Oct 6, 2015

Archery Wire Readers Remember Jim Dougherty

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In 2008, Jim Dougherty was named to receive the inaugural Fred Bear Archery and Bowhunting Communicator Award, presented by the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), Archery Hall of Fame and the Archery Trade Association (ATA). The physical award is a bronzed, Fred Bear-signature, Borsalino hat, complete with turkey feather and Pearly Everlasting wildflower adorning the hatband. Pictured are the late Dave Staples, then president of The Archery Hall of Fame and Museum; Jay McAninch, ATA President/CEO: Jim Dougherty and wife, Sue Dougherty: and Steve Scott, POMA chairman.
Last week's Archery Wire feature and tribute to archery and bowhunting pioneer and journalist Jim Dougherty who died Sept. 21 at the age of 78 generated more responses and comments from readers than anything we've published – hands down. Many of those responding shared some of their personal memories and comments, and we felt it was only appropriate to let them stand on their own in a follow-up feature article. Some have been edited, for length only. And thanks to everyone who wrote us! JRA


Great piece on Dougherty and thanks for drawing attention to a man who didn't seek the attention to which others gravitated. Not that some of the others are bad people, it's just that he was never up front but always smiling and standing around "shootin' the bull" about bowhunting with regular guys. You did a nice job of capturing that even though I'm sure many readers recognized the name but, having not seen him on television, online or YouTube, in ads, or speaking at events, most have no idea how great a man he was.

Jay McAninch, CEO/President
Archery Trade Association



The Big C finally claimed Jim. Ever since I met him in the early 1980's, Jim was battling recurrences. Your obit was a fitting tribute to our friend and icon who will be greatly missed.

Barbara Skinner
Bushnell, Retired



Thank you so very much for the tribute you wrote to Jim Dougherty, as I knew Jim for over 30 years and he always treated me with respect and I enjoyed several hunting camps with Jim over those years. He was the first person in the Archery Industry to call me Tommy instead of Tom and I always smiled when he did, as only my Mother called me Tommy. I would sit like a kid in the room and listen to him tell stories about hunting Catalina, working for Ben Pearson and hunting Africa.

Though we where competitors during my days at Frontier Archery, he never treated me as a threat, but as a friend and fellow bowhunter. In later years he was on the Pro Staff of Cabela's and I looked forward to seeing him at the ATA show each year to renew that agreement and catch up on his health and his hunts.

I was sitting in a treestand when I heard the news, hunting elk over a waterhole and it was the perfect place to reflect on how much I admired Jim and his legacy in Archery. I will miss him dearly.

Tom Gallagher
Cabela's, Retired



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Jim Dougherty from a Bow & Arrow Magazine, circa 1964, while field-testing the then-new Bear Kodiak recurve bow.
What most (people) can't fathom simply because of their age is that Jim Dougherty was a pioneer in the true sense of the word. All of his early bowhunting success was accomplished with what were, by today's standards, crude equipment – recurve bows, wooden shafts before the initial Easton aluminum arrows came on the scene, heavy broadheads that had to be hand-sharpened, finger tabs, no rangefinder. Thus, they had to get close which meant they learned to stalk in close on cat's feet.

Camouflage? They mostly hunted in blue jeans, work shirts, and a cowboy hat. Tree stands? Not yet mass produced. Ground blinds? Only if you built one yourself. Scent control? That would be keeping the wind in your face. Game cameras, aerial photos, and other modern scouting tools? You were lucky if you could find a decent topographic map. Cell phones? When they made a call it was often on a party line shared with neighbors. When they went to Alaska, northern Canada, Africa, it truly was like flying to the moon.

Bob Robb, Editor
Grand View Outdoors



Thanks for the nice piece about Jim Dougherty. He was probably my favorite bowhunting author and I remember anxiously thumbing my way through the different magazines to read his articles first. He inspired me as well, not only to try my hand at some outdoor writing but also because when I suffered from a case of incurable "target panic," after 12 years in the sport, I switched from shooting right to left-handed, just as Jim had done.

A prized possession, sitting in my broadhead collection display case, is a hunting arrow of Jim's that he killed a whitetail deer with, some years ago. Tom Gallagher, knowing how much I admired and respected Jim Dougherty as an author and bowhunter, was thoughtful enough to bring it back from a hunting camp he shared with Jim, and present it to me.

The bowhunting community has truly lost an icon.

Charlie Pacheco, bowhunter
Manteca, Calif.