Chapter 1: Introduction to Bowhunting
The Development of Modern Bowhunting

Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young are widely regarded as the “Fathers of Bowhunting.” In the early 1900s, Pope and Young cared for Ishi, the last known survivor of the Yana tribal group in California. Ishi impressed them with his bowhunting skills. He demonstrated how he made his equipment and stalked and shot game. Pope and Young followed his lead and took a variety of large and small game with archery equipment. In 1923, Pope published the book Hunting with the Bow and Arrow, which introduced many Americans to bowhunting.

Ishi was the last known survivor of the Yana tribal group in California. Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young cared for him in the last years of his life, and Ishi shared his bowhunting knowledge—making equipment, stalking game, and shooting game—with them.

Ishi used handmade obsidian points similar to the one pictured below.

In the 1940s, Doug Easton started producing quality aluminum arrows. In the 1950s, showman and master archer Howard Hill popularized bowhunting with demonstrations, movie appearances, and a trip to Africa, where he hunted and shot many species of animals. Hill developed his archery skills and shot powerful longbows using 100-pound-plus draw weights. He delighted crowds with trick shots at long distances and unusual angles.

From the late 1950s through the 1970s, Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, and Earl Hoyt furthered the development of bowhunting equipment. Educational programs based on their techniques, including exciting films of some hunts in the early 1970s, did much to popularize the sport of bowhunting. More importantly, these men manufactured and sold bowhunting equipment at affordable prices.