“Reflections of changes in a Bowhunters life”

By Curtis Hermann

In the life of a bowhunter many changes will come, some expected - some not, sometimes it’s just the timing that catches one off guard. As the years go along you begin to realize that you are in a new stage in this life long romance with archery. This happens to all bowhunters; nobody is passed by. Since most of you are younger than I am, I thought I would try to give a little view into your future.

Way back in the early seventies, I owned a small pro-shop in the LA area, compounds were coming on strong and I was fascinated with all the creative energy in the archery industry. As a leading dealer on the west coast for Martin Archery, I had the ability to test each new compound model as it became available out of R&D; it was a neat part of the shop owner experience. Certainly it was an exciting time. I was young, my family was young, archery was on the upswing and life was good. At the same time archery industry salesmen were unloading recurves at a rapid pace and at discounted rates. I began to see that the world of old time archery was taking a backseat to the more modern inventions, perhaps, I thought, facing their end.

Removing the last Wing “Redwing Hunter” recurve off the shop rack, I placed it in my truck and headed home. On the way I pulled off the Ventura freeway and paid a visit to “Pony Express” the largest pro-shop in the San Fernando Valley/ west L.A. area. Here after some discussion of my fears, I purchased a little Browning “Nomad” recurve from my friend Shig Honda..

Shig for years after would tell me how he had intended on purchasing that same bow for the same purpose – keeping it from disappearing from the world of bowhunting. We seem both to have had a sense of the demise of traditional archery; not knowing it would have a revival by the early eighties.

It was a start; I didn’t really consider myself a collector (my wife refers to it as hoarding) but as the years passed - the collecting/hoarding issue became a bit of an obsession. My justification was that in my retirement years, I would hunt with each bow a single season, just for old times sake. By the mid-eighties, I could no longer deny my affliction. By the mid-nineties it was also obvious that I would never live long enough to hunt a single season with each bow, quiver or arrow that had come into my possession.

I was slowly beginning to face reality, all the while trying to maintain a certain level of deniability. It was at this moment that I began to realize that I was in a distinctly new phase in the life of an archer. I have been retired several years now and there has been no taking one of these bows off the wall and hunting with it for a season. Still drawing a 60# Black Widow recurve seems to have kept my mind thinking that I am still young, that the next stage is years down the road. Intentionally staying over-bowed is definitely a sign of denial.

I’m looking at all this stuff (the stuff that I have collected/hoarded for so many years) and wondering what am I going to do with it all. The feeling that this phase of my archery life was coming to an end began to creep into the recesses of my mind. I’m looking at it all and it now seems to be a bit of a burden, but can I really let it go? This thought wandered about my head for some time.

Over many months, I slowly make a plan that I think I can live with, hopefully without too much emotional damage. It’s a multifaceted plan; sell some on eBay, hit a few trading blankets, select out what I really want to keep and then make plans to eventually donate those items to the Pope & Young or NFAA museum (upon this bowhunters demise). All except my favorite longbow and bamboo fly rod that I have directed my wife to place alongside of me after she lays me in a cedar strip canoe that she is to set adrift in the upper Missouri river breaks of eastern Montana. I shall travel the route of the mountain man, perhaps if I can make it to St. Charles county Missouri they can lay me rest near the grave site of Daniel Boone, my great, great, great, uncle.

My wife responds to this idea with a roll of her eye’s and the comment, good luck with that one! In the meantime, ……

…………. Putting the plan into operation ………..

My wife and I recently returned from an extensive RV vacation to the upper mid-west to see some of this grand land that we had not previously experienced. There were a couple of goals that involved more than just seeing country not seen before. The main goal was to attend “The Compton Traditional Rendezvous” in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to experience the company of old friends, make new friends and play with several thousand archers with longbows and recurves. Lastly to unload a good portion of ancient archery gear I have been hoarding over the last forty years on “Trading Blanket” day.

The “Trading Blanket” was not quite what I had expected and certainly not the all day event that we give it here in the west. However it was a great time of fast and furious bargaining. As each item sold my wife would take money and make change and I would rush to the truck to bring out more items. Without her help, I would have been reduced to a blubbering mound of incoherent gel in a matter of minutes, I thank God she was there and in command of the situation.

My heart definitely skipped a beat when my very rare Glenn St. Charles center back quiver found an appreciative archer to take care of it. I also had a lemon wood longbow from the early forties in absolutely new condition; it was identical to the bow I began archery with. It went to a deserving young man of about 14, I knew it had a good home. Regardless, my mind was going crazy; why am I letting this go! - It screamed at me, as the other side of my brain screamed back, “What the hell are you going to do with it?” You haven’t done anything but look at it for thirty years! Let it go! …. So I did.

It will build memories for the young man and when he is old like me, he too can be reduced to a blubbering mound of gel when he finds it a new home. Serves him right, these things don’t come without a cost.

The next step in the plan was eBay - with the help of my good friend Carl Ward of Iron Mountain Knives, a master of the eBay world. Up went my prized Jack Howard “Game Master Jet” for sale. My mind wandered back to the discussions Jack and I had over the building of that bow, they went on for weeks before I broke down and accepted what he thought was best for me. I’ve never regretted that decision. Jack was a mentor to me in those days; he and his good friend Walt Powell*, my boss at the time in the NBEF, were most influential in developing my archery philosophy. The “Jet” went up on the net about 5:00PM West Coast time and when I woke in the morning it was on its way to one very fortunate bowhunter in Idaho. The “Jet” will be happy in Idaho; I really miss the “Jet.”

Next to go will be a beautiful 60”/60# Herter’s recurve also with a gorgeous Brazilian Rosewood riser. I’m not so emotionally involved with this bow but I do regret that I will never hunt that one season with it.

Now this column is not really about my collecting (or hoarding if you prefer) or the process of letting go of all that stuff, it is that all these actions are simply a symptom that a life change has taken place, a life change that will be a part of every bowhunters life. My mind rarely dwells on the purchase or search for another special bow anymore. Staying focused on the latest changes in the world of bowhunting is of less import, certainly less than in years gone by. What it does dwell upon is the desire for more time in the woods, more hunting camps, more cedar shafts in the air; more time with hunting partners. A good large backquiver full of arrows, a day of roving, a brush bunny on a spit over an open fire; I guess I have realized that the fall of life is now upon me and what a valuable time it is, perhaps the richest period of my nearly sixty years with a bow in hand. I want to share this experience with you, to let you know how great it is, how it comes quite unexpectedly and perhaps much sooner than one anticipates.

I suppose we are all in the next stage of life long before the realization of it occurs. It is probably Mother Nature’s way of letting us in on it in a gentle fashion. She is good that way.

It is doubtful that this new view of our bowhunting world will affect this column, perhaps in a slightly less contentious and a more gentle and thoughtful way of handling some of the more controversial issues, then again; perhaps not.

I think what I really wanted to say this issue is that in our bowhunting careers we rarely give thought to the next stage until long after we are in it; that each stage gets better, comes sooner than expected and that what we value will change……… that it is all for the good of archery and bowhunting. A similar scenario is in your future, embrace it as it is a good time in the life of a bowhunter.

When this goes to print I will be in the Arizona Kiabab with hunting partners Ron McCutcheon and Carlos Parada, three old men, three weeks of hard hunting; camaraderie, and giving into the best of what Mother Nature has to offer. Perhaps some success will come our way but is that so important - or is just having been there to share the hunt and the time with these good buddies really the best part? There will come a time when the answer to this question just may be different than the way you would answer it today.

Keep those arrows in the air; Let’s Go Bowhunting,

Curtis

See “How to Hunt Deer with Bow & Arrow” by Doug Kittredge, Jim Dougherty, Jack Howard & Walt Powell. Kittredge Archery Company – South Pasadena, California (1949 @ .50 cents)

Jack Howard 1902-2005 Nevada City, CA.

Walt Powell 1917-1994 Pasadena, CA.

Acquaintances and friends and mentors all, they have touched a million bowhunters lives, mine included.