I figured I would take a moment and ask you guys for some advise. I have been on the quest of hunting with traditional tackle for about three years now. I post a bunch on the bowyers bench and have been building myself and friends longbows with great success..... and that's about where it ends.
I have been on the hunt to take a whitetail with a bow that I have made for the last two years now and have been unsuccessful. I grow discouraged throughout the year with not getting a deer within range. I switch back and forth between a wheel bow and have been struggling internally with this. I don't like switching back and forth I just know the range difference is substantial and that shooting a deer with a compound is much easier.
As I was sitting in my tree stand the other night I was thinking quite a bit and I looked over at my $1500 bow with all the technology strapped to it, my range finder on my side, and thought this just isn't my kind of hunting.
So before heading out last night to sit I grabbed a hill style bow I made earlier in the year and headed out to shoot. I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and focused on the stop that I wanted to hit. Once I hit my anchor point, I released the arrow and watched as it struck my 3D target right in the 10 ring. I smiled and this sensation came over me. It was peaceful, quiet, and simplistic. I took a few more shots and each one was right in the kill zone and with a max distance of 25 yards. I quickly went back into the house to shower, gathered all my hunting gear, and headed out to a different spot. That night I did not see a deer but I just had this different feeling that I was missing when hunting with my high tech bow. I enjoyed looking over at the bow that I crafted with an arrow sitting on the shelf knowing that if I got the opportunity to pick the bow up even for a moment that I was getting closer to my ultimate goal.

So my question to all you successful traditional hunters out there... How do you keep yourself motivated to continue on a quest that has been nothing but struggles to get the animal into range. Do you pick stand sights differently than you would with a compound? What differences did you have to make in the way you set up on animals other than getting closer?
I am just curious to hear the difference of opinions out there. I hunt from tree stands 99% of the time.
Thanks guys who chime in. I will post throughout my season and any tips I have I will certainly post pictures of anything I change and/or learn.

Respectfully,
Justin

Forgot to at least add a picture of my newest bow that I will be hunting with from here on out....



52# @28 inches
Cocobolo, Madagascar Ebony, Curly Maple riser
Cocobolo back
Madagascar Ebony belly
Aboo core

For me it took selling off my compound stuff in 2002. I sold everything and just went all.  I've had to learn to hang stands differently and be more patient.  It will happen for you.  Just commit to it and don't think about "I could shoot that if I had my compound." Good luck!

I'm just to hard headed to give up! Lol
Hang in there! there isn't anything is this world like taking game with trad equipment. Especially something you've made!
I do notice that I spend a lot more time obsessing over the details like stand placement, wind direction, blending in, and on and on and ..........

I don't know much about New Hampshire, but deer are deer I guess. I do set up differently than you probably would with a compound. In early season I hunt food sources almost all the time. Primarily I target a specific tree, looking for concentrations of droppings and tracks round the base. I used to be hung up on white oaks, but it's best to let the deer tell you where to hunt.Water oaks and persimmons are good here to, as well as swamp chestnuts.

Look till you find a tree you know is being hit hard. Set up 10-15 yards away. Get hid good. In a hang on I try to get limbs under me. In a climber I'll get fairly high, 20-25 feet. It helps.

When I set up on a spot like that, I usually hunt it that evening and then the next morning. I fully expect to kill a deer out of that kind of setup. It dosent always work out, but if the sign is there I expect it to. After 2 hunts I'll move to another spot. No matter how careful you are, they figure you out pretty quick.

That way, when they do come in they'll be close and feeding. Much better shot that way.Aim low.

Learning to kill regularly with trad gear takes time. Just keep at it. And then show us the pictures!

For myself, the most important thing was learning more about the animal and their habitat. Once I devoted the time in the field to do my homework, I had a better understanding of the animals (food, temperament, water, other animals, rut, safety, trails, travel patterns, bedding areas,etc) and their environment (rain, wind, moon, temperature, etc)  I feel that being more intimate with the animals and their terrain allowed me to get in close on a consistent basis.

If you can't spend as much time afield, maybe use trail cams to provide you with some information.

BTW, that's a beautiful bow!!!

I'm not sure how the answer should read but I just hunt , my set-up is just what it is for whatever I'm hunting. Just do what you need to do in order to get the shot from a tree , groundblind , stalk , ghillie , food source , waterhole , rutting area. My best answer is hunt where the animals are don't pick an area on where you want them to be and hope. Study the animal then go get in a position for a good 10yd shot don't make it any harder than that keep it simple. For me many years ago it all just clicked and that was all it took , I just go to have fun and if I get an animal fine and if I don't that's ok also. Never ever never give up you can do anything you set your mind to do , as they say just do it..
I'm no expert but what I see the most is people putting way to much pressure on them selves , and it ends up being counterproductive....

,,,Sam,,,

the deer are tough in NH or at least they was for me but I ended up figuring them out and once I did is was wack wack wack.

I do set up my stands specifically for trad,  the #1first thing I look for is a hardwood tree growing right next to a spruce/pine tree even tucked into its braches a bit.   I want this to be just inside the edge of woods adjacent to a swamp or field where the deer sign is the most active showing that's where they exit or entire that open piece.

the deer especially the bucks will hang in that wooded piece till it sees another deer or its dark enough for him to feel safe going out into the open so you want to be up there.

forget open woods in NH, look for places in the terrain that work to YOUR advantage, a funnels especially where they tighten up to cross dirt roads, edges,  ponds.

I do not hunt NH anymore because I moved further south to Plymouth so RI is my Sunday state now... I hunted Bear Brook state park in Allenstown (archery only/deer only) If you want I can put you into my spots there that took me pretty much 7years to figure out and I have taken some deer,,, you will get a shot at a deer or you will hear deer, plus there's moose and bear but you can't hunt them they are just there for entertainment.

I shot I think 7 does from this stand in NH if you look thru trees in background you can see the more open tree swamp where moose would put on the show, when frozen you always heard the deer out there too,, stand is gone but you can have the spot,, 2mile drive down a dirt road then walk 40yds into the woods.  
 

I think your difficulties are mostly mental, with a touch of hard luck. You can grab a gun but if there are no deer around or running in the daylight hours, then there's no deer. You have to decide: do you like hunting or do you like killing? If you honestly answer "hunting", the rest will fall in to place. Doesn't necessarily mean you'll kill more, but the satisfaction will be fulfilling. I hardly kill much, but I hunt a lot. I get them close, but sometimes not close enough; or too close! But when I hunt its on my terms. If I kill an animal its on my terms. Those terms are on the ground and with a longbow. I don't impose those terms on anyone else, but I won't deviate for my own benefit. I've never once had an unsuccessful hunt. I've been busted, I've missed, I've gone days not seeing anything but squirrels, but every hunt has been a fullfilling, successful, dream come true.

Cavscout said it very well; in fact, I don't think I can say it any better.

Just do it, Justin.. It will happen. I set up in thicker cover and my tree stands I set up at about 15 feet maximum height. I pick well used trails or inside corners of fields meeting woods. A blind works great too and the deer don't seem to mind blinds.

I'm in NH and it is about as hard to hunt successfully aa any state I know. What works for me is finding food soruces. There is so much this year that it is hard to pattern them. Apples, acorns, beech nuts are everywhere. Food is where it is at. It is where they are now, it is where the does will be later which is where the bucks will be. A few years ago we purchased our own land so being left alone is easier. If you hunt others property then I would recommend finding urban/suburban areas which may be posted and try to get permission. It's important to be left alone and undisturbed. Don't know where you are but big woods hunting is very different than small woodlot hunting.

Justin, You are almost there and will come to realize that any deer you take with a compound isn't really going to give you the fulfillment you are looking for as you have stated. When you come to that you will never pick it up again. Sounds to me like you are shooting great with your stick. I suggest you stay with it. You will kick yourself in the butt when you have your compound and have a deer at 10 yards. Even when I used to hunt with a compound I only recall a few times I took a shot over 20 yards.

Yes, setting stands for a stickbow in comparison to a wheelie bow is much different. They should be set closer and much lower. Scouting to find the right places is the key. You should be scouting 3/1 over hunting. Good luck, shoot a lot and keep us informed on how its going.

On stand placement Tajue17 is doing what I like to do. Make sure you have a dark background of some kind while on stand.

This is my first year hunting traditional. My first step was selling my wheels so that option was not available to me and it made me determined to hunt only with the recurve. So I practiced/practice almost daily. I have only hunted once with no luck, however, if the Lord is willing it will happen, I wouldn't want it to be easy.

There is nothing wrong with hunting with both. A lot of guys do. Once you have one or two in the freezer it sure relieves a lot of the pressure.

As far as set ups, yes. I do set them up different. If it for a trad set up I want 10-20yds. I want a lot of cover, especially behind me. Hopefully I can JUST Barely see them coming, then they step into the shooting lane.

I've only recently started traditional bow hunting, but have been bow hunting for many years. But it always seems to boil down to 3 things;
Location, Location & Location.... and a little Luck thrown in for good measure...

Good Luck to ya

Also, that is a beautiful bow !

For me - I don't set up or do much differently with my traditional equipment than I did with a compound.  When I look back at 20+ years of hunting with a compound, I bet 90% of them were shots I could make with my traditional equipment.  I have a few 40 - 50 yards shots mixed in there, but not many.  Most of my successful hunts ended with a 25 yard or less shot.  

I think you have to mentally train yourself to NOT see the traditional equipment as the lesser option.  Once you've made that connection, you'll have the confidence you need to carry that stickbow.  Keep at it!

Also, don't beat yourself up over hunting with your compound.  That can still be a VERY enjoyable and fullfilling way to hunt for many people.  In fact, you'd be surprised how many very regular (and very successful) posters on this site still hunt with both weapons.

I can't say much as I've only killed one deer with traditional tackle. I was in a different point in my life then. I needed to put meat in the freezer so after 2 years of nothing I picked up the wheels again.
Now with my kids where they are I don't need near as much in the freezer so I've committed to it and sold everything wheel related.
I to have been struggling to get shots. I'm seeing the deer but I've yet to loose an arrow. I do know that with persistence, it will happen.
I took this on to relax, not worry about killing.

^^^^^ right on!! but a kill would be nice !!