I've been pretty lucky and have converted my buddy Dave here in Ky, my bro and his buddy in Nebraska, and now my newest buddy Thomas here in Ky.
All of them make me feel good about someone coming from the "dark side" and me being alot of the reason but my newest buddy Thomas is the one who really has me feeling good about it.
He started at work with me back in september and we immediately hit it off as we both have very simliar likes. But his enthusiasm for trad archery/bowhunting has renewed my love for it. I was needin a booster shot too.
He's been shootin my Zipper bow, which I told him he couldn't pry from my dead hands ;) and now neither of us can wait for the KTBA Tradfest coming next month for him to get his first bow.
I told him the generosity of trad folks knows no bounds and he could almost walk up to anybody holding a stickbow and they would tell him all they knew and let him shoot their bows.
I just needed to put this out there. I reckon a few of you will relate.
Everyone have a great day!!
I've got 4 guys I hunt with regularly. Two are wheelie guys and two are x-bow guys.
They all seem intrigued about trad every time we are out hunting. But, I haven't been fortunate enough to convert any of them yet.
I guess one of the big problems is I'm the only lefty of the bunch. I've been considering trying to come up with a cheaper 40#-45# RH bow for them to fool with. That's really the only way I see them getting the bug.
Ken
just me....
Well, I did get a buddy to pick up his old recurve again for one season...but now he's a crossbow hunter...
Yes, I have a friend at work and he use to shoot a lot of trad, then he got into wheelies because of life getting in the way of real fun. He could not devote enough time to trad to stay on top of his game for hunting so he went to a wheelie. Then so many years passed that he forgot why he went to the compound. I got myself back into trad in 2008 and he soon followed a couple of years later. So though he does shoot his trad bows and attends the 3-D shoots now, he still goes back to his wheelie for hunting. I think it's like when your a kid and you suck on your thumb, it's hard to let go of a more sure thing.
Ha ha. I shoot in a Monday night indoor league. Three years ago, when I started shooting it, it was me and my stick and all wheelie guys. This year, there are 4 wheelie guys and 8 stick shooters!
:thumbsup:
All it took was too loosen a nut here and there and "whalla" a new conversion! :)
I have a buddy I am working hard on. Got him to buy a used shrew a couple of years ago. made him carry as my sub-permitee on my moose hunt. He has picked it up again and is considering trying for a turkey with it this spring. He always has a meeting for some board he is on, works a lot and owns horses, so finding time to practice regularly is tough for him. I will keep working.
My son. I gave him one of my recurves. That seemed to work. We have done two elk hunts, sine then.
One of my nephews was teasing him about getting a compound and my son replied " what? And get cut out of the will?
I guess whatever works.
G
Yup, 3 in the last year. They love stickbows, and have sold their compounds. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Back in the late 90's I converted on fella. We hunted together 4 yrs, he missed every deer that came by. I just think he was looking at the whole animal, peeking or maybe buck fever.
Anyway, 5 yrs ago he went back to his compound. Killed 3 deer and sez he'll never go back to traditional. Must be a mental thing, frustration or
comfortable using one pin out to 25 yds. He wasn't a bad shot on targets....just when a live critter walked by.
Yep. Lots of guys.
Yeah I switched my dad he has been compound for yrs then was blessed and killed a 200" buck with a inline muzzleloader and dozens with a wheelie but in a nutshell I told him you killed the biggest buck you will ever kill so come have fun with the stick in string!! He loves it but is way to competitive if I start making him look bad and that bums me out!!
6 of them.
Yup, my buddy Tony Z on here. He doesn't post much. Hes a heck of a hunter. I've known him a long time, since he was a kid. He "gets it". In 2 yrs of giving up the wheely, he's taken 3 nice 8's with my old Widow.
Yes,he said it looked like I was having alot more fun than he was.He's still shooting trad only and this happened about ten yrs ago.
Leland
I am almost ashamed to say this, but here goes...
I am a "reformed" wheelie guy. First three deer ever killed were from wheelies. Didn't even own a gun at that point. Eventually joined a club . .mostly gun hunters, but a few (4 out of 15) had wheelies.
THEN, the crossbow became a legal weapon, even for those without disabilities. There now, there are 13 crossbow guys, one wheelie guy, and me . . .a newbie trad guy. Took 3 with muzzleloader this year, but never touched the rifle. But the close calls with the trad bow are STILL the highlights of my season.
THIS season will be magical! :archer:
Kingsnake
Conversio may not actually apply yet, but I was talking to a guy at the range last Thursday who said he was thinking about trying trad. I immediately stuck my Hill Big Five in his hands, moved to about 10 yards from the target and let him fling a few.He was making arrangements with the archery shop guy to order a longbow when I left. Maybe he will follow through.
My best friend Alex is a compound guy. He shoots a PSE that I swear was made before either of us were born (1986). He always complained he needed a newer bow even though he was a great shot with that old bow.
I gave him a brand new bow. A semi-hill style bamboo backed ipe with bocote accents that I built for him. That was Christmas just past. He swears this is now his go to bow. I'm hopeful he's truly converted.
He's the type of guy who thinks a worn in 30-30 Winchester is a real deer gun not a shiny 7mm magnum with a big ol' scope. I think he'll stick with trad.
I might end up having to keep a steady flow of bows heading his way though.
I am working on some. Just subtle though. These are the pull the compound out Friday afternoon before opening morning for a few practice shot types (it's unfortunate compounds tend to make you that way). They have all noticed my pretty longbows and how I can basically shoot as well as they can. They are all curious as to how I do it. I just sent them all an email from Dave Johnson I got this week showing my new longbow in the construction stages. I am hoping that will push them a little closer to the edge. It would be fun to have another trad hunter to hunt with.
A buddy of mine is a wheelie guy who started out with a Bear Grizzly but quickly switched to compounds from frustration with lack of accuracy (he didnt practice enough) I recently went over to his house to shoot. He had his compound, I had a couple of my longbows. I shot mostly from 15-20 yards, he would step out to 30-40-50. Toward the end of the day I finally convinced him to dust off the Grizzly, string it up and join me. We then proceeded to have more laughs and more fun shooting than we had all day. He did ok shooting too. We even stepped out to 30 and didn't do half bad. At the end of the day he scratched his head and admitted maybe there was something to this trad archery stuff. Don't think he's converted so much as he has a respect for it and isn't selling his Grizzly any time soon.
I converted Ajooter who's on here, it didn't take much he was overly frustrated with the amount of unnecessary contraptions and gimics in the wheelie world and just plain thought that traditional was super cool! However, I may be regretting what I did :eek: I think I created a monster, he now has more bows than I do!
Whenever we shoot together whether it be target, 3d or stumpin he out shoots me every step of the way. :notworthy: he one of the handful of people that I've ever met that's just a natural born archer! Course, it doesn't hurt to be as strong as a bull and can hold a 60# bow all day :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
100 maybe more - started with getting guys to go to using ONE sight pin on a compound late 70s - easy jump after that
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Yeah...a few... :campfire:
I think an interesting side note in this post is the number of people who've switched to x-bows - when everyone pushing x-bows in the archery season tells us they will only bring more people into the sport.
There are those of us who enjoy seeing the flight of the arrow, the feel of the pull of the bow, the beauty of a simple bow - others who are only concerned about putting another animal down.
I started out shooting a recurve - pre compound days, then shot a compound for 20+ years until they got so heavy, ugly and complicated that I couldn't shoot them with fingers anymore, see the arrow fly, or tote them up and down the hills. Went "back" to a stick bow, and wouldn't "bowhunt" any other way. Stick bow shooters aren't any "better" than others, just motivated in a different way. It seems to me that stickbow hunters, in general, seem to be a little more relaxed, a little less ego driven, and a little closer to nature. And a lot of them hunt a lot and kill far more game than many compound luggers I see. The compound driven archery business has done a great job of convincing people that they would be far better off with a compound - now the x-bows are using the same tactic. Won't be long and a compound will be traditional!
Like my hunting buddy above and his side-kick, I too converted my long time friend, Lindle Nickell. Now the sucker is probably shooting better than me.
I am anxious to see how he shoots at the TN Classic. We we have a wager going as he has become quiet the "cock of the walk" now with his shooting prowess.
I think he saw how much fun I had shooting my stick bows over the years and just had to take the plunge.
This will be his second full year, he has had a couple of disapointments during that time, but I think he will defenitely connect on a deer or hog this year!