How long did it take to start trad hunting?

tradrookie93 · August 15, 2016, 12:17:00 AM

I ask this out of my own curiosity knowing that everyone is different.
So how long after you picked up a traditional bow did you begin hunting with it?

monterey · August 15, 2016, 12:20:00 AM

Couple hours.

JimB · August 15, 2016, 12:24:00 AM

I had fooled around with kids bows for about a year,got a hunting weight bow at 15 and practiced with it a year before hunting.

Longtoke · August 15, 2016, 02:02:00 AM

been messing with bows for about 2 years, first year I didnt know what I was doing and shot in pretty irregular intervals with long times between shooting periods never really thought about hunting with it. I just shot because I thought it was fun.

Then the bug bit me and I got into it seriously about a year ago. Found some good info on the internet, mostly from this site here, and started really trying to improve and shoot more. About 6 months after that I felt good about going after big game.

Sean B · August 15, 2016, 05:54:00 AM

It took me about a year before I was confident enough to take it to the woods. I miss ALOT in those early days but stuck with it. That was over 25 years ago.

Petrichor · August 15, 2016, 06:36:00 AM

Couple min. Still have seen anything close enough but how do I love it.

Cyclic-Rivers · August 15, 2016, 07:00:00 AM

Immediately in my head. The following hunting season in practice which was about 11 months.

My shooting was quite rusty that first season but I kept my set distance at 15 or less. Didnt take a shot at a deer that year but I did see about 8 that were in the 20 yard range which I let walk. It sure was a great season.

dbd870 · August 15, 2016, 07:24:00 AM

When I switched back over I hung up the wheel bow right after deer season ended and then only shot the recurve and went out the following season. I haven't shot a compound in almost 3 years now.

CRM_95 · August 15, 2016, 08:14:00 AM

I've been shooting pretty much every day for 8 months now, and feel comfortable out to 15 yards. With that said all my setups are for about 12 yards or so just to be safe. I'm just waiting on October!!

MnFn · August 15, 2016, 08:23:00 AM

I pretty much grew up with a bow. I started with one of those green and white fiberglass bows, probably about 8 or 9 years old. Destroyed that bow- it kept getting caught in the spokes of my bike.

My friends and I shot at inanimate objects all the time, sort of a precursor to stumping, pretty good practise actually.
I guess you are asking about big game hunting? If so 5-6 years.

Sam McMichael · August 15, 2016, 08:44:00 AM

I shot as a kid but only at targets. Then I got out of archery for several years. When in college, I bought a recurve bow suitable for hunting in the spring and was hunting that fall. For a number of seasons, I shot the bow in bow season then used the rifle in gun season. However, this season will be 22 years straight using only the bow.

Mjolnir · August 15, 2016, 08:58:00 AM

I grew up shooting trad. My dad let me start hunting around 12. I stopped bow hunting for a couple of decades and started again 3 years ago.

August 15, 2016, 08:58:00 AM

Somewhere around a year for me. I had the shooting ability in 6 or 8 months, but did not muster the confidence for a while after that!

Bisch

monterey · August 15, 2016, 11:27:00 AM

My answer "couple hours" might call for some explanation.

I got my first bow, a lemonwood self bow, and some arrows at age eight. A friend had gotten a bow at about the same time. We shot at a cardboard box for a little while and test off to "hunt". No squirrel, songbird or bunny was safe, although it was a rare event when we skewered one.

There is a big advantage to taking up archery when very young. It just seems to fall into place on its own.

I just completed a Hill style bow for a young guy who wants to hunt with my grandson. They are too far away for me to help him and when he received his new bow he had never shot a bow in his life.

I told him to watch all the Arne Moe videos on YouTube and he did just that. Now, several months in he is shooting 8 inches at 25 yards and will be hunting in a few weeks.

I tell that story to illustrate that it's a very individual thing. A different experience for any given person.

Mr. fingers · August 15, 2016, 12:54:00 PM

I got my first trad bow in Jan. And like many others I over bowed myself. So when August rolled,around I was still struggling with accuracy. So I put the recurve,away and hunted with my compound. The next yr after watching Rick Welches videoI got better and switched off between the two. Managed to take my first trad deer. Went all trad,from there. I then had the yr of a thousand misses. Worked through a bout of target paninick. Then we had a few,majorly bad winters,that wiped a lot of our,deer population out. And spending most of last,season trying to get my daughter to harvest her first,deer my shot opportunities have been bleak. One shot opportunity in 2 yrs. so there ya go. :rolleyes:

Michael Arnette · August 15, 2016, 01:55:00 PM

I hunted with mine the first year exclusively...missed out on some good opportunities due to inexperience and delelopong shooting skills the first two years and things finally fell into place the 3rd year.
II takes time, I wouldn't be afraid to recommend a point on style of aiming for beginners which can then change to an instinctive method later if needed.

Mint · August 15, 2016, 01:59:00 PM

Got my bow in January and I was ready to hunt with it when the season opened in November. I didn't connect with a deer for five years but that wasn't because of my longbow, it was because I was learning how to hunt.

Pine · August 15, 2016, 02:04:00 PM

This is a trick question .
I probably started hunting trad about 20 years after I started .
That's because it wasn't called trad .

And it had been called Traditional for several years before I even heared of it .
I was just referred to as being a stick bow shooter buy the compound shooters .

Captain*Kirk · August 15, 2016, 02:57:00 PM

One season of practice before I felt comfortable. Was determined to hunt trad or not hunt at all rather than go back out with the compound.

elkhunter45 · August 15, 2016, 03:10:00 PM

I can't remember the details anymore. I started my first season with a 45# Ben Pearson recurve when I was 14. That was 1980. Prior to that I shot at every critter imaginable including a mallard drake that made the mistake of swimming up the creek I was squirrel hunting on. I tried the mechanical arrow launching devices along the way, but they just had no soul.