As I grow older, I find myself drawn to earlier and simpler times. Cell phones are everywhere, and we can now make calls anywhere, including our cars or even the bathroom. I remember the old Ma Bell phones that were built like anvils and almost as heavy. We paid high prices for long-distance calls, but local calls were almost free. You didn’t have a choice of carriers. It was AT&T or nothing.
Are cell phones better? I have continual issues making calls in our woodsy state, as 5G relies on cell towers every 5 miles, and our old 3G could make crystal-clear calls anywhere. Two steps forward, one step back.
I would probably set my time machine to the 1950s or 1960s. I was born in 1959 but would enjoy seeing that era as an adult. Everyone enjoyed hunting, kids owned and shot guns with no suspicion, there were no school shootings, kids mostly respected their elders, and you could buy guns and ammo at most hardware stores.
I felt that the time machine had landed in the 1930s to 1960s on June 7 when I attended the Wisconsin Bowhunting Museum open house in Clintonville. I hobnobbed with the offspring of Wisconsin bowhunting royalty, brushed shoulders with seniors who still hunt with traditional bows and wandered through the displays of historic archery gear with a huge smile as I daydreamed of Fred Bear, Howard Hill, Ben Pearson, Roy Case and John Schoenike.
America’s bowhunting history is forever linked to our state’s bowhunting history, because we were the first to have a bowhunting season in 1934. But four years earlier, a bowhunter and inventor named Roy I. Case (son of Jackson I. Case, an executive with J.I. Case Plow Works and grandson of Jerome Increase Case, founder of J.I. Case Plow works and J.I. Case Threshing Machine Co.) shot the first deer with archery gear under authority of the state conservation department.
Roy Case and his son, Roy Jr., started a home archery business and built longbows and recurves, as well as several styles of broadheads, including his famed Kiska design (now very collectible). Case, his son and a third person also started Racine Archery Club. Case also was a founder of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association.
His granddaughter, Teresa Case-Doney, a state veterinarian who attended the open house, recalled fondly how her grandpa taught her how to shoot a bow and arrow at his Racine home on Lake Michigan.
She remembered a moving target his creative mind built so he could practice shots at running deer. His home was one of the first in Racine with electricity.
Although shoulder issues have kept her away from the sport, she enjoyed archery golf for many years with her grandpa and others.
Also there to reminisce and help with fundraising efforts for the museum, which is overseen by the Wisconsin Bowhunting Heritage Foundation, was Bill McCrary, author of both “The History of Wisconsin Bowhunting: 1930-2014” and “Roy I. Case: Wisconsin’s Bowhunting Legend.” He signed copies of his books while Case-Doney signed photos of her grandpa with his legendary buck.
The best deals for both visitors and the museum were bags of collectible broadheads, priced at six for $10. I quickly snapped up six packages, with McCrary helping me select a few that had oddities such as a six-bladed head. I had never heard of such a broadhead, and now I have two. Case was an avid broadhead collector, and his extensive collection can also be seen in the museum.
McCrary still hunts deer with bow and arrow, although he has switched to the compound bow. The mechanical advantage offered by pulleys allows the hunter to hold just a fraction of the bow’s initial draw weight, thus making a more relaxed shot even when holding for many seconds. Unless you are a bodybuilder, that’s not possible with a recurve or longbow.
I had breakfast with the son and grandson of legendary Clintonville archery pioneer John Schoenike, who has a chapter in McCrary’s history book. Schoenike, who painted gold leaf lettering on fire trucks for FWD in Clintonville, founded and ran Stalker Archery Co. in his basement for decades. At one time, it was one of the largest archery shops in the Midwest.
He also invented one of the first bow quivers. Samples can be seen in the museum.
Son Jerry Schoenike and his son, Jim Schoenike, mingled in the rooms and shared a few memories with visitors who couldn’t get enough.
Bud Wiesman of Caroline and his wife Karen, both avid archers, recalled the time Fred Bear spoke to bowhunters at the Caroline Ballroom, which was destroyed in a fire. Bud said he has killed five bears with a Wing Thunderbird recurve bow and once went on a Canadian bear hunt with the late Schoenike.
You don’t need a time machine to visit the museum at 17 E. 3rd St. in Clintonville (just south of Walgreen’s). You don’t even need money, because it’s always free admission. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
Bowhunting heirs visit museum to share memories
