Trad Gang

I got to thinking since the start of your Trad journey what would you have done different. It could be something in a hunt that would have been a defining moment or just a choice through the journey that you would have done different.

     For me I wish I had stayed with it from the beginning and not gone with the mechanical bows, I feel that in a way I cheated myself by taking a mechanical advantage to hunting. For me that approach made it easier to harvest animals (35-40 yard shots with ease)and lessened my true hunting skills.And cost me a ton of money,cant have wheels without the gimmick type clothing.ha ha

    After I smartened up and went back to Trad, I found a whole new respect for myself and the animals and environment that they reside in. The simple more fulfilling feeling has become my journey.

    And I would also have spent more time hunting with friends, and family instead of being the lone wolf. Now I have focused my Journey in getting my kids to take it with me so we can learn from each other, and keep it going. This has become a way of life( spiritual, mental, and physical)that has made me a better person. Just wish I had stayed with it from the beginning.But that's what life's learning experiences are for.

nothing

Biggest mistake I made was backing off on my Bow hunting in the 80's.   :readit:   Bow hunting is where it's at,and with a recurve or longbow it is the ultimate.   :thumbsup:

I started with a 45# bow, worked up to 65#, and then back down again to 45#. That took 25 years and a couple thousand dollars to figure out.

I wish I had stayed where I was at and saved myself a lot of money and worn out upper body parts.

Not much except I wish I would of made the switch way earlier!    :archer2:

Easy for me. I would have started with a light weight bow & learned to shoot properly. A 65# martin hunter is not a good place to learn form from.Bad habits that get ingrained in your form are tough to remedy.

I'de have moved to Iowa right down the road from Gene and Barry.

What would I have changed? Well, many moons ago, I let myself get talked into going hunting with trad equipment before I was really ready. I knew that I was really not ready yet but was younger and more stupid and let my ego get the better of me.  I went and lost the first three animals that I shot with trad gear (all pigs on the same hunt). I was totally disgusted and almost quit. But I knew in my heart that it was not the gear that was at fault, but it was myself, for not being prepared the way I should have been.

Bisch

think i would stick with the little 40# browning nomad stalker instead of the wheelie gimick...my dad insisted i didnt need that "thing" but being 14 i was way wiser than him! (on the plus side im 40 now and my son shoots my old nomad more than he shoots his wheelie...he shoots my 70's kmag more than i do) in the end it all worked out  :thumbsup:

I would have never started hunting with traditional bows if I would have known how much it would consume my life. Other than family, fishing, friends andwork its all I have left. Someone please help me.    :knothead:

I would have started in 1985 instead of 2002 and foregone the 17 years of hunting with a wheeled bow!    :knothead:    :(

Bill

QuoteOriginally posted by Izzy:
I would have never started hunting with traditional bows if I would have known how much it would consume my life. Other than family, fishing, friends andwork its all I have left. Someone please help me.     :knothead:  

:D  X2!!

I agree with Bigriver.  I tried to teach myself with books on a 63# longbow.  Only thing I learned were the habits I'm now trying to break!  If I could start over again, the first bow I'd get would be a 64" 35# @ 28 recurve and get some lessons from a good archery instructor.

I only hunted with a camera for a few years. I don't really regret that, but I would have had a lot more elk meat in the freezer if I had stayed with the bow. When I came back to the bow, the excitement was renewed, and I was re energized. I still like camera 'hunting', but it isn't nearly as fulfilling or exciting as chasing critters with stick and string.

QuoteOriginally posted by BowHuntingFool:
Not much except I wish I would of made the switch way earlier!     :archer2:  

X2

Tim...nice to hear your regrets but understand that you wouldn't have the same appreciation for Trad hunting without the time spent with wheels. Also, time with friends and family is also more appreciated having spent time solo hunting.

I thought you were talking about me when you explained your situation! The only difference is that I try and look at it as a learning experience knowing now what matters to me. I often think that if I didn't get the trophy wheel bow hunting out of the way then I wouldn't have the passion for stickbows that I do today!

In terms of regrets...senseless flinging of arrows and not focussing on form while developing TP in the process. Also, shooting #55 and #60 curves when I was 15-17 years old making the form even worse. An ongoing regret is forgetting to pick a spot. Seems as though every year I need to relearn that one!

Great thread BTW!....Ryan

wish would of started earlier

started with 40 or 45 pounds, so not to learn bad habits

Wish I had started earlier, and shot more bows before buying some of the bows I bought, and wound up selling. Should have ignored the people who told me I needed a 55-60# bow to kill whitetail deer. Wish I had learned to tune arrows before I started trying to tune arrows, so maybe I wouldn't have such a large box of arrows that are too short.    :banghead:

I reckon I learned what little I know the hard way...but it sure was fun.

Great thread!! Wish I would have started earlier, for sure. And like most others wish I would have started with less weight. I have to agree with Ryan....PICK A SPOT. I seem to forget that sometimes when I leave the back yard range.

I wish I would have found tradgang when I first started, I could have saved a lot of money reading about how to properly set up a bow and tune arrows rather than just experimenting myself.

I would find a Rod Jenkins shooting class and learn the right way the first time!  Teaching yourself from books, magazines, video, and the internet is a mess waiting to happen.  It is SO much better to invest in having a PERSON stand next to you and help you over the little things that make a big difference.  I wish I had someone around that could have taught me "old time archery" and form the way Rod does.

I would have started earlier.

I would have started with Trad and kept it that way.  If I have it my way, my son will never shoot a compound bow.  He loves his longbow and I want to keep it that way.

Sure as heck wish I had started toward the beginning of my life instead of the other end. I couild be really good now if I'd started 60 or 65 years ago   :(

I would have stuck it out with my trad equipment. Started in 1980 with a BP recurve, but used compounds from 88-96. eight years I'll never get back. Oh well......

I probably would NOT have passed on great close shots on some smaller bucks and got a few more traditional harvests under my belt.

I should have started with a 40# bow instead of a 50+#er. I wouldn't have wasted so much time trying to replace bad habits with good one's.

I would have started a lot earlier in life and shot left handed.  (left eye dominant)

1) I wouldn't have taken the break between 18 and 40 years of age, and (2) would have started back with trad gear rather than compounds at 40.  I also wish I had gotten hold of better arrows in my youth, because consistently weighted/spined/straight arrows make it a lot easier to figure out what you're doing.  The biggest thing would have been to get the other 2/3 of my kids into (thank you #1 Daughter), but no one can say I haven't tried!

If I did it over again I wouldn't switch from recurve to compound. I wasted a lot of yrs. shooting bows I didn't enjoy. I enjoy just shooting my recurve, targets or whatever. That was not the case with compounds and especially using a release. I only shot targets with them right before the season and it was more like something I had to do to get ready.

Thought about my lower limb more while hunting and started with a stick earlier

Learned good proper form and routine when I started.

NADA

Wish I'd bought the Brackenbury Legend at the Portland sports show from the man himself after interviewing Larry D. Jones even though it was way more than I could afford ... instead of getting the OW discount on the Browning compound.

Wish I wasn't so shy in asking for help when I finally bought the Bob Lee and seriously over-bowed myself. It was 14 years of tendonitus before I wised up.

I would have started sooner, not gone wheels for awhile, and not gotten so busy to limit my trad time for a bunch of years.

If I could change something, I would remove the truck accident I had in the 80's and the resulting broken neck.

It impacted my ability to hunt, my accuracy and the ability to handle the heavy bows I loved so much.Kinda like Raging Waters loves his only humble.
  :D

I would have stayed trad the entire time.

Good one Tim! If I could change anything I should have stayed with the recurve all these years instead of being led astray because of the compound bow for thirty years! I just think about how much a better woodsman I could have become. But, like you said, life is about learning and sometimes you make mistakes! lol
How I love trad hunting now! Yea!

Kennyb    :archer2:

I would have given even  LESS  credence to how others define "traditional."

When r&d bows came out, I wish I had stayed with the "D" style bows.  I'm having a hard time going back to the "D" bow even though I enjoy shooting them more.

QuoteOriginally posted by WildmanSC:
I would have started in 1985 instead of 2002 and foregone the 17 years of hunting with a wheeled bow!     :knothead:      :(  

Bill

X2! I too, should have picked it up sooner.

I wish I would have dropped the string on a few critters I let walk. I always get my best shots when it's 15 min before dark and I'm all by myself!    Other than that...Nothing!! I love this stuff!

Jason

I have few regrets when it comes to archery. I could certainly repeat what many regret about not switching back to curves soonner.  However, I don't regret those times, lessons learned, and relationships developed.

What I regret most are times I didn't spend hunting with a friend or two. Too often I've let small excuses cause me to postpone out-of-state hunts until "next time". Then the season is over.

I have a decision to make in the next 60 days that most people would find simple. It isn't for me though. But if I don't go I'll surely  regret it. If I do I surely won't.

oh just wish I'd started a lot sooner.  I picked up my first real trad bow 19 years ago at the age of 42 and have shoot nothing else since.

I would have moved North West

Not getting involved with traditional archery earlier in life.

I wish I would have joined Trad Gang earlier. There's alot of great advice on this website.

I don't think I would change a thing......or 'things' would not have turned out like they did...

  :campfire:

Two things:

1. I'd have started earlier; and

2. I'd have gotten some real coaching earlier instead of trying to figure it out myself.

I'm still new to Trad but I would not change anything.  
I think I hit the lotto by going "Trad".
I have met alot of kind hearted people, I had one person (complete stranger) offer to lend me his recurve for the Michigan Archery Season but he was  left handed. I have received some quality one on one mentoring (Thanks Jack). The list goes on. Now more than ever, I appreciate the great outdoors, archery and bowhunting. I am at peace with my soul.

My dad, Roman Gray, was a phenomenal recurve hunter and woodsman.  I wish I hadn't been too cool to listen to him and spend time with him when I was younger.  Dad killed hundreds of animals with his bow; he died in 2007, when I was 36, and I never saw him shoot an arrow at an animal.  Not once.  That's my regret... not going hunting with my dad while I had the chance.

Would have started Trad a lot sooner.

Would have started shooting heavy bows sooner instead of letting others tell me what I was "able" to do.

I've been shooting trad(never shot anything else) for at least 20 years on and off.... I wish I would of stick to it and hunt with it more! I also wish I would of got a lighter bow and stick with it, 70# is a lot of bow, even if it wasn't my first and that I learned shooting with lighter, I should of stayed under 60#, I think my shooting would be better... My next longbow will be no more that 60# !!! I still have time to work towards these goals, I'm just 40!

I would have been smart enough as a teenager to understand that my dad and I could have kept on shooting together. I owe him an enormous debt for getting me started in archery and for shaping my attitudes toward the outdoors. All the things I do now -- bowhunting, canoeing, wilderness camping, nordic skiing -- he got me started on.

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

Often attributed to Mark Twain, but there is no proof in his writings. Whoever said or wrote it was a smart guy in any event.

Archie,
Your regret makes mine down right petty! I hope you get a do over with Dad after this life.

My Dad didn't bowhunt but he admired my love for it. My favorite memories of Dad are of him scanning the hickories for squirrels.

Archie, I echo what Bowwild says, and I bet your Dad is with you every time you hunt today. I also bet he didn't become as proficient as he was without understanding the importance of making it on your own, and that he was proud of your independence. If we are lucky, we pass on good values, and some of our loves of the world to out kids.  My dad didn't hunt, but he always encouraged me.  And my kids don't hunt, although of of my daughters (the vegetarian) shoots with me.

Like a lot of guys, I wish I would've started a little earlier. But even worse, I also was "self taught" and started out with a bow that was way too heavy. It would've been nice to have had a mentor to guide me along, which is what I try to do for others now...

I would like to go back and keep notes of all my hunts and took a lot more pics. My Buddy Chris has a pic of every critter he has bow killed.
If I remember right Mr. Womack told me he had a photo of all his deer kills but one and he has journels that you could read for hours and hours I`m sure.RC

Almost forgot...I would have spent a bit more time teaching Biggie to shoot. He has done alright but no telling at the critters he would have he killed if I had listened a bit better.....RC

You should have taught him to stop wading in creaks in his drawers(his avatar)...LOL Some things another man shouldnt have to look at.

In high school I hunted with a bear kodiak and when I got out of school I quit hunting because I was to busy working and just living life. I got back into bowhunting 2 yrs ago when I was 36 . I would not have ever lost those 18 year if I knew what I know now. For some reason I have been led back to this wonderful world of traditional archery and I refuse to leave I am here till I go toes up.

Since I had owned a longbow or recurve since 1956 I regret being lured by Tom Jennings siren song in 1973 and buying that wood handled monstrosity he came up with. I also regret getting sidetracked from all archery for 10 years or so when I was consumed with retrievers and duck hunting.

Maybe the biggest regret I have is that archery is not as innocent as it was when I was young and some of the intial romance is gone.

QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
 I also regret getting sidetracked from all archery for 10 years or so when I was consumed with retrievers and duck hunting.
e.

I also got consumed by Duck hunting,I remember calling out of work to many times from my duck blind...LOL

I would've started shooting with a recurve instead of a longbow, shorter learning curve for me, and I would've have traveled bowhunting a little more!!! still plenty of time to travel tho!!! J

I would have got Rod Jenkins to adopt me at an early age

I think I have done it the best I could. I figured it out fairly young that a recurve was my deal. I hunt a lot always have. If it is the hunting season and I cant go I am not happy and the people around me are not generaly happy because of it. I know I get to hunt more than most but I wish I could of got more hunting in.

i started out trad
i wish id of never went to the darkside
dang 5 year black eye
oh well been back to shootin sticks for quite a while

I would have started sooner.

I would have ordered my favorites a lot earlier.

God bless,Mudd

Love to hunt! Just used my longbows over anything else for the past 35 years. Started bowhunting at 11 w/35# lb. Not much I'd change cept hunt more.

I stayed out of archery for quite a while as a young guy when I became old enough to handle firearms. No real regret there. But I do wish that when I got back into archery I had known about the traditional bow hunter organizationms and Trad Gang. For a long time, I thought I was a lone voice in the wilderness. I just didn't know there were other traditional guys close around.

That I would have return back to traditional archery sooner!

I would have bought land to hunt on with my friends,could have had all i wanted for 300 a acre back then.Who knew how things would change.

Started sooner!!

The Consensus is: "I Wish I Had Started Earlier", at least that is what I get out of this. I agree, but I also agree with what Terry  Green said. If I hadnt started the way I did, I wouldnt be where I am.  :thumbsup:  
  If I had it to do over, I wish my Father had been into Archery as much as I was. He wasnt exactly an Outdoorsman, and We missed out on a Lot of Quality Time together. That being said Its been a Great Time thusfar!!  :campfire:    :archer:

If I hadn't gotten married, and if I studied harder and got a better job, and if I had more free time, and if I shot better, and if I had more drive to do far away hunts, and if I lived in Alaska, and. . . .

I coulda been a contender.

Now I am just me. .   :banghead:  
ChuckC

I would have married Terry Green!

QuoteOriginally posted by fmscan:
I would have married Terry Green!

HMMMMM!    :eek:

I would not change one thing. Its been a long journey, arduous and trying at times,but has rewarded me with a sense of direction, focus, and feelings of accomplishment. I've met some good people to travel with along the way and know that their will be more to travel my path with,weigh all that up and I come out on top. Enjoyed every darn minute of it!

My Indian recurve delaminated and I went to buy a new one in 1972.  I got sold a compound.  Luckily I came back.