The history of Wisconsin bowhunting is the history of American bowhunting, because ours was the first state to have a bow deer season.
It would be hard to imagine a bowhunter who hasn’t heard the name Fred Bear, whether from discussions with fathers or grandfathers about the Bear bows and arrows they used, a look at the current Bear Archery catalog or website, or turning on the radio to hear Ted Nugent’s famed hunting tune, “Fred Bear.”
Bear himself killed a Wisconsin deer in 1941.
Those early Dairy State archers, manufacturers, inventors and archery shop owners are remembered, along with their thousands of broadheads, bows, arrows, record books and other memorabilia, in a nearby place that will celebrate its 20th anniversary next month.
The Wisconsin Bowhunting Museum at 17 E. Third St., Clintonville, will hold an open house from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 7. Admission is free, as it always is.
You can’t discuss our state’s bowhunting history without talking about Roy Case, the first hunter credited with harvesting the first deer with a bow during the first legal permission granted by Wisconsin in 1930. On Dec. 6, a frigid, near-zero-degree day, Case made bowhunting history by shooting a small buck in Vilas County with his homemade Osage orange longbow and a broadhead of his own design.
Case’s spike buck, his bows, his famed early Kiska and other broadheads, as well as many other items from his family’s collection are all on display at the museum, which is curated and maintained by the Wisconsin Bowhunting Heritage Foundation.
It wasn’t until 1934 that a separate season for bowhunters was established.
But there are other pioneers to remember, too. There are the many inventors and builders of broadheads, bows, arrows and other gear. L.C. Whiffen Co. of Milwaukee, Staghorn Archery of Merrill (formerly of Ridgewood, New Jersey), American Archery of Oconto Falls (formerly of Claredon Hills, Illinois) were all bowmakers in our state. Numerous broadhead makers also were based here.
John Schoenike of Clintonville was a talented sign painter who left his mark in the form of gold leaf on FWD fire trucks. He’d paint the trucks at his home, and his grandson, Jim Schoenike, recalled riding in those trucks back to the factory. In the basement of the home was Stalker Archery Co., which at one time was the largest archery shop in the Midwest. John kept more than 1,000 models of bow (at the time, all longbows and recurves) on hand for his customers to try.
I shared some special moments recently at the museum as Jim and his father, Jerry Schoenike, talked about John’s contributions to Wisconsin bowhunting.
The museum has a special display of Stalker Archery gear, as well as catalogs from those early days. John Schoenike founded the business in 1943. He created and patented one of the first bow quivers, using a leather quiver with a honeycomb-like insert to hold two-blade broadheads, and metal brackets that mounted on the bow.
The archery shop was on the way “Up North” and thousands of hunters stopped in to buy arrows, bows or other gear, Jerry recalled.
John was a charter member of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association (whose headquarters is the building the museum rents) and a longtime association board director. He is also credited with designing the cardboard deer silhouette targets still used today by the association, according to Bill McCrary’s “The History of Wisconsin Bowhunting.”
Jerry, 89, who joined the association in 1946, is one of the oldest members in the state.
McCrary, who is the heritage foundation president, will be on hand June 7 to sign copies of that book as well as his new one, “Roy I. Case: Wisconsin Bowhunting Legend.” Case’s granddaughter, Terri Case-Doney, will be there to sign photos of Case with his historic bow kill.
You can see that historic first deer, Case’s original bow and hundreds of vintage bows and artifacts that will take you back to a time when bows didn’t have pulleys or require Allen wrenches for tuning.
The Wisconsin Bowhunting Heritage Foundation relies solely on donations, so sales of the items contribute to the museum’s continuance.
Association treasurer Don Rogalski, who is also a district director and a trustee of the Heritage Foundation, said the museum got started with money left by bowhunter William Friede. The former clock shop and plumbing warehouse was purchased by the association two decades ago.
McCrary said an association director in the late 1990s suggested starting a museum to preserve the artifacts that now symbolize the start of bowhunting in America.
The heritage foundation was founded in 2004 and the rest, as they say, is history.
If you can’t make the open house, feel free to visit the museum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
Museum houses Wisconsin’s bowhunting history
