When did you start shooting a bow?

[Montana_BackCountry]

I figured i throw this topic out to see the average of when people on the forum first started to shoot a bow and arrow.  I can tell you my earliest memories include shooting my bow with my dad when i was about 2 1/2 years old.  And in family tradition, I've got my boy shooting now at the age of 3.  I hope to pass on the tradition of archery to my children.  Archery has taught me many things during my childhood and teenage years, and continues to do so now.  I handed down an old bow recently to one of my buddies and it has made a great impression on his life as well.  It's never too late or too early to start.  Share your thoughts on the importance of archery to you and your family and friendships. 

 

[birddog]

i would say about the same there are pictures that my dad has of me shooting a bow well before i can remember. i grew up at the archery club there was easter egg hunts and turkey shoots and just a fun family time i wish there was a place around where i live now so i could keep shooting like that. i cant wait for anouther two years so i can teach my son how to shoot a bow

 

[huntnmuleys]

Got my first bow when I was 5 going on 6 years old. Been an avid shooter ever since. Finny, my first bow was a recurve, and it took me nearly 30 years to come full circle, shooting recurves again now.

 

[Jimbow65]

I was probably 14 years old, My brother and I bought used bows off of kids at school. we shot all summer long and got pretty good. when hunting season started I had extreme deer fever on a doe and missed, I have been hooked since then, that was in about 1979

 

[Fullabull]

I shot and hunted for a few years and a teenager then stopped and didn't pick it up again until 2004 after I moved to WA. The only reason I would hunt rifle again is if my dad really wanted to before he stops hunting. That is why every year I work to try and get him his first archery elk. I think if he gets one with his bow he will either decide that is a great way to end his hunting years or drive him to want more.

 

[ghost]

I was 11 when I shot my first bow. A longbow.

 

[The SoCal Bowhunter]

I started shooting when I was 9 using my dad's hand-me-down fiberglass longbow. By 14 I was into compounds and never looked back. 29 years later and I still love it!

 

[planebow]

I bought my first real bow and started hunting when I was 15, that was in 1962.  I have been using them ever since

 

[Cattmandad]

I started shooting a bow at about 9yrs. old.  My dad got me a solid fiberglass,red, long bow.  Then went to a Bear recurve.  Then a Bear whitetail hunter.  Then into compound bows.  STill shooting the compound/cam bows.

 

[GoatT]

I started shooting a bow at 21 and have loved it.  Have had lots of cool experiences the last 20 years.  I like the challenge of both elk and especially mule deer. 

 

[mjgetch]

I didn't start till I was 40, wish I had started when I was a kid. Love bow hunting as well as just being able to get out nd shoot in the yard as much as I want. My sons both started when they were 3 or 4 (7 and 8 now) and love it. My 8 year old is even a great caller and bugles better than my other hunting partners.

 

[Garrett Weaver]

At 19, Switched to bow hunting for more a challenge, and haven't looked back..

 

[Mountain Bowhunter]

That's awesome.  I started at 21, about the same time I started picking the banjo and wish i had started both much sooner.  I believe both have a very postive effect on a person, in a nostalgic way. My children will be getting bows at toddler stage also, as well as a banjo ;D

 

[Montana_BackCountry]

Great to hear back from so many of you.  It's a pretty special thing to to pass on your passions to your little ones and people you enjoy spending time with.  After I wrote this post this morning, my son was telling me about how "We're hunters... We shoot elk and deer.  We give them owies and they fall over and then we eat them."  Totally awesome. I'm rounding back into re-curve archery as well now that my grandfather gave me his old re-curve that he can't pull anymore.  Nothing keeps healthy family ties quite like a strong tradition of archery.

 

[DIRTYSNOMAN]

I shot my first bows back in the late 80s early 90s when I was 5 - 6.my dad still has those recurve and long bow. At the time I didn't have much I Teresaaside from it bbeing fun. My family is t big into hunting. But I got I to hunting in 2006 again. I took ip archery agin in 2010 when Ibought my first ccompound. Now I'm hooked and shoot year around with all of my bows.

 

[airmanharv08]

My father had me shooting a recurve as a kid, and he also got me a compound when I was 12, but I went away from bows to rifles as a teen, and now I've been constantly shooting for the past 3.5 years, I'm 27 now and I enjoy the opportunities to shoot on a regular basis. Is it September yet?!?!?!

 

[ELK ASSASIN]

SHOT MY FIRST BOW IN CUB SCOUTS BACK IN 1980 MY MOM WAS A DEN LEADER. THEN MY DAD GOT MY BROTHER AND I A BEAR COMPOUND WHEN I WAS ABOUT 8 OR 10 THAT WE SHARED. GOT IN ALOT OF TROUBLE SHOOTING THINGS WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE , AND PLACES WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO EITHER.( OFF OUR TWO STORY HOUSE ROOF) BEEN BOW HUNTING SINCE I TURNED 13, WOW 25 YEARS GOES FAST!!!! STARTED BOTH OF MY KIDS WHEN THEY WERE 3 YRS. OLD. WE SHOOT A 3D SHOOT OR TWO AS A FAMILY EVERY YEAR.

 

[bob.newland.31]

My father wouldn't let me start deer hunting till I was 14. Then he gave me his old recurve that wouldn't shoot an arrow further than I could throw one. I didn't really start bow hunting till I was in my 20's. So I guess it was a late start but now, at age 50,  I'M ADDICTED!

 

[Sly111]

I first shot a bow when I was 16. There wasn't too many girls that shot back then. My dad took me and got my first bow it was a Martin WartHog. I still had it up until I got divorced and my ex decided that he needed it, and wouldn't give it to me. Grrrr!! I really loved to shot, I had both of my boys shooting with me and joined an archery club. We shot leagues it was great. I then moved and went back to not very many woman shot. I then got my grand daughter shooting at the age of 9. My husband and step son followed. Then my 2 grandsons. Last year I helped with the Elementary Archery Team and we took 2nd in our region.  Now I help with the high school Archery Team. I also do all of their repairs on the bows and arrows. All free of charge, I really love being able to help them and make them the best they can be!!! 

 

[BrentLaBere]

First started when I was 10 years old with a bow my uncle gave me that wouldn't even shoot 20 yards. I soon became obsessed with archery and was able to start shooting my first 35 lb compound the next year. shooting bow for 15 years now and don't plan on stopping.