How long???

[Scoot]

This year marks my 24th year of bowhunting for whitetails. I'm 35 now and started when I was 11. My mom actually said I was born one year earlier than I was so I could get a license when I was 11 (she made it very clear that lying was unacceptable, but she claimed it was justified in this instance ). Just curious how long all of you have been chasing deer with a stick and string.

[The Donk]

Scoot, thanks to the evening meeting in a nondescript town, this is year number one...

[DonBo]

Shot my first deer with the bow in 1971. I was 14 years old. I haven't gotten tired of it yet and may love it more now than ever.

[tengauge]

this is my 8th season bowhunting and i've loved every minute of it. started when i was 16 now 24. if it wasn't for the family rifle hunting get together i prob would give it up and just strictly bowhunt. i've gotten both my little brothers into the sport also and they both love it. my youngest 14 just took his first sun night. Button buck. He was pumped. as was i.

[maros91]

Started in the year 2000. 7 years now. have been hooked since day 1!!!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm 36 now... but didn't pick up a bow till I was 20... and didn't hunt till I was 22. So, 14 years now... still in search of a pope & young...

Maybe this weekend? I'm hitting the woods hard starting at about 4 this evening and going hard both mornings and evenings till sunday evening.

[Slow Jigger]

It was 6-7 years up until my 2nd child was born in 2001, Now I have become a born again bowhunter for the last 2 years. Helps I can hunt 15 minutes away from home as well now.

My daughter (2nd and youngest child) wants to help cut the deer up when I shoot one! I sure hope I can give her that chance soon! She was so mad on opener that she couldn't come with me and sit in the tent (ground blind). She is already trying to shoot her brothers bow, She has one but doesn't look like ours.

[BKB]

This is my 30th year, things have come a long way since I started out with the old recurve, have only missed three seasons due to being in the Army. Just the sight of a deer with the bow in hand is an amazing feeling that I know I will never outgrow!!

[harvey lee]

I dont even know if I want to answer this. But, I shot my first archery deer in 1970. Thats was my 2nd year of bow hunting. Seems like it been not that long but I figure its been 38 years.

I have been lucky enough to have shot 3 Pope & Young but thats not the best percentage.

[CC Hurl]

Started when i was 25 and am now 41. I received my first gift from mother nature that first year i bow hunted and have been hooked ever since.

Started rifle hunting at age 19 and gave it up once i realized i can do well with a bow. I do not miss the circus at all. I will Bow Hunt until i cant no more. God willing that will be along way out.

I have a two year old Daughter who has a toy recurve. I cut the tips off the toy arrows, bored them out so they will fit over the carbons i shoot. Glued them on and now she has three carbon arrows, ohh... about 12 inches long with the little suction tips on the end.

She loves it.

CC HURL

[bigbucks]

This is my 16th year & I'm 40 now, so I guess I was 25, as my birthday's in about a month. No Pope & Young deer for me either. I actually don't think I've ever seen one while hunting that I can remember.

I love bowhunting, it's the biggest rush, but I mostly love deer hunting, so whatever weapon is legal for me to chase them with is just fine with me.

[Scoot]

CC Hurl, ya mean kinda like this??? We start 'em young in our family too!

[charliepete2]

I started bowhunting when I was 14 so it's been 18 yrs. I'm only 32, but this kind of talk makes a guy feel old.

[Royce Aardahl]

Shot my first one in 1968 which was my first year with the bow. 9th grader and 14. I was hunting with my dad. Shot a badger that same day an hour earlier. I was crossing a fence and he scared the crud out of me so I shot him. God has given me many great memories over the years and lots of venison for the tummy and racks for the wall. Still hooked? ABSOLUTELY!!

[BeerHunter]

I purchased my First Bow when i was 16, WHen archery country was being sold and selling everything off cheap.

SHot my first Deer the next year ( the BUCK in the Pic to the left) and have been hooked ever since. I am now 25 so my 9th year.

[luckey]

I've been bow hunting now for "drum roll please" Two weeks! Two weeks ago I borrowed a bow and started hunting. Still waiting for my first bow kill. lol.

[CC Hurl]

Exactly, Looks like the young man is rather intrested also.

Way to go on setting him up with a nice little bow. I know how much they enjoy doing the things we do.

CC HURL

[MNRookie78]

Purchased my bow when I was 22 with the intention of hunting elk during the rut in CO when I was living there, but never had the chance. Been living in MN since 02 and figured with stands and whitetail hunting it was time to break it out and start shooting it again a few years ago. Wasn't confident in my form and shots the first year so I held off in actually hunting until last season. This is my second season and love every part of it!

Scoot...great pic:) Never too young to get them started and learning the proper ways! Looks like the little guy took a pretty good digger to his forehead. That makes me think back to when I was young and a danger to myself

[st.croixfishin]

This year marks my 7th season bowhunting. I've had the opportunity to already shoot a 10 point, which I consider one of the highlights of my life so far . The rush of seeing a deer in shooting range is like nothing else! It will never get old.

[96trigger]

I don't know exactly what year I started, but I've been doing it for roughly ten years. Only in the last couple have I really started to become a fanatic about it.

[Stratosman]

My grandfather took me when I was 13, that was 19 years ago and I have been hooked ever since.

[frogtosser]

Started shooting with a recurve and hunted with it at 14 so I have been bow hunting 18 years

[GoggleEye]

I started hunting with a gun when I was 15 yrs. old mostly by the peer pressure of a buddy who didn't have a hunting partner. I really didn't want to do it, but I did anyway because he was much bigger and could punch pretty hard. I ended up shooting an eight pointer on his land and he shot nothing. He was pretty mad. I was hooked and loved it. I found my love for being in the woods. The next year, he didn't have to force me to go, I actually had to beg him to let me hunt on his land again and I ended up shooting a 150 class ten pointer!! He kicked me off his land for good and I took up archery the next season at 17 yrs. old and found out there was something better than gun hunting for whitetails! I am now 28 so I am in my 12th year now. There is nothing that can compare to archery hunting for showing someone how rewarding the outdoors is to your life. My experiences in the woods have been lifechanging, and I am so thankful for my buddy forcing me to try deer hunting. Throughout the years of bowhunting, I will admit that I have blown many of opportunities to harvest trophy bucks, many of which I have plainly missed. But that is what hunting is all about, learning from your mistakes and closing the learning gap. Whitetails are challenging, and that is what I love about hunting them so much. What fun would it be if you could just walk up to them and shoot them with no effort?? That's what makes your kill a trophy.....all your hard efforts coming together in the end to spell success!

GoggleEye

[paceman]

Work permitting I have been bow-hunting since 1989. Although I am not a diehard like most of you guys I do enjoy the challenge. I have a lot of fun gaining permission for new land and then learning it and then I move on to another piece. My hunting buddies really benefit from my connections....

[mitch]

I'm 19 and this is my 4th season bowhunting. I still haven't shot anything yet but I love doing it.

[so haaad]

I think my dad had a bb gun in my hand when I was 4 or 5 years old. I started bowhunting for deer with him in I believe 1987 or 1988 when I was 14 or 15. Yikes, 20 years ago. It's amazing how time flies...

[Wanderer]

Had a Paul Bunyan 28# fiberglass staight bow with a homemade nylon cord string about the time I had my first BB gun. (8-10 yrs old). My brother got the 40# .

We hunted striped gophers alot. Kinda tough to hit . We cut down tin soup cans with bent ears to tape them to the bow for holding the string to bow fish.

It took me ALONG time to get away from rifle/shotgun and get a decent bow for deer. Finally did it in '96 to prep for an Alaskan caribou hunt in '97. Didn't take my one shot offered though. Too far too windy and two weeks since the last practice arrow. The rifles came out on the last hunt day.

Been with the bow ever since. I only rifle hunt now so I can take my daughter with. I don't think she'll ever get the hang of the bow.

I now own BOTH of the Paul Bunyan bows though!

[archerystud]

I first picked up a bow at age 8. I first hunted at the age of 12 and I'm now 38.

[moby1]

This is my first season with a bow. After many unsucessful outings and a few successful outings with the one week rifle seasons, I figured more time in the woods can only increase the odds, especially since the land I hunt is private and surrounded by private land and rifle opener sounds like wwIII has started. I have hunted every weekend since opener this year with no sucess. I watched one doe from a ground blind but didnt get close enough. The next weekend during early doe rifle season, she WAS close enough. Still hoping hard for the first bow kill this year. I usually take the whole gun week off work but this year have to travel to phoenix for work the wed-friday of rifle week. That being the case, I am heading up next wednesday to bowhunt until Friday night. Hopefully I can pull one off. If not, I'll rifle hunt until Tuesday prior to heading to AZ. It has been tough to sit all day and not see anything but I'm not giving up yet! Oh yeah, I am now 34.

[analyzer]

scoot, looks like your son took a nasty header there.