How long did it take to start trad hunting?

[Friends call me Pac]

I hunted with wheels for a lot of years (20+). I had bought a PSE Impala several years prior to my 1st hunt but I never shot it until one day in August.  I was bored shooting the compound so I dug that recurve out just to see if I could even hit a stack of 3 hay bales. That's how it got started.

Two months later I found myself actually hunting with that bow.  I killed a doe early Oct and then a 2nd doe in latter October.  I haven't pulled the compound out of it's case since then.

It's been 8 years now, a lot of bows later and still going strong.

[RedStag5728]

Got my Redstag longbow as a gift from my father for my 24th birthday 3 years ago (am 27 now), and I got confident enough to hunt at CLOSE range (15 yards and in) with it the first year and had a NICE buck come up at 15 yards and I hit him in the shoulder and he ran off across the river and never found him      

Last year I shot an missed a doe at 7 steps of all things      shot under her and then I killed a small doe at 20 yards, took two arrows as the first one haunch shot her, waited an hour and then found her still alive but laying down and slow moving and then finished her off with a follow up shot through the lungs.

So this year I am hoping I can connect with a nice clean kill shot. As every year my shooting has improved and I learn something new    

[gregg dudley]

I got my first trad bow in March or April of 2002 and hunted with it that fall.

[Stump73]

Started shooting trad in November waited till the October to hunt. I didn't feel confident in my shooting capabilities to not wound any animals.

[MCNSC]

I picked up a recurve to play with, after a couple years I decided I was good enough at close range to to hunt with it. Heck most of the deer I was shooting with the compound were 10 yards or less.  At those ranges I would pick a trad bow over a compound any day.

[bucknut]

2 weeks this time around. Shot curves in the mid 90's and always shot really well. Had a bad day hunting (Blew a couple easy shots). Then took a big hiatus and returned in 2011-12 shot a deer first night out. My old Assenheimer was as if I never sat her down. Now I'm ate clear up with Trad hunting again and shoot everyday.

[Shadowhnter]

It took me about 7 months of intense shooting to feel comfortable with that first year. I took a big doe from the ground at 10 yards, then later in the season a little rag horn buck at 12 yards from a tree. Good grief....25 years ago.

[stack]

Got my bow in July 5 years ago.started hunting with it that year. Wheels stayed in the case from then till this spring when I gave the whole thing to a young man that I could not talk into a trad bow.

[CoachBGriff]

I got my bow in the early spring and shot my first whitetail with it that next fall.  By that next spring I was completely traditional.  I quit shooting my compound, and never touched it again.

[joe ashton]

Funny thing is I went to a Colo bow Hunter banquet before I had a bow. The bug bit me there. That would be in April. A few days later I bought a ccccompound bow.  I shot it a few months.  Decided it was NOT a bow and sold it and bought an Asbel big horn recurve.  Been 100 % trad bow since. I got my first deer that next season.. a doe, cedar shaft, red cresting with red feathers and a two blade zwicky broad head. I can still see the arch of the arrow as it flew to the deer. I can easily hear that deer running off and the curious sound of it crashing. I did not know what that sound ment. I can still feel the uncertainty as I took up the blood trail and the joy of finding that deer.
Twenty five seasons ago.
Joe
Ps. One week and three days and 7 hours til elk season

[Kip]

I killed my first bow kill Deer in 1976 with a K-Mag  not sure if compounds were out yet in Louisiana did try a wooden handle compound in late 70's used it for a week and have never shot one since.
Kip

[J.W.]

I got a recurve for Christmas one year and killed my first deer with it the following fall. Haven't shot a wheel how since.

[KyStickbow]

I hunted with a recurve in 2012....and shot a nice buck to far forward. Got discouraged...and went back to a compound in 2013. Found out about eye dominance after 2013 season....and switched to left hand shooting. Havent looked back since!

[riser]

I'm in my third year of trad shooting ( and archery overall).  I took my archery hunter safety course last summer, and considered deer hunting last year-but didn't make the time.  Honestly, I was not 100% confident in my abilities last fall.

I plan to deer hunt this year.  Accuracy and confidence definitely better this year than last (finished 3rd in a state 3d shoot with a 40#  68" 1959 Bear Kodiak Special).   Max distance for me will be 25 yards.

So for me, 3 years.  

Not sure which bow I will use.  I draw 30". I'm not sure if it will be my 40# Samick Journey (amo 64"), or a 41#  1962 zebra wood riser Bear Polar (amo 66"). Both draw about 46-47# @ 30".

Now, getting a trad SHOT at a deer will be the next "time table" issue...

[GreyGoose]

I started bowhunting when I was 10, as soon as I got my first "real" bow (a red fiberglass Bear recurve). That trying to get squirrels at the time. By 12 or 13, I was able to do in groundhogs. Began bowhunting for deer when I was about 14.

[JakeD]

5 or so years ago I bought both a recurve and a longbow. I didn't have much for instruction and couldn't figure it out so I ended up selling both out of frustration. I shot my compound through last season and decided to give it a try again. I bought a Ben Pearson cougar last winter and started shooting quite a bit. I then got my black widow and decided I didn't want to shoot my compound anymore. I've since sold the compound and am anxiously awaiting my first season with my recurve.

[damascusdave]

The better part of two years...I took the International Bowhunter Education Program back in the 90's when I was a compound hunter and they emphasize that one needs to be an archer before they become a bowhunter...it took me a couple of years of shooting before I believed I had any right to take a shot at a game animal

DDave