Good post-like most have said, it's the person, not the tool, that makes the hunter.  I have a good friend who shoots trad and has taught me most of what I know.  I have another good friend who lives close by so we shoot alot together and I raz him about his "wheelie bow", but we each get excitted when the other makes a great shot on the 3-D course we shoot together. I can't wait to be in the woods with both of them this fall.

Boone,
Well said, I have 3 friends who have converted, and or added trad to their methods.
I know of what you speak, and I too think that we as traditional hunters can do more than we do to promote our method for others to try.
In short, if we all liked vanilla, there would be no need for chocolate.
Thanks

It always helps to remember that these days all hunters are a minority.  So that makes us a minority of a minority.  We need each and every ethical hunter out there.  No matter what method they use.  

MAP

I agree.  I know several people that hunt with crossbows and some others that use guns.  They are great people and ethical hunters too.  Then I hear other's that I think are hunters slamming both types of hunting.   Then I wonder if that person may be an anti-hunter that shoots a bow.  I knew of one person that used to love to be in the great outdoors and hunted as much as possible with a crossbow.   This person could have hunted with a gun but greatly love hunting with their crossbow.  They did need some assistance but did not quit just because of some disabilities.  It is troubling to me when hunters condemn other type of hunters.  I am thankful that we can still hunt in this great nation and hope that future Americans can enjoy the same freedoms that we have enjoyed.

Well, tell them to stop calling trad hunters eccentrics.      

Seriously though, good thoughts.  Some people just can't help themselves no matter what activity they are doing.

Well said Boone.

Use what you want to use is my opinion.  My boss wants to get into archery and I handed him my compound.  Wy you my ask?  Because he will get the bug no matter what.  

In my opinion it isnt the means it is the feeling you get when you take game.  If the only way you wcould kill a deer is via claymoore but you still got the "high" then you are doing it right.  I work with some people who dont give a damn and just to go to shoot a stupid deer.  I go out to feel teh woods, too feel nature, to feel the shot and give thanks to the animal who gave its life for me.  Thats why Im into trad.  because you people feel the same way I do.  Its not about FPS with you guys, it about the hunt.  Thats the problem I see these days.  It just so happens you can go to an archery shop and get a fine tuned wheeled bow and be shooting knocks in 3 minutes.  Its the people not the weapon.

Good stuff. I didn't pick up my stick for other people. I picked it up for me. Its all a means to an end. Whatever gets you outside and gets your blood pumping is fine with me.

I have always been more concerned with ethics than weaponry. What I choose to hunt with is my business and everyone has their right to choose as well. If you are efficient with the chosen weapon and are law abiding you can share my camp anytime.

I'm one of Fred Bear's "Two Season Hunters"!

This one hits close to home for me. For the first time in over a decade I am not using trad gear to bow hunt this year. I have an injury and a new family and my practice time has been too painful or spent gootching my baby girl or spending time with my wife. I still check Tradgang most every day. I am still a trad hunter and this is by far not a lifestyle change. Most of my close friends and family use the modern stuff and so am I this year. We never make fun, poke, prod or tease. We hunt.

While talking with my best good bud K.S.Trapper about this, he told me "it's all hunting bud, enjoy every bit of it."

Todd

Even though I've made the decision to go 100% Trad in my Archery gear I still talk to & about the Compound & X-Bow shooters with respect.
My thoughts have always been that if the person put in the time to know their equipment & their limitations with their gear to make ethical kills deserve respect.

IMHO it's not the gear we need to be so wound up about but the people & we need to keep our friends & make new ones.

After swapping over to Trad equipment in 2008 and being able to take a nice buck with my longbow I have done all my bowhunting with the stick. I started shooting bows in 1993 because my son wanted to get into it. I, as most of us started with a compound bow. I was one of the guys who had to have every new thing they made for one. I shot tournaments and got very good with the thing. I remember thinking that there was no way a stick bow could compare to a compound. I was right, there is no comparison between the two other then they shoot an arrow. I have taken my stick bow to several of the 3-D events around where I live and I have seen and heard the comments about it from those who don't understand why we shoot them. As always I offer to let them shoot it so they can see and feel the difference. The first thing they notice is the weight difference between the two. After a few arrows they see that, you know I could shoot one of these with a little practice. (That's what hooked me LOL!) So like everyone who has posted on the subject I too feel that it is about education and the willingness to share one's knowledge. If it keeps a man in the woods longer, then it should not matter what he shoots is how I feel. Will I ever shoot a wheel bow again? I think so, maybe, or maybe not. But I will not allow someone else make that call for me. I shoot a Trad bow because I want to and because of a couple of very good friends who took the time to help me get started. I thank you both for your help as you know who you are. That's my 2 cents worth. God bless you and your families.......Dusty

QuoteOriginally posted by Mudd:
If you are a legal hunter with a code of ethics then you are my bother/sister!

I don't care of you're hunting frogs with a slingshot or hunting big game with a big bore rifle.

Nuff said....

God bless,Mudd

AMEN Mudd.
I can always rely on you to put things in the proper perspective.
Thanks

When i shot a compound i did not really consider myself a "Wheel" guy. Now that i shoot a recurve i dont consider myself a "trad" guy. In my opinion i have always just been an archer. No matter what equipment you decide to use you will be an archer in my mind. I believe as hunters or target shooters we NEED to be on the same team for are sport to grow and prosper
Just my opinion, Jim

I never had a very good opinion of compound guys until I missed a few nights of my Friday night trad league and had to make them up on Wed night with the wheelie guys. It was a trip. They made me feel right at home. I received a lot of compliments.

I'm also fairly active on Twitter and the majority of that community is compound shooters. We joke but there is never hostility. They have proven very receptive and I've even coerced a few to buy trad equipment.

Honestly, Ive experienced more snobbery within the trad community from our "bad apples" than from the wheelie bow community.

It is easy to sound "holier than thou" when you are seeking "more of a challenge". I agree that we need to work on how we word things and error on the side of being overly polite.

All one has one do is pick up a traditional bowhunting magazine to get a bellyful of elitism. In almost every issue someone takes a swipe at modern gear and its users. I defy you to search the pages of any modern bowhunting publication and find someone taking a swipe at trad guys. Ive never understood the need to tearr down the other side.
I was member of a traditional bowhunting club for years and it was constant bickering and infighting. Every campfire someone was jumping on the soapbox to berate modern archers. Same thing at trad shoots. Its really turned me off to the traditional crowd. I still hunt and shoot my recurves and longbows, but its usually alone or in the company of modern bowhunters. They are usually interested in what and how im shooting without feeling the need to be judgemental. To bad its never the other way round...

Last week there was a thread on here about "Compounding tradtional" or something like that. Sadly, we even do it to ourselves.

I reluctantly have to agree with some of what Lee has said. I just bought my second issue of this magazine and there is a whole piece that basically outlines the flaws in compound users perspective. An odd way to define the trad focus, this tearing down of another branch of bowhunting. I'd rather have read something about why the authors reasons for choosing trad archery are an important aspect of the activity for him, without the comparisons. Now that would have been informative.

I am old enough to understand that defining what you do by vocally disregarding or disparaging what others do is never productive. It divides us and ultimately serves no one.


Joshua

Alot of good thoughts here.

I want my son to "get into" hunting. Whether it's with a compound or a gun. Of course, I would really like for him to use his trad bow. I try not to wince when a kid wants a compound bow or a friend talks about using his xbow. I don't say too much about either of them cause I don't know too much about them.

I admit, I think I may feel a bit "eliteist" but I try hard not to belittle anyone for their choices especially when it doesn't really matter.

Bona