For you Trad Gang guys that used to shoot those "other" bows... compounds (there I said it). How long did you shoot wheels before making the switch to Trad Archery? Why did you switch?
I shot compounds for 12 years, Stopped because it became real boring to drill the same group over and over. Also I could never find a stickbow in any archery shop. Then one day I go into this new shop and there before me was a Toelke Whip, love at first sight, after that it was no more compound ever again.
I shot from '80 until '08. Never used sight or a release, so it was not to hard a switch. If anything just made shooting more natural.
5 years with a compound and 22 years now with traditional bows.
I shot compounds for about 10-11 years. Traditional archery always kinda tugged at me, but finally decided to switch because I was getting a little burned out with all the tech, gadgets, and just extra 'stuff' that was part of compound shooting. Enjoyed the simple and fun feeling that shooting a traditional bow brought me. I also was looking for a new challenge in archery that traditional has definatly brought me! Been shooting traditional now for about 6-7 years now. Wow time has flown!!
I first shot a recurve in the summer of 1973 a compound in 1978. I still shoot both. I just shoot my compound far less. Like LongStick64 said I get bored with shooting that bow. I can put groups together with arrows touching at 20 yds. I love a longbow, the way it looks, feels, cast a arrow and the comments I receive on looks and sound of the bow.
6 years compound, got burned out from being too "accurate". I started shooting in 8th grade, quit shooting when I went in the Army. Acquired another compound, then about 2 years ago picked up a recurve. LOVE LOVE LOVE trad shooting!
L.R. :D
When I started I shot the dreaded C bow for about 5yrs. Then I seen the light and haven't looked back since.
It's been 20x years and I hope to be doing this for the rest of my life. Gotta love sticks and strings.
ill be honest with ya, i still have a newer PSE compound that i love to shoot. i shoot 3d with it so its kinda like the bow ill use if my grouping is horrible oneday to get my stirits back up. i still love my recurves and i hunt with them. i started shooting traditonal after my grandpa passed and he left me his pearson recurve so i began to shoot im memory of him. i started and couldnt stop. LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE COMES ACROSS A 1966 PEARSON PALIMINO!!
28 years shooting a compound.I have shot recurves and longbows off and on over the years.I started shooting trad only in 2010 because shooting and hunting with a compound just got too complicated and i was not enjoying archery anymore.
i shot recurves from the time i was a wee lad until i was 19
then on to the wheel bows
after 5-6 years got bored as all get out with it
dug out my ol recurve and managed to take a doe in the first week back at it that was 15 years ago and im lovin it more than ever
kevin
I started out shooting recurves 30+ years ago but in 87' I was given my first compound & I was hooked to the dark side for 22 years.
Now for 2 years now I've returned to Bare Bow Recurve or Traditional Recurve & am the happiest since.
My switch was because the challenge & the desire was not there any more with the compounds & all the gadgetry & one day when my release broke & I couldn't shoot my 32" A-A compound with my fingers more than 2-3 times gave me the revelation that I needed to take a step back & not rely so much on the gadgets but on my abilities from the past.
I shot recurves from the time I was 13 until mid 20's than switched to wheelies with no sights. I shot them for about 5-6 yrs. than came back into the light for the last 25 yrs.
first all trad year will not be my last, already got a "cheap" PRICE ON MY WHEELIE
Didn't try a compound until long after buying a longbow. Held onto the wheelbow for awhile but finally sold it. Just like stickbows better.
I used to shoot compound in tourneys but got bored with the "golfers",shhh I'm about to shoot,4' stabilizers,binocoulars,target cards,8-10 minutes per shot.Heard a lot of laughter one day in the group ahead of us so I went to investigate.A great group of trad archers having a blast.Two weeks later I was shooting in their group.
QuoteOriginally posted by coltar:
I used to shoot compound in tourneys but got bored with the "golfers",shhh I'm about to shoot,4' stabilizers,binocoulars,target cards,8-10 minutes per shot.Heard a lot of laughter one day in the group ahead of us so I went to investigate.A great group of trad archers having a blast.Two weeks later I was shooting in their group.
Know what you mean, I used to get the "you never competed before have you" when I would talk or laugh or the long wait to have my turn because some one has to guess, look, guess again, look again, maybe adjust their sight, look again, maybe shoot.
I still shoot both. I shoot my longbows more than my compounds and have more fun hunting with the trad gear..... if I really need some meat for the freezer I reach for the compound. I only hunt turkeys with a longbow and have been hunting more and more during deer season with trad only
I've never shot the "other" bow other than showing my brothers how to shoot theirs....
I shot target recurves as a kid up through college. I bought a compound and aluminum arrows as I was convinced I needed that for hunting. After about two years I sold it and bought a hunting recurve and went back to cedar. That was in 1982. Never looked back; though I did buy a longbow and still have it though it is seldom used. I'm just a recurve guy.
i've never shot a compound in my life, all trad since i was a kid, was shooting out back yesterday, and my wheelie neighbor and his wheelie son came over and said ,lets get togther and shoot sometime,they never shot trad before,i offered the son byron ferguson's book last summer,both said "no thanks", i think they are very curios,glancing at my longbow!
I shot a compound for 26 years and switched to trad 3 years ago. The compound got to the point with so many gadgets and gizmos I had to wonder if I made the shot or the bow did? It got really boring to me and I even quit hunting for several years.
Three years ago I tried a recurve and wanted to see if I could actually hit anything with it. Archery was fun again and I'll never look back.
Still have both, though i rarely hunt with a wheelie anymore, unless im set up on a horse of a buck. I will admit i shoot quite a bit of tournaments with a wheelie even landed a sponsership with it. i may be exiled for this!...but to be honest hunting with a comp is boring now, put the pin on it and squeeze and it over. not my cup of tea anymore!
Grew up with a longbow, then got a wheeler and shot it barebow. Someone talked me into sights, then someone talked me into a peeper... then a range finder..., ect. Came to my senses and bought a Martin Hunter with incorrect arrows from a compound shop. Decided right there to do everything myself and found the true enjoyment. It is great to become a GOF and do just what I like :)
Started with a compound in 1988 and decided to try and hunt with a longbow in 2006 and never touched the compound again.
Started with a compound and shot it for about 7 or 8 years. I switched to a recurve after shooting a friends bow and felt it gave me several advantages over the compound in hunting situations. Haven't shot a compound in 20 years.
I had a Ben Pearson Fiberglass Bow when I was around 10 years old and never shot it much because I would lose the arrows and couldn't aford new ones,at about 12-13 years old one of my older brothers got an Indian Recurve that was 45# but it was to heavy for me,then I stopped by a Friends house in September 1978 and he had a New Bear Polar LTD Compound,I shot it and in a couple of weeks I had one,Killed my First Deer a 7 Point Buck with my first shot on November 7th 1978,I shot compounds until the Spring of 2008 when I met some Real Nice Older Gentlemen,(I'm 57) shooting Recurves and Longbows at the Archery Shop while I was shooting my Compound and told them I had bought an old Bear Recurve ( Mid Seventy 58" Grizzly) a couple of years earlier but had not shot yet,they told me to bring it and they would help me set it up,I really liked a Hummingbird Longbow that one of the guys had and I bought myself one,on October 21st my second shot at a Deer with the Longbow I shot a 9 Point Buck,I LOVE shooting Longbows and Recurves and have converted my Son and am working on others to switch over to the Side I Love,I use to get out the Compound Hunt with it and put it away,Now I shoot almost Every Day and "Every" Monday Night on a League with some Real Nice Fellows and my Son,and I now have about 20 Longbows and Recurves,I guess you can't have to many,just don't tell my wife,
Kurt
Started with a recurve, went to wheels in 70's, went back to traditional three or four years ago and now I'm a Longbow "NUT" ....
I don't have enough years left to make that trip again :)
I shot trad bows as a kid, Grandpa built me and my brother aluminum recurves, and we shot the heck out of them. Then I got into HH longbows in the 70's and loved them. Life went on and I was out of archery for some years, came back and got a r/d longbow (Mattawoman II) but couldn't get my accuracy good enough (not enough practice) so I was lulled over to the wheels. Got all the "stuff", best sights, best stab, best drop-a-way rest, best arrows, best release,best rangefinder on and on and on.. $$$$$ Went to the Pacific coast range in Oregon after Roosevelt Elk,first hunt with the wheels. Lugged that 8# piece of metal around for 3 days, sat in the woods with it and finally realized that this wasn't getting it.. It's sitting in my closet and hasn't been shot since.. Now I shoot my Toelke recurve and my longbows all of the time. (got a HH Robin Hood due here Monday) and a (Apex Predator Sapelo shipping out to me Monday)(next week is going to be one hell of a week!!)(Just talked to Marty and he told me that it is the purtiest bow he's ever built !!!) Needless to say I CAN'T WAIT..) Bottom line is I love shooting longbows, might even sell my recurve?? Can't group like I can with my wheel bow and really don't care. It's longbows for me til the end, and hopefully God has a 3d range or 2 in heaven..? We'll see...
started traditional simply out of reasons of cost, then shot a compound once, handed it back to the owner without a word and cant see i ever touch one again.
My first bow was actually an old bear recurve my uncle gave me as a kid. I killed my first archery deer with it as a teenager. Got into compounds because the main place I hunted did not allow anything but compounds. (The guy running the club was not a wise man). Stayed with compounds for many years but always yearned for the feeling I once had with the recurve. I bought a recuve a couple of years ago just to play with, but still hunted with a compound because I was afraid I would be less successful with traditional. I recently decided to hunt only with a recurve because that is what I really want to be hunting with. After many blown oppertunities, I finally took my first traditional deer(doe) in many years and it felt wonderful. I have realized real success cannot be measured solely in game taken.
I started as a kid when I was 5 years old shooting a hickory sapling my brother made into a bow with baling twine for a string. The next summer one of my uncles gave me a little red fiberglass bow. I went through a couple of those and when I was 14 my mom got me a Shakespeare recurve for Christmas. In 1977 I was 21 years old and bought a compound. I shot that for 3 years and then bought a Howard Hill longbow. I've been shooting a longbow since 1980. It was fun back in the 80's to go to a 3D shoot where there might be 300 shooters and my buddy and me were the only ones without a compound. Lots of looks and questions.
I enjoy shooting all kinds of bows, compounds, recurves and longbows. I haven't hunted much yet with the trad bows as I don't have the confidence to do it yet but am planning a on a baited bear hunt this fall as my first voyage with the recurve. I will use the bow best suited for the quarry.
I started with compound in the early 80's,I hunted with them for almost 15 years,but they were becoming like a rifle,a little too easy and boring; then I discovered the recurve in 1990,from 95 I never looked back.I can't be more happy.
8 months. The second time I dropped that contraption and bumped something out of line I got rid of it.
I shot compounds for about 20 years. I don't think that stickbows or stickbow shooters are superior to compounds, I just like shooting a stick better. Started the stick 8 years. Love it.
Like others said, I shot fingers and no sights when I used a compound, so the change was pretty smooth and fairly easy.
God bless,
Nathan
QuoteOriginally posted by bornagainbowhunter:
I don't think that stickbows or stickbow shooters are superior to compounds, I just like shooting a stick better.
EXACTLY...
Although I like to shoot both.
i started on a compound in the early 80s, but have shot both for a while (bouncing back and forth as to which one i shot more). finally gave up the compounds this year, and just dont see me going back. i like compounds though, fun to shoot too, just a different way...but i think for me personally i wont have the desire to shoot one again.
My first real bow was my dad's 53# Bear Magnum recurve. I was 12. Never saw a deer to even take a shot. Shot a lot of cardboard boxes and hay bales. My grandfather accidently ran over it with his truck when I was about 18. Couple years later bougth my first compound. Been shooting them for 28 years now. Just recently bought a old Shakespere bow that I am going to camo in ASAT. Been wanting to go back to Trad for years now and I am finally going to do it. Seriously considering selling my Mathews. Just tired of all of the "gadgets" required, at least for me, to shoot. The older I get the simpler I want things. Going to take a lot of work (practice) to get ready but I am up for the challenge.
I just finally had my gut full of all the gadgets. I shot a compound for several years, but always wanted a stick bow. my neighbor let me borrow an old wing he had laying around..and BAM, I was hooked! been hooked every since. That's been about 7 years ago. I can honestly say I'll never go back! Jason
26 years with my compounds. My sister bought me a Bear Whitetail Hunter for me for Christmas when I was 13. I have no regrets on shooting any of the MANY that I've owned. 4 years ago I just felt I'd gone as far with them as I could and was always really fasinated with the simple beauty of a traditional bow. A good friend gave me his old Browning Wasp and I fell in love with the challenge! That was a bunch of stick bows since. I'll never go back and I've sold ALL my compounds. And I have nothing against them but I found that I enjoy the simplicity of a stick bow.
GLENN
I shot a coumpound 1 year with fingers and no sights. At my first family deer camp, my cousin brought a friend with a longbow. I fell in love with that bow and bought one as soon as I got home. Got it from a start up company called Ron LaClair's Traditional Shoppe. It was a Tim Meigs longbow...Doc
I shot a Mathews Q2 and then an Outback for several years and they were pretty well trouble free. I give tghem an A. But I enjoy traditional more. It takes more skill to shoot traditional. I have held onto my compound in case of injury or the need for long shots.
My first bow was a compound I shot off and on through high school (some years mostly off) got pretty serious during my summer breaks in college while I was working at a summer camp. I only recently made my way to traditional archery. My four year old daughter asked for a bow for Christmas which got me thinking about shooting and hunting traditional. That along with a buddy passing along his recurve ( a 50# unmarked) and I am totally hooked! So 20+ years with a wheelie and under a year with a recurve. I'm now thinking about building my own arrows, if anyone has a used bitzenburger let me know!
i shot a recurve 1975, 76,77 ,78, 79. Wheels 80 to 84. Back to Real bows in 85 and nothing else since. Why because I wanted to shoot real bows and arrows. I wanted to feel involved in my hunt.
I wanted to limit my ability to kill. I wanted to be like Fred!
I shot a compound '88 to '90. Saw "October Whitetails" video and switched to recurve. Shot one arrow out of my brothers compound last year, bullseyes at thirty yards.
I got into bows via the scenic route. The two guys that I hunted with were life long friends but gun hunters.. Our routine was to get up early Saturday, big breakfast, hunt hard until late afternoon because we had a dinner reservation at 6. Up not so early Sunday and hunt hard until noon because the Broncos were on TV in the afternoon and ROAD HUNT, holy crap road hunt, Monday 9 until 5 (dinner you know). And that was it for the year!! One, sort of long day and one half day. Not exactly how I had read about hunting in Field and Stream -- Out door life etc. But as I said they were life long friends.
I just happened upon the Colo Bow hunter dinner one spring, and the idea popped into my head to take up archery. I knew they would not change to bows and that got me out of hunting with them 'gracefully'. My first bow was a compound. I hunted with it 1 season.. the weekend after the season closed I drove up the G.Freds shop in Longmont Colo and ordered a Big Horn recuve. Fred Bear, Howard Hill, the Indians and Robin Hood did not shoot arrow launchers (compounds). They shot bows. A stick and string, simple, quiet and effective. That my friend was 18 years ago.
Joe
Ps. One of those guys has now passed away and I still talk with other one almost every day.
I hunted with the wheels basically all of my hunting life. I was kicked off at a young age by my father who still hunts with a wheel bow.
In 2008 I picked up a Don Dow reflex/deflex from a local bow shop. I shot around with it for a while for fun, but never really took off for me. In 2009 I found this site and things really took off from there. I vowed that '09 would be all traditional, but after wounding a doe the first weekend, I went back to the compound and took a few more does. Then one with the blackpowder.
I moved in July of 2010 to a new home about 2 hours away and told myself that it would be a tough year in a new area and would stick to the recurve. I ended up selling the compound before season started so I had no choice since I knew my wife wouldn't let me spend $800 on a new wheelie rig. I had a few does in close, but decided to wait the season out and see if I could spend more time in the field to see how the movement was in the new public area I was hunting.
I didnt end up with a deer this year, but accomplished my first goal of not going back to the wheels. One I put my mind to it, I didnt have any second thoughts. The bow is lighter, simpler, and just down right fun to shoot. I was losing some of my ambition to shoot the wheels. I didn't even have the pins sighted in until right before I sold the bow. I'm glad I got rid of it. The extra money was nice to have and it forced to shoot the trad bow.
I posted at 5:40pm today and mentioned my grandfather that accidently ran over the last trad bow that I had when I was 18. Little did I know at the time that he had just passed away. My grandpa was my hero. The epitome of what you think of when you think of an outdoorsman. He taught me how to fish, hunt, build a fire, shoot, swim, sharpen a knife, you name it. He has suffered from dimentia for the last two years. If he had realized his condition he would not have wanted to live. He couldn't do the things he loved to do anymore. Now he can. He has gone on to that "Happy Hunting Gound in the Sky". When I grow up... I want to be just like him.
QuoteOriginally posted by Two Wolves:
I posted at 5:40pm today and mentioned my grandfather that accidently ran over the last trad bow that I had when I was 18. Little did I know at the time that he had just passed away. My grandpa was my hero. The epitome of what you think of when you think of an outdoorsman. He taught me how to fish, hunt, build a fire, shoot, swim, sharpen a knife, you name it. He has suffered from dimentia for the last two years. If he had realized his condition he would not have wanted to live. He couldn't do the things he loved to do anymore. Now he can. He has gone on to that "Happy Hunting Gound in the Sky". When I grow up... I want to be just like him.
I'm sorry to hear that. My prayers are with you and your family. He will live on in your heart and always be with you.
So sorry to hear of your grandfather. I can see from what you say that he was a great man and good friend.
Now you can pick up where your grandpa left off....teach the young'uns about all of the good things of life...
We can talk about thread topic later..
Take care!
I sold a recurve in 78 and got my first wheeler.3 yeras ago went back to trad and no lookin back.The compound came of the wall to hunt then right back.I cant hang my curve or LB but over night!Year round for me.
almost 30 years with wheel bows. in the early years I had a TON of fun but eventually the fun went away. I actually went for about 15 years without shooting more than a handful of does with a wheel bow, just bucks, the macho thing I guess. switched to stickbows and the very first kill was a big doe. I was PUMPED to say the least. that someting that I once had was back, the FUN. this past season was my 6th with a stickbow and I've had more fun in those 6 years than I'd had in a long time. have no problem filling all my deer tags and even got a black bear with my LB. I've made a load of new friends and actually share my hunting areas more than I ever did in the wheel days.
bottom line....traditional archery is GOOOD medicine.
started with a Kodiak Mag in '82 when i was 12. got my first compound in '87 and used wheel bows exclusively until my friends and i started doing late season deer drives in '95. in the places we hunted/drove it was so thick that 20 yards was a long shot and the target wasn't always standing still. so i drug out the Bear recurve and had no problem getting back into it. i love how light the recurve is to carry. i still hunt with a compound when tree stand hunting, i used trad bows for ground hunting. because i started with trad bows some things crossed over to wheel bows. i shoot both styles with fingers, alluminum arrows, and fixed blade trad broadheads.
I started shooting a bow many, many years ago.
Started shooting a compound in the early 80's.
Worked for a shot for a retail outlet in Missouri, and eventualy opened my own pro shop which I operated for 13 years, along with competing in several venues, along with my wife and youngest son.
One day when it was time to pick a new bow, my son said, "Dad, I don't want to do this anymore, it just isn't any fun.". That was the last time he picked up a bow. (Hope to get him to start traditional one day).
That's when I started to take a look around.
Compound shooters live in a hundred dollar world.
Sights, rests, stabilizers, peeps, arrows, you name it, it is going to cost at least a hundred dollars, and then the next week, the industry comes out with something else that no archer can do without, and it cost a hundred dollars.
This is not sour grapes, the industry made a nice living for me, and for that I am grateful.
I am more greatful for my son who made me open my eyes and step forward to enjoying archery again. I now shoot both recurves and longbows, and cherish every moment, and have great fun doing it.
Because of his statement, and being"burned out", I can proudly say that I have introduced serveral of my former compound shooters to the life of traditional archery, which I have been told is the best move they have made regarding archery.
i started 27 years ago with a compound and it just became boring, and i got tired of the arrow rest, peep sights and bow sight, switched over to trad about 6 years ago and now shooting is fun again.