Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Captain*Kirk on November 25, 2024, 08:22:02 PM
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Just wondering...do you ever feel limited with regard to range and your trad bow?
Been watching a lot of hunting videos lately, both bow and gun, and it seems like a lot of guys are taking shots both trad and...err, "other"...that I can't or won't take. I have given myself a self-imposed MAXIMUM range of 25 yards, preferably under, with my trad gear. Yes, I know most archery deer are taken between 7-12 yards. Yes, I know that shooting bare bow without sights reduces my range even further. And yes, I know a camera lens can make a deer appear further away than it is. But I've let more than a few walk without taking a shot due to them being outside my max range. Anyone have the same experiences or are the majority of you simply better hunters? :dunno:
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Yep, sounds like me...just the way I like it too :thumbsup:
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It only takes one bad blood trailing experience to teach you a few things. Experience says to be patient for a high percentage shot. I don't think in terms of yards so much anymore, if the shot feels good I will take it.......but the shot always feels good inside of 20 :laughing:
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I am not limited - I used to shoot field archery out to 80 yards. But I choose to limit myself to 25 yards on living targets. That is a choice, not a limitation. ;-)
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I’m not much for watching hunting videos, but will click on the ones guys post on here or something a buddy or so sends me. I agree I’m often surprised at shots guys will take, more about angles or alert deer than distance, but yeah you are not alone there.
As far as feeling limited, I may think “too far” but I never think “if I had X weapon I could have killed him”. No interest in shooting any animal in the world with anything but my bow so it never enters my mind.
Thats the whole fun of it…. :goldtooth:
R
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"But I've let more than a few walk without taking a shot due to them being outside my max range."
What you stated here all on it's own, is an accomplishment..... something many should aspire to, something many should strive to exercise more restraint to achieve ...... and should be expected, accepted and we try to achieve a harvest while using the tackle we use. That is the higher level in hunting with recurves and longbows compared to some other tools used. This whole deal is often looked at by many as limitation ...... but I see it more as a refinement. My opinion is that you have to be a better woodsman, a better hunter, a more disciplined individual, to pick up a recurve or longbow and get essentially on top of a whitetail deer, and ethically harvest that animal. I'm not interested in stepping out onto the deck in the afternoon and shooting them with a high powered rifle from under my apple trees. That's just me. Hunting shows are barely worth the energy to turn the tv on. Sounds to me like you are simply a "trad" bow hunter.
Limitation doesn't factor into anything here.
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I am a pretty good shot out to 30 yards or so on a stationary target (foam, 3-d, etc). From personal experience on a live target too much can happen before my arrow gets there at those distances. So i "limit" myself to under 20 yard shots. i never think about "what if" i had another weapon.
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I must not know any better as no desire for any other weapon ever remotely enters my mind. I do continually aspire to increase my big buck close encounters as I still fall quite short of my expectations. The thrill of these close encounters personally makes the season and inspires me to start preparing for the next.
Currently, December and January have routinely proven to be my best months for closing in on mature whitetails,
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I think all bowhunters struggle with this from time to time, and guys who use traditional gear are the most conservative of all bowhunters because our equipment requires it. Most of the traditional bowhunters I know are some of the best woodsmen, but sometimes, the deer just won't close that gap. It can be disappointing, but the rewards when it all comes together are worth it.
I used to work in an archery shop, and no matter what type of bow people shot, they were always lamenting about the deer that were just out of range. Even guys with crossbows and Garmin Xeros that shot out to eighty or a hundred yards wanted to shoot further.
When they missed or wounded an animal at these extreme ranges, it was never their fault it was always the equipment or the broadhead, not poor shot placement. Instead of getting closer or not shooting, they wanted a way to shoot even further, meaning a faster bow or lighter arrow.
I think as hard as it is to not take a shot in the long run, we are better bowhunters for showing restraint and knowing our limitations than pushing the envelope and wounding the animal.
Roger
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My maximum limit when bowhunting is 30 yards. I do not feel limited with the bows (recurves) I like to shoot and hunt with. I have no desire to hunt with anything besides my recurve bows. In 55 years of bowhunting I have only shot three animals (whitetail bucks) past 20 yards, one at 25 yards, one at 30 yards, and one at 32 (thought it was 30) yards. As far as hunting videos the only ones I watch are the Wensels, Paul Brunner, and any video I find with Roger Rothhaar in it.
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You guys shooting at 25-30 are better shooters than me. I am a 25 yard and closer guy.
I was joking with my son the other day....if I was a compound or a crossbow shooter I would be broke from taxidermy. I have a great nack for getting about 35-40 yards from some massive public land bucks. That extra 15 yards is what beats me.....I want a slam dunk shot.
I had one come through early November....MASSIVE. Biggest buck I have ever seen walking. Came through the swamp straight at me.....detoured at 30 yards. :biglaugh:
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There are certainly times where I feel limited, and times where I feel that I have an advantage. I can think of several whitetails, as well as a few mulies that would be occupying space in my freezer right now if I had had a compound in my hand, and it was a bit difficult watching what would have been my best buck to date walk away this fall after standing perfectly broadside and feeding calmly at 43 yards. I've been limited by the length of the bow as well, as I was reminded this fall when I smacked a tree branch with my bow limb and sent an arrow through the scruff of a bucks neck. On the flip side, I have shot a few deer that gave me such a quick opportunity to shoot that I never would have been able to get drawn back and a pin settled before the chance was gone. The ability to shoot from awkward positions is also beneficial. I enjoy the challenge of a trad bow, but I'm sure like most, there have been times where I find myself wishing for a bit more range. However, that desire isn't stronger than my want to harvest deer with my recurves and longbows, and the occasional frustrations are overshadowed by the successes when they happen.
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if i was a compound hunter my tags would be filled by now :knothead: :banghead: , but im a bowhunter :biglaugh:
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Of course I do and I am LIMITED! Many moons ago I could reach out to 40 yards assisted by wheels. Now I LIMIT myself to 15 yards. However, the total experience is not LIMITED. In fact the total experience is greatly enhanced by building bows and arrows, shooting year-round and getting up close and personal with some really beautiful big game animals…even if an arrow is not loosed.
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I know I"M limited on my shot distance compared to a compound but that has never been an issue. I like up close nd personal.
I've been hunting with strictly a longbow for 44 years and have gotten some game a compound guy wouldn't have so it equals out.
Most of my whitetail hunting is in tight areas where a long shot isn't possible anyway.
So no, I don't feel limited at all.
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Yes, I feel limited. That is part of the lure of traditional bowhunting for me. It is not easy, and I like it that way.
:archer:
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I also have this “thing” about losing a wounded animal because of bad shot placement caused by not being accurate enough at a range over 20 yards. Now as we know arrows anit the fastest so things like an animal moving, unexpected branch…etc added to longer ranges just makes the odds against me greater. Without hitting on this to hard but I feel is necessary to mention is the “moment of truth” as Gunny Hartman called lt. Taking a life isn’t that easy for everybody, that moment of hesitation could cause that shot to not necessarily be the best. Adding distance just makes it worse.
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I don't feel limited, it's more like feeling challenged from time to time. And like most, if not all, other traditional bowhunters I consciously and willfully made this choice. I believe in the tenet of fair chase and don't feel like I should have an unfair advantage over the animals I hunt. I completely trust my equipment to do it's job when I put it within range, and if I'm not getting within range it simply means that I need to become a better hunter and I'm okay with that. Dropping the string on an animal with a trad bow demands that we get close, and that closeness is intense, even when a shot doesn't materialize. It's what keeps me coming back, season after season, regardless if I harvest or not.
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I don’t have anyone in my hunting circles that shoot traditional gear. With that said, the one guy that shoots a crossbow has lost 3 deer this year from taking marginal shots, makes me sick! He ask me that same question the other day. This is my first year back in many years, but the recurve / longbow is still my choice for my only hunting weapon. This is one of the biggest reasons I love the traditional community. We limit our yardage to confident ranges but not our equipment. I’ve really only had 2 opportunities this year but both have been iffy so I decided to pass. Not because of my bow, but because of the limits I have put on myself.
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Longbow, compound, crossbow,30-30, scoped 270. Everything has a limit. Like Maclean said it is a challenge I accept. It is because I love shooting traditional bows. I shoot almost all year.
I was discussing this with a friend who said what bothered him was that trad guys wouldn’t accept the fact that compounds are just more accurate than trad bows. He is a very good shot with both, I think. He is a great guy and is welcome to his opinion. But that too misses the point because l know plenty of compound shooters that have lost game due to poor shooting or shooting too far..
But to me, the logical end of that thought process is just jump to a scoped long range rifle. It misses the point of why I shoot long bows and recurves: because I enjoy shooting tradgear.
I have lots of friends who shoot compounds, etc. Most of them shoot it just enough to be able to kill a deer. I guess that is ok, but i don’t think they truly enjoy the process that much. Each to their own.
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The limits aren't set by the equipment, they are set by the man shooting it. Using more and more technically advanced means to kill will in the end destroy the sport of hunting altogether. At what point does killing become so easy that it will be limited to only those with the most money who have won the draw, oh, we're almost there already in many jurisdictions. :banghead:
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I limit myself to the same 25 yards. Over the mere 6 years of my archery journey, I have watched a lot of Arizona elk and deer "walk by". The closest I have been is 51 yards: my spot and stalk needs work. My new blind actually arrived today, so my next hunt will have options. I have co-workers who claim to be able to shoot 100+ yards with their ICBM compound bows, and I do not doubt them. However, in my previously stated 6 years of trad archery hunting, I have witnessed two elk--one cow and one calf--with arrows in their rump or jaw. I have to assume someone took a low percentage, long-range shot and the animal suffered. So, I want 20 yards or less, but I can shoot to 25 yards. If all I get is an early morning coffee, a wonderful sunrise, the sound of coyotes early morning calling, the occasional sound of turkeys coming out of their roost and no other people or cell phones, then I had a good day.
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Based on my experience working in the archery shop, just as many deer, if not more, are missed by compound and crossbow hunters than traditional hunters. Many hunters think that these devices and all of their accessories guarantee accuracy and success in the field, but the reality is far different. Otherwise, how does someone miss a deer at twenty yards with a scoped crossbow shooting 400-plus feet per second?
I think that my buddy said it best: we have become a microwave society where everything has to be instantaneous! The archery industry takes this concept to a whole new level, pushing equipment and accessories as the holy grail. Many times, I suggested people spend a couple hundred on shooting lessons rather than buying a new bow, and they always looked at me like I was crazy!
This equipment makes the temptation to take longer shots easier, and many people have spent long nights tracking animals with marginal wounds because they thought they could make the shot. More bowhunters are than ever pushing the envelope with longer shots because they see others doing it on social media and TV. Sadly, if XYZ professional does it, many guys consider this the ethical standard and follow suit. So, in many ways, even though they have all the technological advantages, they still feel limited because they want to reach out even further.
I know it can be incredibly frustrating when you work your butt off to find and close the distance on a good buck or bull, and they stay just out of your effective range, but it's better to show restraint than risk wounding an animal.
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No, I never feel limited. This is the game I agree to play, and these are the conditions. Anything outside my comfort range is simply, "out of range". I love traditional bows and would not consider any other equipment for archery hunting.
Anyone can kill a deer...but not everyone can kill a deer well with a traditional equipment. You either accept these limitations and embrace them or you resign yourself to something else.
It's not about "the get" for me as much as how I go about it. The reward is only as great as what you put into it.
Letting animals walk is a good investment...they've earned it.
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Watched a Fred Bear video the other day. The narrator said bow hunters are limited to 50 yards.
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The only limits are the ones I've set. If I was a rifle hunter and a buck walked by at a thousand , it wouldn't bother me either.
I like to be close and that's why I choose what I do.
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Watched a Fred Bear video the other day. The narrator said bow hunters are limited to 50 yards.
I truly love those old videos. I love to see those images from the past and what to me is part of a legendary time that is a foundation for bowhunting ......... and though there are many things that have not changed much or that have been kept alive because of the value and appreciation for them, there are many things that have changed drastically.
One little detail that stands out to me ....... I love when Papa Bear arrives to camp and one of the first orders of business is to sling a few arrows to get warmed up ...... he opens up a cardboard box of brand new arrows and it appears as though they are the same arrows that would have made their way to the shelf in the local sporting goods store, one might never know ...... with broadheads attached!!!!! ...... and he starts shooting them! Into trees as a backstop or whatever is readily available :biglaugh: I can't imagine doing that! Each arrow I build myself which is 100% of the arrows I shoot whether wood or carbon, is meticulously scrutinized and tailored to the bow I'm shooting them off. I couldn't imagine grabbing a box of woodies and taking them to the woods without hand spining them, spinning for broadhead alignment and ensuring they were mounted true, and shooting each one several dozen times. Honestly, I envy all that in the way it all started. I envy the simplicity. And 50 yards with the stick bow and woodies just as an example, was a part of that time period perhaps. We know arrows will fly 50 yards no problem. I suppose if the archer can get it to the target all other variables considered, 50 yards in theory would be doable! I know as of now, I personally am not up to that task. I appreciate it all from a perspective of education. I truly love bowhunting.
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Definitely, but the great thing is that I remember all the nice bucks that walked by at 30 yards that I let pass. My limit is 25 yards for deer and 18 yards or so for hogs.
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The problem I have with my traditional gear I am limited to 40-42# max, so in turn due to blimp speeds I shoot 20 yards thats my absolute maximum, but I really limit myself to 15 yards. With my compound I have always limited that to 30 yards, same with my crossbow when my body won’t allow me to draw a bow. I am in the woods for the experience, not the deer, if I shoot a deer that’s great, if I wound a deer it’s one of the worse days of my life.
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I don't feel limited any more. My maximum is 20, just like when I shot a compound. My avg kill is 11, just like when I shot a compound. I've misjudged distance a couple times with both, missed with both, mis-hit with both. Trad is much more enjoyable than the other. Confidence comes with success, success comes with confidence.