly longbow now, and have for the past 20 years or so, but still shoot my recurve's also, and will shoot both of them until I can't do it anymore. Thanks for this post, brings back a lot of good times.

I love hearing about that period in archery history but as Jeff said it was just a snapshot in time, just as when Pope and Young were archery pioneers in their day. Trad archery has just done what it always has...evolved. You can still shoot what you want and how you want.

Mark

Great post, I agree totally. Learned to tune bows and arrows by trial and error, figured out why in later years! Change things till they fly! Hunted, fished and trapped always trying to be as good as possible no matter what the method used. Guns or bows it didn't matter. Seems now we're going backwards from the true joy of the hunt or archery in general. jmho Whats good about fold down seats?? oh! I remember. lol

I swear - I just heard George giggle some. 8^)

Where's Van ? 8^)

Rick

I started shooting a bow at a very young age and won my first archery award in 1947 at the age of 11. I started bow hunting in 1954 and got into organized archery in 1959. This picture is when I was part of an archery team from our club, we won the Central Michigan Championship. It was in the early 60's, I don't remember the exact year but it was the year the Bear came out with the Tamerlane target bow.

Bravo, sir...bravo. I've always considered myself a field archer first and bowhunter a close second.

Heres one that I forgot,that hunter safety was a required subject in my school! I KNOW YOU WISH THAT SPELLING WAS REB

I was making stickbows and arrows in the mid 50's as a lad on the farm...They were crude and ineffective..Bowstrings were often bindertwine.. Got my first bow at about age 7..a solid fiberglas bow..think it was a Pearson jet..and six fairly cheapwood arrows with crimp on points that were soone lost or destroyed..

Neighbows down the way had 8 kids and the oldest had a heavier longbow..Think it was a Pearson bow of lemonwood. I couldn't draw it at the time..

We didn't have a TV..Only magazines we ever saw for the sporting stuff was Grandpa's Field & Stream..Not much archery in that one.. No iternet of course..

Didn't get to any appreciably sized town very often..and had little money to spend anyhow.. Never saw any Howard Hill or Pearson archery shorts or movies..until the late 60's..We went to see a movie about twice a year..

Don't think there was an archery shop within 100 miles..nor club.. My Mom did work part time at the library and we'd often go with her and read and pick out some books to bring home for a week or so.. I read books like "The White Company", "Black Arrow".."Robin Hood"..Once in awhile we'd go to Grandma's and get to watch her TV for a bit so I enjoyed Richard Greene in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'....

I think depending much on where one lived, archery was realy going strong..and in other areas?..not so much..Jim

started shooting a hunting bow in mid 70's. Bought a used Browning Nomad recurve, a hoodless Quikee Quiver, "no-gloves" and brush buttons on the string, a single pin adjustable sight and a weather rest came on it.

Narrow mindedness didn't grow the sport of archery, nor did it give us the bow seasons we lavish in today....or the political clout it took to bring us our seasons in the first place. Bowhunting still is a small part of archery...probably less than twenty percent. If you want to be an aborigine .... that is fine, but archery is bigger than any one idea of what it should be to a certain individual. I was there as well.....and I would go back, given the chance. Thank God the sport is one that pretty much fits all and not fashioned around one persons idea of what it should be.

It certainly depends on where you lived. Absolutely none of the above took place where I live.

I'm guessing that's because I didn't live anywhere near a big city. There was no target archery here. Later in years several clubs were formed but never lasted very long.

The people who shot a bow did so only to hunt with and certainly many of them hunted with bows of slightly less than 45# on up.

The most accurate bowhunter I know could lay on his back and shoot apples off the apple tree at 30-40 yards. He shot 60-70# bows @ 28" and drew them 31".

I do not question what you say as being true as I know it was.. But saying people are lying about the good old days of bowhunting simply isn't true.

I was here during some of that time period, same as many others here were... difference is I didn't live in or near a big city. Things were a bit different out here.

woodsman

It ain't about wanting to be an aborigine. Seriously? wow, c'mon George. I'm just saying archery history and tradition goes back long before any of us 'were there'... and btw it wasn't always 90% archery and 10% bowhunting. I wasn't there :), but have a pretty good idea that for many thousands of years of our history, the converse was more accurate.

"Thank God the sport is one that pretty much fits all and not fashioned around one persons idea of what it should be."

Yep. THAT I agree with. BTW, I don't think 'it should be' anything in particular... or that anyone on the planet should do it like I do.

With regard to the string statements made above, Femish and other reverse twist bowstrings were around LONG before endless loop... or even modern synthetic bowstring material. Jes sayin.

I know you giggled.

Bet you snorted too. 8^)

Rick

I was blessed to be born in an era I could enjoy the golden age of archery to its fullest. Starting in 1955 at 11 with a Ben Pearson longbow, to a solid fiberglass monstrosity recurve in the late 50s to a Bear Grizzly in 1967. Howard Hill shorts at the movies (thanks hiram). I had a used Bear Tamerlane and most weekends found me at one field shoot or another in the area.

Here's my take on it. When I started with archery there was romance to it. You know, Robin Hood, The Sheriff of Nottingham, Ivanhoe, longbows and thousands of arrows in the air at once. We were basically living our dream from young boys to adults by indulging in this sport. Then one day came the compound bow and the romance died. It just wasn't the same thing anymore. The Golden Age of Archery was dead.

Sorry some of you guys couldn't experience it.

.....oh, he snorted alright, Rick. :) I also had GD in mind when I opened this thread and began to read. :)

In my neck of the woods it was pretty much exactly as Hiram said except the bow weights. I think it was like now, different areas were a little different. In our area guys shot anywhere from 50 to about 70 lbs but nobody cared what weight you shot. I didn't start till 66 at 13 years old and didn't get into organized archery till around 70 so that may have something to do with it. I never saw a longbow till the mid 80's. Howard was just a good archer that people liked seeing trick shoot here also. Fred Bear was the big name here till compounds got to be popular. I do know one thing, most of the archers I knew back then would never be "trad" today,lmao.

Jeff....for all those thousands of years, do you think for a minute those folks wouldn't have taken to improvements in what they were using? Of course they would have. We have the luxury of looking back nostalgically, "those folks" were doing the best with what they had...and did well of course. Doesn't mean for a second that they wouldn't have embraced advancement. Matter of fact, the time being discussed here is just an evolution from those times. Seems the only thing to throw a wrench in the works was the advent of the gears and cables.

wWell, I suppose archers have cussed and DIS-CUSSED archery things since the first stick and string and shaft came together..:)

I wanted to learn how to shoot..to hit..and how to make my own archery tackle.. o I read many an old magazine from the library years ago..Found some older books like Pope's 'Hunting With the Bow and Arrow'..Thompson's 'Witchery of Archery'..Adrian Hodgkin's "The Archer's Craft"..Jim Duff 'Bows and Arrows'..and a few dozen more..:)

The flemish bowstring has been around for a few hundred years..:)..:)but in America..the endless bowstring was able to be made inexpensively by machines..rather than people who understood the whys and hows of it.. Same with bows..Pearson made many thousands of all wood bows of hickory or dagame..and most of the work was done on spindle machines with only a bit of the finishing done by people..working in small factories..

Same with good wooden arrows..Just were not gonna be found at Western Auto..:)or Woolworths..Unless you knew someone like Hugh Rich or a few of the others who knew how to make great wood arrows..they were all pretty substandard..

BUT archers were shooting fine straight ended bows and wooden arrows long before the 50's..and turning in some excellent scores both on targets ( out to 100 yards) as well as for hunting.. I've posted this pic before..but this is Gilman Keasey of Corvallis Oregon..who won two National Championships with yew bows and POC arrows he made himself..Jim

forgot the picture..:) I knew Gilman in his old age..He was quite a fellow..Jim

well pics are not working the AM..:(

Sam, great thread, btw. I'm not as old as most here, but remember archery equipment being sold at Sears and the local hardware stores....I marveled at the stuff. Your right, yes, the compound killed conventional archery growth, but something was bound to, so I don't hold it against 'Mr. Allen'. A lot has changed and for many families the IPod has taken place real activities, but that's not the case in my house. :)

What I do find interesting is comparing my experienes in archery during "The Golden Age" to others in other parts of the country. Contrary to what hiram wrote all of my friends wore camo in the mid to late 60s. Maybe it wasn't as prevelant in the late 50s/early 60s. It was store bought and generally WW2 patterns. I still have my old outfit, pants and shirt but it is a little tight and tattered. That old stuff must shrink I guess.

Red checked wool was what we as rifle hunters mostly wore. Then they said we needed blaze orange, felt like a clown wearing it, still do!! Camo is ok but overdone. (at least for me). Olive drab fatigues worked fine back then as did Farbenglas arrows and Herter Bows.

This is me in deer camp in 1958. Note the Military style camo, that was all that was available back then. We blackened our face with burnt cork. I had a 1955 Bear Kodiak, cedar arrows with Goshawk broadheads in a National bow quiver with no point guard (shudder) The two coon skins on the tent poles I shot with my bow out of a wild apple tree the night before. The meat didn't go to waste...8>)

I was born in 68, so I missed that stuff, and I made my first camo, my first bow, my first arrows, and had fun doing it.

Is that not the moral of the story, fun and memories, go have fun to day.

Jeff, interesting about the Flemish string being around longer than endless loop strings. Never really gave it much thought but back in the 50's and 60's all the bows I ever saw had endless loop strings. Bear in mind I didn't see many longbows. Perhaps they were popular on them. Frank

Hirim, It seems that it depended where you lived what was popular equipment. We,(late 50's, 60's, etc.)(SE IOWA) used poc shafts and mainly 5in feathers, Bear RHs. , and shot bare bow. Some guys did use sights., but not many. As time went on, more and more guys started using the "sights,etc.". Now I'm talking about hunting. Field archery was big as was the PAA 300 round. MANY used full blowen target bows, but many stuck to the "kiss " method.As I remember, NFAA had many different classes and divisons.Each divison had a,b, c, classes depending on your scores. (lots of sand baggers) ! Even tried had a handicapped (as in bowling) but it didn't work very well.

Sorry, I got carried away a bit. Guess the first few sentances would have been enough. Good post!

Good stuff Guys,,,Ron,,,You are a great one!! Thanks for the pics,,,all good,,>>>>>--------->

Yeah, I enjoy seeing the old pictures... especially of the folks here on the LW. I appreciate Ron taking all those pics back in the day, and taking the time to share them today.

Frank, reverse twisting is how cordage has been made since long ago when sinew, plant fibers and such were the only materials available.

Sam, I was there and agree with you. Lots of good memories there.

I was born in '48. I started shooting at 8 years old. I made my own then as I do now. With some not so brief interludes with store bought wooden and glass bows. That was not my golden age nor was it that golden here in the Northeast. I was the only person in the woods with a bow and I never saw a deer in Northern MA and I grew up on a farm.

Back in the 70's I saw some guy hunting with a metallic contraption and wondered what it was. I never bought one. When it came time for my brother and I to by our own adult bows we bought recurves- #45-50 lbs.

There are more deer around here now than ever.

Y'all and mankind in general suffers from goldenageitis.

Jawge

I never saw a Flemish string till an elderly fellow showed me one and with some convincing taught me how to make em back in about 1970.

Jawge..:)

I posted on this thread and indicated that whatever was going on in archery circles sure didn't trickle down toour rural farm in Maryland..Like you..with a 300+ acre farm..woods, brush and three streams and springs starting on our farm..I NEVER say a whitetail deer on our farm..AND I caught about everything that walked crawled leaped or flew that was there..

IF I have an appreciation of the golden age of archery..it predates the 50's and 60's....Jim

Great post Hiram ! Seems that sometimes that we get so caught up in the technical aspects of our chosen weapon that we become far separated from our humble beginnings, that the pure simplicity of our chosen weapons is lost. Having said that, sometimes a pic. is worth a thousand words, as success in these cases, was not based on poundage, FOC, KE, ETC. it was based on sharp heads, hunting skills, and the determination to get it done.

^^^^^^^^^

I need me a woman like that!

This pic may change your mind Mike...size does make a difference.

Hey...as long as she is cleaning it and cooking it it's all good with me.

I was hatched in the 80s, so I can't relate to most of that stuff. Dunno much about this "neo-trad" stuff either. Picked up this form of archery because it is cheaper than compounds or crossbows...and I'm just too hard headed to give it up.

I like old things, and learning the old ways. But I also like science and technology. I'd guess the popularity of archery never hit our neck of the woods...or maybe my parents and grandparents were just too busy to bother with it. I found an old all glass youth bow in my grandpa's shed...think it belongs to my uncle. It's old and splintered and not good for much though.

Love these pictures. Great to hear people reminisce.

Perhaps like George T. and dire wolf I was a lone wolf in archery from when I was a boy of 11 to when I got married in 1965. Then I met some customers who bowhunted and shot field archery and fell in with them, joined an archery club near my house. It truly was a golden age of archery for me as I had NFAA field shoots to go to almost every weekend, a club to hang out and shoot at a few miles from my house, and buddies to bowhunt with. To me it was an exciting time to be young and involved with archery and bowhunting. There was a certain charm and naivety to it back then that is missing today.

The only thing comparable today is I have a tight nucleus of shooting companions and several archery clubs nearby that offer 3-D shoots almost every Sunday of the year. We have a ball shooting and enjoying the comaraderie. I bowhunt less probably as a result of aging but I still go and enjoy that too.

My family history in Michigan goes back over 100 years with our Centennial Farm. This farming tradition is also deeply rooted with four generations of archery hunters. Some facts I’d like to throw out to showcase how my family exposure to archery hunting may highlight an alternative “traditional” view to the overall archery scene of the times.

By 1950, the greatest percentage increase in Michigan hunters, with a higher level of enthusiasm, were bow hunters, who increased at a substantial rate, more so than either gun hunters or small game hunters. This took state officials by surprise and was credited to the successful Michigan bow hunting season and the overall promotion of bow hunting. Michigan did a good job of analysis and reporting on the bow hunting season because they had a report card system for hunters to return accurate data for computation. Some results, to shed a little light on who was doing what:

For the year of 1950, Michigan had a total of 15,747 bow hunters. Of those bow hunters, 1,249 were NFAA members. At the time, it cost $3.00 to become a NFAA member with an addition $1.00 to add a family member. NFAA members made up less than 7% of the bow hunting scene. The largest organized association on the scene, at that time, were the Michigan Bow Hunters, which started in 1946. But, the large percentage of increase in bow hunters were neither from NFAA members nor MBH members, but were from gun hunters who picked up the bow for the first time. Of all the break downs and results, NFAA members had the lowest success ratio of any group, other than first time bow hunting newbies. So, NFAA members had a minimal impact on that bow hunting scene.

Of those times, a Michigan boy named Lovelace, piled up a record string of whitetail deer and black bear using a straight handled stick bow, wooden arrows and bodkin heads, that ended with the largest black bear ever taken, at the time, in Michigan recorded history. Every hunting picture I saw of Loveless had him dressed in his farm clothes. I do believe he was a MBH member but not a NFAA member. Most of his shots were at approximately 50 feet and I don’t think he ever used a sight.

As for Howard Hill being a mere side act at the picture show, he had much more influence on my family throughout the 50s. If I’m not mistaken, at that time, Howard Hill’s book Hunting the Hard Way was one of the, if not the, best selling book on bow hunting. Maybe not a big deal with those encamped in the NFAA world, but it was pretty influential to those hunting with various forms of stick bows. Also, I don’t believe an area Kmart store existed, so it was impossible to buy your next good Pearson or Bear recurve from Kmart. Maybe I’m mistaken, but don’t believe Kmart was even invented until later into the next decade.

As for arrows being fairly plain, I still have old arrows from the farm that are mighty colorful with great detail. Things were not black and white, they actually had colors. Often arrows were crested in a unique fashion to identify ownership.

As far as back quivers go, they were used more than you think. Even as popular as Fred Bear became with his attached bow quiver, his company made and sold tons of hunting back quivers over those decades, much less the countless that were hand made by bow hunters testing their skills to craft tackle from feather, fur and hide.

As for arrow weight, draw weight, and penetration, that subject was hotly debated back then, and even before then, as much as now. Just as now, and going back to the days of ‘Ye Sylvan Archer, there were most numerous publications and articles pitting bow hunter against target archers on this subject of loosing an arrow into big game animals. Your head need be in the sand or within a very small circle to miss the many, many decades of that debate.

So in the end, I became the apple that didn’t fall far from the founding member of my traditional bow hunting family tree. This is where I find my home and comfort within the overall archery scene and this is what I cherish the most. I never became someone like Howard Hill, who successfully mastered every single corner of the overall archery world, which is probably why he became so famous. But, my little corner is where my world revolves. Not for me to cast stones at yours, nor for me to entrench myself from stones cast by others, but to better myself and pass on my tradition to my children and grandchildren. I am sure your little corner is equally as fruitful and satisfying to you. Each one of our own personal corners, within the world of what is now called “traditional archery”, may greatly differ based on heritage, influence, region, and time. But for anyone who may proclaim that their particular corner rules the roost for all times, I’d suggest they may be mistaken.

Best :)

As I have stated before on another post, the only tradition that matters to most is how you and yours were raised, hopefully with positive values and great memories, however things were allot different then, for allot of us, with our family members that came thru the depression etc. People can get pretty idealistic when they have abundance at hand. We can't exist without the farmer! Its a tradition in itself.

The back quiver was quite a fashionable item and rather fancied by the lady folk.

Excellent Post Daddy Bear.

Best to you also Daddy Bear

Wow! I may have to scratch the leatherwall off my list of forums!!

Dont understand why people have to post horse dung!

Good thing my KIDS werent getting on here!

Pathetic!

I haven't seen any Horse Dung on this thread. I very much enjoy reading about the past. I didn't start hunting serious with a bow until 1981. But remember the bows and arrows forsale in the hardware stores in the 60's. I was very young then. But I shot fiberglass bows off and on all through my youth, and watched Fred Bear on the American sportsman show. Lots of good memories.

This is my father from the late 50's, probably 1957 or 58. He was using aluminums for Field and indoor archery but still hunting with Cedars. The deer was not shot at acceptable range for the Trad Police today.

RonL

Don't have much to add to this thread as it's all been said, well said I should say! I be 78 this december and I remember most of it. Even did some central Oregon elk hunting with my nephews this year but never got a shot. The one thing that sticks in my mind was the shooting, we took mallards on the wing and running rabbits at full speed and never thought too much about it, no deer in Ky at that time. Now I struggle to make 150 on the 300 round. Perhaps I was also exposed to too much information. Good hunting and shoot straight boys!

Great Ron,,simply great,,,know what Bow he has in the photo? He has Archer written all over in that photo,,

She looks like Michael Jackson

Horse Dung??? if your referring to the cute little gal in the vintage image above, ive seen more revealing images thumbing through a news paper and the sales flyers found within. I think its awesome that the folks who have chimed in are taking an interest in our past and our heritage, as these are the humble beginnings of a great sport that we all enjoy. They say that history repeats itself, and if that in fact is true, the great photos and stories above mean that theres a great future in store for traditional archery.

Black Spot.. You have been visiting and posting on this forum for awhile.. I would not like to see you leave on account of an old picture posted by Daddy Bear..

I wasn't offended by the one pic of the young attractive gal (probably a model) standing with the longbow, back quiver..

40-50 years ago..the ladies showed up to shoot in much more realistic and revealing outfits..and shot well..:)

Many of Howard Hill's assistants were dressed quite pleasantly.. If you have ever seen many of the advertisements from Pearson and other mfgrs they portray attractive young women promoting archery..

Any newspaper any day shows wmen in ads wearing nothing but bras and panties..?

Not a thing wrong about appreciateing the female form and anatomy..Just have to keep it under proper control..:) Jim

During the Golden Era of archery, most good shooters shot recurves and many used sights, however the legends still shot longbows :)

Great post Daddy Bear

I missed alot of this as I was born in 59 but I remember seeing Fred on tv and I remember the first bow I ever had was a 35lb recurve that a friend gave me , he always strung it backwards. My first real bow was a Bear 76er 45 lbs that was when I was 14 I shot it at anything that was slower than I was and killed pigeons and tree rats and fish , bluegill not carp. it came with a bear rest on it and fitted for sights.It wasn't until years later I found out that it stacked so bad that it was 64lbs at my draw but what ya don't know won't hurt ya it sure never bothered me.I also remember getting the Browning mag it had guns and bows and knives and I would drool over the bows and those fancy broadheads that cut a figure 8 hole ,,,, those are back on the market now by someone ,,,Just shows ya what goes around comes around.

She looks like Michael Jackson

HAHAHA. She does look like MJ.LOL

It was a might bit different in my day. Back then, we would slip our of the village well before first light and move slow and quiet to the groundblinds we had set. Our clothes were ragged and torn and stained and our hoods were well greased to give a bit of protection from the rain to our heads and our shoulders.

The sounds of the night would change and we would know that light was approaching because the animals of Sherwood knew this so much better than we and the early birds would awaken and start their day. It was only then that we would carefully string our bows of yew and nock our goose-flethced arrows.

Our concern in those days was not just the King's deer being aware of our presence, it was also of the King's men who might be there to hunt us for the crime of hunting the King's deer. How fortunate we are to be citizens today and not subjects so we can roam the forests and the fields with bow in hand to hunt the deer.

The hunt, my fellow archers, the hunt with a stick and string and finely sharpened broadhead was what mattered so much. It was great in that day and it is great still today.

It doesn't surprise me that Bob Gordon wouldn't have much nice to say about Howard Hill, he hates Howard Hill style bows and doesn't believe they can be shot accurately.

Thank you Daddy Bear.

the Black Spot, grow up......It's a painting for God's sake and your the only one offended by it.

Daddy Bear, thank you for the contributions. Outstanding.

"The deer was not shot at acceptable range for the Trad Police today. "

The best quote of the day. Thanks for the belly laugh RonL. Great picture by the way. Just how far WAS it? He was a field archer so I'd believe it.

Daddy Bear, A close study of that pic makes one happy that 'archery' has not changed a bit. ;~)

reddogge x 2.....lol

Anyone know when exactly archery became a point blank endeavor?

"Wow! I may have to scratch the leatherwall off my list of forums!!

Dont understand why people have to post horse dung!

Good thing my KIDS werent getting on here!

Pathetic!"

Seriously?

What do you and your kids not ever go outside? Own a TV?

You see girls on billboards wearing less than that everyday.

Doesn't mean it's falls within your own morals but nothing wrong with posting it here in my opinion.

1966...I was 8 years old...Santa brought me a green and white streaked solid glass bow that could be shot off either side with a black rubber molded handle and said "Bear Archery" on it somewhere.

Fletched cedar arrows with press staked target points were 25cents each or 5 for a dollar at Two Guys Department Store where my mother worked as a cashier...my quarter a week allowance was spoken for, for the next two years until Santa brought me my first Daisey BB air rifle at age 10...then it was a mix of buying BB's or arrows...whichever I ran out of first.

My father and his jersey hunting friends used to leave for a week out of every year to go hunt Deer in upper NY State...I couldn't wait for them to come back and tell me all the wonderfully exciting stories of the great adventures they experienced hunting the wooded mountains...as Curt Gowdy, Daniel Boone and Davey Crocket were my hero's of the time and I wouldn't miss an episode of Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

My father and his hunting buds were the first to show me how to shoot my bow...constantly reciting the mantra of..."Just look at what you want to hit then draw and release in one fluid motion"...it how they shot and they all shot Bear Recurves.

Anyways...That's how it was for me...and I sorely miss those days. L8R, Bill.

It's been 50 years of archery hunting for me and still hunt the same way I did my first year. Guess I didn't keep up with the times, they all have been golden years for me.

I remember those days well that's why I get a chuckle when I see and hear someone say something isn't Trad. Like some of the shoots I attend, "Trad only no sights or stabilizers." The first thing a lot of us did to a new bow was drill it for sights and put a stabilizer insert in. The NFAA was very particular on equipment regulations for instance if you were shooting in the bowhunter class feathers had to be at least 5" long and a stabilizer could be no longer than 6"...PR

I wonder if Miley Cyrus has a bow?

Well folks?..FWIW?...and since it's Sunday?...I have a bit over 3 years clean & sober and have recently been born again with a new Church I really connected with...Calvary Chapel...it's a verse by verse Bible Study type of church...and I find it quite the Godwincidence that just last night at the Sat. evening service?..we were educated with regards to Pharisee's (the legalists who added to Gods word) and Sarducci's (the liberals who subtracted from Gods word)...who together "Made Up" the Biblical governing body of all of Israel...with that in mind?...I submit to you the following observations...

That image everyone is all jeeped up about?...appears to me to be a digitally mastered rendition of something, someone, somewhere, found great beauty and peace in creating...and apparently gave great joy to many others who viewed it as such.

A beautiful...perfect woman...who is not a real person...who has an obvious similar interest in a sport many men enjoy...is it of this world?...absolutely...but if that digital cartoon lady is getting your shrimp that steamed that you could make something evil of it?...

Might I suggest you fire up that horse and buggy of yours and get right back to church this afternoon! LOL!

No doubt that this was pretty daring in 1941, but even Miss Jane Russell enjoyed Trad.

Jane Russell needed a chest protector. No, I'm not asking for volunteers.

What WAS this thread about anyhow?..:)

Ahh yes..archery back then..:)

Where's the pics of Ann Weber? Babe Bitzenberger?..:)

HUNDREDS of talented and attractive ladies have shot the bow very well..and still do..

Even the Victorian ladies enjoyed archery..tho as one songwriter once wrote..(Maybe Cole Porter?)

"in olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking..now heaven knows..:) ANYTHING GOES..'

need I post the May 1974 Playboy Bear Archery ad for counterbalance?

No doubt times and technology have changed, but the goal of a true flying shaft with a sharp broadhead leading the way has not.

moleman..yes that is so..no matter the age..or the archer or times..To send the arrow and to HIT the mark is always the 'chief point of archery'..as Roger Ascham once wrote as TOX to Phil..:)Jim

AnnWeber Hoyt( Earl's wife) is in the Archery Hall of Fame..She was not just a pretty gal holding a bow..she could shoot!..Jim

Great thread. Hunted all my life with guns. Now 64 and hunting with recurve. Retired history teacher that knew nothing about history of archery. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences. This is the golden age for me because of folks like you. Good hunting. >>>---->

One of the best threads yet. Outstanding post daddy bear. :)

moleman1 - That's one of the very best bowhunting photos I've ever seen. A good clean kill,using simple tackle and wearing clothes made of natural materials. No wonder he is smiling, for it is a very successful hunt.

Hiram the Bow is a 45# Coe, and yes he was a field archer and shot Minnesota state indoor tournament.

reddogge 65 yards, pass through

I don't think that the compound ruined mass archery, stuff comes and goes. For instance, around the same time the Hobie sailboat was the largest class in the world, there were millions of sailors. But those people get old, and the next generation did the windsurfer thing, and then jetskis, and now back to sailing with kiteboards. New technology is constnatly coming at people, but the lifecycle of the people getting into the sport is as important. On average people stay in sports around 3 years. Which is incredible to me, I have sports I have done for 40 years. But most people cycle in and out. The composition is constantly changing. It isn't normal that popularity just persists. At one time canoeing was the biggest water sport. There is no "the way it was" because it isn't the same people.

Great point Bowlim!.

These days there is a lot more gear variety available, but we all have access to pretty much the same info. One thing I notice when people talk about "how it was" is that I never remember it the same way. Locally we had two archery shops, one in Lindsey was run by a National FITA champ, who was an excellent coach, but it was his way or the HWY. The other in Peterborough was run by two hunter dudes, and was very different. In the City we had a gun store that sold Widow, back in 79. And one could go on. Archey was built up around your local range, or pro shop. And the guys who started their own shops were often your local celebrity, the guy who had a bunch of mounts from his world wide adventures. End result was a lot of diversity in how stuff was, and nobody with the same memories.

Many times I said God pluck my eyes out I can't look but I did. God made 4 legged foxs and he also alowed 2 legged foxs don't ya think?

This new school stuff it wives tails stuff. Hirm that Evinrude picture are those women ladys of color they don't look light skinned to me. How is that possible especially if it were in the south? Or are they Cherrokee maybe?

Crossed Arrows, IMHO reviewing old photos such as these kinda helps me put things back into perspective as a traditional hunter. Simple gear, knowledge of your quarry, determination, and true flying, sharp heads are what get it done, none of the bling, bling gadgets on the market will ever replace that, no matter what era.

By By Black spot. Have a nice day

For a really special walk down memory lane, swing by Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo and go through their (finally open) archery hall of fame. It is really well done and worth the trip.

For a really special walk down memory lane, swing by Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo and go through their (finally open) archery hall of fame. It is really well done and worth the trip.

Even Marilyn Monroe was an archer although her form was not the best. I mean target archery form.

Here is one SI cover story:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075045/

[img]http://www.krakov.net/si/images/1963/0805_large.jpg[/img]

And another:

[img]http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/this.week.cover.history.aug2/images/ann-marston.jpg[/img]

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