It's been 20 years since shooting a compound, the time flies, many gratifying trad harvest in the photo album. Each and every hunt is so precious and memorable and almost always ends with a shooting session(this didn't happen with a compound)

gordon i went back and read the post and really didn't see where anyone was bashing the compond shooters. it's only a choice, to each his on. i joke with my buddies about there training wheels, there quick to point out how easily they can shoot the feathers off of my arrows. i don't shoot first when we're praticing with broadheads. i hope we're all buddies here' and can rag eachother. at the end of the day if it's a nice clean kill, we should be happy for the buddy, give thanks for him and thank GOD he gave us an opportunity to hunt. good luck hunting and please don't shoot the feathers of my arrows.  

I consider this a very positive and encouraging post. I've been at bowhunting since before compounds and hunted with recurves until 1975.  Except for 2001 when I hunted with a Fox High Sierra recurve I've hunted exclusively with compounds.

I've been teaching myself to shoot recurves since December 2009. I shoot a lot!  I'm going to hunt with my recurve (don't know which one for sure) here at home in KY where I have lots of time and know the deer movement well enough to put myself inside of 20 yards. However, when I go to Indiana towards the end of October I'm going to take my compound.  Those deer will be coming from any number of trails into soybean fields. I'm not willing to give up 10-20 yards of extra effective range in that situation -- yet.

However, if I'm fortunate enough to kill a deer or two with my recurve in September and early October I expect the thrill is going to be intense!  If so, I could see me giving up the added range and taking the recurve to Indiana also.  

If I retire the compound bow I'll do so with fond memories and without prejudice towards the equipment or its fans.

Frankly, I'm tickled lots of guys are using compounds because this keeps them from making Blacktail, Schafer, and Stahl wait times even longer!

I have been compound free for 17 years. And I remember that compound so well. It was  hoyt fast flight super slam, and it is probably in the same spot where I left it 17 years ago, in about 20 pices. I called in a moose at about 10 yards, I drew back and BANG !!! the bow blew up. After that, all I was holdig was a riser and a pile of limbs, strings and wheels at my feet. And after all of that, the moose was still standing there. I said to myself, never again. I have been Abe Penner's (Cari-Bow) best customer ever since....lol

I started with trad in 1969 (only thing there was back then). I switched to compound in 1996 (I was initially enamored with the accuracy. I switched back in 2003 after being frustrated with the number of shots I missed taking because it took so long to aim and shoot with sights and a mechanical release. Inside 12 yards, I'm more accurate with the trad equipment (80% of my shots end up in this range) and even outside that range, I kill more animals because my opportunities are greater with the much quicker release. Once I realized the compound was a disadvantage in the cover that I hunt, I quickly dumped it. Best decision I ever made. Over the past few years I've convinced quite a few wheelies to make the jump. None have regretted it.

I got my buddy, a wheels shooter, interested... I let him shoot my longbow yesterday and he watched as I kept putting arrows in the kill zone of the targets with barely tuned wood arrows and a longbow... he's intrigued!  I bet by next season he'll have a stickbow and be asking himself which one he'll hunt  

 

I never had one never wanted one . When they came out I thought they was ugly . But if it what gets some one into archery. Then we have a chance of showing them the other side.

Finally got the woodies tuned.  Thanks again to Terry Lockwood and Sean Bleakley!!

"Pride cannot be bought!" - Mike Mitten

 

sold my PSE X-force with all the trimmings, got the check today... :D  

funny somehow I feel like I need another longbow to make up the 150fps I lost today...lol