Trad Gang

"Theres more to this trad. archery than I thought"...this was the phrase I heard while talking to a new trad. shooter at a shoot a couple weeks ago.
Isnt it funny how the misconception that trad. bows are nothing more than a bent stick with a string on it, and simply shooting wood arrows is all there is to it, and consistent shooting.......well, good luck with that.
For those that choose traditional archery, nothing could be farther from the truth, for as we all know everything must come together in sweet harmony before accuracy and consistency will ever take place, but for many the misconception continues.
Just thought Id share, as the comment struck me as kinda funny.   :biglaugh:

I have run into this myself, I talk to wheelie-only guys and they think they're doing something more advanced than I am with the cams and sights and rangefinders.  Inside I'm laughing in fits.  Outside a gentleman.  I think to myself 'more advanced?  No way.  Needlessly complicated?  Maybe?"  Oh well.  I've got nothing against guys who want to shoot wheels.  It has its niche purpose.  But it always boggles me the level of misinformation/ willing ignorance.  My last hunt of the season this past fall I was in the woods at a local WMA, with a 64# 72" yew longbow, fully cammied eyes to toes, I found a perfect spot to still hunt and play the wind, and within a few hours stalked up on some deer (wasn't deer season so no joy/ was out for hogs)  and then found some fresh hog sign and decided to post by a dry creek bed and see what came along after the deer.  Sure enough as the sun kissed the horizon a whole family of piggies came snorting through the brush, closer and closer.  It was pretty thick but they were working toward me.  I knew if it continued I'd have my shot.  Well they got within 20 yds, but still too many branches and I started to hold my breath, it was almost game time and the light was fading fast.  Well it got blown when three non-trad hunters came crashing through the brush to the south of me...scared all the hogs off.  The hunters eventually saw me, after frowning and scanning and scratching their heads..."hey you, am I seeing a hunter??"  I laughed and said yup.  They got closer.  I said matter of factly "hey there was about 10 hogs here just now". "What!! You don't say! Oh my gosh."  "Yup, not anymore" I said kinda sarcastically.  They finally spotted my longbow and all I can say is the look on their faces was priceless.

Smile and Nod.

The good news is, that even though he was new to trad., through our conversation I gathered that he was on the right path to doing it right.    :thumbsup:
I believe that for him the misconception is quickly fading.   :clapper:

I would have to agree that there is more to trad archery than most people think and it doesnt have much to do with shooting bows.  It seems that most of the people here have a different frame of mind.  That they view the woods differently, the hunts seem more sweet, the game taken sweeter, and the experence no matter the outcome is first and foremost.  To me this community is like a small town.  Every body knows every body and we are all friends.  It is a simple but extremely rewarding.  There IS more to trad archery than meets the eye...

Someone said of traditional archery, "Just because it is simple doesn't mean it is easy".  There is a lot of truth in that statement.

The dirty little secret is traditional archery has gotten more complicated over the last 40 years. Before that it was relatively uncomplicated and fun.

When I really got serious about this (only about 2 years ago) I has no idea what I was in for. Have to say though, it's a great feeling when all the time spent tuning comes together.

Like many things, it's as simple or complicated as you want to make it.

I think "traditional" is just as much of an attitude as it is the weapon your carrying.  True we all carry traditional bows in the woods when we go.  Here's a question for ya...If you carried a rifle in the woods on your next hunt would your views, morals, and ethics be different??  My dad hunts with a wheel bow, muzzleloader, and rifle and he has just as much or more "traditional" values that I do and I only hunt with my longbow.  I think it has a lot to do with morals and ethics more than the weapon your using.

Trad is a journey, not a destination.  I was in our local shop on Saturday spinning a few shafts.  A compounder was standing at the bowpress and said, "you've obviously done this before!". I said, yes, but it took 50 years to get to where I was, but everyone should try it.  He said he thought about getti g a recurve, but wanted to take a deer with his Mathews first.  The challenge is the essence of our way of shooting and many are accepting it

I feel it's much more sophisticated and much more of a challenge. At the same time however, it is simple, and primal. It takes a mentally stronger person and a better hunter. Hunting is instinctive for animals why shouldn't it be for us?

QuoteOriginally posted by VictoryHunter:
I feel it's much more sophisticated and much more of a challenge. At the same time however, it is simple, and primal. It takes a mentally stronger person and a better hunter. Hunting is instinctive for animals why shouldn't it be for us?

I think you nailed it

X 3!
When I was much younger, and just starting to get serious about bowhunting, I remember being at the 'pro shop', and seeing some trad guys. I had much the same feelings as most non traditional bow hunters: "these guys must be crazy trying to kill something with these things!" But then I watched them for a while. I remember seeing how much fun they were having, and the one guy had perfectly tuned arrows. That was the first time that the "mystical flight of the arrow" touched my soul. I had enjoyed everything about archery with a compound up to that point, but after seeing those trad guys up close and personal, I realized that I was missing much more than I had been experiencing. That was the first real spark that started my traditional fire. It took a few more years for that little flame to become the soul warming blaze it is today, but nevertheless, it was the initial spark. After a few more years of all the techno garbage, and disappointment from the hype of this or that, I had lost the fun of archery. I remembered those trad guys and thought "that's what I want". I called up a buddy who had an old recurve hanging on the wall that was still shoot able. I don't think he ever thought the monster that I would become when he loaned it to me. Sure I still get frustrated, but man, I have a heck of a lot fun.

we were getting out of my truck at a local 3-d shoot when a man yelled hey pal the wheels fell off your bow.before I could say anything my friend replied I dident know a bow had wheels.

I'm still learning after 50 years. Like they say its not what we do its a way of life......stabow

QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
The dirty little secret is traditional archery has gotten more complicated over the last 40 years. Before that it was relatively uncomplicated and fun.

I don't think that Trad is anymore complicated than it ever was, people and technology have made it more complicated.  Until the late 60's/early 70's there was no choice about how you bowhunted, Trad was the ONLY way.  Now people "switch over" from compounds and are having to relearn what they've done for a long time.  Our choice of hunting arrows was wood.  You could choose the kind of wood, usually POC, sometimes fir or birch.  There was aluminum for target. Then fiberglass and aluminum were used for hunting, too.  Now there's carbon, aluminum, fiberglass, all manner of wood.  There's bare shafting, paper tuning (never heard of either until the past 10 years or so).  There's FOC, EFOC, UFOC.  We have COC, modular, stone, and mechanical broadheads-very light to very heavy, with all manner of inserts for weight. You can choose from string materials, skinny strings, or extra skinny strings.  Look at the choices for style/material of bows-longbow, recurve, hybrid, TD (how many types of TD??), selfbow, very short to very long, all wood, fiberglass, carbon, foam core.  Used to the choice was longbow or recurve, length, yew, bamboo, lemonwood, hickory, osage, all wood or backed.

I learn something almost every time I gather with other trad guys.

I liken it to fly-fishing...simple and graceful in appearance, but pretty complex in it's execution.

Roger well said...... :)

For me it's really all about a stroll through "Sherwood"....not too complicated.

God bless,Mudd

It may not be complicated but it can be overwhelming to a new person. I was as new as you could get. I hadn't hunted and I'd never shot a bow. I started everything at 27.

Now it all seems fairly easy to get something to shoot well. Back then, it wasn't and I forgot how big the trad world can seem.

I was quickly reminded while trying to get a friend started shooting. I tried to keep it simple, leaving out things that may confuse them. Basically abandoning the hows and the whys and sticking to the basics.

I kept a journal my entire first year of shooting. I wrote in it daily. The stuff in there is hilarious and eye opening. Things as simple as setting brace height aren't easy when you are starting out.

Shot a round of 3d w/ a wheelie guy who was amazed that my longbow was so "quick". I let him take a shot and he commented on how hard it was and that he'd stick to sights, releases and rangefinders. I was pleased. To each their own.

Finally, in my younger years the end was always what I was after eg: meat on the table, now that I'm older, it is the journey and process which leads to the end that is just as important, if not more so, than just the result.

I think all of you are correct, especially about how archery was simple way back when. Way back when, I would shoot a bow and if it shot left or right, I'd just use good old Kentucky windage to correct it. didn't know anything about different arrow spines and tip weight etc. didn't matter even if I did, as there was no $ to buy stuff, you had to make do with what you had or could make. I think it's still similar but we just have a lot more different choices, arrows, strings, limb material, feathers, fletching, I am sure I have left out a lot. But unlike wheels, your still left with an archer, a bow and a piece of string, and an arrow.

Like many of you, at one time or another when we're really on our game and have out shot wheelie shooters, and sent them home scratching their heads.

I guess it's as complicated or not, as you make it.

QuoteOriginally posted by D:
I think "traditional" is just as much of an attitude as it is the weapon your carrying.  True we all carry traditional bows in the woods when we go.  Here's a question for ya...If you carried a rifle in the woods on your next hunt would your views, morals, and ethics be different??  My dad hunts with a wheel bow, muzzleloader, and rifle and he has just as much or more "traditional" values that I do and I only hunt with my longbow.  I think it has a lot to do with morals and ethics more than the weapon your using.

Nailed it. I have a friend that is just starting to hunt and is using a compound. Our first hunt, he got frustrated that we didn't see anything (a lot of this of course was due to how loud he was in the woods), much less get to shoot. All I could think was how much I would love to hunt that area again due to the amount of rooted up area I saw and how quiet and enjoyable it was. A very successful hunt for me. My friend isn't impatient and lack the pure enjoyment linked to the "traditional code" because he carries a compound device. Rather, he carries a compound device because he is impatient and thinks that will make hunting easier.

Well, I may get flamed a little here, but I will go ahead anyway. I do not mean to sound offensive so if it comes out that way, I will apologize in advance. I have heard a lot of opinions on trad vs modern, vs rifle ect. Not so much on this site mind you, but in person. (you know what they say about opinions right?) Alot of us derive pleasure from the pursuit of hunting for many different reasons. I derive a lot of pleasure in taking an animal, processing it myself, and preparing it for my friends and family. I enjoy the entire process, weather I take the animal with a bow, gun, whatever.  I also do a lot of 3D shoots and an indoor league. I have never done one with my compound, but maybe someday I will. Do I get occasionally annoyed when I have to wait for the compound shooters ahead of me? Yeah but they are doing what they like, live and let live. I hunt with a compound, gun, Trad bow, whatever strikes me, although I committed myself to deer hunting with nothing but a trad bow last season. Just something I felt like doing. I shoot my Hill Longbow about every day before work, when it is nice out I will shoot a little when I get home. Once in awhile I will get a hankerin to get out the compound and shoot my little foam ball target at long ranges. Why? It's kinda challenging and it's fun. I hear a lot of trad guys criticizing modern and I don't see all of the fuss. Honestly I know a few of these guys wound deer just about every year. I know it happens on occasion with trad and modern but honestly, if it is a regular thing for ya, maybe you should consider a compound. I would rather take an animal swiftly,ethically with confidence, than wound one because I believe my weapon is somehow better than someone else's. To argue the effectiveness of a modern bow from a fixed position is silly. As the old expression goes, "they make chocolate and vanilla for a reason" So take game, do it ethically and honestly and be an ambassador for the sport of hunting regardless of what you do it with.

QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
The dirty little secret is traditional archery has gotten more complicated over the last 40 years. Before that it was relatively uncomplicated and fun.

Yeah, back when it was just archery, we didn't have to pretend to be traditional. lol

but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

Brock, for myself your statement rings true, as sometimes we go to extremes IMHO but for those who choose that route, go for it and enjoy!
For me a wood shaft of good flight that flies true from a well tuned bow is all I require, but even meeting that criteria takes a bit more work than some would be led to believe.......and there lies the misconception.
Even keeping it simple involves more than some folks think .
One great thing about trad. archery is that you can choose to take it to extremes or enjoy it in its simplest of forms but no matter your choice, its far more than a bent stick with a string and a hand full of mismatched tree limb arrows as some would believe.
  :campfire:

Yeah, the concept is very simple, but the application can become a bit complex.

QuoteOriginally posted by Brock:
but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

X2, couldn't have said it better and its all repeated over and over every week.  

Just shoot the bow!!!!

Tracy

QuoteOriginally posted by Brock:
but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

X2, couldn't have said it better and its all repeated over and over every week.  

Just shoot the bow!!!!

Tracy