Been giving some serious thought to going all traditional this year. I'm primarily a small game hunter so it'll be a big plunge for me! Anyone else making the plunge this year? I'm still not 100% committed but came pretty close last year
i say go for it..you will gain more than you will ever know..even if you dont kill any thing..its just part of the fun..
I'm glad you are going to try, you probably won't go back.
I gave it a try back in 1987.
It's been quite a ride!
One day a friend of mine said here try shooting my recurve , I haven't shot a compound since.
Haven't shot a compound since '95.
Haven't shot a compound in years but was thinking of setting the guns aside this year to. Squirrels and rabbits will surely appreciate it!
I went so far as to hunt grouse and woodcock with my pointers last year. They were not impressed with my shooting.
When how you do it becomes more important to you than how big or how many, you'll take the plunge. Can't say as I've ever had to take the plunge. When I started shooting sticks more than 60 years ago, wheelies hadn't yet been invented.
I havent shot a compound in 3 years. Been the best 3 years ive had in the deer woods with a longbow in hand.
I'm very glad I did. I traded my compound for a pair of custom hunting knives to match my longbow. I gun hunt a couple days a year to stock the freezer. I bow hunt to enjoy the hunt. Some years I get none, sometimes I get more. However, the experience for me is always better with my longbow.
I still shoot deer with a rifle and turkeys with a shotgun from time to time. Do what makes you happy
Good luck! I went all trad quite a few years back, and have not looked back since!
Bisch
I sold my compound the same year I bought my recurve...around 1990-1991. Never looked back....and have gone a few years where I hunted everything except dove and quail with the bow...but then I use a side by side 20g with manual ejectors and double triggers to make up for it. :)
I went all trad back in 2004, killed 5 deer the 1st 3 weeks of deer season, hunted 6 more yrs and killed 7 more.. then my shouders started hurting me so bad couldnt pull a bow back, went back to a compound for 4 yrs, killed 12-13 more deer.. now my shoulders are better and plan on hunting all traditional this yr.,probably hunt with my .54 cal Cabelas Sporterized Hawken or custom rebarreled .54 Renegade also..
I've hunted with only longbow or recurve for the past 9 yrs. and enjoyed each one, haven't killed as many deer, but had more fun.
However, I am supposed to be getting my grandpas favorite deer rifle, a Rem. 222, if I get it this year I plan on using it some, that'll be special to me.
Never owned or shot a compound, have not hunted with a rifle in about 10 years and have been hunting with a recurve or longbow since 1964.
What's this compound you guys are talking about ?
When I was a teenager my dad told me to hunt rabbits with my bow cause they didn't like biting into lead shot .
So I shot rabbit's with my bow every sense .
It was about 30 years later that he told me they were tired of eating rabbit .
It didn't work out like he thought it would .
Once you seriously jump, you will find that it is not a detriment at all, just another way to enjoy yourself doing what you love to do. Nearly everything I hunt gets hunted with a longbow or recurve, generally of my own construct.
Give it a shot and you will see.
ChuckC
I put the training wheel bow away 10 years ago, im on my 3rd year with traditional and wish id done it sooner. No kills yet but im having a blast and not looking back!!!
Do what makes you happy! I love traditional but I also enjoy using whatever tool there happens to be a season for.
A few years ago a friend of mine made a longbow and gave it to me as a gift. The draw weight is 45# and he wanted to cut a little off of the ends to get it closer to 50# so I gave it back. After 4 years of waiting I asked him if he had done anything to it and he said he just couldn't make himself cut it so I asked for it back which he did at the end of January of this year. In February my son bought a recurve so we started tinkering with them learning as we went. I bought a 60# Bear Grizzly in February of this year and started shooting both bows and learning how to tune them (mostly from you guys). I am going on an elk hunt in September and my plan was to use my compound for that hunt then switch to the recurve for our deer season. Well the more I shot it the more I liked it so a few weeks ago I decided I will be hunting elk with my recurve but will bring my wheel bow only as a backup in case something happens to my recurve. I have been hunting big game bow only the past 9 years and love it but I have not been this excited about bow hunting since I shot my first deer with a bow in 1985. Now my poor wheel bow sits in the closet collecting dust. I took it out a couple months ago and shot 3 arrows from it, put it back into storage and went shoot my trad bows.
I hunt most of the time with my bow but usually one or two times a year I will take the shot gun for rabbits. last year I took it out 1 time after the snow was over waist high. every shot with a bow would have been a lost arrow.
I think you will enjoy your time in the woods more once you take the plunge, Let us know if you do and how you like it :cool:
Whatever you do, good luck and enjoy the hunt!
I sold my compound a couple years ago. I kill just as many critters with my longbow as I did with the wheel bow....and have alot more fun doing it!
I sold the wheels back in 89 to buy a recurve hunted it for 2 yrs bought my first longbow in 91 and that is what I shot my first deer with! I have never looked back. There is just something about these bows that become a part of you, I don't know what it is but I like it. Give it a try and let us know how you do. Hope you have a great season.
Steve
Had more fun giving my compounds away than I did killing deer with them. I'll hunt with a rifle when it's raining but use that time more to study up on where the critters are for another day. Any day in the woods is an education.
I went traditional only a few years ago and hunting has never been the same. It's the only way I really enjoy hunting anymore.
I went traditional only about 5 years ago and hunting has never been the same. I can't even hunt with anything else anymore.