What would you have changed in your Trad journey.

[Sirius Black]

Originally posted by WildmanSC:
I would have started in 1985 instead of 2002 and foregone the 17 years of hunting with a wheeled bow!          :(  

Bill

X2! I too, should have picked it up sooner.

[Covey]

I wish I would have dropped the string on a few critters I let walk. I always get my best shots when it's 15 min before dark and I'm all by myself!    Other than that...Nothing!! I love this stuff!

Jason

[Bowwild]

I have few regrets when it comes to archery. I could certainly repeat what many regret about not switching back to curves soonner.  However, I don't regret those times, lessons learned, and relationships developed.

What I regret most are times I didn't spend hunting with a friend or two. Too often I've let small excuses cause me to postpone out-of-state hunts until "next time". Then the season is over.

I have a decision to make in the next 60 days that most people would find simple. It isn't for me though. But if I don't go I'll surely  regret it. If I do I surely won't.

[joe ashton]

oh just wish I'd started a lot sooner.  I picked up my first real trad bow 19 years ago at the age of 42 and have shoot nothing else since.

[Gray Buffalo]

I would have moved North West

[lunchbucket]

Not getting involved with traditional archery earlier in life.

[JamesKerr]

I wish I would have joined Trad Gang earlier. There's alot of great advice on this website.

[Terry Green]

I don't think I would change a thing......or 'things' would not have turned out like they did...

 

[dragon rider]

Two things:

1. I'd have started earlier; and

2. I'd have gotten some real coaching earlier instead of trying to figure it out myself.

[Rustic]

I'm still new to Trad but I would not change anything.  
I think I hit the lotto by going "Trad".
I have met alot of kind hearted people, I had one person (complete stranger) offer to lend me his recurve for the Michigan Archery Season but he was  left handed. I have received some quality one on one mentoring (Thanks Jack). The list goes on. Now more than ever, I appreciate the great outdoors, archery and bowhunting. I am at peace with my soul.

[Archie]

My dad, Roman Gray, was a phenomenal recurve hunter and woodsman.  I wish I hadn't been too cool to listen to him and spend time with him when I was younger.  Dad killed hundreds of animals with his bow; he died in 2007, when I was 36, and I never saw him shoot an arrow at an animal.  Not once.  That's my regret... not going hunting with my dad while I had the chance.

[BowHunterGA]

Would have started Trad a lot sooner.

Would have started shooting heavy bows sooner instead of letting others tell me what I was "able" to do.

[David Yukon]

I've been shooting trad(never shot anything else) for at least 20 years on and off.... I wish I would of stick to it and hunt with it more! I also wish I would of got a lighter bow and stick with it, 70# is a lot of bow, even if it wasn't my first and that I learned shooting with lighter, I should of stayed under 60#, I think my shooting would be better... My next longbow will be no more that 60# !!! I still have time to work towards these goals, I'm just 40!

[eidsvolling]

I would have been smart enough as a teenager to understand that my dad and I could have kept on shooting together. I owe him an enormous debt for getting me started in archery and for shaping my attitudes toward the outdoors. All the things I do now -- bowhunting, canoeing, wilderness camping, nordic skiing -- he got me started on.

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

Often attributed to Mark Twain, but there is no proof in his writings. Whoever said or wrote it was a smart guy in any event.

[Bowwild]

Archie,
Your regret makes mine down right petty! I hope you get a do over with Dad after this life.

My Dad didn't bowhunt but he admired my love for it. My favorite memories of Dad are of him scanning the hickories for squirrels.

[GreyGoose]

Archie, I echo what Bowwild says, and I bet your Dad is with you every time you hunt today. I also bet he didn't become as proficient as he was without understanding the importance of making it on your own, and that he was proud of your independence. If we are lucky, we pass on good values, and some of our loves of the world to out kids.  My dad didn't hunt, but he always encouraged me.  And my kids don't hunt, although of of my daughters (the vegetarian) shoots with me.

[PaPaFrank]

Like a lot of guys, I wish I would've started a little earlier. But even worse, I also was "self taught" and started out with a bow that was way too heavy. It would've been nice to have had a mentor to guide me along, which is what I try to do for others now...

[RC]

I would like to go back and keep notes of all my hunts and took a lot more pics. My Buddy Chris has a pic of every critter he has bow killed.
If I remember right Mr. Womack told me he had a photo of all his deer kills but one and he has journels that you could read for hours and hours I`m sure.RC

[RC]

Almost forgot...I would have spent a bit more time teaching Biggie to shoot. He has done alright but no telling at the critters he would have he killed if I had listened a bit better.....RC

[lpcjon2]

You should have taught him to stop wading in creaks in his drawers(his avatar)...LOL Some things another man shouldnt have to look at.