lets hear some of your favorite trad bowhunting quotes or sayings
When I was contemplating taking the leap from compound to full-time trad, over the winter, I placed a thread asking how some of you other guys went about it.
Whether he knows it or not.....Orion said something to me that hit home like a ton of bricks.
I made the decision, shortly after reading it. HE NAILED IT.
Here's the quote....
When how you take animals becomes more important than how big or how many, you'll make the switch. Simple as that. We'll be waiting. Good luck.
My "thank you" to him for those words.
GMMAT
That is indeed powerful stuff!! That is now one of my favorites.
I may just ask him if I can make that my quote.
Aim small miss small is an all time great as well and just as important now as when it first coined.
" I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if i can, with regret as well as joy, and with the sure knowledge that nature's ways of fang and claw or exposure and starvation are a fat crueler fate than i bestow."
"go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yoruself in the outdoor experince. I will cleanse your soul and make you a better person"
"Hardships are quickly forgotten. Intese heat, bitter cold, rain and snow, fatigue, and luckless hunting fade quickly into memories of great fellowship, thoughts of beautiful country, pleasant camps, and happy campfires."
"If your are not working to protect hunting, then you are working to destroy it."
all quotes are from the late great Fred Bear
The kill is the satisfying, indeed essential, conclusion to a successful hunt. But, I take no pleasure in the act itself. One does not hunt in order to kill, but kills in order to have hunted. Then why do I hunt? I hunt for the same reason my well-fed cat hunts...because I must, because it is in the blood, because I am the decendent of a thousand generations of hunters. I hunt because I am a hunter.- Finn Aagard
"And so again I am sternly reminded that the key to consistent hunting success - the key that I misplaced that last emotional evening- is to keep in mind, always, why it is we hunt, and adjust our expectations accordingly. If my motivation for hunting is narrowed to just killing more and/or bigger animals each year, then - in addition to trading honor for ego gratification, love for lust, the slow subtle pleasures of foreplay for the quick finalty of climax - I'm setting myself up for a lot of hard falls.
If, on the other hand, the real reason I'm out there is to relax, work hard, listen, learn, and overall to enjoy myself as deeply and broadly as possible - quietly rejoicing in the sights, sounds, scents, and solitude of wild nature - then I'm virtually guaranteed of success. Year after joyful year."
Another summer has passed away, another field has gone to hay.
It's close to season, another reason, for making Woodies.
The broadheads filed, the shavings piled, the nuts are falling....the squirrels are wild;
No need to reason....tis' just the season, for making Woodies.
When you have got the fever, there's nothing that works as good;
As gathering nocks and fletching, and working with shafts of wood....
So go ahead, and set the clamp; you need some Scotchgard...in case it's damp.
No need to reason, we need no season, for making Woodies.
" The Deer Hunter's Prayer "
by Dale Sunderlin
Heavenly father, to you I pray,
A majestic deer may come my way.
Let my aim be straight and true,
this my Lord, I pray to you.
A swift clean kill is what I ask,
Take his spirit swift and fast.
For his last breath should not be,
One of pain or agony.
Let his soul,
Come to Thee,
To roam your heavens,
Wild and free.
This gem was quoted from my friend John H. We were sitting in my truck trying to thaw out from a blizzard during the late WV bowseason. We clutched cups of coffee with numb fingers while the cold wind rocked the truck. With icy breath he stuttered these words............
"You know, I left a perfectly good naked woman to come here with you today. There is something very wrong with that."
Priceless.
"Does the wolf not love the caribou? And does she not, even so, undertake her daily hunts with enthusiasm and joy."
It's from my newest favorite read, "On The Wild Edge". And correct me if I'm wrong, but it's written by the gentleman who posted above me.
READ MY SIG :readit:
Well my old man was never into archery. But he had a saying that made more sense the older I got. "It's not the type of gun or the how big the cartridge that kills, it's how well the nut on the trigger is adjusted."
SAL
Kinda like
"it's not the bow, but the man behind the bow, that makes the difference"
"...and in the end, when I can no longer draw the bow or watch the arrow embark its flight; When alas, I possess only the spirit of the hunter, I will hunt...if only in my dreams...because the hunt is born amidst my soul, and I... I am the hunter."
Pete Iacavazzi
One of the quotes I like is from somebody here on Trad Gang.
My biggest fear is that when I die my wife sells all my hunting gear for what I told her I paid for it.
I see and admire your manner of living, your good warm houses, your extensive fields of corn, your gardens, your cows, oxen, workhouses, wagons and a thousand machines, that I know not the use of. I see that you are able to clothe yourself, even form weeds and grass. In short, you can do almost what you chose. You whites possess the power of subduing almost every animal to your use. You are surrounded by slaves. Everything about you is in chains. I hear I should exchange my presents for yours. I too should become a slave. Talk to my sons, perhaps they may be persuaded to adopt your fashions, at least to recommend them to their sons; but for myself, I was born free, was raised free, and wish to die free. I am perfectly content with my condition. The forests and rivers supply all the calls of nature in plenty. Big Chief Osage
One of mine is here at the bottom.
BOB
"When the bow hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values and with the proper hunting ethics that hunter is 20' closer to God"
Fred Bear
Joe
2 Sam 22:35 (ESV)
He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
QuoteOriginally posted by PAPALAPIN:
SAL
Kinda like
"it's not the bow, but the man behind the bow, that makes the difference"
Yes It Is. But I like the way Terry said it in the DVD.
I could have killed him w/ a compound
"If its feral its in peril"
"THEY CAN HAVE MY BOW WHEN THEY PRY MY COLD DEAD FINGERS FROM AROUND IT". Also applys to my guns as the original quote stated.
QuoteOriginally posted by GMMAT:
When I was contemplating taking the leap from compound to full-time trad, over the winter, I placed a thread asking how some of you other guys went about it.
Whether he knows it or not.....Orion said something to me that hit home like a ton of bricks.
I made the decision, shortly after reading it. HE NAILED IT.
Here's the quote....
When how you take animals becomes more important than how big or how many, you'll make the switch. Simple as that. We'll be waiting. Good luck.
My "thank you" to him for those words.
Jeff, I remember when Jerry posted this, it was pretty awesome!!!! :archer:
When the last deer disappears into the morning mist,
When the last elk vanishes from the hills,
When the last buffalo falls on the plains,
I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
from a good friend of mine and my trad mentor " if it was just about killing i would take a gun on my trips instead of my long bow"
My father's hunnting prayer: Lord, if I can't kill clean then please make me miss clean.
Quote"I don't hunt animals to kill 'em. I kill animals because I hunt them." - Roger Rothhaar (from one of the MBB series)
One of my favorites and still correct:
"There is no excellence in Archery without great labor".
Maurice Thompson 1879
I bought a poster from Jerry Gowins several years ago that had this quote.
It sums it up for me.
"...and, in the end, when I can no longer draw the bow or watch the arrow embark its flight; When alas I possess only the spirit of the hunter, I will hunt...if only in my dreams.. because the hunt is born amidst my soul, and I... I am the hunter."
-Peter Iacavazzi
"You're a great hunter, Steve"
Lets see if there are anymore out there
Good stuff :thumbsup:
"I didn't hike up this mountain to drag something out by the ears".-a quick explanation to a hunting friend of mine why I did not shoot a cow elk at 15 yards while I was, and still am, hunting the same bull for the last few years. Maybe he'll be back there screaming at me this year again.
"Oh Well. Maybe Next Year."
...less is always better ! if you know what I mean !
I love to wacth the arrow fly .
To see what you can't hear , and too hear what you can't see help you become a hunter ! Not just a hunter but a bowhunter . My dad always told my this when I was little .
A woodman make a better hunter !
"No one would rather hunt Woodcock in October than I, but since learning of the sky dance I call one or two birds enough." Aldo Leopold.
"It is foolish to regard proper game laws as undemocratic, unrepublican. On the contrary, they are essentially in the interests of the people as whole, because it is only through their enactment and enforcement that the people as a whole can preserve the game and can prevent its becoming purely the property of the rich, who are able to create and maintain extensive private preserves. The wealthy man can get hunting anyhow, but the man of small means is dependent solely upon wise and well-executed game laws for his enjoyment of the sturdy pleasure of the chase."
-Theodore Roosevelt
See my signature. Although it is about trout fishing it sums
Up the way I see traditional archery.
"Beware of the man who owns one bow for he probably knows how to use it." Unknown but the original said gun.
She said:"It's JUST a bow" He said: "And your JUST a girl"
"Good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity" - unknown author
Don't remember where I saw or heard this but it was:
" Traditional archery being not about how far away You could hit something with a bow but about how close You could get before You hit it "
bretto
I just scrounged this Turkish proverb up and liked it well enough to plant it on my sig:
"If you leave archery one day, it will leave you 10 days."
"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted."
Jose Ortega y Gasset
My tag line below says it for me.
My dad said this to me when I had been hunting on my own for a couple years and had missed several deer. "Son, when you get tired of coming home or back to camp empty handed you will learn to take your time and make your shots count instead of just shooting to hear your gun roar." I realized there was a lot of wisdom in that statement and I applied it to hunting with all types of weapons with great success.
Not "Trad Archery", but a damn good one from Herb Parsons, Exibition shooter for Winchester Arms in the 1950's; "Take your boy hunting, and you won't have to hunt for your boy".
This is really great stuff and I heartily agree with most of it.
As I was hunting a large hillside elderberry patch about 40 years ago a man came down the same path I was on and he had a super nice Browning bow . Explorer. As I admired his bow and talked with him he told me how to hunt the patch effectively. He told me where to take my stand and when the deer would come up the path , How the wind would be perfect for me as the breeze moved up the hill ect. When he finished I thanked him and I sad is there anything else. He gave me this quote I have never ever forgotten.
"With patience possess ye your soul!"
I have applied this hundreds of times since that time and with fondness remember his kindness toward me.
God bless you all, Steve
My favorite is the reason most of us are here, "It is not how far, but how close".
"I have regretted but a few shots. But I have never regretted not taking a shot".
My closing salutation below -- :archer:
"As a hunter I'm a part of nature rather than apart from it."
I've referred to this quote many times over the years when I'm asked why hunting is important to me.
The words are originally attributed (I believe) to an early official with the Izzak Walton League.
It's in my sig!
I hope you'll pardon my suggestion regarding the often quoted "aim small, miss small".
I believe it is very important to keep one's thoughts positive when shooting. I'd say,"aim small, hit small". This keeps 'missing' out of the mind.
There are some real words of wisdom in these quotes. I especially like "go afield with good attitude,and with respect for the wildlife you hunt, and the forest and fields in which you walk" -Fred Bear and "its the process, not the kill. unknowen
I enjoy the references to the bow and arrow in the Bible, such as my signature line.
Biggie Hoffman said, Turkey hunting is a shotgun sport ! They deserve a face full of #5's !
If you've ever chase them with a bow then you can understand!
Success is the one thing you risk the most to acheive, sometimes the risk is its own reward.
That works for hunting and everything else in life.Tim
"If it ain't a dead deer yet it's because I haven't had enough shots at it!!!"...Me
God bless,Mudd
BTW: this is a joke... and the deer know it..lol
"How could you possibly miss at 7 yards?"
I asked myself that one once. LOL
Lippe
Aldo Leopod -"In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy; how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing. When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable side-rocks.
We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
"I came, I saw, I missed"!
if your lucky enough to spend time in the mountains then your lucky enough...
I have always like:
It is never about the hunt, but the journey instead
Wildgame & KD, those quotes by Bear & Leopold just took top spot front & center! Great! Never heard those before.
This is such an awesome thread!
"I love hunting, but it's a little sad when a deer dies, isn't it Daddy." Ben Langer (age 8) Oct. 2011
"If wood ain't flyin, nothin's diein'"
"Choot 'em!"
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: These are "Great"...
"I do not hunt for the joy of killing but for the joy of living, and the inexpressible pleasure of mingling my life however briefly, with that of a wild creature that I respect, admire and value."
- John Madson, from "Out Home"
I was pig hunting with several guys in Texas back in the '90's.
One fella came back to camp and said that he had hit a nice one. When asked where he hit it he replied:
"in front of the rear shoulder"
Needles to say, it was a long tracking job.
QuoteOriginally posted by Rudy Cariello:
"in front of the rear shoulder"
:knothead: :laughing:
I think I first heard it from the guys that built the Double Bull blinds on one of their DVD's...
"Accuracy by quantity!"
When it comes to turkeys I have to agree! I HATE TURKEYS!
Josh
"The thrill and glow of nature is strong within us. The great primitive outer world is still unconquered, and there are impulses within the breast of man not yet measured, curbed and devitalized, which are the essential motives of life. Therefore, without wantonness, and without cruelty, we shall hunt as long as the arm has strength, the eye glistens, and the heart throbs."
-Saxton Pope
"Calm and careful, make it count."
Robin Hood
"A good archer is not known by his arrows but his aim"
Thomas Fuller
I like my signatures.
Also, I really like Fred Bear's part in the song "Fred Bear" by Nugent.
...teenage thrill seekers really want to get a thrill...go after Polar bear, brown bear, ...It'll cleanse the soul...
My hunting buddy and I listen to that song before hunts quite often on the way to the woods.
Course we sometimes laugh and add things using our best Fred Bear voice like...you really want a thrill..try slapping a polar bear on the A$$ and see what happens...
we mean no disrespect...just makes us laugh and think about the time at camp ....after a few..one of the guys piped up and said it and everyone started rolling..
good times...
So long as the new moon returns in heaven a bent, beautiful bow, so long will the fascination of archery keep hold of the hearts of men.
Maurice Thompson
1. Stick and Stay and make them pay.
2. Your not hunting if you are setting at home in front of the TV.
"Times don't change, people do. Bowhunting tradition stays the same." - Ted Young
These are just a few from my all time favorites:
Roger Rothhaar "I kill because I hunt, I don't hunt to kill." "If i miss a huge animal I know it's not the end of the world, I'm appreciative just to have had the opportunity."
Barry Wenzel "I am pure murder at 5 yards."
Gene Wenzel older quote "I'm not saying that everyone who shoots a compound is a jackwaggon, just saying that every jackwaggon i met in the woods was shootiong a compound." Recent quote "With uncertainty comes Harmony."
Just a few from my alter egos.
George
"Ain't nothin' dyin', if the arras ain't flyin'...."
- RC
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
ttt
Hunting can be defined as hours of sheer boredom punctuated by seconds of pure Adrenalin
Lots of great stuff. Seen this here think it was from a kid . My arrows never miss they always hit something.
QuoteOriginally posted by Red Beastmaster:
This gem was quoted from my friend John H. We were sitting in my truck trying to thaw out from a blizzard during the late WV bowseason. We clutched cups of coffee with numb fingers while the cold wind rocked the truck. With icy breath he stuttered these words............
"You know, I left a perfectly good naked woman to come here with you today. There is something very wrong with that."
Priceless.
So true. The things we do to do what we do.
A couple heard sitting in camp at MOJam
(while talking about bow woods)
"...Pretty much yew and osage and screw the rest"
-Dean Torges
(while talking about bamboo technically being a grass and not a wood)
"Grass rules your life. If you're not smokin' it, you're mowin' it."
-Rusty Craine
"On no subject are our ideas more warped and pitiable than on death...Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights. All is divine harmony." John Muir
"The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom." Teddy Roosevelt
From Aldo Leopold:
"I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness."
"There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot."
"Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal."
"Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important that television."
In the woods, when surrounded by Life and Death, when I am at peace with all that is, nothing can be more beautiful. To know where I belong as a hunter and I am not immortal, suddenly the grand scheme seems perfect.
A Humble man is a better man. Real Archery brings me humility. It is in this imperfection where I will find pefection through life whether in the field or with loved ones. This alone will makes all that is good even better.
That's beautiful Charlie!
If those are your thoughts and/or words I am even more convinced that I'd love to share a campfire with you.
The heart tells all I need to know.
God bless,Mudd
QuoteOriginally posted by Thumper Dunker:
My arrows never miss they always hit something.
I like that one! :biglaugh:
if you want meat on the pole, you have to put wood in the air!
I came across this somewhere and liked it so much I put it in my journal. So my friend, Here is to a brisk morning with a fair wind in your face, A warm sun on your back, and a inviting fire at night upon your return. :campfire:
QuoteOriginally posted by hayslope:
From Aldo Leopold:
"I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness."
"There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot."
"Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal."
"Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television."
Sorry 'bout that.....messed up trying to edit one!
"Dad, I like it when you hunt deer and coyotes, because they are good to eat." Jessica Ashton age 5.
Jessicas boy freind was coming over for dinner and she told him we're having elk He oh I don't know I don't really eat venison. She said
"If you're eating at my house your eating venison" age 29.
"It was a good hit, um maybe a little far back, but..."
Anything Aldo Leopold said is worth repeating. Each September I re-read A Sand County Almanac. Really gets the blood boiling for the Fall.
The Fall has always been a pretty charged time for me, the coolness, colours, the hunt, my work picks up and the days are pretty full to say the least.
I've always felt unready for the whole thing, especially in the middle of it.
Then this quote from SteveO about his philosophy.
" I spend the first 8 months of the year getting ready for the last 4."
That feels like a plan to me and I've begun to make it a reality. Really looking forward to this Fall.
"...den a flash of white and there he was...gone."
"Turdy Point Buck" by Da Yoopers
Pretty much sums up what happens whenever I see a big buck.
QuoteOriginally posted by Kituwa:
She said:"It's JUST a bow" He said: "And your JUST a girl"
I presume that is now engraved on said man's tombstone???
"My arrows hit what they are pointed at 100% of the time, its just sometimes that's not where I'm looking" -Me-
"The center of an aspirin is the exact same size as the center of a beach ball" -Byron Ferguson-
Traditional Bowhunting: Stealth and cunning. NOT gadgets and gizmos!
A good older archer friend of mine said;
Shootin these things (trad bows) will keep you humble.
I agree!
Great quotes from the old timers. From Fred Anderson's book Intoxicated.
I have made a good many friends in my life through business associations and social contacts, but none of these have meant as much to me as the comrades whith whom I have shot the bow. Homer Taylor 1921
I am still collecting broadheads and have come to the conclusion that an archer chooses his broadhead much as he chooses his wife. They each look good to him; just why, he may not be able to explain. Roy Case 1932
*Makes you wonder why we have all the broadhead discussions on here doesnt it*
The twang of the string as the arrow left the bow, the sweetness of cast and the song of the arrow as it sped on its way, completely captivated me on the spot. W.C. Thurlow, 1927
*So true So true*
It is in the wilds of the great out-ot-doors that a man is most likely to throw aside his cloak of pretense and bare his real character for the acceptance or rejection of his associates. George Cathey, 1939
*Over the years I have had great and I am sorry to say some bad experences with this*
Two of my favorites;
He who enjoys making his own tackle, and who enjoys shooting with the product of his own hands, is an archer. Petit Jean, 1932
I firmly believe that any man who follows the bow was born two hundred years too late. A.D. Shepard, 1936
one more this one should make the techofile in all of us rethink.
"Why, of why, do they fill up so much space writing about spine of arrows and just how to bend them around the bow, instead of making a rigid arrow and learning how to shoot it? Stanley Spencer
Instead of worring about what is the best this and that learn to shoot what you have.
These Gentilmen's words will ring true for all time.
Shoulda,Coulda,Woulda.