When I think of traditional archery I see a wooden bow,wooden arrows and a back quiver. So tell me what gear you really use that is made of traditional material (wood and leather).Let the fun begin. :goldtooth:
:deadhorse:
Someone has to get the fire started.LOL
I guess I am only 1/3 traditional to according to this poll. Wood, Carbon and bow quiver. Read the article in trad bow about back quivers but the 2 Ive owned I spend more time picking up arrows than stump shooting!
I always use my back quiver, just dont hunt with it!
Trad wool hood; Trad long hunter wool shirt; trad wool sash; throwing hawk; back quiver; wooden arrows; osage longbow; osage handled camp knife; All made in the good old U.S. of A. for this traditionalist Canadian. ( I look the part but I haven't taken anything yet even though I've been trying, sorry)
(http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z457/Cook_Monaghan/th_TradStuff2.jpg) (http://s1190.photobucket.com/albums/z457/Cook_Monaghan/?action=view¤t=TradStuff2.jpg)
I guess opinions vary as to your topic ,Traditional to me has a lot more to do with attitude and mindset than just equipment alone.
So does a wood/glass bow count as a wood bow or "other" material? It has both.
....as I pack my metal riser ILF bow for a club meeting......
QuoteOriginally posted by Steve Clandinin:
I guess opinions vary as to your topic ,Traditional to me has a lot more to do with attitude and mindset than just equipment alone.
-----------------------------------------------
Yup it's a feeling I get when I go out into the woods for hunting or bushcraft. If it's wood and leather that gets you there or carbon and aluminum; just get there. :archer:
QuoteOriginally posted by Steve Clandinin:
I guess opinions vary as to your topic ,Traditional to me has a lot more to do with attitude and mindset than just equipment alone.
I'm with you Steve :thumbsup:
I am also wondering if "fiberglass" is considered another material ??? It sure isn't wood........ :dunno: I had to vote for "other materials" because I don't own a bow that doesn't have fiberglass in it.
Winterhawk1960
Most of the time when people mention "traditional", they mean 'pre-compound'. I mean we're not all shooting hand-crafted wooden arrows with flint tips off the knuckle on a self bow. Some of us are, it's true. But the rest of us are using a mixture of modern materials and older stuff. That's fine by me. It'd be a funny old world if we were all alike.
To start splitting hairs over what is traditional or not is probably pointless, and in the end, arbitrary. If you shoot wood arrows out of a selfbow, someone else will shoot hand-knapped flint tips off the knuckle, with deer-gut bowstring. Does that mean you're not a traditional shooter? Not in my books.
For me, traditional is about self-reliance. No sights, no let off. The energy of the arrow is 100 percent ours, and we pay a price in effort to send it on its way. Traditional is about watching the arrow go and know that, no matter the outcome, the only thing guiding that arrow is you.
Hopefully, that's something we can agree on.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jake Diebolt:
Most of the time when people mention "traditional", they mean 'pre-compound'. I mean we're not all shooting hand-crafted wooden arrows with flint tips off the knuckle on a self bow. Some of us are, it's true. But the rest of us are using a mixture of modern materials and older stuff. That's fine by me. It'd be a funny old world if we were all alike.
To start splitting hairs over what is traditional or not is probably pointless, and in the end, arbitrary. If you shoot wood arrows out of a selfbow, someone else will shoot hand-knapped flint tips off the knuckle, with deer-gut bowstring. Does that mean you're not a traditional shooter? Not in my books.
For me, traditional is about self-reliance. No sights, no let off. The energy of the arrow is 100 percent ours, and we pay a price in effort to send it on its way. Traditional is about watching the arrow go and know that, no matter the outcome, the only thing guiding that arrow is you.
Hopefully, that's something we can agree on.
Nice job I agree, Jake!
Ya that was well put Jake. :thumbsup:
I am not traditional at all according to your definition and I do not believe the results either. There is now way that many shooting a wood bow, wood bow would be a self bow and not that many on here are shooting one. I bet most contain fiberglass or carbon. I think all these polls and question as to what is traditional are a big joke, that is why I responded. Jake has it fairly close, the sight comment is no doubt wrong, sights have been in use or tried for hundreds of years! Shawn
Good point Shawn, should change mine. I guess I am 0 - 3 my bows have fiberglass, no selfbows!
:archer: :dunno:
i am with Jake Diebolt and i think of myshelf as a traditional archer
Great philosophy Jake and very well said.
^^What Jake said ;)
Wood bows, with Fiberglass "hope that's close enough in that department."
Back Quiver most of the time but I do use on occasion a hip & bow quiver.
Untill I get my butt going with these Cedars I use other materials for arrows.
Ahhh! Yes traditional is in the mindset as it is with me. I figured this would not be taken in the manner that I thought,but I had hope. The reason for the poll is to see how much traditional materials are still being used. It doesn't mean that if you use other materials that your not as traditional as others,or if you shoot from a rest compared to the knuckle. But with all the advances in materials and technology even in the trad world, I wanted to see who still stuck to the basic wood bow,arrows and the long time back quiver. No harm intended.
My Safari Arrowmaster quiver hangs on my back but I take the arrows from the side. My beaver pelt quiver hangs on my back but I take the arrows from the mouth(top). Are they both back quivers? If I cut a slit in the side of the beaver to take out my arrows, then what?
No harm lpcjon2. :knothead: that wasn't what I wanted to say. I saw that the original question brought about a flurry of traditional ideas, thoughts and philosophies. (thanks to "park" for his post which made me re-read mine)So I was commenting on that observation. Didn't want to sound like I was attacking your polling thread Sir. Thank you.
I have a custom longbow,but I hardly use it anymore. I usualy use one of my old 1960's Bear recurves. Mostly wood arrows,although I do have a few aluminium arrows hanging around. I have a couple bowquivers around,but I really don't use them. I like my backquiver...
I started bowhunting in the 70's with a Bear recurve and wooden arrows in a backquiver.
More times than not... That's what you'll see me with!!!
Im new here and havent talked to many people here but I think sometimes people jump to conclusions about what somebody is asking.That is just my personal observation.I didnt think it was a loaded question and I wish people werent so defensive about something that makes THEM happy.lpcjon2 is a good contibuter to this site and I enjoy reading much of what he has to say.To answer the question I shoot every kind of bow except metal risers and carbon arrows because I dont think they are traditional enough for me.No harm in haveing an opinion about what makes me happy.
I have a self bow, but I don't shoot it much. I'm really partial to my laminated longbows, but I shoot wood arrows pretty much exclusively, and I use either a side quiver or a bow quiver, depending on what I'm doing or hunting. I don't know where all that puts me on the 'traditional' scale.
Where would G. Fred, the Wensels, or even Fred Bear fall on the scale, since they don't or didn't use back quivers or selfbows. I think Fred Bear used fiberglass arrows quite a bit, too.
Just my humble opinion, but I think that 'traditional' is pretty much a bow without wheels. Lots of folks have been using bow quivers and shot other types of shafts besides woods, and I would think that most of us on this site are pretty traditional in mindset, but may not shoot selfbows, wood shafts, knapped heads, etc. I did get to throw an atlatl yesterday; now that's traditional!
I shoot carbons... when those "disappear" stump shooting, i plan on switching to wood. I also shoot a glass bow
Do you get bonus points for wearing plaid shirts and plain pants? I have been out of the "camo" scene for a few years now. ;)
The term "traditional" was coined in the 70's and meant a bow without wheels. I don't think the definition has change but there's some people that have tried to make it mean something else....maybe because they weren't sure themselves what it meant to be traditional.
I've always shot longbows, recurves and self bows or wood bows. In the picture in my avatar I'm shooting a John Strunk Yew bow, flint tipped wood arrows in a wolverine back quiver. I still do shoot all of them, sometimes wood bows and wood arrows with a back quiver. Sometimes a glassed bow with carbon or wood arrows in a bow quiver. If it's not a compound then it's "traditional"
I think to say someone is MORE traditional is splitting hairs....but that's JMO
Steve, Jake and Ron said it best. I think it's easiest to use the simple definition of a bow without wheels.
QuoteOriginally posted by Shawn Leonard:
I am not traditional at all according to your definition and I do not believe the results either. There is now way that many shooting a wood bow, wood bow would be a self bow and not that many on here are shooting one. I bet most contain fiberglass or carbon. I think all these polls and question as to what is traditional are a big joke, that is why I responded. Jake has it fairly close, the sight comment is no doubt wrong, sights have been in use or tried for hundreds of years! Shawn
This. %99.999 of us are driving a gas powered vehicle to the hunt as well. I do disagree with raised rests though.
About as traditional as I want to be. Even got in door plumbing.
I'm with Ron on this one.....
I'm with Ron on this one. Bow without wheels.
I personally shoot an Osage Selfbow, River cane Arrows and use a leather Plains style quiver that is hung over my shoulder and hangs on my left side.
Johnny/JAG
By looking into the past/history of archery/bowhunting we can learn a few things.
1944 Fred Bear Allegan,MI ( Notice the bow quiver )
(http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv341/bowhunterfrompast/Posted%20pics/1EABF0B057.jpg)
In early 1949, Frank Eicholtz started working with George Gordon to develop a uni-directional fiberglass. Fiberglass fabric embedded in plastic resins rapidly became the standard material for bow backins. Because of the abrasive action of cross threads in the glass frabric, however, it was not suitable for use on the compression surface. Bear and his crew worked on this problem for more than two years, and by 1951 they had solved it by eliminating all cross threads in the fiberglass.
Larry Hughes took the 1941 National archery crown at Portland, Oregan with Easton aluminum arrows.
To Quote Ron La Clair
"The term "traditional" was coined in the 70's and meant a bow without wheels. I don't think the definition has change but there's some people that have tried to make it mean something else....maybe because they weren't sure themselves what it meant to be traditional.
I've always shot longbows, recurves and self bows or wood bows. In the picture in my avatar I'm shooting a John Strunk Yew bow, flint tipped wood arrows in a wolverine back quiver. I still do shoot all of them, sometimes wood bows and wood arrows with a back quiver. Sometimes a glassed bow with carbon or wood arrows in a bow quiver. If it's not a compound then it's "traditional"
I think to say someone is MORE traditional is splitting hairs....but that's JMO"
Absolutely, correct.
If you were shooting back then, the term began to mean anything but compounds or crossbows in the field or at shoots. The term "Primitive" was adopted by some to mean selfbows, wood arrows and stone points. You have to think long and hard to improve on either description. Certainly, it was a frame of mind, attitude, or preference by most to include modern materials, and methods, along with the primitive as a way of rebuilding the sport.
Yes that says it all.
I'm sorry I didn't read the other post. I started shooting archery in the 50's as a young boy. It was called Archery back then and remained that way until I lost interest in the early 70's. I have never shot an arrow through a compound bow. Picked the interest back up in the late 80's. I shoot many different longbows, self and laminated, recurves, take down and one piece with risers made of wood and metal. Traditional to me is a recent term and one put in this kind of question makes me think you are some what new to the passion of something very NICE!
I am as Traditional as Larry D. Jones and Fred Bear!
I guess I should have read the rule book more carefully. Now I'm not sure if I am "Traditional" or just over the hill.
Can I still fling arrows anyways?
Back Quivers were not common until the 1700s.. Traditionally, archers carried their arrows in a linen quilt (or other fabric).. Or so I've heard!
QuoteOriginally posted by Jake Diebolt:
Most of the time when people mention "traditional", they mean 'pre-compound'. I mean we're not all shooting hand-crafted wooden arrows with flint tips off the knuckle on a self bow. Some of us are, it's true. But the rest of us are using a mixture of modern materials and older stuff. That's fine by me. It'd be a funny old world if we were all alike.
To start splitting hairs over what is traditional or not is probably pointless, and in the end, arbitrary. If you shoot wood arrows out of a selfbow, someone else will shoot hand-knapped flint tips off the knuckle, with deer-gut bowstring. Does that mean you're not a traditional shooter? Not in my books.
For me, traditional is about self-reliance. No sights, no let off. The energy of the arrow is 100 percent ours, and we pay a price in effort to send it on its way. Traditional is about watching the arrow go and know that, no matter the outcome, the only thing guiding that arrow is you.
Hopefully, that's something we can agree on.
Very well said. :) I like it and I agree with you.
Kev
<><
The only thing wooden on my bow is the grip. ;)
I marked "other" as my bows are backed with fiberglass. I do however shoot selfbows as well.
I happen to agree with Steve's take on what it means to be traditional.
My 2 cents worth!
God bless,Mudd
For me, a wood bow and the last two choices are "other".
I fit right into the main steam of Trad-Gang. But, when I started, all this was "modern" and "state of the art."
On your scale, traditional archer 0 for3
But then again I am a hunter first archer second. I shoot LBs and RCs because they suit my preferred hunting style the best and challenge my hunting skills.
Unfortunately we measure our competence increasingly by how far we can shoot rather than how close we can get.
See what I mean, people mention all this stuff, sights, elevated rests, bow quivers. They are all more traditional than most any of us on this site, I know they have been around longer than anyone and I mean anyone who has been alive on this site. Shawn
My bows are wood, laminated with modern glues by Bob Sarrels, my arrows are wood, tipped with steel and nocked with plastic.. I could make self nocks; I have before and probably will again but the plastic is frankly easier and if one breaks the shaft is not usually lost.. I shoot off the shelf, currently using a Velcro rest and strike plate although I have often used leather. I've shot off a knuckle more than once and will again I'm sure, as I like the old style bows a lot.
I started in archery long before the word traditional was applied to equipment and I still have issues using the word to describe my gear..
QuoteOriginally posted by Ron LaClair:
The term "traditional" was coined in the 70's and meant a bow without wheels. I don't think the definition has change but there's some people that have tried to make it mean something else....maybe because they weren't sure themselves what it meant to be traditional.
I've always shot longbows, recurves and self bows or wood bows. In the picture in my avatar I'm shooting a John Strunk Yew bow, flint tipped wood arrows in a wolverine back quiver. I still do shoot all of them, sometimes wood bows and wood arrows with a back quiver. Sometimes a glassed bow with carbon or wood arrows in a bow quiver. If it's not a compound then it's "traditional"
I think to say someone is MORE traditional is splitting hairs....but that's JMO
Ron's statement "The term "traditional" was coined in the 70's and meant a bow without wheels. I don't think the definition has change but there's some people that have tried to make it mean something else....maybe because they weren't sure themselves what it meant to be traditional" is correct.
lpcjon2....I guess the question is, are you traditional before or after this period of time :thumbsup:
Before the word "TRADITIONAL" was coined.
QuoteOriginally posted by bowhunterfrompast:
By looking into the past/history of archery/bowhunting we can learn a few things.
1944 Fred Bear Allegan,MI ( Notice the bow quiver )
(http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv341/bowhunterfrompast/Posted%20pics/1EABF0B057.jpg)
In early 1949, Frank Eicholtz started working with George Gordon to develop a uni-directional fiberglass. Fiberglass fabric embedded in plastic resins rapidly became the standard material for bow backins. Because of the abrasive action of cross threads in the glass frabric, however, it was not suitable for use on the compression surface. Bear and his crew worked on this problem for more than two years, and by 1951 they had solved it by eliminating all cross threads in the fiberglass.
Larry Hughes took the 1941 National archery crown at Portland, Oregan with Easton aluminum arrows.
I think "traditional" means something differnt to everyone and it is used to describe lots of things. Traditional Country Music, Traditional Christmas or Thanksgiving so on and so forth. It all means something differnt to everyone. I think Ron hit the nail on the head it means "no wheels". But give the wheel bow shooters a little more time and maybe they will call the older compounds traditional. I shoot traditional not as much for the lore or the heritage behind it although that is part of it. I shoot a recurve bow simply because I truly beleave it is the best choice of weapon for ethecal bowhunting situations period. What you use to cary your arrows the kind of clothes you where its all cosmetic. I simply chose the best materials and products for the situation at hand and what I find works best for me. I think a lot of people get caught up in what they think is a "Traditional Look" and its almost like a costume to some point. I think learning the skills of a good woodsman and becoming a profeciant archer far out weighs tradition. If you cant build a wood arrow worth a damn why wouldnt you shoot carbon or aluminum. The one thing I hope never happens is that we segrigate with in the group as it has had in other hunting groups. What one finds to be tradional to him may not be traditional to another that does not make it wrong. This kind of thing goes on with subjects like mountain lion and bear hunting with dogs or baiting bears. We get seperated in our beleifes and we then weaken our cause as hunters. I know we seperate ourselfs from wheel shooters but is this a good thing? Sorry to ramble Scott.
Traditional is your mindset.....not your gear.
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
Traditional is your mindset.....not your gear.
Amen brother!!
But some reason while I love shooting any and all bows, it's only the Hill and Hill style bows that transport me to my "Sherwood"!
God bless,Mudd
I'm simply a recurve shooter. I stay away from the "T" word.
Fred Bear wasn't traditional, and neither am I.
Most times I like to shoot and hunt with my glass / laminated longbows and carbon arrows. Then there are times when I like to hunt with all 18th century repro gear and clothing, selfbow, wood arrows, flint tips... I'd consider that more "primitive" but it's definitely all "traditional" by today's standards.
I'm feeling the urge to get out the breech clout and go back in time... it's been a while. :archer:
I shoot everything traditionally from a Hickory or Osage selfbows with handmade linen string and hand forged broadheads & knife to an ILF carbon T/D longbow with carbon arrows. I've taken game with all combinations. But most importantly, I've enjoyed them all...except maybe the loin cloth in November :)
Hickory bow with hand twisted linen string and footed wood arrows with halfed on hand forged broadheads.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Quebec%20Quest%2008/QuebecQuest08095.jpg)
Griffin carbon bow and carbon arrows with Wensel Woodsman broadhead.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Iowa%202010/Iowa2010018.jpg)
Real Traditional >>--->
Foot made knife by a guy with NO hands or arms and he still hunts!!! There is always someone that can one up you. You wouldn't be here if you didn't think you weren't traditional. Just enjoy...Doc
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FootMadeKnifeby2.jpg)
Does it really matter? I shoot a recurve, a longbow, and a 25-year-old compound with fingers (no release). But I do it the way I like it, and not to please anyone or anything else.
Archie
Here is how traditional I am. I do what I like and don't worry about what some seperatist elitist think. What I shoot,, What I wear, How far I shoot , What arrows I shoot have absolutely nothing to do with anyone else or what they enjoy or do not enjoy. I make my own bows or shoot a bow someone else made,. I make my own arrows or buy some aluminums. I shoot according to how much I have practiced and how far I can efficiently hunt. I use a back quiver, a LaKota quiver or a bow quiver, I shoot a Hill, A D and r or a recurve of my own making. I buy Woodsman heads, Black diamonds or Grizzlies, I even chip my own at times,. I wear full camo or hunt with a black and red or black and green plad and Carharts. I wear Light weight tennisshoe hikers or Danners, I use Bushnells or Vortexs.
Basicaly you would have to define me as a typical traditionalist. Independant as a hog on ice and could care less what anyone else thinks or judges me to be or not to be.
One thing I do not like is elitism and seperatism. I hunt and enjoy the fellowship of like minded bow hunters and that includes people that shoot compounds. Although I do convert a few.
God bless you all, Steve
As I mentioned on page 2 was that with all the advances in archery (even trad gear) the age of composite materials and high tech aircraft aluminum and carbon has in some was taken the place of wood and simple materials. The Trad gear has even gotten more advanced to make it more comfortable to shoot.
And back in the 70's I was just going from diapers to big boy underpants so I can not comment on what traditional was back then for I have no clue. But I will take Ron's word on what Traditional meant back then.
Yesterday I did change the ? to read what traditional materials do you use in your gear. So if this makes more sense than how traditional are you, then you should understand the ? more clearly. So in a nut shell I wanted to see if many have followed the advancement in materials thats all.
No harm intended,or attempts at separating of the masses.
Timothy, None taken,
There are people that think that because they hunt with primitive gear that somehow they are better than people that shoot a glass bow or use a bow qui\\ver or do not dress in leather,.
They nitpick other people by the gear that they use or do not use. To me there is no place for that and that devisiveness is what I dislike.
God bless you and please do not anyone think that I hate any person or judge them because they are or are not an elitist. I just don't pay attention to them is all(grin)
God bless you, Steve
I am surprised that twice as many people voted that they shoot "wood bows" over "other materials". All these wood bows have glass in them. I wonder if they realize or know this. I doubt there are double the people shooting selfbows over other bows...
most ppl are probably saying they dont shoot a metal riser imo.
also, categorizing a back quiver as primitive?! what about when ppl just carried their arrows?
-One piece wood bow w/sinew or plant fber string
-arrows with stone or bone points and natural, tied on fletching
-while carrying extra arrows in the bow hand
that seems traditional to me and i come no where close to that! lol
tippit....great post...that says it all right there :thumbsup:
It seems to me alot of these posts deal more with the differences between traditional and primitive archery. I'd like to think that a lack of wheels and buss cables defines traditional. This topic can be related to black powder shooters as I've found out. Some there think that only flintlocks qualify and percussion caps need not apply. I like the earlier post about it being a mind set more than equipment used. I think I'll just go with mind set and bare bows (laminated, fiberglass, carbon, aluminum, etc.) included.
It was never bred out of my blood line...
Keep up the good work folks!!