Hey fellas I'd been thinkin about this for a while, and was just wondering what you guys like best about hunting with stick n string? I'd say my favorite part is that every time I'm in the woods with my longbow, it's an adventure. I start to think about ancestors,and those who hunted this way long before I was born. Lets see some of your opinions.
The simplicity of it..... NO GADGETS....
One stick, one string, one arrow.... gone hunting
The simplicity of my gear allows me focus more on the complexity of nature.
I like the way my knees knock together and how I hyperventalate as the critters approach. Man....I shot my first trad buck last year and I thought I was gonna have a coronary after I seen him fold up. That ain't happened in 20 years:)
Bow hunting is FUN again. :)
Feeling connected to my bow, my arrow, my target, and the woods.
The simple Life :thumbsup:
The people.
Vermonster13, nailed it for me!
The preparation! Shooting daily, sharpening broadheads, building arrows, etc...
Bow killed critters taste better to me than gun killed ones and I love not having to worry about chomping down on shotgun pellets.
Dave hit it for me too!
David
The great people I have met because of it and the fact that I don't have to work on my bow everytime I go out to shoot.
what owlbait said..... plus- the simplicity and romance of a real bow. the people are great too!
Because it is magic. Because it is what I enjoy to do. Its a feeling, and a vision and a desire. It never ceases to amaze me that I , or my buddies can pick up a stick and string, point it at some distant target, and actually hit it!
It is a thing to look forward to each fall. It is a thing to do all year long. It allows me to expand on my own personal skills and abilities, not just in shooting, but in building equipment, in teaching others, in teaching myself.
It allows me to meet others that feel the same way. It allows me to take a step back from my "other life" and just slow down and see....and smile, at a few things that I might otherwise miss in life.
It is a feeling...the kind that generates the response to outsiders..."if I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand"
ChuckC
The bow itself. Man, is there anything cooler than a custom recurve crafted from beautiful woods?
A Trad bow, particularly that one "special" bow, feels alive in the hand.
A compound bow has all the elegance of a power drill...
all of the above.
well dang! all on page one :)
ChuckC I know what you mean.
The good folks.
While at home is the time spent making arrows, tuning them with the bow, looking at maps, preparing for the hunt.
While at the range it is learning to shoot better, trying to become one with the bow and arrow.
While online it is meeting new people with the same passion and the williness to share what they know with others.
While walking in the woods it is the way my senses at peaked because of the closeness to game that is necessary when hunting with my weapon of choice.
While at the dinner table it is sharing wild game prepared because of the blessing given to me to share.
It is all the parts of what is called Traditional Archery. It is a part of me that fills me up more than any other way of hunting or any weapon I have used.
The bows...the beauty, grace and power. The stunning woods,(I'm a wood addict!) the arc of the arrow, the bent limbs and some great people.
O.K., O.K., so I just reiterated what everyone else has already said, but it's the TRUTH!!
when the sun comes up at dawn during the hunt
The Challenge.
gettin' called Sweet Cheeks by Barry
Dang Ray! And I thought it was ME! HEHEHE SWEET CHEEKS!!! I'll have to remember that.
For me I would have to say going to the Woods to hunt is almost Primal. We live in such a fast paced life style anymore it is so rewarding to get back to nature and the basics. I love making my own equipment, gear, clothes etc. to use. There's nothing like listening to all the living things around you in the Woods. I even like listening to the wind blow across the trees, grass, leaves and such. Seeing fresh tracks and wondering why they took this trail and route. Playing the wind in my favor to try and out smart my game. Finally if lucky enough to take the Game field dressing and food for the Family. Once home there is the work of cutting up the Game, scraping a hide, tanning etc. The bones I use for various things and tools. When setting at the table eating a well cooked meal of Venison or whatever theres that little hint of Primal Instinct to do what we do and give Thanks!
It's all the fun you can have :goldtooth:
feel of your favorite bow in your hands $30.00
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/shelhebeen/IMGP7377copy.jpg)
cost of a hunting trip with your closest friends $150.00
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/shelhebeen/IMGP5139.jpg)
cost of finding the prefect camo gift for your hunting buddy ......priceless :biglaugh:
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/shelhebeen/f68c2a76.jpg)
Ive been sitting here trying to put into words why, its every thing that has been writen above. Plus walking through the tall pines of California and at about 11:00 sitting down with your back on a tree close your eyes and listin to the wind blow through the tree tops
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
It is a feeling...the kind that generates the response to outsiders..."if I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand"
ChuckC
Cause it's just so much darn fun
A frosty morning,the shivers,waiting for the sun to pop up, butt on the ground, back against a tree seeing something moving around ambling closer thinking Lord don't let this be a skunk!
I like the way it FEELS to hunt with a traditional bow. The spirit of the hunt.
Satisfaction.
The simplicity of it. And all the great people I have met the last couple of years. :clapper:
Bill
My favorite thing about Traditional Bowhunting, is the freedom I feel when I go afeild with my Traditional equipment. That has become a beloved part of my life. The memories and the friendships it has given me are something I will alway hang on to.
Tim
I have bowhunted since I was legally able to do so. I used a wheelie until this coming year, and got to where i could pretty much do whatever was needed with it. Very few years went by where I didnt fill my tag.
Trad is a whole new dimension. Its more personal if you will. If I miss, its because I miss, not because a screw loosened, or a release trigger broke....
As a newbie to this sport, one thing in my mind stands out the most. The people that participate are, as a group, the nicest and most sincere group I have come across. Most will do what they can to help you with form, equipment, etc. All I have met show a kindred deep...hard to put into words. Like we all share a secret. It is hunting in its purest form. And people at their best. I just wish I would have stuck with that old Shakespeare my dad put in my hands way back when...
To watch the flight of the arrow and to be outside and enjoy God's creation. You just never know what you might see.
When i shoot at the range and show of my buitiful equipment people look at it and say i started with a recurve! I then say why did you switch? most of the time really dont get a responce. and if someone asks me why traditional I ask why not???
Many have touched on many of the aspects that I enjoy about it... yet I believe there is one more aspect...
Yes, theres the feel of a bow in my hands- crafted by a bowyers' own two hands and worked just so... part science, mostly a mystical art.
By stripping away of mecanical tools machined out of aluminum and various other materials- that take the focus away from the animal being hunted until it becomes jus a fuzzy backdrop of a target to fire our weapon into... thats a part too!
Then its more than the bare essentials of me, the game, a simple bow and arrow (okay, I shoot a laminated glass backed bow and carbons...) creates a challenge that demands my all just to have the opportunity... while the bow and arrow in its simplest form do not detract or hinder from the spiritual aspect of the hunt as any other weapon does...
Its about soul... and the fulfillment that can only come from an encounter at stickbow range, without detracting from it, yet somehow intensifying the experience at a subconcious level that one can't quantify or rationalize in terms that one can adequately convey... We try by using terms that are deeply personal, yet subjective- blessing, spiritual, and these words can only be felt in a place that science says can't exist... our souls... But we know better.... :pray:
Going Trad, is gratifying to our souls...
I have to slow down and really observe stuff-and because of that I enjoy HUNTING much more-catching is an just an added bonus now. Not necessary like I used to think it was.
Ron
It's really hard to come up with the correct words but the bible says it best for me;
" Walk in the old paths and you SHALL find rest for your soul"
Jeremiah 6:16..... :campfire:
I have fallen in love with traditional bowhunting and i haven't yet hunted with a traditional bow. Like Ishiwannabe, i too am no stranger to archery hunting. i have harvested many elk, deer, and assorted animals over the years. I think the thing i liked the best about going traditional, was putting fun and challenge back into my hunting again. Little did i realize at the time i sold all my gizmo's, was the wonderful group of people associated with this stick and string i would meet.....I have built my own bow, and made my arrows from scratch, shafts and all. i learned to build my own strings, tiller a bow, build a spine tester, and many, many other things. With the help of all you fine folks, and a few books i was referred too, i am having the time of my life i desperately need right now. it IS a way of life...
And it HAS been a challenge so far, and will continue to be one for many years to come i can see.....
My all time favorite thing trhough....is watching my arrows fly ..I'm putting the arch back into archery again, and loving every minute!... Hopefully i'll have great hunting adventures to share this fall. i haven't been this excited about opening day in many years....
Kirk
The people are the funnest, greatest I've ever been around.
At dawn hearing the woods come alive, it's like a switch is thrown, always amazes me.
It's FUN
This will be my second year all traditional. I love it for the following:
The simplicity of it all...no gadget to adjust, bows are light and comfortable.
The people associated with it are wonderful.
The link to our ancestors. My ultimate goal is to take an animal with a selfbow with homemade arrows and self knapped heads...just like Native Americans did.
The beautiful bows. The styles, the overlays, the different woods, snakeskin backings...WOW!
Making your own POC arrows. Is there any smell better than POC? There's even something good when you break an arrow...just pick it up and give it a good whiff..aaahhh.
I agree with all of the above, and can add (at least for myself) the romance, nostalgia, and history of it all. I enjoy hunting with(or just shooting) the same sort of equipment that the Thompson bros, Saxton pope,Ishi, Howard Hill or Fred Bear used(to name just a few).After having read about their adventures,using similar equipment is the next best thing to having been there.
And what about the brave archers of the hundred years war who fought and died at Agincourt, Crecy,and Poiters? Being able to handle and shoot a longbow, much like the ones that they lived and died by, is quite a thrill.
I guess I've always been somewhat of an antiquarian and history buff, but that's what does it for me along with all the wonderful folks it's been my pleasure to meet and converse with in person and on this site.
I certainly hope it goes on, and the great folks who were actually there keep on regaling us with their stories from back then(when archery was just archery). As well as the, newer folks blazing their own trails in traditional archery. God bless you all.
James
The simplicity of it all,the great peoples who share the same dreams,passions and joy.
The way it was Thousands of years ago and still is,this weapon might just be the reason we are here today around this wonderful campfire.
Serge
For me it reminds me of how life IS. life is blunt and mysterious to us on a Linear point of view ,but in fact our time here is so Infinticimally small, we tend not to consider the moment at hand.
Here this bow that is lifeless..aethsetically beautiful,....once strung it's ALIVE man!! and your forced to be in the moment and honest with it and your surroundings.
Your forced to stop, and KNOW your surroundings, know your prey, know your a small spec in the cosmic scheme of things and accept it all.
but every move you make is so important when shooting...and in life.
It shows me life is really honest and it's ME that's the fool trying to convince myself it's not..lol..and the people that practice Traditional Archery ALL seem to have this same quality of being honest to themselves and others becuase of it. ...Trad makes us all better people
using the bow I have used since 1971. you know Its little whims and what it can and can not do. Also being with family at deer camp and teaching the grandkids the use and lore of traditional equipment.
the people I get to hunt with.
rusty
Well I'm with you fellas
I like how we can all agree on the best broadhead. :)
Brian......... :bigsmyl:
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
Because it is magic.
Exactly! What ChuckC said!
It's magic time! :archer:
I've spent most of my childhood growing up in the north woods of Wisconsin and hunting and fishing is a way of life for me. I got involved with computer software (can't figure out how or why I managed to do that), and have spent all of my adult career in this high tech world. About nine years ago, I was able to move back to this area, although I still work in the same business. Using traditional equipment, gives me a huge sense of simplicity and peace of mind, and takes me away from anything that I consider technical. Not to mention the fact that I just love shooting the longbow and cedars that I make. I have also spent alot more time fishing out of my canoe these past few years for the exact same reason.
The people, simplicity, and the efficiency. :thumbsup:
A true feeling of accomplishment, that I never got with a compound.
The people,and archery is fun again.
For me it's not about ancestory or being primitive...it's about the simplicity combined with the needed preperation and discipline that is required. When I was in college (whenI was thinking about beginning archery) I spoke to a guy who told me of a hunt he was on where another fellow showed up at camp and had never shot a bow in his life. They showed him how to shoot a compound...he practiced for a couple hours, and ended up killing a deer with it the next morning. I thought to myself, "What challenge was that?...no more challenge than the rifles I shoot" I walked into Jeff Massie's shop a few weeks later and said, "I want to learn how to shoot this type of archery"....After a few months of practice it was clear that dedication, discipline, and hard work were necessary to become a good archer and to combine that into a good traditional archery hunter would take even more. That challenge of doing something that took hard work helped ignite the fire that has become a passion.
As this is my first year, I have to say:
1. Simplicity
2. Challenge
3. Limits on myself (and beating them)
To me gun hunting was not hard or fun...(I could do it in work clothes out to 400 yards) :(
Compound hunting had to many gadgets and things needed that other people provided.
Traditional....is all me, I can make it as simple or hard as I want...and I can do everything to my bow or arrows!! :bigsmyl:
Been working on my first traditional kill for 2 years now....it will be a trophy worth the wait. :campfire:
Stick
Correction....first full year of traditional.
Peace,enjoyable,relaxed. In touch with everything around me.
well i have been hunting since i was 15 years old and i am still hunting at 55 what makes me love it? people i have met and will meet and it is still magic.
wolfman. :campfire:
The good people ( none better )
Lots of great reasons mentioned. For me- it personalizes the hunt and most importantly - the kill. It takes a ton of preparation to take an animal with traditional equipment. Daily practice at different ranges and elevations, making arrows, fine tuning equipment, sharpening broadheads, etc. This is all in preparation for that moment when a game animal is within range.
When this time arrives -it is not a range-finder, sights, releases or a set of wheels that will hit or miss - it is ALL you and your preparation working toward that ultimate goal. There is nothing that compares to the feeling you experience when it all comes together.
they way I feel when I shoot well. never got that shooting with wheels on my bow.
The challenge, romance and peace of trad bow hunting. It's not easy, if it was would we be doing it? Probably not, at least for me. A recurve bow is curvy and beautiful just like a woman....
not needing to stuff a bowpress in my fannypack for in the field maintenance,,,,,,trad bow stringers fit in yer pocket and is waayyy easier on yer back,LOL! just kiddin,,, i like the way it makes me think more and livens my senses.
It the beautiful simplicity of a stick bow that has really appealed to me. I have shot compounds since I was a kid and never once was I able to make something to use on it or with it. And I enjoy making stuff. How many people do you know who have made a compound? I exactly zero! Another reason are the people that Dave mentioned. I shot a few 3D compound toureys and there were shooters that never smiled or cracked a joke or had much to say to anyone but their shooting partners. Absolutely not helping a newbie. The competition was so fierce you couldn't cut it with a knife. And they thought they were having fun!! Traditional shooters are truely a different class of people.
I would have to say it's the people I'm meeting along the way.
Simplicty....Is there anything else??
I like watching my arrows fly. I also like the feeling of accomplishment when my arrow reaches the target. No sights, no red dot scope, just instinct. I earned my prize. The challenge is greater, which makes the accomplishment that much more rewarding.
Sometimes you look intently at your target and it seems that the arrow is shot by your eye, that it strikes where you look, like magic. The rest of your body is just a bow holder.
Hours later, you may be driving your car or relaxing in the yard and you can look at a distant object and almost feel an arrow hitting it like magic. When you are in the groove, and one arrow after another hits right where you focus, it just feels right.