One Simple Reason

[Trab]

So I'm takin to my buddy, who's askin me for the 3rd or 4th time why I'm tryin somethin "outta my league".......after all, as he correctly points out,  I have only recently wrapped up my 3rd hunting season, with no meat on my table that didn't have a label on it........what could I say......is he not right ?  Hell yeah he's right.....  Now I have NO PROBLEM admitting what reality is.....never have.....never will.......so I don't want anyone thinkin I was strugglin  with what to say......it's just that,  like I mentioned already, he's been askin me 3 or 4 times why was I doin it.......so I was gettin kind a tired of explainin to him things like > cause I love the idea of a stick and a string....tryin to do it the hard way sounds cool......want to go after the deer on their own terms.....Native Americans impressed the heck out of all of us......simplicity......etc....etc....etc......

I don't know what made me say it......it just kinda came out without any real thought behind it.....but when the words came outta my mouth, it just seemed to fit.....

"I gotta get closer shots, my aim REALLY SUCKS"  ........so that will now become my stock answer....cause it actually makes total sense to me.....how many of you TRAD guys are downing white tail from further than 20 yards??  Not to many I would imagine....in fact, from the posts I have read on the topic, most seem to be 5 - 15 yards....at least those doing so on the ground seem to say that......and after listening to all the more experienced guys I speak to on practicing with my longbow, I should be practicing from 10 -15-20 yards tops....which is exactly what I'm doing.....and getting fairly accurate if I do say so myself....now I'm no moron, and already know from experience that it is a whole other ball game when a severe case of BUCK FEVER is kickin in so bad you forget whether or not you are a lefty or a righty......but even so, I GOTTA believe I stand a whole lot better chance shootin from 12 yards on the ground, than from 25 in a tree......

So hell yeah....the biggest reason of all that I'm goin TRAD is by far the mst logical to me....

I GOTTA GET CLOSER SHOTS, MY AIM REALLY SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!                  

[mcgroundstalker]

Many years ago I read an interesting story in an outdoor magazine. Was about the jump (backward) into traditional archery. In a nutshell it stated that if you can hit a small paper plate all the time at five yards get out there and hunt. Just Keep Your Shots At Five Yards And Closer! This helped me make the move into longbows and recurves. Ain't never looked back.

Mark, you have what it takes for accurate shooting beyond 20 yards. You may try targets that are 40 or even 50 yards. Thats fun. When it comes to live game... Keep it close. We all know that. You are not in a contest with your buddies. They do not understand what makes (us) tick. Trad archery is all about spittin' distance. Again, for live big game anyway.

Hope to see ya soon buddy!

... mike ...

[MCNSC]

One of the reasons I switched to traditional was that I was shooting most deer from 8 to 12 yards. Now who really needs all those gadgets to make those kind of shots?? In fact at those yardages sights can become a hinderance. Actually when I switched I only wanted to kill one deer just to say that I had done it (It was a dream from childhood kindled by looking at Bear archery catalogs) anyway that was 15+ years ago, havent looked back.
Mike

[koger]

Mark, for me it is just the plain fun and satisfaction of shooting trad. I am a serious deer hunter and my wife chided me when I went cold turkey and sold all my wheelie bows. I had great luck filling the freezer year after year and she was worried about it when I went trad, first season I had 3 deer in the freezer the first 2 weeks of bow season. And as you surmised, all under 20 yds. I have taken deer out to nearlyl 30 yds with trad gear, but I find myself shooting more and more between 10-15 yds at deer, and they all have ended up dead. I work harder on making a perfect shot, waiting for the shot oportunity, and just respecting the game we hunt enought to not take way out there shots needlesly. I also watch the wind closer, move less. A big does means as much to me when taken with trad gear, as a Booner buck taken with a rifle. The main thing for me is having fun, gettin meat, and enjoying every day afield with friends or by myself.

[sendero25]

Your aim doesn't "suck"
You are just more accurate at close range, and if you can make the shot at close range, you know, watch the wind, watch the game and know when you can draw, and make the shot, then you are a MUCH better hunter than someone who can shoot 30-40 yards with sights and a release and cams and stabilizers and blah, blah, blah.
Take satisfaction in the closer the better. In fact long range, compound shooters, are OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE!
John

[tarponnut]

Like Mike said, "it's about getting in spitting distance" It forces us to become better hunters than most.
I don't think we realize how small our segment of the "sport"(hunting)is.I keep my shots at 15 yards and under because that's the range I shoot best at.
People sometimes ask me why I flyfish,too.
"Couldn't you catch more fish with bait"?
I could catch more with dynamite,too, but I wouldn't do it.
A friend bragged to me about making a shot at fifty yards on a deer(with a compound). I half-jokingly asked why he screwed up so bad (not getting closer)!

The owner of the local archery shop used to always give me flack for practicing as close as five yds. He would say "why are you practicing that close? You are not gonna get shots that close". My answer to him was "why would I shoot something at 20yds when I can shoot it at 5 or 10yds."

That was when he first opened the shop several years ago. I regularly bring in pics of animals that I have taken with my stick (rerely anything over 15yds) and he dosen't say anything about it anymore.

Close is GOOD!

Bisch

[Trab]

Thanks guys, for all the input........geyyin close is the fun part....that is for sure....that's what the others don't get.....

But hey, that's their loss....no doubt.....

Hey Mike, I hear you man....I'm not given up on longer shots....Im just pokin a little good natured fun at myself, while using my non expert aim as an excuse to others who don't get it...it's easier to say I need closer shots than explain the myriad of reasons that we all truly  trad hunt for......but I will keep my releases within my range until I am more able down the line....hope all is well for you.......and Happy Mothers day to all the Mom's in your life....by the way, I'll be down your way today at my mother in laws,,,,,Hone Ave off Allerton......Oh no....The Big City....          

[pine nut]

Your desire to be successful as a trad hunter will make you a better hunter in the long run.  That was my experience.  If you are to get as close to a deer or pig or other critter as to be able to collect them with a stick and string, then you will learn more about the "how to" as a natural progression of your desire to succeed.  Otherwise it will be just dumb luck, like me!LOL
  A longer range weapon rifle, shotgun, pistol, x-bow or compound increases the odds of success without necessarily developing to skills to get as close as we must.  It will make you a better hunter...not necessarily a more successful one.  It just depends on how you measure success!  A good hunt doesn't always end with a kill.  
  So i'd reply to my friend "So I can be a better hunter".  Just my $0.02.

[Weekend Warrior]

I remember when I got my first longbow, I went to the local shoot a lot of my friends call it a fishing pole.  
 I took the second biggest buck in the club that year. That changed their minds about that.     I have taken several deer with a  compound.  

 I hunt traditional now for my own personal satisfaction of doing it the hard way!

[jimmerc]

I just came off a week vac hunting turkeys,with a long bow(this is my second season trad only for deer or turkeys) I've had turkeys in my lap every morning except this am, For whatever reasons I just couldn't get the shot I wanted, I started out with just a gilli suit early in the week and switched to a blind and still couldn't pull it off!! I did however put my brother on to his first mature bird but he hunts the other way!! both him and my wife asked me why i just don't pick up a gun and be done with it! My answer to that was simply i have to be so close so I can see in their eyes to see what they are thinking and I just don't want to be done with it!! this week was a better than any of my past weeks of hunting with other than trad, I've had a week of learning up close and personal with turkeys!! I wouldn't change a thing, Trad only!! and to these guys who take game with trad gear, you have all my respect!!!!!!

[TNstickn]

When you get that first deer, you my friend will be the COOLEST hunter your buddies know!! It will click for ya, and you wont ever have to explain to anyone, outside of just encouraging someone else to give it a try!