It may not be complicated but it can be overwhelming to a new person. I was as new as you could get. I hadn't hunted and I'd never shot a bow. I started everything at 27.

Now it all seems fairly easy to get something to shoot well. Back then, it wasn't and I forgot how big the trad world can seem.

I was quickly reminded while trying to get a friend started shooting. I tried to keep it simple, leaving out things that may confuse them. Basically abandoning the hows and the whys and sticking to the basics.

I kept a journal my entire first year of shooting. I wrote in it daily. The stuff in there is hilarious and eye opening. Things as simple as setting brace height aren't easy when you are starting out.

Shot a round of 3d w/ a wheelie guy who was amazed that my longbow was so "quick". I let him take a shot and he commented on how hard it was and that he'd stick to sights, releases and rangefinders. I was pleased. To each their own.

Finally, in my younger years the end was always what I was after eg: meat on the table, now that I'm older, it is the journey and process which leads to the end that is just as important, if not more so, than just the result.

I think all of you are correct, especially about how archery was simple way back when. Way back when, I would shoot a bow and if it shot left or right, I'd just use good old Kentucky windage to correct it. didn't know anything about different arrow spines and tip weight etc. didn't matter even if I did, as there was no $ to buy stuff, you had to make do with what you had or could make. I think it's still similar but we just have a lot more different choices, arrows, strings, limb material, feathers, fletching, I am sure I have left out a lot. But unlike wheels, your still left with an archer, a bow and a piece of string, and an arrow.

Like many of you, at one time or another when we're really on our game and have out shot wheelie shooters, and sent them home scratching their heads.

I guess it's as complicated or not, as you make it.

QuoteOriginally posted by D:
I think "traditional" is just as much of an attitude as it is the weapon your carrying.  True we all carry traditional bows in the woods when we go.  Here's a question for ya...If you carried a rifle in the woods on your next hunt would your views, morals, and ethics be different??  My dad hunts with a wheel bow, muzzleloader, and rifle and he has just as much or more "traditional" values that I do and I only hunt with my longbow.  I think it has a lot to do with morals and ethics more than the weapon your using.

Nailed it. I have a friend that is just starting to hunt and is using a compound. Our first hunt, he got frustrated that we didn't see anything (a lot of this of course was due to how loud he was in the woods), much less get to shoot. All I could think was how much I would love to hunt that area again due to the amount of rooted up area I saw and how quiet and enjoyable it was. A very successful hunt for me. My friend isn't impatient and lack the pure enjoyment linked to the "traditional code" because he carries a compound device. Rather, he carries a compound device because he is impatient and thinks that will make hunting easier.

Well, I may get flamed a little here, but I will go ahead anyway. I do not mean to sound offensive so if it comes out that way, I will apologize in advance. I have heard a lot of opinions on trad vs modern, vs rifle ect. Not so much on this site mind you, but in person. (you know what they say about opinions right?) Alot of us derive pleasure from the pursuit of hunting for many different reasons. I derive a lot of pleasure in taking an animal, processing it myself, and preparing it for my friends and family. I enjoy the entire process, weather I take the animal with a bow, gun, whatever.  I also do a lot of 3D shoots and an indoor league. I have never done one with my compound, but maybe someday I will. Do I get occasionally annoyed when I have to wait for the compound shooters ahead of me? Yeah but they are doing what they like, live and let live. I hunt with a compound, gun, Trad bow, whatever strikes me, although I committed myself to deer hunting with nothing but a trad bow last season. Just something I felt like doing. I shoot my Hill Longbow about every day before work, when it is nice out I will shoot a little when I get home. Once in awhile I will get a hankerin to get out the compound and shoot my little foam ball target at long ranges. Why? It's kinda challenging and it's fun. I hear a lot of trad guys criticizing modern and I don't see all of the fuss. Honestly I know a few of these guys wound deer just about every year. I know it happens on occasion with trad and modern but honestly, if it is a regular thing for ya, maybe you should consider a compound. I would rather take an animal swiftly,ethically with confidence, than wound one because I believe my weapon is somehow better than someone else's. To argue the effectiveness of a modern bow from a fixed position is silly. As the old expression goes, "they make chocolate and vanilla for a reason" So take game, do it ethically and honestly and be an ambassador for the sport of hunting regardless of what you do it with.

QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
The dirty little secret is traditional archery has gotten more complicated over the last 40 years. Before that it was relatively uncomplicated and fun.

Yeah, back when it was just archery, we didn't have to pretend to be traditional. lol

but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

Brock, for myself your statement rings true, as sometimes we go to extremes IMHO but for those who choose that route, go for it and enjoy!
For me a wood shaft of good flight that flies true from a well tuned bow is all I require, but even meeting that criteria takes a bit more work than some would be led to believe.......and there lies the misconception.
Even keeping it simple involves more than some folks think .
One great thing about trad. archery is that you can choose to take it to extremes or enjoy it in its simplest of forms but no matter your choice, its far more than a bent stick with a string and a hand full of mismatched tree limb arrows as some would believe.
 

Yeah, the concept is very simple, but the application can become a bit complex.

QuoteOriginally posted by Brock:
but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

X2, couldn't have said it better and its all repeated over and over every week.  

Just shoot the bow!!!!

Tracy

QuoteOriginally posted by Brock:
but let us not forget that we also do not need all the concern and worry about extreme FOC, shooting through chronograph, stressing over 6 string, 8 string, 10 string fast flight vs b50, or whether a cordovan tab is inhumane as it is horse hide versus using cowhide. WTF?  LOL

X2, couldn't have said it better and its all repeated over and over every week.  

Just shoot the bow!!!!

Tracy