Over the years I have seen trad mentioned as "doin it the hard way". I have never looked at it in that light. Having shot this way my whole life, it seems to be just the opposite. I have heard more excuses from compound shooters such as "my sight was off", it was too dark and I couldn't see through my peep sight", "I misjudged the yardage", "I was looking thru my peep and didn't see the limb", I forgot my release", "my rest would not stay up", and there are probably more that I can't remember.

We don't have to have all the gadgets or have to carry a tool box with us. We don't have to worry about something getting knocked outta whack or forgetting something and leaving it at home.  Since we shoot a simple stick and string, it would seem that we are doin it the EASY way.

well said Bill!

I switched from a compound to a stick bow for just those very reasons.

I agree with you Bill. With what compounds weigh, just carrying one around would be doing it harder than needed especially since there are so few shots that would be within their range and outside of mine here anyways.

That's the little secret of trad hunters.  Everyone thinks we must be really good hunters to use these stickbows are so impressed when we actually kill game.  

Truth is, they give us an advantage!  

Fred Eichler says that he hunts with trad equipment because it is a more efficient killing system in many instances. I think that is what others are saying here. I agree. Besides, it is more fun. One of my trackers in Africa asked me where the sights were on my bow. All the trackers were amazed that I could shoot so accurately without any sights and almost thought of it as magic. There is a little magic there for me too, which is one of the reasons I like it. Another is the weight factor.

Allan

Bill,

About five years ago, I had three hog hunging trips, in a row, spoiled because of compound bow technical difficulties.  Well, after hanging lights off of the sights, lights off of the stabilizer, new release, and a peep hole that looked like an 18 wheeler intertube, I looked at my bow and said, "This is absolutely ridiculous!, I look like some sci-fi comic book character."  And I don't like sci-fi comic books! Off to Archers Advantage I went for my first longbow purchase. Feel much better, and I've been more successful!

Bill I do indeed find it much easier and a lot more pleasant hunting with my stick and string. As for the easy vs. hard way!  I think the only hard part and one that has attracted me to the traditional bow is getting close. I no longer can count on taking deer at 35 - 40 yards, but must get inside 25 yards of the game I am hunting.

About the only thing I have to fuss over any more is the sharpness of my broadheads. With the wheels it was a never ended saga.

I shoot both and can not think of a single time when I have had an equiptment failure.  I am glad you are happy with your choice. I shoot the longbow because it is more me and less the bow.  It is not anything special anymore to shoot a deer with a compound and I don't see a lot of need to practice with a compound when I can pick it up after 4 months and put every shot in a kill zone all the way to 60 yards (without even touching my sights).

Here's the thing, though.....

Traditional archery (to me) and compound archery can be simmed up this way:  Shooting an animal at 20 yds, once the archer has become proficient, is the same.  Kinda like running a mile is running a mile.  The difference is...becoming proficient with the compound is like running the 2nd mile in a 5K.  Becoming proficient with trad tackle is like running the 20th mile in a marathon.

Easier?  Once you're proficient.......it's simpler.  But, "easier" doesn't come to mind, for me.

About 26 years ago I switched to a recurve.My friends all shot compounds and thought all thought I was crazy but after 2 years and 5 bucks later I got 2 followers after 4 years I had 6 followers.Through the years 14 people I know have switched over.3 Of those have went back to compounds.Trying to get that edge on distance.They still hav'nt figered it out.Just not good hunters.Hunting with them shows it.After 6 years 20 years ago.I started building selfbows.And have kill 33 bucks with my own bows.Harder thats for you to deside.But I think you know my answer.

Well, in the context of the phrase, "hunting the hard way", simply means limited means; no extraneous help...let-off, wheels, triggers, et al.  Pretty much it all depends on your mindset, and how much you want to put into a hunt/shoot.

For me, a bow has a riser and two limbs, without anything to provide a mechanical advantage...read that things to go wrong.  It is harder than having a machine set up to the "enth" degree of accuracy, but it is a lot more satisfying knowing you don't need crutches.

Roy I agree good hunters are good hunters.  I got to say I got a lot of respect for a hunter who kills as succesfully as you have.

I wonder, when it comes time to shoot, do trad hunters make the shot a higher or lower percentage of the time?

Granted, that might be at 20 yrds for the trad guy vs. 40 for the wheel bow, so he will take fewer shots. But is the kill (read good shot) percentage higher than the wheelie guys?

Perhaps its just the SIMPLE way vs easy/hard.

I always took "hunting the hard way" to mean you had to put the emphasis on the HUNTING over the shooting i.e, you have to get up close if you are hunting with a stickbow and wait for the right shot angle. Certainly you can be farther away with a compound to say nothing of the great distance you can harvest from with a scoped rifle as your choice. Having a let-off is certainly easier than having to time it just right. At close ranges I think the tradbow can be the superior choice over a compound. You can bend and twist without worrying that the sight is no longer aligned, etc. In any case, I'd rather have a small doe with a traditional bow than a rack buck with anything else!

You can bend and twist with a compound bow and shoot lights out, my brother and I do it all the time playing follow the leader.  You just can't cant a sighted compound bow if you want to shoot much past 20 yards or so.  When your bow is only 32-37 inches long you don't usually need to cant it.

I'd attribute the coinage of this prhase to Howard Hill.  Of course, when he used the term as a title for one of his books, "Hunting The Hard Way," meant hunting with a bow rather than a gun.  Mechanical arrow launchers hadn't yet been invented.

"Traditional archery (to me) and compound archery can be simmed up this way: Shooting an animal at 20 yds, once the archer has become proficient, is the same. Kinda like running a mile is running a mile. The difference is...becoming proficient with the compound is like running the 2nd mile in a 5K. Becoming proficient with trad tackle is like running the 20th mile in a marathon"

Or - Trad archery is like "running" the mile - compound archery is racing in a wheelchair. Of course a "handicapped" archer will beat us, but he wasn't really running the race, was he?

To me bowhunting is about being CLOSE and Recurves & Longbows fits the bill for close encounters in my opinion.I used the compound seriously for 11 years (finger shooter) hunting and competing and do not have anything against them at all.I do not use traditional tackle because I thought is was too easy with the Compound bow,I just enjoyed the simplicity and level of fun with Stickbows and everything that goes along with it.I also am involved year round in one form or another which for me is very important if I am going to stay proficient with stick & string.