I've read a bunch on here concerning the reasons why people are going traditional and it got me to thinkin about my own journey. Having started bowhunting when it was just bowhunting because there was no such thing as a compound I guess I come from a different side of things. I found myself just wanting to make a bowkill. When I made my first one I had only personally knew two others who had ever done it.
As I continued on the compound came into play and I just never got excited about it. For quite a few years I was one of the only people at archery shoots without a wheel bow. I still shot with my friends who used them and we had a blast.
In the early 80's I started an archery shop and had to buy and sell wheel bows. I took a season and learned to shoot them and killed 3 deer with them in different states. I didn't see any difference in my actual hunting based upon a bow type so I went back to my regular stuff and was never envious of the other.
Now, I see that the only difference the other bows make in a hunting situation is about 10 more yards of confident accuracy. However, I have not wanted any deer bad enough to give in and take the other bows.
I don't use this type of equipment for "spiritual" reasons or for "nostalgic" reasons. I don't use it because it's the "real" way to hunt and I don't use it because it makes me a better hunter.
I use it because I find it easier to kill deer with in the type of hunting that I enjoy doing. I like them close and I like knowing I was able to get them close. Besides, those other bows are "heavy" to carry!
Good stuff! :thumbsup:
QuoteOriginally posted by longbowman:
I don't use this type of equipment for "spiritual" reasons or for "nostalgic" reasons. I don't use it because it's the "real" way to hunt and I don't use it because it makes me a better hunter.
I use it because I find it easier to kill deer with in the type of hunting that I enjoy doing. I like them close and I like knowing I was able to get them close. Besides, those other bows are "heavy" to carry!
I also started bowhunting when it was just bowhunting.
Used the ........ bow for a few years after joining a local club. Was into the tournament thing for less years. For some reason I still shot it like I would my recurve, plain and simple. Won a few things, then it just faded away.
I returned to the recurve and never looked back. My success rate on all game and fish went up. It is easier for me.
Good stuff! I have been shooting and hunting with Trad bows for 30yr. For me it was about the past and feeling a "spiritual" link to the hunters and warriors who had to survive useing a simple stick and string. I love the challenge of shooting and hunting with a Recurve and Longbow and wood arrows. I tryed shooting a Compound once, just didn't feel the same. I love sitting in the woods and filling my sences with the world around me and thinking of past hunters who did the same. I love seeing the flight of an arrow to its mark.
Shooting and hunting with Trad gear has made me the person I'am today. I can't imagin LIFE without my Trad bows. Even if the day comes that I can't hunt with my Bows I will still shoot them for the simple joy of seeing the flight of the arrow. :thumbsup: :campfire:
Raven >>>>--------->
I am kind of with longbowman on this. I am a bowhunter. I am finishing my 26th bow season, and I am only 37 years old, so I started kind of young. I have not gun hunted for deer since I was 17 years old. Only the last three seasons have I used a recurve. Before that it was a compound, shot with fingers and barebow.
I went to the recurve thinking it would be harder. Guess what, its not. Sure I could shoot a little further with my hoyts, but 95% of my shots are within 20 yards so who cares about a few extra yards.
I shoot recurves because I want to, it does not make me feel closer to nature or make me a better hunter. I am a bowhunter plain and simple. If I attempt to take a critter I want to take it with my bow.
Well it's relatively simple; I don't think a machine with cables and pulleys and let-off should be construed as a bow. They are machines with many, many moving parts. They are not simple, and they offer too many chances for failure....more parts more potential issues. They are popular because they are easy to use.
I would rather opt for a weapon that has less chance of failure due to something relatively minor. And yes....the historic significance is important as well, at least to me.
As a kid, grew up shooting the various fiberglass Bear bows and then bought my own Herters Sambar (I think) or Sitka bow. Model Perfect of course. ha.
But when I finally reached the age to carry a shotgun without Dad by my side, I went that route for a while and terrorized local dove, pheasant, etc. populations with in JrHi/High School.
By the time I came back to bowhunting, I was 18 and it was 1981 and my college dropped cross country as a sport, so I was looking for some early season hunting before the waterfowl seasons opened up. Bought a Browning compound and LOVED bowhunting to the point where the other hunting began to take a backseat.
By 1988, I was ready for the traditional challenge and haven't looked back. It's been awesome, and shooting a trad bow is so much more fun! The successes feel more intimate as well. Simply put, I feel ALIVE when walking into the woods carrying a stickbow!
I used a compound from 1980 up until last year. Shooting a compound got to the point where it was a mechanical action on my part. Draw, put sight on target and release. I just wasn't having fun shooting anymore. This summer I got out a recurve that I bought a few years ago and began fooling around with it. In no time at all I was having fun shooting again.
I got good enough with it that I began wondering if I could really get a deer with that bow. When I got the first one I knew I had put more effort into getting that doe than the biggest buck I have ever killed with a rifle. No much time went by and I got a 2nd doe with my recurve.
The deer turned when I shot and the hit wasn't very good but I was still able to see her go down about a hundred yards away. Now all I want to do is make another perfect shot like the first deer.
Bottom line for me is shooting a recurve brought the challenge and fun back for me.
I shot recurves all thru high school in the early 70's and also hunted with a rifle. In my twentys I hunted pretty much year round with with a recurve before going to a longbow. The main reason I carry traditional bows is I feel when carring one I am a part of the woods and not intruding in any way. It just feels right to be toting a traditional bow to me. I feel at peace with myself and nature. It allows me to slow down and enjoy the peace and solitude. I personally do not like the noise of a gun and am more in line with the attitudes of other traditional bowhunters. I know I am rambling but it is hard to explain other than it is me or rather the traditional lifestyle suits me.
I read someplace that shooting a Trad Bow celebrates the human condition. Seems so natural to be in the woods still hunting with a longbow. Granted, I've hunted with firearms and wheelie bows from back around '73. Then.... Eight years ago my wife got me a Martin Dream Catcher and I Ain't Looked Back!
It's just fun, simple and rewarding. My two cents.
... mike ... :archer: ...
roger the "don't like how heavy they are"! love the feel of my recurve in my hand and never feel handicapped. quite gun hunting deer several years ago and just plain love to be in the woods with my bow whether hunting deer or stumps!
charlie
rewarding, brought the challenge and fun back thats what does it for me. plus i like the people associated with trad archery strange bunch :saywhat: but some of the best people you will find.
was strange for me coming from a hunting farm in South Africa and when i was young (shot my first plains game at 7 years old) i did not realize the potential of bows they where toys not hunting tools then through the safari operation i saw compounds and had a guy take me out and he shot an eland whilst i filmed and it tipped over 30 meters from where he shot it i thought "this is for me" when i used to hunt with the rifle my dad or uncle would only give me 1 round and after a while even if i had to shoot a specific animal if i left first thing in the morning i could have it on the ground by the end of the day. when i got to that stage i though "need to make this harder" thats when i switch to bowhunting and also stopped bothering with horns (trophys) always nice to get a big one for sure but after working and guiding in the safari business the guys shooting the big stuff really did not deserve to they "hunted" for reason i did'nt understand before they pulled the trigger they wanted the tape measure on it. anyway shot compounds after that with good success then even with walk and stalk. then i found tradgang picked up a cheap recurve and the rest if history as they say. also not many young guys that take hunting with the trad bow as seriously as James Nige and myself.
It Just Feels Right!
When I was teenage kid in the late 1960's I had an uncle who gave me a nice recurve bow. I shot that bow for several years until it was stolen. From that point on I hunted with a gun, primarily because that's the way my father and grandfather hunted. However, in 1997 I came across the Bighorn Bows booth while attending the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation convention in Salt Lake City. From that point on I began to consider making the switch to a bow. Took me several years, but I finally bought a Martin Savannah in 2003 and have not looked back. And as strange as it may sound, for me hunting with a traditional bow seems more in keeping with the type of hunting my grandfather did, and handed down to me, despite the fact that he never used a bow (his weapon of choice was a muzzleloader or unscoped lever gun).
Everyone will have a different story about "getting back to traditional", as do I. I bought my firt archery tag in 1987 and hunted with a Darton compound.. Loved it and bowhunting. After a few seasons and getting a few deer killed things just were not fun anymore. I shot my bow everyday out to 50 yards and was deadly with it. If I guessed the distance correctly (years before a laser rangefinder)whatever I was shooting at was in trouble. Just too easy... All I can say is that the modern bows put me on the path that I live today.
It's all about challenge and dedication. Put in the work to be good enough. Only in the dictionary does success come before work.
I've been tryin' to tell people for years that they are superior weapons for "bowhunting". I am not willing to accept the limitations compound bows place on me. :campfire:
For me there is no word to explain the pure excitement of a well placed shot from something so sleek and simple. And yet, simple really doesn't fit either, does it? :)
it was easy for me. I started shooting in 1957 and didn't have enough sense to switch to a compounds when they came along. by the time I thought of swtiching to a compond I was not smart enough to figure our how to work it :)
rusty
started with 'curves, went to compounds and quickly got bored. Stumping with a compound...boring and i don't know why. And i like to hunt from the ground.... stalking and just generally poke around. And it was Swinehearts 'Arrows for a battlewagon ' in Col Allisons 'Trophy Hunters' that really got me interested in hunting with a bow. The photo's of him with his Hill bow and back quiver struck quite a chord with me as an 8yr old and still resonates with me today. Tolkien should take some of the blame...not forgetting Errol Flynn as Mr Robin Hood. I like compounds. But hunting to me is about the outdoor challenge and the need to simplify. To accept and even relish the limitations that come with equipment choice, ethics and any possible accomplishment that comes my way. And at the very heart of it, i can , in my own little way ,stand beside the Hills, Bears,Doughertys and Hoods that kept me dreaming as a youngster. So its not just about the lack of compounds in my gear, but also the absence of camo, carbon and scent lures, the smell of my wool check shirt, the antler handle of my knife and the yew limbs of my Hill. I don't separate between 'trad' and compounds. I just hunt and fling arrows ....
Like alot of others, I hunted when I was a kid with a recurve. After leaving the Corps, a buddy got me back into it. I bought a PSE compound and got real good, got to be any deer within 25 yards was already in the freezer. One day sitting in my tree stand and letting about 10 does go buy, just having fun watching them. I looked up at my bow hanging from a limb. The sight pins (that I had to work on keeping secure. The arrow rest (man, I had to work to get that tuned just right. The cable slide. The cam's which just the year before set the timing back up. Then I said to myself, "I need more of a challenge than this". Upon arriving home, my lovely wife, asked how hunting was? I told her of the deer I seen and let walk buy and the beautiful morning and all the great stuff. She then said, "Good, what's wrong?" I said that I am going to get a recurve, need more of a challenge and make it fun again. That christmas she bought me a PSE takedown. I finished my bowhunting season and began to play with the bow. BAM, I realised again how much fun it was to shoot. Not just shoot an arrow or two to ensure my pins was on. But to go to a range/field and shoot the bow. I felt more connected with the woods roving around stump shooting, like it was just mystical. Fast forward to last year. I had a buddy out at a range, teaching him how to shoot a recurve. Some kids came up and shot there compounds about four times. Then stood there a few minutes watcing us have fun. I asked if we was keeping them from shooting this target. They said no, just trying to figure out how you shoot them things. Well, after mentioning to them a little history and said Fred Bear, Howard Hill, they said who? WEll, I then began American archery history 101. They stood there listening in awe, and next thing they knew they was learing how to shoot a longbow. Afterward then said they had more fun with that stick than there bows. I explained, that that was a fine hunting machine, but it is just makes me happier shooting this. A month later was at a 3-D shoot with my friend. We was having fun, missing targets, breaking arrows, every now and again hitting what we was aiming at, just having fun. Little later we caught up with the group in front of us, and one of the kids from that "amercan archery history 101" was there with them. He looked upset and depressed. So after they all shot, and moved on he asked if he could shoot with us. I said sure. After the about four targets he was happy and laughing. I then said what was wrong? He said shooting with those guys just depressed me. They was serious, upset if they was out and inch. Always messing with this and that. They step up to the stake and took a minute to shoot. you guys just shoot and have fun. I smiled and my buddy giggled and the kid said what. I said "notice any place you go MAJORITY of your wheel shooter's take this way to seriously. You can stand at a tournament, and close your eyes-you will here mumbles and gripes, but when you hear laughter 9 out of 10 times they will have a stick and string". AFter we was done, he said he noticed I was right. As we walked to the clubhouse, I stopped and said look there. They looked at a few picnic table and a practice range with people about each. "The ones sitting at the table's are traditional people, for some reason that clan will sit around and joke and laugh for a long time. your wheel shooters will turn in there score card, have drink or bite and then gone to there next rush job."
I started with a cross-bow when I was a kid. kept it up until about 7 years ago because being a lefty, never had any friends who could let me try their bows and I had had multiple shoulder problems and eventually surgery. Cross-bow was easy to sight in and never let me down when the shot counted---so why change?
Then my buddy finally convinced me to try a compound bow. found a used one pretty cheap and picked it up. Shot a lot that first summer and killed 2 deer that fall. Wasn't any more fun to shoot than my x-bow was in the off season. Either I was "on" or something mechanical was loose and I spent an hour trying to get things right---down right aggravation at times.
So..............same buddy convinces me to try a Trad bow. I'm thinking--"yeah right, my shoulder will never hold up to that!" But, I go to a archery shop and the guy lets me shoot one of his used longbows. shortly after, I buy a Samick recurve because its cheap and I'm not out a whole lot if I don't like it. Problems is: I like it, but bow just doesn't fit my hand well. I find a beautiful Assenhiemer bow with 2 sets of limbs and get it. I try hunting with trad and miss 3 and wound one. I give up and go back to compound. Kill another deer. my buddy basically "Makes" me sell the compound becasue he says I'm using it as a crutch. SO, I do and double my shooting practices + I find this web site and learn a WHOLE LOT from a great group of knowledgeable shooters. Last year I never really got a shot on a deer until last day. I miss because my heavy clothes caugth my bow-string. However I did down a coyote on the run, so I knew I could do it.It was just a mental block--worrying about missing or wounding my target. With the coyote---I just shot: not thinking about anything but my "spot".
I sold my Assenheimer, again because the grip was just too large for my hand. I bought an Ancient Spirits thunderhawk. Now the grip is perfect fit--can't use that as an excuse.
FINALLY, this year I get it through my head that I can do this thing and get my first Trad deer. A little doe at 7 yds----but nice blood trail and good eating.
Thanks to all who have helped with their help, advice, and support!
ben
Starting shooting in 1955 with a Bear bow, never left trad archery never will.