I havent had time to shoot the bow lately. I'm starting a small farm and have a one year old and a day job. Busy is an understatement but I need to take the time to get back on the wagon and heres why.
I went out and bagged my first turkey with a scattergun. It didnt feel good at all. I thought I would feel some sense of accomplishment in getting my first gobbler but I didnt. I think the trad bug has bit me hard enough to put down the gun. I threw an old pin sight on my bow and im shooting well enough to go after that last bird on my tag. Don't care for the sight much but at least it has put a recurve back in my hand.
Anyone else go through something similar? I was happy to have the meat but it just felt kind of empty. I'm hoping I can stay committed to trad even if it gets to rifle season and I don't have deer yet. Any advice?
You have the bug. I woukd rather an empty season, which i had lol with a trad bow than to pick up a rifle again.
I feel the same way. I just had to realize that the hard way. I hope to pass on this tradition to my little boy someday to keep it alive in future generations. Trad just puts more emphasis on the hunt and the process rather than the end result of a dead animal. The outhouse channel and this new generation of hunters care about the kill and the size of the rack. I hate that sentiment. Us younger hunters need to pass on the values and respect of the great hunters that came before us and thats what Trad is really all about to me.
There is an old saying ( actually, I don't know if it is old or not) ( "saying" might be a bit vague, it is a grouping of words that mean something) ( OK, Maybe it won't mean anything to you but it does to someone)
ANYWAY.....
you will never kill a turkey with a longbow if you are carrying a shotgun.
You have to commit, that is your choice and your's alone, but it is a choice that must be made.
(did that mean anything to you ?)
ChuckC
So you are saying I should buy a longbow to go with the recurve... All I needed to hear! Really though what that means to me is that commitment takes action. I'm gonna hit the woods next week with the recurve and also day dream about the longbow I was actually considering.
I applaud and envy guys like those who have replied, but I just love to hunt period. Be it a shottie, rifle, wheelie bow, recurve, longbow, bb gun, slingshot,,,,,whatever,,,I just love to hunt. I have killed a turkey with a recurve though and it was an amazing feeling!
Hey to each his own. hey just bought a long bow to go with my recurve and was surprised that i liked it better.
Barry it is really truly as simple as that.
Whatever YOU want, really want, you need to work for.
If it is a recurve (or longbow) bird, then you have to chase them with a recurve, and not the proverbial shotgun, in hand or you will never achieve it.
Understand before leaping in, that it is not easy and you just may not get one for years ( or you may get one next time out). It isn't easy, but it sounds like it is what you want to achieve.
ChuckC
Committing to legal ethical hunting, any weapon, any method, any time.
I'm committed to traditional archery but with two young boys and a full life, the past couple of years I haven't hunted. I do shoot the bow a lot and do 3D.
Well, that's not entirely true, about not hunting. I did go to a friends 200 acre farm two times in two years and I got four deer with a shot gun...But that's not my idea of "real hunting", deep woods kind of stuff.
I am grateful to fill the freezer, have chemical free, grass and corn fed deer. While I would prefer to put in the time bow hunting, it will wait until the kids can come along or maybe in high school when they don't want to be around me so much.
I'd prefer to spend this time with family now and am happy to "farm hunt".
I have done the full on back packing for days, deep in the bush with my bow, many years in search of game. I suspect I will do it again some time but thats not my priority today. Well, I did almost go bear hunting with the bow last week, but you get my overall meaning.
I'd be thankful for that Turkey!
oops- double post, delete...
If you do not make the time to do the things you want to do, you never will and you never will be happy.
do whatever makes you happy but dont set aside life because you have work or chores to do, FYI you will never get to the bottom of the list and they will always be there waiting for you. Life is about Balance.
Good luck with the recurve turkey. Congrats on your shotgun one as well.
A few years ago I got talked into going rifle hunting for elk with my youngest boy's father in law. I ended up getting a nice 6x6 which was by far the largest bull killed in the camp. The other guys were a little peaved that the "new guy" killed the biggest bull and I felt like I'd poached it!
I guess I don't understand the shame of using a shotgun, or a rifle, or anything (almost) to hunt with legally. Doing so sounds like some fisherman at an Orvis store, you know the ones that have REALLY big doors that high-horses can fit through. :notworthy:
I enjoy bow hunting more so than any other way. But I still take a smokestick out if I get the chance. Nothing wrong with either, I just prefer a longbow in my hands. If I want to be sure I am going to get meat I go to the store. Other than that I like the outdoors the thrill of seeing what's past the next tree.
I think you can be committed, without being exclusive. I view being committed as simply meaning that I want to learn all I can learn, respectfully, ethically and then, apply those lessons to my own practices. I enjoy hunting in many forms, because for me it is about the pleasure of the experience, and honing my "woodcraft" skills. That happens no matter what implement is in my hands. Abilities that I develop or refine while pursuing squirrels with a .22 are used while I stalk a deer. I love the rebirth of traditional archery in my life - because it has also breathed new spirit into my other outdoor pursuits. I would say, enjoy your outdoor/hunting opportunities no matter what the trappings may be.
X2 !
As time allows you'll find the guns and wheels collecting more dust. Until then continue learning and refining your skills
Maybe I should explain where I was coming from. I was a registered guide in Alaska for many years. Shot competitively and was a state champion 3D and field shooter with a wheel bow. I became jaded with "hunting" with either a rifle or wheel bow. They were just means to put food on the table. Traditional archery has put the joy back into the actual hunting process. Just a comment on my personal journey!
I have been going through this exact struggle. I don't post much on this site but reading this was perfect I have been going back and forth on compound or longbow so much my wife was getting mad talking about it lol so I signed a contract with her that I would keep my bow and hunt with it exclusively and its been great. There is nothing wrong with hunting with any ethical weapon I just cant feel good about it and have to stick with trad to enjoy myself the not bringing anything home is the hard part sometimes...but I enjoy it
Lot's of us been there with a young'un or two and needed to think of family first. Kept one bow then and like my best friend, we had to save that special time each year to meet for a weekend of deer hunting with our bows. Arrows and supplies were hard to come by then. Was often reluctant to say I'll be there and stayed home when others of our group would say "that was great (after a hunting weekend), so let's meet in a couple of weeks to go deer hunting again". Never lost my commitment, but kept up my most important one, which was working, graduate school (OSU's Agronomy Department)and taking care of my greatest gifts at home.
Thinking back, I had to set aside that special time for deer hunting or for shooting a few 2-D's a year (there wasn't such a thing as 3-D's then), and stick to it without change. All worked out. Now I have plenty of bows.
The traditional way presents an individualized mystique laden gift of fulfillment.
Determining your own prioritized order of success will guide you best and that order is likely to change thru time and experience. If harvesting an animal is one's true measure of success, then fulfillment, will remain limited. If ones priorities focus in delving into the complete traditional hunt experience itself, then fulfillment will be routinely attained and as a consequence, harvest may substantially increase.
The intersection of wholeness, harmony and radiance will illuminate the beauty you seek....Aesthetic arrest...
For me, there is no cut and dry line for a hunt being successful or not. I think of it more as a percentage of success. Every hunt I go on is successful in some way. Just being able to step foot in some of my favorite woods is a great success some days.
Will I ever achieve a 100% successful hunt?? I HOPE NOT!!! That drive to do something better, harvest a bigger buck, use less gadgets, whatever it might be. These are challenges I impose on myself. These challenges keep the hunt in me alive.
Choosing trad gear is just another challenge that helps "refresh" an activity I already love.
I do not use trad gear on all my hunts. But when I do, those hunts get bonus success points. JMO.
I believe I have had many 100% successful hunts, it just isn't that hard for me to achieve. Being outside hunting is enough for me, if I see game or kill something its a big bonus. I appreciate almost all methods of take and will use them without reservation, but I strongly prefer a traditional bow.
QuoteOriginally posted by newhouse114:
Maybe I should explain where I was coming from. I was a registered guide in Alaska for many years. Shot competitively and was a state champion 3D and field shooter with a wheel bow. I became jaded with "hunting" with either a rifle or wheel bow. They were just means to put food on the table. Traditional archery has put the joy back into the actual hunting process. Just a comment on my personal journey!
I'm right there with you; never was a guide but killed plenty of game over the years. Going out with a recurve has made it much more enjoyable to me again as well even if the harvest numbers go way down.
I sold the compound 26 years ago, all the guns followed several years later. All the money went to buy real bows.
I never regretted it.
Last fall I shot one dove with a .410 and ten doves with a Berry longbow. One dove with a longbow is ten times more fun than one with a .410. So that means last fall I had 100 times more fun dove hunting with a longbow. However, I did miss the first eight that I shot at with the longbow, thus the first one of the fall was with the .410.