So Traditional gear is simpler!? Are we sticking with that?

[Luckyned]

S! All!

  Oh, I reckon it can be AFTER you have your style and setup all sort-it-out but I say you're all crazy if your arguement it is just plain 'simplicity'! I still remember Wensel line in his book about compounds allowing 'everyone' and 'not talking to chipmunks'.

 Is it possible to shoot 'ok' with many bows but not excel to you find the bow that fits you to a T? I have 2 longbows but neither feels just right. I have a Montanna 50# that I took up as I re-entered the traditional field and a Martin Savanna #55. The Bear feels good but shoots constantly left..no matter what. The Martin is my go to bow but it wounds my thumb's lower bone joint. I've wrapped it, changed grip, but now I'm tired of trying to alter it. It is all beginning to mess with my mind..even though I know I will not return to coumpond-accuracy..I just don't care to kill anything with them..even if I never kill another thing. Send hope if not the fix. Luckyned is feeling more like just plain Ned.  

[JImmyDee]

You have to get the right setup even if you're throwing rocks...

[jimneye]

It's a learned skill you can't just pick up a LB and hit Xs like you can with a compound. One has to have a passion for it or it becomes a chore.

[aromakr]

Ned:
There are several things that can cause shooting left (righthanded shooter)
1. arrows too stiff
2. anchoring away from your face, get your eye over the shaft.
3. Improper grip on the riser. This could be what is hurting your hand also. Try rotating your grip slightly clockwise, so the palm is more on the side of the riser, and the large knuckle of the thumb is almost in line with the center of the limb.
4. Plucking the string upon release.

I think a lot times new traditional archers try running before they learn to walk. Learn good fundementals first. Start very close to the target and just work on pushing the bow arm too the target and coming off the string clean. Don't worry about shooting groups. Strengthen those muscles. And above all don't try to advance too rapidly, learning too shoot takes time. The worst thing you can do, is go to a trad shoot with your buddies, before you learn to do it correctly. All you will learn is bad habits that can be impossible to break.
Bob

[TSP]

Aromakr summed it up well.  One other thing...shooting and shooting gear really is a 'simple' thing, its just that we like to invent new ways, technology and opinions to complicate it.  Traditional bowhunting is SUPPOSED to be simple, and simple is as simple does.

[Luckyned]

I just can't believe how thrilled I still get when a wooden arrow goes sailing thru the air and actually hits where I intented! Even if it is just a stationary target on my strawbail! I jump around like a crazy kid until I remember my neighbors might be watching. I think I'd be in all my glory with a strighter handled lowbow. I've got my eye on the 3River's catalog. Wish I had places locally to hold some bows.

[LCB]

TSP,

You are 100% correct! May I add? Simple varies in degree for different folks. I don't consider a 40yd shot simple, some do, but a 20yd and in shot comes easy for me. This is my comfort zone, this is where my hunt is at, it's that simple!

[O.L. Adcock]

Simple yes, easy...No....Like Bob pointed out, the longbow shooting left is not the longbows fault. Our equipment is "simple" but getting the most out of it requires a lot of effort, especially in the tuning department cause we don't have the little knobs and set screws to help us. Tuning is the one area all archers can learn more, especially the compounders. I cringe when I hear them talking about moving their sights so they can hit something with broadheads. If so inclined, you can get very close to compound accuracy, you just can't "buy it".....O.L.

[TSP]

If there's one thing about using traditional hunting gear that often gets overlooked (or ignored) its that hunting isn't the same as target shooting.  Using a simple bow and arrow to chase real live animals, on their turf and under unpredictable circumstances, is a close-range affair.  Thats what works best, and thats what the true challenge of the effort is all about.  Luckily, at close range even 'imperfect' bows and arrows work quite well for the task, as selfbow users can attest to.  An 'adequate tune' on a critter at 12 yards might be as simple as not coming unglued...because at that range good results really IS far more dependent on the hunter than what he/she is shooting.  Even though reasonable tuning of arrow to bow is of course recommended, I'll bet dimes to dollars that more bad shots on animals (wounds and misses) have been made because of 'poke and hope' shots than any other single aspect...with the possible exception of not having learned basic form to begin with.  

Learn form and take close shots.  IMHO, thats both the 'simple' AND the 'easy' recipe for traditional bowhunting.  The rest is mostly fussin' and glitter.  Not that theres anything wrong with that.

[Scott J. Williams]

Thanks again OL for providing some sanity to the madness. We all  have a tendency to make things a heck of a lot more difficult than it really is.

I had a Elburg Raghorn that bit me like that, use to have my thumb so red and swollen, at least until I raised the brace height and started shooting some arrow with some weight. You can go heavier without going stiffer.

Another thing that can make you consistantly shoot to the other side of the target, is eye dominace. I had the same problem until I switched. I am right handed, but with a left master eye.

[Bonebuster]

What O.L Adcock said is so true. You can get compound accuracy, you just can`t BUY it.