I have had the oppertunity to shoot a 80-90 lb doe a couple times this week, and had passed. I have shot alot of deer when I had my training wheels, but nothing with my recurve. I have to admit I was VERY close to taking a shot last night. What stopped me was that I have gotten some critisim with some people close to me, saying that " I will be back to the compound after I miss one, and they think I'm nuts going traditional" I am not worried about missing, just the size of the animal.. just want it to be a adult at least. I think everything is a trophy, and have taken yearlings before.But taking a yearling to these guys would just fuel the fire by them saying " yeh, but its not an adult deer" What they don't realize is how decitated I have become to traditional archery. I went to the locally archery range yesterday and shot, and it was great to say the least, i have never had this much fun. It to me is the journey, sure there will be misses no doubt, that doesnt matter. What matters to me is the experiences that occur, the " trophies " is just icing on the cake. Which leads me to my question, How big was your first traditional harvest?
QuoteOriginally posted by frassettor:
I am not worried about missing, just the size of the animal.. just want it to be a adult at least. I think everything is a trophy, and have taken yearlings before.But taking a yearling to these guys would just fuel the fire by them saying " yeh, but its not an adult deer" What they don't realize is how decitated I have become to traditional archery.
What matters to me is the experiences that occur, the " trophies " is just icing on the cake.
Does it really matter what they think? I think the big issue here is how much you want to impress your friends with your traditional shooting/hunting ability instead of it being a personal accomplishment to take the deer that is a trophy to you. To heck with what they think of it. Anyways, smaller deer are harder to hit...and taste better:) If you get a chance at any deer that you consider a trophy take it. Someday a really big one will come along. Enjoy it for what it is meant to be...fun, not a competition. The day I start hunting to impress other people is the day I go back to a compound. Yuck! Matt
After two seasons, I'm still deerless with trad gear. :thumbsup:
My first deer with trad equipment was about a 90# doe...pleased as punch to have had her too...this was after approx a hundred and fifty or so deer taken with compound, rifle, and handgun. Heck, I like to hunt deer with my stickbow...and I like to kill deer with my stickbow...I like to eat deer...considering the small numbers of shooter bucks that survive our local 2 1/2 month rifle season, I've become a consummate "doe killer" and not sorry for it a bit neither ;)
Enjoy the hunt, take the animal when your heart says too. Sad that your "friends" would have such childish criticism...you may find that you will begin seperating youself from those that don't understand your choice. Rest easy though, there's a whole board full us who do understand "why" right here :campfire:
Hey man shoot what you wanna shoot and who cares what the others might say. That's why I call them training wheels because they seem to reflect the immaturity of many that use them. I personally don't care what a person hunts with as long as they are open minded enough to realize that some of us are not about trophies and pissing contests. I don't have any idea how big or small my first deer was with my recurve many many years ago but I do vaguely remember after butchering and deboning I ended up with somewhere around 75lbs of meat.
Oh yeah, welcome to TradGang!
mmgrode, If I wanted to impress my friends I would have stayed with the compound. What you said is 100% true, it doesnt matter what they think, it is a trophy in my book, I will take it next time! I went to traditional for me. Nicely said though :thumbsup:
Thanks JC
Dude, be your own man.
I shoot what the Good Lord blesses me with. No questions asked. Here's my first trad deer:
(http://residents.bowhunting.net/sticknstring/bowdeer04.JPG)
Here\\'s the Story (http://residents.bowhunting.net/sticknstring/hunt20052.html)
There you go. You have to decide if you're hunting for you or an audience. The only person you truly have to please is yourself so long as everything is legal. If they really give you a hard time, hand them your bow and say if you think it's so easy, you do it. ;)
IMHO,, Very well said, JC. Be a trophy hunter only in you want but you're missing a lot of fun, eating, and the knowledge that comes from every deer you harvest, that can be applied, when that big un' shows up...Don
Thanks for putting things in perspective guys! I have always hunted for me, unfortunaly the people I was reffering to were the land owners! Private land is hard to come by now days>
Amen John! Whenever I hear any kind of "superior equipment" ribbing from friends, I just smile and say "Don't be jealous..."
EXACTLY,,,Vermonster and John. Well Said also.
just stay true to yourself, that is all that matters. The shows on cable and the magazine articles try to make hunting into a spectator sport, that attracts those who want accolades for all their accomplishments. When we evolve past the killer stage, there is something deeper that can be derived from the experience. A deer taken by YOUR OWN standards, whether it is with a stick bow or not, should not be held to the scrutiny of anyone else. You are the only one that you have to please. Shoot straight, chickenman
It's funny, I remember a land owner were I hunted who was a die hard rifle hunter. He always gave me a hard time when he saw me with my bow. I could only shoot does off his place and I would always fill all my tags.
After a while he started asking questions about my bows and I even got him to shoot some at the house when he would stop bye.
Well guess what he is a bow hunter now and has been for years except he is still using training wheels so I get to give him a hard time now. :archer:
My first was an adult doe here in TX. 80 #s max. LOL Don't let peer pressure destroy your hunt. Shoot the doe and enjoy the maturing process of going trad. They will get it someday.
Mike
QuoteOriginally posted by frassettor:
I have always hunted for me, unfortunaly the people I was reffering to were the land owners! Private land is hard to come by now days>
Sounds like we kinda misinterpreted some of your "they"... Having the landlords pressure you to shoot "different" deer kinda puts a kink in wanting to be your own man, huh?
Good luck with that..maybe just educating them can help... if they've got some sort of feeling that they got too many deer, I've heard the argument that killin a mature doe takes out 2 offspring per year where a yearling is seen as just it or at most a single fawn next spring...
Peace and patience wins that race for ya hopefully! :)
About 80lbs. I'd rather have all my deer be small ones taken with tradbows than rack bucks taken with anything else.
My first trad deer harvest is in my avatar. I was watching a large buck hazing some does during the rut and this guy circled them and passed by within five yards. Mighty good eating.
I had missed a 12 pointer in the same area about two weeks earlier within ten yards. Shot at the deer instead of a spot and you guessed it, right over his back.
Most of the bowhunters I know who shoot compounds don't razz me about my choice of homemade BBO bow and bamboo/rivercane arrows. From the questions they ask I think some of them may be just a little more than envious.
Dennis
who cares what your "friends" think! Yearlings are far and away the absolute best eating....and aint that what it's all about? It is for me, I'm not on some ego trip trying to impress anyone, just getting some good healthy venison to feed the family instead of fatty steroid pumped beef.
This aint Hollywood :D
my first trad harvest was 90 pound doe, and (http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/chonaker4/PA190001-1.jpg) this was my first buck
...Curtis
I'm still waiting waiting to shoot a deer with my long bow. My first bow kill was with a compound bow and it was only 95# and I remember this kill the most.
Who cares what people say, you hunt for yourself and its your time and skill that determines what you harvest.
Good luck.
She was about 5 foot 6 brown hair and about 130 pounds pretty thing! just joking small doe about 80 pounds but till this day it was like taking 150 class buck!
The first trad deer i shot was a button buck. And if one like it gives me a shot today I'm taking it. There all trophies in my book I could care less what anyone else thinks or says, I just love being out there hunting with my longbow and i take what is offered to me.
Yeah, forget what folks think...you do this for you: the experience. I killed my first trad deer 2 years ago, a fat doe. Now it's 10 deer and counting with one large buck under my belt. At first I wanted to push my chest out to all my wheelie buddies: now I don't. It's all about me and my interaction with that critter. My personal accomplishments matter not my accomplishments weighed against others. Just have fun, pick out your deer, and execute the shot. You'll be in backstrap heaven before you know it.
I second the fact that when God blesses you with a deer you're rather foolish to pass it up. There are "few" people who truly let deer walk waiting for just a certain sized deer. Usually it's the people who aren't bringing home anything that turn into trophy hunters so they don't look bad. In reality you just have to decide why you're hunting and then make your shots or not according to "your" standards. I've let bucks pass for days in certain seasons when suddenly a smaller one came and everything said this is the one. When I go home it's me I look at in the mirror and not other people.
I just took my first this year. Smallest yearling I've ever killed. I never once hesitated when she came in to think if she was big enough. Happiest and proudest moment of my hunting times. I'd be willing to bet that 30 yrs from now I'll remember every detail of that hunt. I've never dressed, bought a car, or done anything to impress anyone for bragging rights. I'll never hunt to impress others.
My first deer was with a compound - an old spike.
My first deer with the rifle was a 4 pt.
My first deer with the shotgun was 4 pt.
My first deer with the longbow was a 6 pt.
My first deer with the recurve was an 8 pt.
I missed does with the longbow and recurve before I took a deer with the stick.
I feel any deer is a trophy, a deer with any bow is a challenge, and a deer traditionally is gift that was earned with hard work.
It's not how your friends feel, it's what you feel.
This is my second trad year and I killed a jumbo doe in my first and an 80 lber this last Halloween.I was very pleased with them both.Sounds like you need some new friends if thats how theyd see things.By the way, that 80 lber lasted about a week when my downstate cousins came up to hunt with me.One commented that he had never tasted any meat so tender and delicious.I was gonna shoot its twin this morning til a horny 6 pointer chased her off, he kept going though instead of adding himself to my freezer.Shoot what you want and have fun.
Izzy
Besides the philosophical side already well presented there is also a very practical side.
Killing deer with trad gear ain't easy. After being very proficient at paper punching with a compound most believe their "precision shooting" ability has waned with non-sighted trad gear. Add to that the skepticism they receive from others and confidence levels starting out aren't real high. Nothing contributes to buck fever/failure like lack of confidence and nothing breeds calm nerves/success like confidence.
Go out and kill a bunch of deer, any deer and get your confidence up. Then you'll be ready when the big ones come along because you KNOW you with your gear, are capable of getting it done.
If I were you, I'd take the first legal deer that presents a good shot. In my case it happened to be a buck, but I would have gladly taken a doe. Doe huntin' is one of my favorite activities :thumbsup: .
Hopefully in time you can win some of the naysayers over. Nothing does it better than backstraps on the ground!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/daveglock30/DSC02299.jpg)
David
I think everything that can be said has been said.It truly is about what makes you happy.I bet you if you were to take one of those does,you would not be able to wipe the smile off your face.
Post pictures when you do what you already know is right.
I was twelve and the doe weighed more than me 140#
47# Red Wing Hunter, P.O.C. full length white dipped arrow with four shield burned red dye barred turkey feathers tipped with an MA3L that I had dipped and sealed and fletched myself. The shot was less than 5 yards. She dropped in her tracks as the arrow basically broke her neck. I dressed her out and dragged her to the side of the road half a mile away; and waited for my father with a smile so big I could have shined for deer with the moonlight that reflected off it.
For the hours of practice, for the pure joy that you experience when you shoot. For the dedication you have for traditional archery.
What you shoot, or do not shoot, should be for
the honor of what you want. No one else.
As Vermonster said, offer them the use of your bow, and DARE them to accept the challenge that you have grown to love.
For the love, and spirit of the hunt.
Its great to be on a site where this is understood completly! :thumbsup: Thanks for all who contributed their 2 cents, and for those that are going to as well :clapper:
I have never shot a deer,but im goin tomoro.I will shoot just about anything that shoes 'cept for a spotted fawn of course.It doesn't matter to me if it's a doe or a buck(personally i think doe meat is better).I just hope i shoot one.
The deer that John has a photo of on here, was about the size of the one I shot, the only problem is that was with the traditional bow 30 years ago,(1974), and it was on a wild game refuge, so I also had the deer stolen from me, shot the doe with a passthrough on both lungs, some guy and his kids found it and claimed, not a course before I raised a ruckus about it.
We all had to check or deer in (Indiana game refuge) and when he put his on the scale, I yelled from the back of the crowd of about 50 guys checking in their deer, " that's my deer" the conservation officer didn't listen the first time, so I yelled again, and he asked me what the story was, he looked at the guy and said " what's your story, the guy told him, and I told the conservation officer stick your finger into the 2 in. hole, and I asked him did that kill the deer, he said no, but this gentleman has the deer tagged, I can't take the tag off. He gave me the opportunity to go into a bunker, and take any deer that I wanted,
They went in and night after everyone left, and collected the deer that people then find, clean them and hung the cool bunker, I was 25 and snotty, so I said " give him that choice I want my deer" I went home deerless !
That person shirted teaches three kids some bad hunting ethics.
I've learned long ago, it's not about the end, it's about the journey, and how you proceed with difficulties.
Carl
Still looking for my second traditional !
Is there a prize for the smallest? My first was a spike in Mason Co. TX, a whopping 61 lbs field dressed. lol
Wow, sounds like you are getting those deer to walk in front of you. Now try to put an arrow through one of them. That is a horse of a different color. Good Luck
Well said Bonebuster.
My first was a small spike about 100lbs. I bet I missed 7 or 8 other bucks with my trad bow before I finally connected. I have shot a number of other larger bucks with wheels and guns, but I am more proud of the trad kill. I could care less what anyone else thinks of what I shoot or what I pass up. Just Thurs. I passed on a small spike that had only one spike on one side at 10 yrds. He came as close as 5 ft from me and did not even know I was there. I have already had a successful hunt this year by that alone. Good luck!
I myself prefer to shoot fawns, good bad whatever I know our deer herd numbers are down and by killing an adult doe I am killing 3 deer as she will be bred and most likely have twins as where when I kill a doe fawn it may not get bred and may not make it through winter with the coyotes and all. Shoot what makes ya happy and do not worry what everyone else thinks as long as it is legal. shawn
Couldn't said it any better. I'm with Shawn..Tdog
I don't know if this counts but my first trad-kill was a muskrat that was raiding our garden . I shot him with a solid fiberglass recurve 15# @ 28" . I was about 10 years old at the time and that was considered modern euipment back in the 60"s . I took it around the whole neighborhood and showed him off , couldn't have been prouder than if he was the biggest whitetail , first is always memorable , best of luck , Fred
A very small pig....who cares....you gotta start somewhere.
I too passed up a lot of shots, for good reason's on certain properties, but passed up some I shouldn't have elsewhere...mostly hogs while I was bear hunting, and legal bears while bear hunting....
Then it dawned on me...life if too short not to shoot. I tried my best to get a bear I was stalking on the ground with my longbow this year in the Cohutta wilderness....and even it he weighted a buck twenty five he'd have been a trophy. Passed a many like that in years passed....not anymore.
My first was a mature doe (thread around here somewhere) but it took me ages to get the shot. Good luck with your buddies.
What the heck fun are hunting buddies w/out some ribbing anyway? :-)
My first deer was this 7 pt less than 10 yds
1st day of bow season and the first time I had ever shot at a deer with a trad bow.
Kind of got spoiled earily,thought it was easy..Then I missed a doe later in the year closer than the 7 pt..I learned then it wasn't so easy... (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b164/kywarrior/LongbowBuckavatar.jpg)
My very first kill was a frog...
Nothing like hunting with trad bows!!!!!
My first traditional bowkill was also my third bowkill. It was the jack donkey in my avatar, and probably weighed about 600lbs.
I'm lucky if I weigh 100lbs in this pic. 6 month old northern wisconsin deer in waist high snow. First day of winter bow '85
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/86buck.jpg)
My first longbow kill was a very high scoring Mule deer buck, it has been all downhill from there, that is what the impression is for most people anyway, little do they know how much fun I have been having the last 27 years.
Just my 0.02.
Regards, Bert