by Chris Fenimore

Created on: May 10, 2008   Last Updated: August 20, 2011

Once I saw hunting legends. Now I only see Hunting Salesmen!
Are there any modern day Art Youngs, Saxton Popes or Fred Bears. I know you may think, there are lots of great Bow hunters out there! Well I don't mean Great Bowhunters and I don't mean legends of Bowhunting. What I mean is People who promote the sport of Archery & bowhunting who aren't trying to sell you something in the process. Or make big money off our interest in the sport of archery.

Saxton Pope wrote Hunting with the Bow and arrow witch told some of his hunting tales and he focused on showing people how to make their own bows, points (Broadheads) and arrows witch was what was needed in the early 20th century to Bowhunt. Around that time in history you couldn't run down to your local archery shop or sporting goods store and pick up the archery tackle needed to start hunting. He was promoting the sport. Teaching others how to become an archer / Bowhunter, not get rich from it. Art Young and Saxton Pope made some of the first hunting movies and sparked the interest of thousands of people to the sport of Archery and Bowhunting. Granted they did make some money and used their influence to help fund some of their own exploits. Getting rich wasn't their main goal they didn't try to sell something every time they spoke to the public.

Fred Bear was one of the people influenced by Pope and Youngs exploits. I know Fred Bear sold bows and archery supplies. He did though with the idea to make the sport of Archery and Bowhunting affordable so anyone who wanted to participate could afford to do so. In the beginning he also made his own Bows and arrows. He "gave" his ideas on how to mass-produce bows to other bow makers so they could also make good affordable Archery tackle. Even though Fred Bear did make his livelihood from archery he did spend his own money to promote the sport and gave his advice freely.

Today I see a lot of hunting shows and Hunters telling the public you have to have this product or that bow to be successful. And I know there is a need for sponsors to have a show. I've tried a lot of hunting products in my lifetime and I have to say there are a lot of products that aren't all of what they are cracked up to be. Isn't it better to be honest and sell a product on merit for a lifetime than be dishonest and sell by deceit just to make a buck in the moment? And how many of these promoters actually ever even try all the products they promote?

The truth is all you really need to be a successful archer is a tuned Bow with arrows and good points. Determination and knowledge learn the game. Skill will come with practice and experience. There are still some affordable Bows and tackle on the market and with the Internet we can shop for the best deals and never leave the home. We can find affordable archery / hunting supplies and keep our endeavor within our own price range. If you keep the cost of your archery tackle low you'll be able to afford the gas to get yourself to the woods.

Don't let yourself be drawn into the modern day hunting products sales hype. Do the research keep an open mind. Remember Pope, Young, & Bear were people same as you and I. We all have to start from the beginning and learn along the way.

In the words of a great archer from the past FAIRWELL AND SHOOT WELL

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