The people are the funnest, greatest I've ever been around.
At dawn hearing the woods come alive, it's like a switch is thrown, always amazes me.

It's FUN

This will be my second year all traditional. I love it for the following:

The simplicity of it all...no gadget to adjust, bows are light and comfortable.

The people associated with it are wonderful.

The link to our ancestors. My ultimate goal is to take an animal with a selfbow with homemade arrows and self knapped heads...just like Native Americans did.

The beautiful bows. The styles, the overlays, the different woods, snakeskin backings...WOW!

Making your own POC arrows. Is there any smell better than POC? There's even something good when you break an arrow...just pick it up and give it a good whiff..aaahhh.

I agree with all of the above, and can add (at least for myself) the romance, nostalgia, and history of it all. I enjoy hunting with(or just shooting) the same sort of equipment that the Thompson bros, Saxton pope,Ishi, Howard Hill or Fred Bear used(to name just a few).After having read about their adventures,using similar equipment is the next best thing to having been there.

And what about the brave archers of the hundred years war who fought and died at Agincourt, Crecy,and Poiters? Being able to handle and shoot a longbow, much like the ones that they lived and died by, is quite a thrill.

I guess I've always been somewhat of an antiquarian and history buff, but that's what does it for me along with all the wonderful folks it's been my pleasure to meet and converse with in person and on this site.

I certainly hope it goes on, and the great folks  who were actually there keep on regaling us with their stories from back then(when archery was just archery). As well as the, newer folks blazing their own trails in traditional archery. God bless you all.

James

The simplicity of it all,the great peoples who share the same dreams,passions and joy.
The way it was Thousands of years ago and still is,this weapon might just be the reason we are here today around this wonderful campfire.
Serge

For me it reminds me of how life IS. life is blunt and mysterious to us on a Linear point of view ,but in fact our time here is so Infinticimally small, we tend not to consider the moment at hand.
Here this bow that is lifeless..aethsetically beautiful,....once strung it's ALIVE man!! and your forced to be in the moment and honest with it and your surroundings.
Your forced to stop, and KNOW your surroundings, know your prey, know your a small spec in the cosmic scheme of things and accept it all.
but every move you make is so important when shooting...and in life.
It shows me life is really honest and it's ME that's the fool trying to convince myself it's not..lol..and the people that practice Traditional Archery ALL seem to have this same quality of being honest to themselves and others becuase of it. ...Trad makes us all better people

using the bow I have used since 1971. you know Its little whims and what it can and can not do. Also being with family at deer camp and teaching the grandkids the use and lore of traditional equipment.

the people I get to hunt with.

rusty

Well I'm with you fellas

I like how we can all agree on the best broadhead.  

Brian.........  

QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
Because it is magic.

Exactly! What ChuckC said!  It's magic time!  

I've spent most of my childhood growing up in the north woods of Wisconsin and hunting and fishing is a way of life for me.  I got involved with computer software (can't figure out how or why I managed to do that), and have spent all of my adult career in this high tech world.  About nine years ago, I was able to move back to this area, although I still work in the same business. Using traditional equipment, gives me a huge sense of simplicity and peace of mind, and takes me away from anything that I consider technical.  Not to mention the fact that I just love shooting the longbow and cedars that I make.  I have also spent alot more time fishing out of my canoe these past few years for the exact same reason.

The people, simplicity, and the efficiency.  

A true feeling of accomplishment, that I never got with a compound.

The people,and archery is fun again.

For me it's not about ancestory or being primitive...it's about the simplicity combined with the needed preperation and discipline that is required.  When I was in college (whenI was thinking about beginning archery) I spoke to a guy who told me of a hunt he was on where another fellow showed up at camp and had never shot a bow in his life.  They showed him how to shoot a compound...he practiced for a couple hours, and ended up killing a deer with it the next morning.  I thought to myself, "What challenge was that?...no more challenge than the rifles I shoot"  I walked into Jeff Massie's shop a few weeks later and said, "I want to learn how to shoot this type of archery"....After a few months of practice it was clear that dedication, discipline, and hard work were necessary to become a good archer and to combine that into a good traditional archery hunter would take even more.  That challenge of doing something that took hard work helped ignite the fire that has become a passion.

As this is my first year, I have to say:

1. Simplicity
2. Challenge
3. Limits on myself (and beating them)

To me gun hunting was not hard or fun...(I could do it in work clothes out to 400 yards)   :(  

Compound hunting had to many gadgets and things needed that other people provided.

Traditional....is all me, I can make it as simple or hard as I want...and I can do everything to my bow or arrows!!      

Been working on my first traditional kill for 2 years now....it will be a trophy worth the wait.    

Stick

Correction....first full year of traditional.

Peace,enjoyable,relaxed. In touch with everything around me.

well i have been hunting since i was 15 years old and i am still hunting at 55 what makes me love it?  people i have met  and will meet and it is still magic.
wolfman.