10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bowhunting

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10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Bowhunting

- Friday March 7, 2025 - Daniel E. Schmidt

Bowhunting has evolved in many ways in the last 100 years. Below are 10 facts compiled from our Deer Hunters’ Almanac that were monumental moments for bowhunters.

A Roy Case copy — 1. The first modern archery kill happened in 1930 by Roy Case in Wisconsin (under a special permit).

B Wisconsin 1934 copy — 2. The first state with a modern archery season was Wisconsin in 1934.

C Fred Bear 1935 copy — 3. Fred Bear killed his first whitetail with a bow and arrow in 1935 in Wisconsin.

D West Virginia 1947 — 4. The first Southern state to report archery deer harvests was West Virginia, 1947.

E Michigan 1950 copy — 5. First state to crest 1,000 deer harvested during archery season: Michigan, 1950.

F HW Allen copy — 6. First compound bows sold in America: 1967. Missouri. Wilbur Allen.

G Tree Stand 1971 — 7. The first state to legalize the use of portable tree stands was Wisconsin in 1971.

H Michigan 1976 — 8. First state to crest 10,000 deer harvested during archery season: Michigan, 1976.

I Crossbow 1976 — 9. First state to allow crossbow usage during archery season: Ohio, 1976.

J Michigan 1999 — 10. The highest single-season archery deer harvest was 142,615 in Michigan, 1999.

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