I also got consumed in the compound craze.  The last two years I have hunted strictly traditional and it has brought the fun and enjoyment back into it for me.  It also increases the shot opportunities. I harvested three deer this last season and one of them was only a split second opportunity to take the shot.  No thought of aiming or what pin to use just draw back and let it go. The arrow hit right where I was looking. Thats traditional!

QuoteOriginally posted by WidowEater:
For me it is not necessarily because of the challenge.  Traditional archery has, if anything made it easier to bag game.  It has however cut my range down to 20 yds or less.  That has been the main drawback.  They biggest challenge of it was to master instinctive shooting (still trying) which took a tremendous amount of time and is still a work in progress but instinctive shooting has made it so I can hunt any animal.  I could never do that with a compound because aiming was done with mechanical devices and now it is more done with the brain itself.  Hunting with traditional gear has made it possible for me to make that shot where I only have a window of less than a second to take that shot.  Stalking and small game hunting are viable options now.  

Any other thoughts??

My reasons exactly! Plus, they are so light weight and works of art.

Mike

Because I will only live this life once; and I want to get all that I can out of it. I get that: hunting with a traditional bow.

I just purchased 2 bows, so I can start learning the basics of traditional. I was shooting balloons at a local Sportsmen's show and doing well at about 7 or 8 yards.

It was fun, and I am a little older and have more time and patience to practice, so I thought I would dive in and get started.

I don't have any big expectations, but I would like to harvest a turkey with on of my recurves this year.

The compound is still my primary weapon.

I guess I am trying traditional, because it is really a whole new hobby and with any hobby there are challenges and obstacles. Once you succeed at your hobby, their is a feeling of accomplishment.

Just about anyone can go to a bow shop today and be shooting a compound fairly well in no time. Traditional is a whole new experience and I think that is the lure that reeled me in.

I have been shooting a compound for 18 years, and the recurve is a refreshing jolt to my favorite past time, bowhunting.

The thing I love about traditional, instinctive style shooting is that it has helped me develop the other side of my brain that sometimes doesn't work all that well. I'm a very analytical guy and the "art side" doesn't get a very good workout with my old method of compounds and sights. Just pointing at a target and watching the arrow magically hit exactly where I'm looking gives me a feeling that is imposible to explain but I know many of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I don't post much on forums, but I have to say I find myself here much more than anywhere else. It's all about the great people that post here. Knowledgeable, courteous, and helpful - what more could you ask. My thanks to all who have unknowingly helped me!

Harry

Mostly for the women...

 

Lenny

my bowhunting experience is limited to the last five years using a crossbow. taken plenty of game with it. i've just switched to recurve and although i haven't taken anything with it yet, i'm addicted! won't pick up the xbow this year i don't think. i too like the snap shooting abilities of trad. i practise with a mate who shoots compound. i had an arrow on the string once and was about to draw on the target when he said "shoot that coke can over there", i swung across drew back and smoked that can in one motion. it felt beautiful, like archery should. i like it's unmechcanised simplicity. no sights, no mechanical release. just you and your bow and the bush around you. a simple pastime that can bring much enjoyment. an escape from a complex world to one that our ancesters lived in.

There's another kind of bow?

Traditional Archery there is beauty and simplicity.

It is hunting in it's purest form, which requires much more of the hunter.

If it were easy. Everyone would be doing it. It takes constant practice and dedication.

Traditional Archery says something about the person. Appreciation for the art, craft, skills and spirit that goes into it.

It is timeless. Been with us since the dawn of time. Longbows & Recurves were all there were when I started. Maybe when I am hunting I still have the same feelings and excitement as the 13 year old kid I was, so many decades ago.

Frankly, I don't care for the cable and wheel equipment. But I recognize and respect everyone's personal choices.

I have nothing but respect for the guys I watched setting up compound bows at the local Bass Pro shop. I was a bicycle mechanic (it paid most of college tuition) and I remember lacing up the spokes for wheels and setting them on a truing stand. It took years to master the art of matching machined parts from Asia, Europe, and even the USA. (We used to make things in the 20th Century.) Compound bow mechanics also have to assemble and tune their arrow shooting machines in much the same way.

I still have my allen wrenches, spoke wrenches, bottom bracket pullers, pedal wrenches, and a host of other specialized tools (even some bike stands), and understand why some people run for fun instead of bike.

Some of the customers clustered around the bow mechanic's counter at the Bass Pro shop had heated arguments about their mistuned bows and were looking for even more magic gizmos to attach to their arrow shooting machines. Their arrows look about like mine, but I suspect somebody will find a way to put a heat seeking device on them in the near future.

I still have my allen wrenches, spoke wrenches, bottom bracket pullers, pedal wrenches, and a host of other specialized tools (even some bike stands), and understand why some people run for fun instead of bike.

Now I look at my recurve. One piece of wood, one string, one nocking point, and one arrow at a time. When I want to send an arrow to a target, I aim with my eye. My bowholder is me. When my body is tuned perfectly, my arrow goes where I look. Nobody to blame for a hit or a miss but me.

Simplicity, is a simple way of putting it, knowing that it's more about the development of your skill, that leads into character.

It's not about the gizmos, it's more about what you can do with what you have, not what you can get to do the job for you.

It's about each step through the woods not about the end of the journey.

Carl

When I was young I was a wrestler.  Just me no ball no bat just me against my challenger.

When I ski it is just me and the mountain.

When surfing nothing but a board and the wave.

When paddling kayaks; Can I beat these rapids?

Fly fishing is myself alone with just a stick and string and the river.

Trad is just "I" and getting the arrow to a point were I want it to go.

I think that for me the common thread in my life is that I am the happiest in this type of challenge.  My inner space feels these rhythms, this type of pace, an earthly pace and a congruence.  I gain satisfaction; no a renewal when I find this energy.  When the energy is right and you go "sub conscious" or "get in the zone" maybe "transcended" picking what ever you want to call it nothing else maters in that moment.  Life is both beautiful and good.

I like wood....


David

To me, there is a lot of factet's as to why I choose to use traditional equipment. A lot of it is my roots. A lot of it is the folks who also share this quest with me. They are the kind of people who you don't mind sharing a campfire with. Where else would someone (who you never met, mind you) send you a $1000 bow only on your word? In a world where people are in such a rush and distrust everybody and everything, it's very refreshing to know that your word is still worth something.

The bows that I own are functioning works of art. They perform without flaw. I'm the one who is responsible for where they shoot.

I enjoy shooting my bows! I shoot year round, as much as I can. I believe that one's time spent with bow in hand is not deducted from your lifespan...

In the scope of things, bows have been around for thousands and thousands of years. The compound has only been around for 50 or so years. If it has been taking care of business and feeding us for that long, why mess up a good thing? It's got a proven track record.

I'm glad to be livin in this era enjoying the works of the craftmen that have really taken bowbuilding to another level. The bows they produce are marvels and I often admire work that goes into them while on stand. Alloy's and cables don't do anything for me these days.

In other words, I like wood also.

JL

Why traditional...because there is just something about the feel of the bow in my hand and the release of an arrow the moves me to my core...I have not killed alot with my bow but I have had numerous opportunities to do so...I have just chosen to either not take that particular animal or simply had a misplaced arrow... either way...the hunt was successful and the bow in hand made it special...never felt that way with the wheels although I still have to use them on occasion to hunt certain ranches...

You just don't see any compound shooters getting together like at OJAM and MOJAM. That just shows how much more soul there is in the ol' stick and string.

The reason I shot a recurve is simple, my wife wanted to decorate our sons room and hang a bow in it.  Since I was 10 I shot a compound because all the neighborhood kids had one.  My dad has always shot a recurve, and one of my old hoyts just did not look right hanging on the wall, so I asked my dad if I could hang one of his bows on Riley's wall.  Well since it was hanging on the wall, I figured I might as well shoot it.  One thing lead to another and I ended up selling my new hoyt, and my shot gun and ordering a Black Widow, and as they say the rest is history.

Because anything else just aint Archery!

Eric

Add me to the, it's more fun list. I have always been a "keep it simple stupid" person, recurves and longbows fit that. Besides that, I like the look and feel of real wood, nothing better!

because I can !!!!