It seems so many here feel that going traditional requires barebow shooting.  While some may hunt successfully that way it seems a phase stickbow hunters are stuck in.  Those of us who shot recurves back in the 50's and 60's remember that shooting without sights was the exception, and rare at that.  Nearly everyone I knew who hunted then used sight pins.  And, if you look at any old catalogs from then you'll see all kinds of sight systems being sold.  So what has happened to make nearly everyone today feel that they shouldn't be using them?

I like shooting without sights.  That is what happened for me.

Dan

for me it is just the magic of having the arrow go right where I'm looking that makes me love shooting without sights.

Because sights go out of whack when they get bumped, and take way too much time to set up the shot.

If that turns your crank, enjoy.  I like simple and quick.

For me it was just the challange of shooting a stick bow without sites and doing it like my Dad did it in his day . A big added bonus was that I was able to take some shots that I would not have been able to take with sights such as low light conditions and situations where the bow had to be canted . In alot of ways I think the more simple stick bow with instintive shooting gives me advantages I didnt have before .

Mike

Those phases are just cuffs on trousers, and right now we are predominately cuffless. There was a lot of revenue to be had by persuading archers that sights were good.
Personally, sights would not be for me.

I was shooting recurves, and longbows, back in the 50's and 60's. I guess Me, and the guys I hunted with, were the exception, as none of us used sights. I have never used them. Nothing wrong with using them, if one wants to though
 

I like the simplicity and ruggedness of a barebow.  Less dependence on technology and more on skills attained through hard work and persistent practice. It sure is cool to see that arrow fly right where you intend it to.  I have nothing against other guys using sights, they're just not for me.

No sights on any of my tradbows and took 'em off my wheelbows two years ago. "K.I.S.S." works better for me.

I shot with wheels for so long  with sights. There is no comparison.  No sights is the way to go.  Like Buff said.  It is watching the arrow go where you were looking is what makes it.

Back in the old days, shooting form for many of us was something we invented as we went along.  As the films and television shows showed more archery, I saw how Hill shot.  There were also those  folks who were trying all kinds of new things.  Most of the sight shooters I knew jumped to the compound.  I used sites for target, but hated them for hunting.  things just were not that predictable the way I hunted and they are even less predictable now.  I hate tree stands, so things happen quick.

I've been shooting a bow for 40 years and hunting with a bow for 35 years. I used sights on target recurves but I've NEVER hunted with a sight on a stick bow. Instinctive shooting gives you an advantage in the field, IMLTHO.

Yep.  I remember sights.  I think about half the folks I shot with in the late 50s early 60s used them.  I tried them as well.  Got quite accurate with them.  I stopped using them long ago because they're not as quick or versatile as instinctive shooting.  They don't work as well if one has to shoot from awkward positions, canting the bow, etc., and perhaps not as well on heavy bows which can't be held as long.  However, on moderate weight bows, they do generally improve accuracy, or enable folks to attain a higher level of accuracy with less effort.  I think we might see a little resurgence in their popularity.

Another, related observation from that era is that folks took much longer shots, both at game and on the practice range.  A lot of field archery courses had 40 to 80 yard targets.  They still do, I guess, but few traditional people shoot them nowadays.  Maybe as our target shooting and hunting ranges became shorter there was less of a need for them.

I think part of the "return to traditional" movement is not really the point of sights or wheels or easier or even much-more-accurate as much as it is just plain  simpler. This is a very real thing for some.  

For many of us sights are not needed, and because of that, they are not wanted.  But also take note.  Nearly none of us condemn you for wanting to use them, if you so desire.

It is really a pretty neat...maybe even a nearly miraculous thing for a person to be able, in this day and age of using computer sighting systems, laser controls etc. to be able to actually draw back a bow, and using only "the force", make the arrow hit something you want it to hit.  It really is.

It is truly magic and I like that magic feeling.
ChuckC

There is a great simplicity when it comes to the bow, the arrow and the archer.  Because I make all my own tackle, my acheivements are purely mine.  When concentration and focus is rewarded by success the moment is absolutely majical.  My favorite thing to do is to watch that pingpong ball smack into the range wall on the end of my arrow.        
There's absolutely nothing like it!  Put your scope on your high-power rifle, and sights on your pistol, but reward yourself with your own success with your bow.  My two cents worth, anyway.  

-Brett

I don't use sights because that is what I choose. If you like sights, by all means use them. I don't care about being an elitist or what ever. If you want to shoot wheels I wouldn't care either. The way I do things is my choice not a conformity issue. I use aluminum arrows, some guys wouldn't think of it. I like challenging myself to  the skill of  just  looking at some thing and shooting it, and hitting what  I'm looking at.

Sights are just another item to go wrong right when you really need them!    

Yes; the indians used sights - like Ishis famous poison sumac twig system ( you never stole that one twice !!)
And the English won many battles with zippo lighters glued to their bows ( you save your matches for lighting the stove for tea).
In my bow collection; all my bows are drilled and tapped for sight systems.
 
   

Yes; people used sights; that is ~some~ people used sights; but not all people- ever. I figure those inclined to rely upon sights had moved over to the path of the compound bow. Yes; Fred Bear did tape on a sight; he did not become Fred Bear with the use of a sight though; nor did Howard Hill; or well; so many others.

If you cant your bow your sight pins would have to look like the letter 'C'. I really don't think using sights on recurves and longbows were ever THAT much of an item; yes target bows were; some bear takedowns have sight systems made right into the riser. But I don't recall sights ever being that popular; and I think a check of the different shooting divisions in archery tournaments separated sighted bows and non sighted bows a long long time ago.

And Mr Chuck is right; its just something to fix when you least need to fix things...

     

anyone here shoot point-of-aim or gap?

couldn't one consider the arrows tip or the arrows shaft a sight aid?

i don't use "sights" as in a fixed type but i do sight using what i have in front of me.

  :confused:

"Who would hunt without sights? "... I think a few people do