JUST CURIOUS IN THIS WORLD OF HIGH TEC, WHY DID YOU BECOME A TRAD BOWHUNTER????
Because it's our roots :campfire:
Im not there yet....In the process. But Im just tired of all the tech with compounds. I wnt a deeper meaning to my bowhunting. I bowhunt because it's primative. Compounds take awy from that quite a bit. After 56 deer kills with a compound I long for yet more natural and instinctive form of bowhunting.
Just another fun thing to do. I have not given up shooting modern firearms, muzzleloaders, handguns or compounds.
Its More Fun!
In this high-tech, weak moral, watered down multi-culti world we live in today it's one of the only truly primal and pure things left for a person to do. Honestly it's one of the only true multi-cultural things around, not some crap that's been invented to make everyone boring and the same, as traditional bowhunting is present in some form on every continent except perhaps Antarctica and it's fascinating and beautiful how different cultures have influenced the design and use of the bow and arrow; It's in our DNA and heritage. It's authentic.
I was loosing interest in archery and I had to do something so a little over a year ago I tried going back to the recurves of my youth - it worked! Enjoying myself immensely. I could have had all the deer I needed for the year had I still been using my wheel bow, instead I had a several 5-10yds just past my range; it was worth it. Yeah, it is more fun!
I gave up wheelie bows and all their reference points and smoke poles several years ago. I wanted to consistently challenge myself. I know wheelie archers who don't touch their bows until the end of July. If I do that with one of my recurves, it will surely cause me to have a bad season as well as a empty freezer. If you have been blessed to have harvest a animal with a traditional bow, then you know the feeling. And those that I have met in the traditional world have been the very best. I also find myself having a genuine respect for the animals that I hunt as well. It's a never stop learning process for me and it has cured me of my "instant gratification" flaws as well!! And besides that, it is what I enjoy the most!!
Wheels were not invented till a year after I started bowhunting.Tried a compound for one week and went back to my simple stick.Kip
When I first got a hunting bow in 1967 I didn't have much of a choice.
Anyone can kill a deer with a compound or rifle, if you hunt for sport the stick bow is the most rewarding challenge.
I started that way a long time ago.
Stalking, Still Hunting and Trad Bows go together like white on rice... Lost interest in compound bows cause needing to know the range to target, not having total control of the arrow, too many gadgets, seemed like "too much work"...
... mike ... :archer2: ...
Spiritual, simple, fun, challenge, family ,fellowship, and good therapy.
"Lost interest in compound bows cause needing to know the range to target, not having total control of the arrow, too many gadgets, seemed like "too much work"...
this right here^^^^^
Traditional bows are more effective hunting tools than compounds in my opinion. Still gun hunt some and will never give that up but for bowhunting, a stick bow is easier than a compound with the way my brain functions.
I dont think I went "trad"..... At around 7 years of age, I loosed my first arrow.....and it was with a recurve. Several years later, I did explore an alternate path, littered with mechanical inovation and alleged advancements that appeared to lend themselves to having the upper hand with such a weapon. For me, that path proved to be a trap of eye catching flashy gizzmos, gadgets and ding dongs that I was attracted to as a young man. One day, after years of traveling that path and as natural growth should do to a person, I started to look into what life is really about....and what really matters to me. As a result, just one of the things that changed was the tackle for something I fell in love with as a young boy....archery and hunting with the bow and arrow. Im not exactly sure when the last time I shot a compound was, or even touched the riser of one was.....many years. Things kinda came full circle for me as I see it. I started with that little yellow fiberglass recurve I can see in my parents pictures. Approaching 40 years of age now, I feel as though I channel through the longbow, with my leather glove pressed against my cheek with a split finger grip and an imaginary steel rod rigid plane at full draw, between my nock point and my rest. As I pull through my anchor and my glove slip-pops off the string, I think and will my arrow to a mark and its beautiful magic every time. I'll never shoot a compound bow again. :campfire:
Now that's just me....not nocking others who love thier compounds.
Started with a recurve as a kid. Saved some money. Wanted to buy a better one. Bow shop guy laughed at me and said they don't make those anymore. Sold me a compound. Never used sights or release for 19 yrs. Killed plenty including a running deer and a running rabbit, so it was effective for me and I wasn't mired in gadgetry. Friend and I were rabbit hunting one day in 3' of snow. After several hours trudging through the white stuff and briars, my arm was ready to fall off. Told my buddy I was switching to a stickbow. I did 2 mos later.
A stickbow fits my preferred hunting style better than other weapons. I agree with Izzy. For me, it's the best tool for the job. No romanticism, no heritage. Simple, fun, efficient and extremely inexpensive if you want it to be.
I made the switch to trad because of the challenge; because of how much harder it is to get good with a trad bow. I was very humbled the first time I attempted a 3D shoot with my first recurve. I lost, bent, or broke every arrow in my quiver and had to borrow an arrow to shoot the last target that day. I did not really have a good time that day either! As I drove home from that shoot, something clicked in my head. I decided that I was not going to let it beat me and that I was WAS going to learn to shoot a trad bow. After i was able to kill my first animal with a trad bow, I realized how rewarding it is also.
That was a long time ago, and things have changed now. Back then archery was just a fun hobby. Now, traditional archery is a big part of ME, and who I am. A part of me will die if, or when, I ever get to the point that I cannot shoot my trad bows any more!!!
Bisch
Lots of trad hunters use just as much high tech stuff as anyone else. I did it because I enjoy shooting recurves.
I use a longbow because that's me. Like wands and wizards, sometimes the bow chooses the archer.
ChuckC
Got bored with compoundsand quit hunting and shootin for about 8yrs. Then decided to pickup my Bear grizzly and start learning how to shoot it. Now I just cant stop if I wanted to. It's apart of me now.
QuoteOriginally posted by britt:
Spiritual, simple, fun, challenge, family ,fellowship, and good therapy.
Well said!!! :thumbsup:
I shoot trad because by the time you get your range finder out, figure out which pin to use, draw, line up the peep so you can sight in with your pin, my deer is dead ! Plus everything stated above.
I have thought about trying to shoot my compound instinctively for sometime now, but it still seems to me like something or too much would be missing or lost. Also as mentioned in the above posts, it's in our DNA, or it's what we do, of you don't feel it, then you don't have it.
I have a friend who is a national and world champion compound shooter, he doesn't use any sights or mechanical release in this category. The only time he picks up his compound is when he is going to compete other wise he only shoots trad,and in fact I have never seen him shoot his compound gear, but I have seen him out shoot compound shooters with his trad bow, and that was at 75 yards !
It's fun; it's sentimental; it's challenging; it's rewarding; it's humbling.
It connects me to a simpler group of people who realize life is about more than having the most and the best (although I love my trad-toys). It extends my journey - thereby extending my rewards.
I like to hunt with my recurve. Simple as that! Same reason that some people type in all capital letters. Personal choice.
For me the compound got to easy and boring, i used to go in the backyard and shoot the compound, after 20 minutes i was bored. I started on compounds, so i never knew what i was missing. One day in the grocery store i picked up Traditional Bowhunter magazine, gotta be 25 yrs ago, had an article on Pronghorn bows, i called Herb and ordered one, sold my compound the next summer, and now 25 or so years later and probably 30 different longbows and recurves later, i am loving it. I just dont understand why one compound was enough, but to shoot trad you need many bows.
I shot "antique" compounds (early Allen bows) with wood arrows until the late '80s and had a ball with them. It wasn't a lot different than shooting traditional gear in terms of mindset or application, although I shot them far better. I diverted for a few years into more modern compounds before turning to recurves and longbows in the early '90s. Traditional archery pleases my aesthetics and continues the mindset I had before I modernized briefly. No way is traditional gear more effective for me, but my bow is not a limiting factor if I do my job and I'm content with my success.
These things are family quirks. My dad is 77 and still hunts ducks with cedar decoys he carves for himself.
After taking an animal with a trad bow the compound lost its allure! Sold my compound four years ago without one regret! :)
Traditional bows are just easier for me. I don't have to worry about all the things with the compound...sights getting knocked off..rest not dropping..etc...etc. I just don't need to worry about all that crap.
Not to mention that compounds got very boring for me. To the point where I didn't even shoot for enjoyment...only to hunt. Totally different with longbows...I cant go 5 minutes without thinking about something trad related. Lol
I like the simplistic beauty of a wooden bow and wooden arrows. Then again it may be the influence of that archery class in middle school that has grown and festered into an obsession...
The romance and the history of it is what has kept me interested all these years later.
My switch had nothing to do with the days of yore or my forefathers or even tradition for that matter....I was good with a compound and terrible with a recurve and started shooting it more just to see if I could hit a target...it was kind of like a carnival game. Eventually I shot it as good as a compound at 20 yards so now don't see a reason not to use it. I have nothing against "modern" guys, I actually respect that many know their limitations and won't attempt wounding a deer with gear they're not effective with. I've seen quite a few "trad" guys that should have the same sense of self effectiveness. Hunting trad takes a LOT of work to become competent so the more I think about my reason I guess I also prefer the company of hard working people.
I have to work with high tech and computers all the time . Trad is an escape from that . Besides I shot trad before it was Trad . Tried the the compound thing for a very short time in the late 70s and didn't like all the mass weight and snagie things .
Moving to trad originally was mostly a thing of practicality.
I shot "trad" in the 60s thru the middle 70s. Nothing serious. Did manage to kill a little buck with my Shakespear Yukon Wonderbow using a Herter's Farbenglas arrow with a Ram MX broadhead.
While in the Army in the late 70s, I was introduced to compounds, and my interest in archery really took off.
I was still using compounds when I moved to Alaska in 1980, but I had a few bows blow up on me, and I didn't want something like that to happen after I had climbed to a top of some mountain chasing Sitka Blacktails or Mountain Goats, so I started shooting a recurve for the simplicity. Only had to carry a spare string to keep hunting if the string on the bow somehow got damaged.
So, I got into the trad journey following the KISS principle!
I killed my first deer with a rifle when I was 16, first time ever deer hunting and as soon as the hunt was over I sold the rifle that had I saved all summer to buy and bought my first bow. I then hunted with a compound for the next 30+ years. Probably in the last 10 years though I started to read and learn more about trad bowhunting and bowhunters. I had always truly respected the commitment and challenge. About 4 years ago, after killing my biggest P and Y bear I decided it was time to give it a try. I bought a cheap Kodiak Hunter off **** and started to practice. My goal was to harvest a deer with trad equipment. The next season I did just that. I let the doe go over night because I knew it was a liver hit. The next morning my Father was with me to recover the deer. It was a moment I will never forget...
I know I've become a much better hunter since I commited to traditional AND I enjoy the hunts and harvests even more.
Many reasons....
1. Simply more fun to shoot
2. The influence of others...A guy named David... He's my bow hunting mentor. When I saw him shoot a squirrel 20 feet up with a long bow I wanted to be like him! The Wensel brothers... I watched Hunting October Whitetails and then Primal Dreams and I was inspired. In fact, all my Huntjng heros are trad bow hunters.
3. I became repulsed by the main stream hunting communities obsession with the latest greatest gizmo. I wanted to move in the opposite direction.
4. The romance of all things trad.
5. Did I mention it's just more fun?!
I started on compounds and got pretty decent with them. It got to be almost automatic with killing deer....If I got drawn on one, it was going home in the truck. As I got older I started liking simpler things, hence my conversion to trad.
After taking my first deer with the longbow, I don't see myself going back to the compounds. I get more satisfaction from watching my arrow hit the target at 15 yrds than I did hitting a 60 yrd target with compounds.
I guess it was an evolution for me....
God bless,
Rodd
QuoteOriginally posted by Izzy:
Traditional bows are more effective hunting tools than compounds in my opinion. Still gun hunt some and will never give that up but for bowhunting, a stick bow is easier than a compound with the way my brain functions.
What he said.
I can't consider myself trad yet.... But I'm in the process. I don't think it is a matter of compound being too easy for me, but the last deer I shot was my 56 th with a compound and she was 8 yds. I thought to myself that day, what is keeping me from a recurve? I have been on the fence for 4-5 years. I finally that day decided to take the steps I need to get back to a more simple way of hunting with a bow. I hope that this journey will last for as long as breathe.....
Started with traditional equipment before there was high tech and loved every minute of it since. Played with compounds some a while back but found no challenge to harvesting deer with it so it sits getting dusty. Even made some selfbows. Now having fun trying different types of 'traditional' bows, glad there is a long list to try.
Lovebthe simplicity of my recurve, it is such a relief to get away from all the technology, i fill like a foreigner in a bow shop all the technology, everything is geared toward the compound guy,no one caters to the recurve guy..i gonna learn to tune, and set up my own stuff, got to get a arrow saw, and a tuneing set..
I never have been any thing else. When I got started in archery, there was no such thing as a compound bow. I left archery for a number of years when I got old enough to handle firearms. When I came back to it, compound never crossed my mind. I am a bit like Graps in that I was working in the computer field and preferred to go low tech when I went out to play. Besides, once you develop a passion for the longbow, not much else interests you.
Awilse was trad....
I enjoy the hunt more. I have guns for harvesting meat quickly and easily and I look forward to the 2-day permit hunt in the area I bowhunt each year. However I can truly say I prefer the experience with a bow better.
Some thing that I am not sure has been shared on this feed so far.
I started out with a trad bow when i was a kid. My dad would rig up a bent stick and some binder twin at the cabin. I would be of chasing pop cans and frogs for days until the thing broke. when i turned 14 I decided that i wanted to learn how to make a real bow (hunting bow). The first one I made was a hickory board bow. looking at it in the basement now I think the thing should be fire wood, with limbs tillered that badly no arrow should have ever flown. But they did and I got pretty good shooting the thing.
Some thing about making my own equipment and shooting it gave me a deeper appreciation for the sport and the beauty of the weapon. fast forward a few year and now I hunt with a beautiful Shrew Recurve. I had the option many times to switch to compound bows or even rifles but there really is nothing in this world like firing an arrow out to 30 yards and knowing its going to hit the target before the arrow ever touches paper.
Its pretty much been covered. But I had reached a point with other weapons compounds and guns alike that I felt like something was missing. I believe the single string brought me back to something primal that lives in me from millennia ago. It brought me back to what hunting truly is. I had become a great killer with other weapons but I have become a better hunter thru single string archery. I haven't graduated from carbon arrows or laminated bows yet but I look forward to going even further down this traditional path by building my own equipment.
I was living in NJ, in a pretty stressful situation. Bought a new compound bow to take the edge off. Shot around 300 arrows a day for several months. Got so proficient that it became boring. I needed something to make practice more interesting. Pretty much a simple as that. That compound bow has spent a lot of time gathering dust.
I started before compounds existed. I bought one as soon as I could and hunted 2 years with it. I lost interest in bow hunting and just gun hunted for years. My son-in-law talked me into going back to traditional bow and fell in love with bow hunting again. I didn't realize that it was a compound that took the fun away. I could easily kill deer with a compound, all I had to do was aim and shoot, just like a rifle. But a real bow requires investing yourself and I love it!
I've been shooting recurves since I was old enough to hold the bow up, started out short-drawing my dads 50lb Grizzly around 4. Shot targets off and on growing up, but when I hit legal hunting age I used a bare compound. Evolved from there, and a couple years ago I broke out my old K-Mag & a back quiver just to play around with some targets in the back yard. As I was shooting, I realized how much I enjoyed the simplicity, simply knock an arrow, draw, release.
With the newer compounds theres a release aid, drop away rest to engage every shot, make sure the bow is perfectly vertical, use the correct sight pin for the range, peep sight..
I just felt it's gotten way too complicated.
Added on top of that, my deer seasons were way too often cut short by an early kill, even limiting myself to trophy (in my mind) animals.
It's a hoot. No other feeling when you do what you set out to do.
The simplisity of it , heritage of days past .
I second BRITTMAN, Simplicity.
Don't know about the rest of you, but I like "HI TEC."
The fact that my recurves are backed with fiberglass was "modern" when I started and a great improvement.
There is magic in human innovation, so I'm in awe of the compound bow. It's amazing what comes from the minds of men. But, personally, I can't hunt with it because I'm not a spectator to life. I'm a participant.
From a young age, I found magic in athletic accomplishment - The down hill skier going through slalom gates; Mike Jordan sinking a three pointer; Sandy Koufax's pitch hitting the lower inside corner of the stike zone for the third strike; Tom Brady threading the needle for a touchdown pass. All these things are magic.
Hunting with a recurve is magic in the same way.
Archery with a wheel bow was no longer enjoyable to me...I never wanted to shoot my compound and it always felt like a chore to do before the season. I started shooting a curve three years ago at fish and began to play around with shooting it at targets too and it became fun to me. Sold the wheels and I'm not looking back! Way more fun without wheels! Rewarding as hell too to take an animal with one!
About 12 yeras ago i booked a backpack mountain goat hunt in B.C. and thought how cool it would be to have a takedown bow to be able to carry in my pack.
Better hunting weapon - where bows are concerned. My opinion only. You can't always be perfect stance ranged yardage, vertical bow and all. Course you have to be more dedicated to shooting regularly to keep your eye and mind tuned in. But I like to shoot bows whether hunting or not I shoot all the time year round.
Yeah it is more fun. But then some crowd like to tinker with the bells and whistles of the compounds - no worries each his own.
Other then Tom Hoffman all my heros are traditional bowhunters!
...
I remember how I got started but maybe not why. I saw a couple guys shooting trad bows in my local shop and they were drilling targets out to 40yards. Both guys were life long trad shooters. One of them sold me a used bow and I got set up with arrows and started on my own. About 2009 I found this forum and got the courage to dedicate a season to it. That season went unfulfilled (no meat) and I reverted back to wheels for 4 seasons. This year I had a fellow forum member/friend mentally push me over the edge and made my first harvest. Now that I've proven to myself that I can do it, I plan to stick with it.
I enjoy shooting more now and don't have to rely on a range finder (even though my shot distance is really 15y or less). I have to alter my set ups to make sure I am closer, but I enjoy the whole process more now. There's a bigger sense of accomplishment with the traditional equipment.
I started shooting trad because I lked the idea of shooting with out sights, rest, range finders, etc., etc... I will say I've not completly given up on my modern archery equipment yet, but I'm getting closer each passing day. I've always been the one who said well what if the deer doesn't come closer than 40 yards what will I do. So I looked back on all the deer I've ever taken with an arrow and 25yards is the longest shot I've taken... Yep getting closer each passing day! My goal is by next September to be relying completely on my tall tines and to have traded all my compounds, crossbows, and accessories to firearms.
One more reason I started. In 2009 I made a perfect stalk on about 12 turkeys. All hens non the less awesome for the table! My personal favorite wild game to eat. I made the stalk I in 4 inches of snow and got got to a good spot to where I new I could make the shot. I picked the bird I wanted and my release was froze together! Couldn't shoot!. So I put it in my mouth to thaw it out :knothead: once it was thawed enough to open I came to full draw and my fall away rest was frozen down to the riser! :banghead: So made it back to the truck in dectected by the turkeys. By the time I'd it tere my hands were so cold I couldn't fell my keys in my pocket! So after a two handed attempt I got my keys out and managed to openy truck door and warm my hands and let all my Equiptment thaw! Fast foward 20 minutes and I make the same stalk get back on the same group of birds and again the same two malfunctions!
This was kind of an eye opener... All of this could've been prevented with a simple stick and string and maybe a pair of insulated neoprene lives for crawling in the snow.
Just read my above post and realized my auto correct changed and butchered the majority of it. I hope you guys got the idea. If not I'll sum it up: two perfect stalks and no shots due to gadget malfunction and may have turned out differently had I been using a simple stick and string!
I started shooting a recurve long before I made the switch completely to traditional. I'd hunt with my compound until late season then hunt does with my recurve. I couldn't stand the thought of missing an opportunity at a big buck during the rut because I was using a recurve.
Then one day I was hunting the rut here in AR with my compound and a beautiful 10pt chased a doe in front of me and stopped in an opening at 50yds. I had practied regularly out to 70 and I had all the confidence in the world I could make the shot. I shot him, he ran 20yds and tipped over. I didn't get excited, I didn't shake, I felt nothing. As I walked up and put my hands on that beautiful 150" 10pt I was still emotionless. I knew right then he would be the last deer I ever shot with a compound.
The next year after a long summer of practice I shot my first doe with my recurve and I was shaking like that 12 yr old boy shooting at his first deer.
To me it is all about the hunt and I think that hunting with a traditional bow makes you hunt smarter. Shooting game at 60+ yards with a compound takes some skill but trying to get Stickbow close now takes mad skills.
I still have a 42 year old Damon Howatt recurve my parents gave me for my birthday. A neighbor suggested it.
Thus began a lifelong adventure!..
Yes I have also been down the road with compounds, still have one around.. But I have a bunch of recurves and longbows that I truely covet.
Lately, my son and I have started calling it a "Disease".. With no known cure!.. Only Regular Treatments can help..lol
I hunt with what I enjoy hunting with. Killing or not killing stuff has nothing to do with it. I hunted with a compound a couple years a long time ago and it was fun but not as much fun as hunting with a trad bow. It has made me a better hunter and so far knock on wood I have not been skunked since I started hunting at the age of 13. Thats been 40 plus years.. RC
I just enjoy trad bows. Are they more challenging? Probably... BUT I don't think killing deer with a compound is the same as shooting targets. I love how people here make it se like any deer that gets within 60yds is toast. Ridiculous