I live here in the beautifull state of Michigan,and have been involved with competitive archery for at least 7 years and i worked my way through 2 sponsorships and placing 2nd in one leg of the tripple crown in grass lake back in 1997.This was all fine when i had all the time and money to do so,and when the I.B.O adapted stricter rules and people started trickling to the A.S.A it seemed whoever had the 'one cam' and could shoot at least a 299 with 30+ spots could get a free bow to try there luck ,hence the revolution.Then i just have a certian trait about me to not follow the jones's and i was showing up with some realy far out rigs and still knocking there socks off!
I soon came to realize that i was in the sport to just mock the large companies pushing there high dollar equipment and i was getting burnt out doing so and not enjoying myself anymore. Deep down im a bowhunter at heart and i believe that simple is best,so i decided to get rid of all my training wheels and buy a real bow, now at this time my fellow shooters thought that this was one of my many phases of change but after i started shooting i began to REALY enjoy shooting again just like i remembered! last year i had every gizmo the local dealer had on the shelf on my bow , expandible broad heads,overdraw,carbon arrows,battery operated sights,2 realeases, too much S#$% on my bowstring to list, vibra-dampening blablablabla , get the picture.
Some of the fondest memories i have growing up in a hunting family was watching my dad help my brothers sharpen there broadheads and knives ,get a length of stout cord for a drag rope tied up neat to fit on the belt, mom buying new batteries for the double d cell plastic flashlights now everyone calls 'disposible',and layin out the diffrent styles of cheap military fatigues out on the line to air out.
man this stuff is great! wakin up to the smell of pancakes,bacon,dads strong coffee and my brothers asking those what if questions about after the shot ,and where to hide the keys to the truck!
What happend to these days? did i realy need all of the carbon clothes i spent a weeks salary on?i just got fed up and got back to basics and THIS is what realy opened my eyes to realy enjoying the long days afield with out seeing a single animal, just reminessing about the things that sparked my imaginatoin of trekking into the wild when i was too young to hunt.
i must be rambling and using up alot of youre presious time, but i am only 30 years old now and if i could take things back i would or had a minute to speak around a campfire at huntin' camp too some younger generation of hunters about hunting,choices and even better life choices i will try to add my two cents in about what realy matters..or better yet what matters to them and there particular situation and not to be afraid to make a change know matter how big or small and use there spirit to guide them. bye for know .great site. fred bear forever
