Why is trad shooting so addictive? Shot wheelie bows for years, but I admit I was a "bring it out a couple of weeks before season, hits close, good enough" kinda shooter. Now I eat, sleep, breathe trad archery. Everything about it lures me in. Bought bows, self bows, recurves, longbows, and heck I have even been thinking about those funny looking horse bows. I can't get enough. So what lights your fire fellow tradgangers? :campfire:
Raw primitive roots. I find my true nature in the field.
Not sure brother, but I'm right there with ya. Maybe it's my Cherokee heritage. Whatever it is it just gets stronger every day.
Shoot Straight!
Charlie
Addiction.....what are you talking about?????
Ok maybe I have a small problem....but I can't stop myself!
I don't know, it is just inherently addictive for me. The feeling of releasing that rare perfect arrow to the bullseye is tough to duplicate.
Not sure, but I like it
Its addicting to me because of several reasons. I can make my own equipment for one and it is so satisfying to see an arrow I made glide through the air with such beauty I am amazed. Just the feel of being in the woods with equipment that don't have sights, stabilizers, release aids, levels, etc, is sure a great feeling for me. I'm not putting those thimgs down, they are not for me anymore.
I'm with you. I shot my compund year round, but never had a desire for a new or different bow. I never had the desire for different arrows, heads, or quivers. Now I want to try everything and seem like I can't satisfy myself (in a good way, though).
I think I was just scared of messing my compiund up.....because I couldn't fix it if I broke it. With trad, I can tinker to my heart's delight and can fix most anything I break. Did I mention I love to tinker,
The feeling of doing it the right way is what is addictive. The fact that you must work for shooting accuracy is what is addictive. The satisfaction one feels when it comes together is what is addictive. You can half-ass a job and get it done. But it leaves you feeling empty. When you do the job right...you feel good. And you sleep better. At least I do!
I think it is the feedback you get. When you shoot a sight you do not get the gratification of watching the arrow hit its mark. We get that shooting traditional. It keeps you coming back for more.
Many moons ago, a man wrote a book called the Witchery of Archery. I have been bewitched by the flight of the arrow and the quest for the perfect shot since I was a boy. Today we call that addiction, I guess, it is a passion for me.
What really does it for is the way traditional archery translates to hunting. The way the bow feels in hand, the lack of technology, the pure instinct that guides you and allows your arrow to find it's mark. It's as simple allowing your eyes to choose where you want the arrow to go.
Self reliance.
You buy a trad bow ,fletched arrows ,string. Eventually you make a bow ( or a friend makes it), you make your string , fletch your arrows, maybe a quiver. The journey never ends, from tanning hides to making your own blinds . To me it is a constsnt desire to do it yourself. :campfire:
ah heck guys, you all know it's because it's so easy!!!!! in bizarro world!
I think for me it is trying to master something that seems so simple but isn't.
The hands on aspect of it does it for me, too. I've made 3 selfbows and 3 all wood lam bows and it is rewarding to shoot a bow that you made yourself. The fact that you have to put some time in to shoot well (or at least I do) with a bare bow appeals to me, too. When it all comes together and you start taking a nock off here and there, it's pure bliss. As long as you didn't wreck the arrows :-)
I get a kick out of all of you guys who are so enthusiastic about traditional archery. :thumbsup:
For some of us that are of the older generation it was,and is, the only archery we have known...
Now I have gotten into the primative side of the sport and make self bows so there is always more to learn and do which adds to the enjoyment.
Once you get hooked..............It must be that you will never be perfect and we keep striving to improve. And it's a helluva lot of fun!!!! :thumbsup:
I'm not sure why either, but it sure is fun isn't it? I get 10x more excited shooting any deer with my recurve than I ever did shooting wheels. Even losing arrows is more fun! :archer:
It's TradGang!!!!! Reading your stories, making friends,getting together and flinging arrows,raising money for St. Judes and maybe one day being able to share a great story here. I wonder how addicted we would be without TradGang :bigsmyl:
For me it's the challenge, it's not easy to be consistent and yet you learn something new everytime.
For me, I believe it's one way to stay in contact with my primal roots. I have not touched one of those wheelie mechanical contraptions in a long time due to the fact that I lost my thirst for archery when doing so. I have never looked back. Its as if it's instilled within my DNA now and from what I see here on Tradgang, its in a lot of peoples DNA!! I also noticed and accepted that a strong comradery comes with shooting trad. There's not one person that I have came across in the traditional community that's not willing to help in some way or form.
when you guys find out please let me know.
It has become a way of life for me. Its my connection to my ancestors.
I'll never be as good as Robin Hood but I get to walk in The "Sherwood Forest" of my mind.
God bless,Mudd
The flight of a home built wood arrow hitting THE spot. The feeling I get walking through the woods with a longbow. The simplicity (when you do it right!?!?) The connection to simpler times. The challenge.
My favorite though is the people. I know that no particular group of people is all good but, in my opinion as well as other's too, the trad folks are about as close as you can get to all good people.
Because as you draw on that tuft of hair on that deer or that target you have no idea whether you are going to hit it or not!
For me it was less stressful and got me back to the roots of what archery should be in this day and time...FUN! When I first started shooting wheels at the age of 15 (1985), it was fun. If I could shoot a decent group and keep them all inside the confines of a paper plate at hunting distances I was happy. Technology advanced, and as it did, I became more and more obsessed with making the perfect shot and more and more stressed about it if I didn't. If I had an arrow a 1/4" inch off target at 20 yards, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my equipment. In comes my first real brush with traditional archery. A bamboo backed osage bow with poorly spine matched cedar arrows. I wasn't great at it, but good enough to keep me coming back for more. It caused me to concentrate on what I could do to become more proficient, not what screw I needed to adjust, or what new gadget I needed to buy. Not to mention the fact that I could shoot 40 or 50 arrows in the time that it used to take me to shoot 10 - 15. Now, just a little over 2 years later, it doesn't matter whether I'm shooting BBO "selfbow" with woodies, or wood and fiberglass extreme hybrid with carbons, I have fun. Yeah, I'm still tweaking and tuning, but not near as much as I'm shooting. Once I get it dialed in, if something goes astray, it was more than likely me that caused it. The other thing I've noticed, like someone mentioned above, traditional bowhunters are the most friendly / helpful group of guys and gals around. There is no major difference between the guy with his $1200.00 BW and the guy with the $130.00 Sage, they can both be just as successful if they put the time and energy into it that requires them to be proficient. They also seem to realize that the sharing of knowledge is the key to making our sport better and helping it grow. One more thing in this long winded speech, remember that paper plate I mentioned earlier...it's back in play :)
For me it is what EVERYBODY above said, plus a little more.
:bigsmyl:
It's the journey, not the destination.
Primal roots, the warrior spirit, the constant striving to improve, the peace of mind from shooting, the thrill of the stalk.
For me, good exercise , relaxation, throw in a bird dog to walk with. Me and Jack my GSP walk about 1.5-2 miles every afternoon. I shoot at things and he runs around smelling stuff. Good time for both of us.
Shooting the recurve is a big challenge to me. It is a quest, as I have shot compounds for years and have tried to avoid trad since being a kid. It is slowly taking over "front and center" in my world. Why? I don't know the reason I have avoided something I found so much fun in my youth. But I know it can only make me a better hunter.
I think it's the community. I wanted to find something for my son and I to do together. I went to a compound shoot and felt uncomfortable and frankly unwelcome. Not the lessons I wanted to teach my son. We tried a local trad only club shoot and we were treated like honored guests. This traditional family lives the values I want my son to develop and I sure don't mind if we happen to have some fun in the process!
Deep in the DNA of our brains we all have the memories of our forefathers. It's called instinct by some. Go out with your 5th wheel camper and turn on the furnace, do you sit and stare at it? No. Go out into the wilderness with your tent and in the evening make a campfire. Do you sit and stare at it? That campfire will stir up those ancestrial memories. Shooting a trad bow does that as well. The call of the ancients, calling us back to the land.
It's being a kid all over :archer: (a simple stick and string) a simpler way of doing things. Harken back to the :biglaugh:
Good observation there pavan - we may be hard-wired to pull on a string, bend a stick and watch an arrow fly.
Addiction? :knothead: :knothead: :help: LOL. Yep, I am a bowaholic and proud of it.
In my case for me to shoot my recurves as accurate as I like I have to make my body and mind do what I want instead of what comes natural and do it in a smooth controlled rhythm, while under physical and mental stress.
Fingers on that little string want to turn loose, muscles want to relax, mind saying let go..who's in charge?
It's like a saying I once read.."Be the master of your mind, not it's servant."
That's what keeps me from getting bored. I know I can shoot really good..when I take control...but it's very challenging and very seldom happens when I'm in total control of every sequence a perfect shot requires.
If that wasn't enough, hunting with just a bow and arrow is real close to bare knuckling it.
It is very simple. We are lucky and we live right.
What everyone has said X2
Keep'em coming.
:thumbsup:
Searching for the Holy Grail -- the perfect bow.
I have no addiction, I don't know what your referring to ? :banghead:
"One is too many and thousands never enough".
I realy hate shooting my bows . I do it just to make the dog happy. Who needs this stuff. Never get any thing with it any way. I realy like what
Pavan said. :thumbsup: For me waiting on ambush in a stand knowing you have to get that animal to get right there or crawling a couple hundred yards to get that tweenty yard shot at that sleeping coyote or that half mile or more sneek some of you do for that elk or buck, goat or what ever your hunting.Thats hunting. Its not in all people. Dang its 12:33am and Im stuck to the companey truck for five more days. I need to go hunting.
OMG! I Just Love It So! :archer2:
... mike ...
For me, it's just plain FUN!!
:clapper: :goldtooth:
I enjoy it!!! When I`m shooting my longbow nothing else seems to matter. I have it good and thank God for it but when I`m walking the swamp my mind and soul is at ease. RC