You don’t have to be an old-school arrow flinger to appreciate this walk down memory lane. It all started last Tuesday during a random texting conversation between me and my longtime friend, who happens to be an archery fanatic from way back. He’s 73, and he remembers hunting with stick and string during those glory years of the sport’s early days. 

So, I’m sitting there at my desk working on the next issue of Deer & Deer Hunting and fletching up a fresh batch of the new Easton 6.5 Whiteouts that just came out earlier this year. Pretty arrows, if I do say so myself, especially with the jazzy blaze Bully vanes I picked for this project.

I couldn’t help but send a quick pic to my buddy. 

“Ping!”

I knew that would distract him.

“Fun!” he texted back immediately. “I used to make all of my own arrows! Now I just shoot them, bloody them, break them, and lose them! Which is even more fun!”

My buddy emphasized his point by including a photo of one of his most recent doe kills. Obscuring part of the image, however, was his Mathews Vertix complete with a 10-arrow quiver fully stocked with zebra-striped shafts.

“Whoa!!” I replied. “What kind of quiver is that? I can’t say I’ve ever seen a TEN-arrow quiver … I want one!”

“Send me your address,” he replied. “I’ve got a spare I can send you. It can be mounted to most bow mounts.”

That ended the texting volley. My phone was buzzing, and, yes, it was my buddy Ted Nugent. Imagine my sheer delight as he regaled me with stories of the good, old days. He also steered me to some incredible YouTube videos made by his friends and mentors — guys like Howard Hill, Jim Dougherty, Bean Pearson, Tom Jennings and, yes, Fred Bear. Some of those videos show these legendary hunters touting quivers just like that one while they stalked feral goats and other critters on California’s Santa Catalina Island in the 1960s.

Ted also told me about thrilling hunts he had with bowhunting legend Doug Walker of Western Bowhunter Magazine for sheep, goats and wild hogs.

“It was insane fun,” said. “The beautiful, all-white mystical flight of those long arching arrows is emblazoned on my soul! Doug was the real McCoy, and an incredible bowhunter and amazing shot. He hunted with Howard Hill, Fred Bear, Bob Swinehart and Jim Dougherty numerous times on those islands and had earth-shattering stories.

“Every bowhunter should know these names. Just like Wisconsin pioneer Roy Case. He does not get the credit he deserves, right along with those founding fathers. Then there is Ed Bilderback! He was incredible.”

But I digress. This conversation was last Tuesday. Fast forward to just now (coming back to my office after a quick lunch break at home).

Sitting there, on my desk, is a big, crumpled box (thank you, UPS … grrr). 

My disappoint did not last long. I tore open the box and was immediately overwhelmed with what lay packaged neatly inside (cushioned with foam and bubble wrap) … a vintage 10-arrow “Super Quiver” originally manufactured by Martin Archery.

 

I’ve done a small amount of research and cannot find the exact date when these quivers were made. My best guess is the early to mid- 1970s. Ted told me that quivers like these were a direct result of those legendary bowhunts those bowhunting forefathers experienced in places like Catalina Island. The neat thing about these quivers are the two “sidewinder” spots. Ted said hunters (he still does this) always took two small-game arrows with them on any big-game hunt. Those two arrows were usually tipped with judo points or blunts. The judo points were for those opportunistic times when a squirrel, rabbit, pheasant or other “bonus” animal showed up unsuspectingly. If you didn’t grow up on the cusp end of this era, you might not realize that all of hunters were trying to put food on the family table — first and foremost — when we went hunting. The recreation was just part of the experience.

After admiring the quiver for a few minutes (literally only a few minutes), I couldn’t help myself but to fill it up with those new arrows (I had only fletched eight of them!) and two other Easton shafts I had near my desk.

 

Notice the build-in broadhead wrench in the quiver’s hood. Got to love that! Granted, I’m primarily shooting SEVR Broadheads these days, but I’m sure there will come a day when I use an old-school fixed-point or perhaps replaceable-blade head once again … just for the heck of it. 

Well, there you have it. If I sound a little bit giddy … I am! I will never apologize for being a sucker for archery history. It’s something that is dang-near as intriguing as the whitetail itself.

Ted Nugent “gets” that. I hope you do, too.