As I prepare for another bow season I can't help but to reflect back on my 42 year journey. Although my dad was a gun hunter,  I became interested in bowhunting at a very young age. I remember reading friends of my dads Archery World and Bowhunter magazines. This was the early 70s and there was still a lot of recurves and longbow articles. The fire was lit. I got a compound for Christmas in the late 70s and hunted that way until I found a copy of the very first Traditional Bowhunter magazine. That changed everything!! I swapped a Loggy Bayou hang on stand for my buddies TD Hoyt recurve. I was hooked. This was 1989/90. There was no internet, no social media, I had to figure it all out on my own. It wasn't difficult as compounds back then were a whole lot simpler than they are today. I shot them with fingers so it wasn't a huge transition. In about '92/93 I bought a Bear TD Hunter from Cabelas. I killed my first traditional deer with it and I was hooked!!  I hunted with that for a few years and killed a few deer with it and then I figured that I was ready for the big leagues...I was ready for a custom recurve!! I really didn't know which one. I had never attended a 3D shoot let alone a trad shoot so there was nothing to try. I saw different bows in TBM and couldn't decide. Then I rewatched Alan Altizer's video "Whitetail Eye to Eye" when he killed that buck with a recurve. I said to myself "THATS IT!!"  so I called Black Widow and spoke to Ken Beck and came up with a bow for me. I hunted with my SA II for 15 years. I sold it to get my buddy and fellow Tradganger Tony Z into traditional bowhunting. I bought a PCH to replace it in 2010. That was about the same time as I discovered the internet!! According to Tradgang, I joined in Dec'09. Woodchucker reached out to me right away as we lived only a few minutes from each other. We drove up to the JLMBH (Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt) together. I had never been surrounded by so many traditional bowhunters in my life!! Since then I've met so many great people and made some awesome friends. I've joined Compton's and the PBS. I've had the opportunity to hunt places that I've never dreamed of, like Alaska, Florida, Montana, Wyoming and Canada. I've met many of my "hero's" of my youth and "well known names" in the traditional bowhunting community. I also became friends with a few!! My journey has no destination and has been filled with a lot of great memories, and friendships. I've also managed to take a few animals as well.

Friends

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Very very cool! in some ways I did the same thing. And my has the world changed since then. You have memories that many can only dream of. I too thought that I was pretty much alone in trad hunting. I saw some tv shows, Wide World of Sports or something like that where I think Ben Pearson hunted something and another with Fred Bear back then. Awesome story of your journey!

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Quote from: tradslinger on July 26, 2022, 08:44:31 AM
Very very cool! in some ways I did the same thing. And my has the world changed since then. You have memories that many can only dream of. I too thought that I was pretty much alone in trad hunting. I saw some tv shows, Wide World of Sports or something like that where I think Ben Pearson hunted something and another with Fred Bear back then. Awesome story of your journey!

Thank you!! it's definitely been a great ride so far and I ain't done yet!!

Wow Sean, what a great ride ! Your earlier entrance into trad was a lot like mine, I did it alone killing my first deer with a old 60 lb ram reflex Hoyt take down, then I did a short stint of 2 years shooting compounds first with fingers and barebow , when I put sights and a release in the mix that was just to much BS for me , I ordered a bighorn TD and haven't looked back , shooting widows since the early 90's . I really envy your trips , those are dreams I could never make happen being a poor kracker with a young family
    As I get older I know I've missed my chances but love reading these. Thanks a lot for sharing

Sean, thanks for the 'great read'.  I'm sure a lot of us here have been on somewhat of a similar journey.  You've come a long way and hope you have a long way to go yet;  You are a good man and a 'great father figure'.  One helluva representative for the trad archery world and life in general.  Luv the pic with Donald Joseph Ward.
Stay well.
Shick

Awesome Sean B thank you for sharing your story and photos

Awesome pictures Sean. Thanks for sharing.

Sean, our journey's are similar.  I hope you make more memories this fall!  I look forward to catching up with you some where on the trail.

Thanks for sharing.
Was nice to see Bill and Bowdoc.

 :thumbsup:Thanks for takin us along, super pics.

  

It's what it's all about!

Looks like time well spent on your journey.  Greatness!

Wow! This brought back a lot of memories. My journey was similar, except for the compound, as I never wanted one. But my learning curve was similar. I don't know about you, but I was dumber than dirt then. With nobody to mentor me, I developed very slowly as a young hunter. I've not killed a whole lot of stuff but have had tons of fun chasing them. Sometimes, I remember when having little money to spend meant not having a lot, nor the best gear. Camp was usually sparse. Yet, those were some of my favorite hunting seasons. It looks like you had great success. Thanks for sharing the great pics.

Sean, thanks sir....you have been around here for a while too.