Over the years I've learned a lot about myself because of traditional bowhunting/archery.  I believe if you take the right approach,  it may guide you to the path of life long learning.  It could also instill key foundations for our younger generation.

Here's just a few to begin with.
Persistance, Being Positive, Determination, Humility, etc.....


Let's hear from the gang, how traditional bowhunting impacted your life or the life of another in a positive way!

Ryan

 

It allows me to spend a lot of time with one of my sons. Hap

I feel like having those virtues are the reason we take up archery. The guys who are with us a few years and then go on to other things do not have those qualities.

I am inclined to agree.

Here, here, Biggie! So true!

In my personal experience, it has built confidence in setting goals and working to acheive them. And to also challenge myself in other things!

I agree with the above + for me it brings back the simple/care free times when I was young. When times seemed to be slower and you had the time to enjoy life more. When your word and a handshake  was all you needed.

I feel that taking up traditional archery tought me more about who I am and what is important to me, emotionally, and spiritualy and helped to reinforce the vertues that my father and mother tought or tried to teach me in my rebeliuose youth, and I have tried to pass the passion and vertues on to my son.

Using archery gave me another way to teach/pass on to him some of these vertues with out having to watch his eyes glaze over in that "I'm in my happy place and when his lips stop moving I'll say ok dad and it will be over" look.

I believe Traditional archery brings forth enrichment! It gives to us so many things that it would take a much smarter man then I to ponder and be able to put into words here. I know that it has enriched my life on so many levels and in so many ways that I can never find a way to express them all.  

I've used it to create confidence and a unique identity for my kids. They've been shooting 3-D since they were very small and have been on some successful hunts. Confidence is the key to success and traditional archery it is a great way to give them a unique opportunity to stand out.

We all know you must have pretty intense focus in our sport and that carries over to most of what we do.  In addition to confidence it also instills humility. We've all experienced the frustrations of our sport as well. There is a direct correlation between effort and success. Again, a life lesson.  Anyway, I'm fortunate to have 4 great kids and I have to believe that my wife is the biggest reason, but traditional archery was certainly a contributor.

QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
I feel like having those virtues are the reason we take up archery. The guys who are with us a few years and then go on to other things do not have those qualities.

Or maybe they just found something they enjoy doing more.

Let's not make it more than it is, the same can be said for golf.

I do agree though, archery can foster all those things, in addition to a  sense of humor .

Yep...like Tiger..he has ALL of these qualities and more!

Over the years Traditional Archery has lead me to meet many folks of great quality I may have otherwise never had the opportunity to know.

Great thread...

For me, traditional archery has come to be somewhat of a metaphor for life.  Specific character traits that have been strengthened include determination, perseverence, respect, humility, confidence, and many more.  
Like Biggie I believe that the challenge of traditional archery does not create character, but it does reveal it.  Those who remain life-long devotees are often special people indeed.

Claudia

Great thread.
Due to it's bare bones simplicity, I beleive trad archery gives us a jump on the path of the true hunter. In the true hunter I find most of the things I aspire to become. A good member of the natural world.
Looking foward to the lifelong jorney.

Yup there's sure nothing like it.  Obviously trad hunting isn't for everyone, but for those who are made for it it brings out the best.

I also have to agree with Biggie. It seems these qualities are in all the traditional archers I've seen.
Sadly, I can't say this about other sports and clubs I've been involved in.

During the years that I was active in the traditional archery business, I was never, not once, stiffed by a customer. The closest to a bad deal was a credit card that was denied after I had shipped, but I ran it again later and it went through. Most of my business was over the phone, with a lot of trust involved, and I routinely shipped before the card or check cleared.

The same has been true since I started selling off my remaining shafts, mostly to Trad Gang members. A truly remarkable bunch of folks, I think. I guess that's why I keep coming back here. In this age of cynicism and declining personal and public values, it helps to keep me smiling.

I agree with most of what has been said. I'd like to add that traditional archery also promotes and teaches self-reliance. Having to count on yourself and knowing that it was YOU and not some mechanical piece of equipment.

I believe that lesson transfers over to life, for most traditional archers.That's one reason there isn't much money in traditional archery. We see an item then go home, build it and personalize it.

It's been said that golf doesn't instill character within a person......it identifies it.

I think the same could be said for the lifestyle we all love.  As a former PGA Teaching Professional, I view golf and TARGET archery (the physical) as "twins - separated at birth".

I also see MANY correlatives in the 2 endeavors.  Though I currently choose not to play the game......I respect the game for the beauty and simple-ness of it (when reduced to its' lowest common denominator.  I view traditional archery in much the same light.

I'll continue to "play it as it lies" in both endeavors.  And, I'm a better person for having experienced both.

"Golf is not just an exercise; it's an adventure, a romance... a Shakespeare play in which disaster and comedy are intertwined."  ~Harold Segall

Examples of the correlatives.........

"One minute you're bleeding.  The next minute you're hemorrhaging.  The next minute you're painting the Mona Lisa."  ~Mac O'Grady

"The object of golf is not just to win. It is to play like a gentleman, and win."
Phil Mickelson

"Do your best, one shot at a time and then move on. Remember that golf is just a game."
Nancy Lopez

"The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself."
Gerald R. Ford

usally nothing dies while "playing" golf, things (animals) die when I "play" traditional archery