I am having a hard time making up my mind on this deer season. Right now, I can hit the kill zone on my 3D target 90-95% of the time from 20 yards. At 15, the deer is in trouble. I am having a hard time putting the compound down for the season. I feel I need to use it to put some meat in the freezer. I don't know why I feel this way but I do. Do you have any ideas or thoughts on how to figure out what bow to use. I know taking the recurve will lead to less shots at longer ranges, but I will kick myself if I take it and shoot a deer at 15 yards with my compound. What do you suggest a guy that does not know what to use take to the field?
Its your call... but I sold my compound and am hunting with my longbow this season. If your hitting that well that often... I'd just bring the recurve. BUT you need to decide if that is how you want to hunt. I faced the same dilema for a while, until I finally sold my compound and forced my self to focus on traditional. Once I did, I really got my shooting up to par and my confidence. I think if you bring the recurve, you'll be much happier with your kill than if you were just filling the freezer with the compound... that said you could also meat hunt with the compound and then put it away for the season and focus on the recurve.
Ultimately its your call, but I think you are good to go with the stick and string... you sound like you're there.
Good luck this season.
My son is also working towards conversion (with me) from compounds to recurve . He shoots a Predator Custom Classic. He is good to 20 yards and great from 15 and under. He has never hunted with traditional equipment. He is going to try and take his first deer of the year this season with his compound and then take the recurve. As for me, I'm going to hunt with the recurve in my home state where I have lots of time and know my area really well. I'll hunt in Indiana with my compound because the shot is likely going to be closer to 35 yards than 20 yards. However, I'll have a month to hunt here in KY (starts Sept. 4th). If I tag a couple recurve deer in Sept. I may be so excited that I'll also take the recurve to Indiana?!
Use both. Take the CB when you feel like and take the recurve when the mood strikes you. Don't force the issue...let things happen.
Good luck
do what I did. go wack some meat get out of your system.with the compound.Then go out with your trad,bow.an shoot some deer if you miss so what you will learn from your mistakes.have fun dont put pressure on your self.or just comit to trad 2-days a week or 1/2 of the time you hunt.but ya gotta comit!!!! I have been wheel free for 5-6 yrs an now Iam back to taking 6-8 deer a year.I dont give it a second thought now it become the way I hunt.....
i assume you have been successful with the compound. The only question I would ask is how many deer have you killed with the compound within a 20 yard radius? My only point being that (I'm making some assumptions here) I bet it's more than one or two, And how many could you have taken with a recurve? If the answer is "most of them" then what I really hear you saying is that you still have doubts about getting it done with trad equipment. If you lack the confidence and need the meat then do the meat hunting thing with the compound and then do what Plumber suggests afterwards.
leave the wheels at home. The ones out of range will be quickly forgotten when you put one down with your recurve.
I like the idea of using both and making a plan. I think there are some stands I hunt that I can not shoot past 20 yards. I am going to make a plan so that I use my recurve X times this season. I think that will allow me to see how I like it compared to the compound. Keep the ideas coming.
Asking that question here makes me think maybe your mind is already made up.....not that anyone here is a little biassed.
Go small game hunting with your recurve. Once you have your hunting confidence, go after large game.
Hunt with what you want to though. It's your season, do with it what you wiah.
the only way to gain confidence is to go do it.if you never do it,you will always wonder,what if.if you succeed,the memories will last a lifetime.good luck this season,steve
I was in your shoes this time last year my friend & trust me I was training my tail off to get to where I could say "I'm ready for hunting season" but in the back of my mind I was telling my self I needed to keep my compound bow for the freezer but once my friend Paul Vogel told me that my shooting was easily ready for the hunting woods I decided to sell my last compound bow & go with my recurve.
I've been happier for my decision.
It is up to you & only you can decide weather or not you are ready for the woods with only traditional gear.
I have killed a couple deer with a recurve and missed several. Will be taking a compound for hunting this archery season . Feel I owe it to the deer to shoot something I have 100% confidence with. When the acuracy is ready , will change over to all Trad.Just not ready now . Just one opinion. Roy
Whatever you feel more comfortable with. You can either have a machine do the shooting for you or you can limit your shots and do it with your shooting skills and the recurve. Once you shoot your first deer with your recurve you'll be selling the compound. Good Luck!
I never killed a deer with a compound but I can assure when you see or kill a deer or any other big game killed with a recurve or longbow you will never doubt the weapon again.The first deer I saw and help recover in 1975 I was sold on a bow as a hunting weapon and killed my first the next year,and have been hunting with stick bows since.Its the arrow that does it not the bow.Kip
When how you do it becomes more important to you than than how big or how many, the answer become obvious.
I understand the meat issue, but I found out many years ago, the more fun you can inject into the situation, the EASIER things come.
The real truth is, 90-95% of all hunters, trad, or compound shooters should keep their shots within fifteen yards if we are talking EVERY arrow EVERY time. The woodlands whitetail is a skittish, miracle of evolution. It can move quicker than the eye can see. If not, it would have been extinct many eons ago.
Do not kick yourself if you take your compound and kill at extreme close range. Celebrate your ability to invade the space of a critter designed to protect itself from the likes of you. Celebrate, and elevate. Take the experience with whatever weapon you choose, and put it to memory. Get better and better, until there is no need to wonder wich bow you will carry.
It ain`t the bow bro...it`s you...all you!
A hearty amen and a tip of the hat for your concern and knowledge of your EFFECTIVE range!!! :thumbsup: :archer2:
chub , here i had same issues last fall took the training wheels after season was over i was sorry i did not do the trad gig this year i shoot every eve 25 shots i even instslled a draw check wheelies are stayin home baby !
There's nothing wrong with using your compound to fill your freezer. In the past, I've used my rifle for that very thing. Some one both sides of the aisle will cringe when I say this, but I sold all of my hunting rifles, except for my favorite one. I enjoy shooting it and I like for my meat supply for the year to be certain. I also like for the things I have (guns, bows, knives, what have you) to have a purpose, and I like to use them for that purpose.
I will say that a rifle kill feels different to me. It's just not as satisfying to me. However, the practical side in me hunts for meat for my family. I want that to be as sure of a thing as possible.
I do, however, absolutely love hunting with a longbow. I probably make it harder than it needs to be, but that's okay. With my freezer not being empty, it's a lot easier to wait for the perfect opportunity. Anything I take also is more precious to me. I guess I'd say it's a little more soul-stirring. In the end, I'm still hunting for food, but I'm still challenging myself.
My transition to traditional lasted 2 deer seasons and I remember feeling then exactly as you do now. Take it easy, do what you feel, you will know when the time comes for the wheelie to head for the auction block. Right after I sold mine, a beautiful doe presented herself at 12 yards, and gave me and my Easton Classic shaft a full pass-through, shot from my second-hand Black Widow. I'll never forget it!!! Have Faith and Confidence...
Trust you gut my friend. There is no shame in hunting with either bow. Many of us here have been throught the same emotions.
For me, making the switch was a matter of coming to grips with my own ego and limitations. It is more about the indian than the bow.
Orion said it well: "When how you do it becomes more important to you than than how big or how many, the answer become obvious."
First of all, I hold NOTHING against one who uses a compound; we all have the "traditional" spirit in us; sometimes it just takes a little longer for some to connect with it and that's O.K.; just go out hunting and trust me, no one will have to tell you when it's time, you will know the moment it happens;
You are always welcomed here friend; good luck this season and hope you get a deer with both bows..... :campfire:
When i realized its about the journey and NOT the destination, it was easy to leave the wheels at home. Even more, realizeing how much fun I was haveing, even after a couple of clean misses, I sold the wheels.
Good luck to you with whatever you decide.
I had to axe my compound to make myself go traditional only. This will be my first year and I have a few worries about meat but none about what a memorable season I will have. I think I will be able to harvest deer, given a shot, but I will be learning as I go. If you keep second guessing it will only keep you up in the air waiting to land.
I have never killed a deer with a traditional bow either. I know if I dont take it to the woods there is no chance that I will. So I have made the switch to go 100% with the traditional bow. After reading all these posts and seeing the smile on sucessfull hunters makes me want to even try harder and dedicate myself 110% to traditional equipment. Good luck were all on your side
The meat will taste the same...maybe a little sweeter without wheels tracks...lol
I have faith that you can do it but until you do there will remain the question in your mind.
There's really only one way to find out for sure.
But when push comes to shove, it's your call, always is!!and always has been!
Have a good and Godly day!
God bless,Mudd
IMHO if you set up for 15yrd kills than whats the problem? The more you hunt with Trad gear the better your hunting skills will be when you decide to fall off the wagon with the wheels.It seams like you already talking yourself out of using trad gear.Your blowing your own confidence,Just shoot the trad and build your confidence back up you can do it.If you think you wont get a deer then you won't have faith.
I had to make the decision too. I put my compound away 3 years ago. I have been hunting recurve and longbow the last two seasons with no success on deer. It got to me at the end of deer season last year. Grabbed the Gun went to stand. Shot deer, dressed deer, grabbed my recurve and went to another stand.
I don't know what your season limits are? but.. I believe that the Indians, once they got their hands on rifles, used them over the bow because they were feeding their families and it was a more efficient way. I would lay the compound down, hunt the archery season with your (real) bow and then put the meat in the freezer with the gun if I had to. I'm pretty sure that your success will be fine with your bow if you can shoot that well. Just think of the "Great Feeling" you will experience, both in carrying a nice stick around the woods rather than an 8# hunk of metal, and getting close for the smooth killing shot.. I'll bet that most of your compound kills in the past were with-in your effective stick bow range?? Huh??
If you take both, I don't think you will take the tradbow off the hook. You will grab what you think is the sure thing. Don't bother caring the extra bow.
Take your time. You need to be confident. I also thought Bill C. gave great advice.
I would add there is nothing like your first trad kill... nothing.
I don't gun hunt anymore because it doesn't do it for me. I don't hunt with a compound bow now either for the same reason.
Bill Carlsen,
I love your logic! If I answered your question about kills with a compound it would be a lot and 95% would have been less than 20 yards -- solid recurve range.
You are asking a question I ask of some of my rifle hunting acquaintances. These acquaitances also bow hunt but sometimes trust the rifle more than the bow, especially on expensive out-of-state hunts. If they kill a really rare critter (sheep, moose, etc.) with a rifle I always ask how far the shot was. It is amazing how often they report the shot had been in "bow range". I don't say anything after that .... they know what I'm thinking (I don't judge but I freely wonder).
Sell the wheel bow and jump in with both feet. I let the "crutch" sit around the house during my first season with the recurve, took it out one early november morning- and felt like crap the whole time sitting there with it hanging on the hook. I've been very successful with wheels in the past, but lost the joy of hunting when every small buck would pass by and I would "count coupe" on em. Big bucks aren't the norm around here, so I actually found myself not wanting to hunt. "whats the point- I'm not going to see anything big enough to shoot anyway"
When I switched over to Trad-I sold the wheels to rid myself of the crutch. The joy was back and I deemed any animal a worthy trophy. I shot a few does, passed on some small bucks and was loving evey second of it. I finally dropped the string on a small 4 point at 17 yards one snowy morning. He made it 45 yards, and I was reborn again as a hunter.
I also fought the "long distance demons". 2 trips to Missouri- (my only out of state hunts) I had to pass on 35 yard shots at bucks larger than I have ever shot here at home. The upside- didn't faze me a lick, I just enjoyed the moment, and the sighting of them. I even had a buddy ragging on me to take his compound (he filled his tag the first night with a 150" 11 point). I told him I don't hunt with a compound and never will again. Yep- I could have shot one of those bucks with his bow, but looking at it on my wall, would've made feel like I was a cheater.....
Commit to the trad bow, and don't look back.
Trash the compound. You'll have a greater feeling with a deer taken with trad gear, Guaranteed. Most deer you kill with a compound is in short distance range anyway. :knothead:
For me it was a longing desire to hunt with nothing but trad gear. The only way I could committ was to sell my compound device. I've had no regrets!
If your wanting to kill a deer with traditional equipment, then you need to be carrying traditional equipment when a deer shows his ribs to you.
Just my 2 cents. But I wouldn't move to traditional if I were looking to kill more deer or an equal amount as your compound. Personally, I use traditional bowhunting equipment because it is more about how the game is taken. Personal satifaction means more to me.
It is totally up to you but you can't beat the satisfaction you will get from being sucessful with the stickbow.
I think you just need to use what you feel the most confident with. The main thing is to get out and just hunt.
Just do what I did. Get rid of the compound. Makes it pretty easy to decide which bow to use when you only have one bow!
you have to free yourself from the temptation of the training wheels or you may never completely make the switch.you can do it.
This isn't about a bow but. I love to squirrel hunt and I do it with .22 or .17 rimfires. Many years ago I got the hankering to hunt them with a handgun. A couple of times I took both rifle and handgun. I'd be holding the handgun waiting for the close shot, then I'd switch to the rifle - back and forth--indecision. The result, more often than not, I wouldn't get the shot with either because I didn't commit. I wouldn't consider taking both a compound and the recurve to the stand or blind. This would also be a good way to bang up a nice custom recurve!
I guess I'm lucky, every deer I have killed was within 27yds. and that includes firearms. So I am taking the Trad. bow hunting.
sell the compound then you dont have to choose. you just go and hunt.
Wheel bows are not crutches, they're just wheel bows.
Use whatever you want.
Like njloco pointed out:
Some places are more trad friendly than others.
My new deer spots up north pretty much suck for bow, gun too (unless running a .358 WSSM ;)
But if I ever do get one there..........
:) :) :)
QuoteOriginally posted by Hookeye:
Wheel bows are not crutches, they're just wheel bows.
Use whatever you want.
:thumbsup:
I killed five deer my first year hunting trad, after that i gave my compound away to a friends son.Don't think about it just go out and shoot some deer with trad gear.
Guys, I agree- they are "just" bows. Mine was a crutch in that I always knew it was there, ready to to hunt with at a moments notice. It led to less practice time with the recurve and getting proficient enough to hunt with it. Once I got rid of it- I learned to "walk" the right path for me.....
Personally I feel whatever archery tool used to enjoy the sport of bowhunting is fine with me. I find there is a certain romance to using traditional equipment for me. What I would do is set up mutiple stands. The ones with longer shot oppertunities take the compound. The ones with tight in closer shooting oppertunities take your recurve. I will tell you the record buck taken here in Mass a couple years back, was havested with a recurve. It was the gentlemens first season hunting after switching from compound to traditional. What a beauty it weighed in dressed at almost 280lbs. Great story it was in Bowhunter mag.