From Wheel to Real?

[Coonbait]

26 years with my compounds. My sister bought me a Bear Whitetail Hunter for me for Christmas when I was 13. I have no regrets on shooting any of the MANY that I've owned. 4 years ago I just felt I'd gone as far with them as I could and was always really fasinated with the simple beauty of a traditional bow. A good friend gave me his old Browning Wasp and I fell in love with the challenge! That was a bunch of stick bows since. I'll never go back and I've sold ALL my compounds. And I have nothing against them but I found that I enjoy the simplicity of a stick bow.
GLENN

[tippit]

I shot a coumpound 1 year with fingers and no sights.  At my first family deer camp, my cousin brought a friend with a longbow.  I fell in love with that bow and bought one as soon as I got home.  Got it from a start up company called Ron LaClair's Traditional Shoppe.  It was a Tim Meigs longbow...Doc

[free2bow]

I shot a Mathews Q2 and then an Outback for several years and they were pretty well trouble free.  I give tghem an A.  But I enjoy traditional more.  It takes more skill to shoot traditional.  I have held onto my compound in case of injury or the need for long shots.

[Green Mountain Boy]

My first bow was a compound I shot off and on through high school (some years mostly off) got pretty serious during my summer breaks in college while I was working at a summer camp. I only recently made my way to traditional archery. My four year old daughter asked for a bow for Christmas which got me thinking about shooting and hunting traditional. That along with a buddy passing along his recurve ( a 50# unmarked) and I am totally hooked! So 20+ years with a wheelie and under a year with a recurve. I'm now thinking about building my own arrows, if anyone has a used bitzenburger let me know!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

i shot a recurve 1975, 76,77 ,78, 79. Wheels 80 to 84. Back to Real bows in 85 and nothing else since. Why because I wanted to shoot real bows and arrows. I wanted to feel involved in my hunt.
I wanted to limit my ability to kill. I wanted to be like Fred!

[Andy Diggs]

I shot a compound '88 to '90. Saw "October Whitetails" video and switched to recurve. Shot one arrow out of my brothers compound last year, bullseyes at thirty yards.

[joe ashton]

I got into bows via the scenic route.  The two guys that I hunted with were life long friends but gun hunters.. Our routine was to get up early Saturday, big breakfast, hunt hard until late afternoon because we had a dinner reservation at 6.  Up not so early Sunday and hunt hard until noon because the Broncos were on TV in the afternoon and ROAD HUNT, holy crap road hunt, Monday 9 until 5 (dinner you know).  And that was it for the year!! One, sort of long day and one half day.  Not exactly how I had read about hunting in Field and Stream -- Out door life etc.  But as I said they were life long friends.  

I just happened upon the Colo Bow hunter dinner one spring, and the idea popped into my head to take up archery.  I knew they would not change to bows and that got me out of hunting with them 'gracefully'.  My first bow was a compound.  I hunted with it 1 season.. the weekend after the season closed I drove up the G.Freds shop in Longmont Colo and ordered a Big Horn recuve.   Fred Bear, Howard Hill, the Indians and Robin Hood did not shoot arrow launchers (compounds).  They shot bows.  A stick and string, simple, quiet and effective.  That my friend was 18 years ago.

Joe

Ps.  One of those guys has now passed away and I still talk with other one almost every day.

[Altiman94]

I hunted with the wheels basically all of my hunting life.  I was kicked off at a young age by my father who still hunts with a wheel bow.

In 2008 I picked up a Don Dow reflex/deflex from a local bow shop.  I shot around with it for a while for fun, but never really took off for me.  In 2009 I found this site and things really took off from there.  I vowed that '09 would be all traditional, but after wounding a doe the first weekend, I went back to the compound and took a few more does.  Then one with the blackpowder.

I moved in July of 2010 to a new home about 2 hours away and told myself that it would be a tough year in a new area and would stick to the recurve.  I ended up selling the compound before season started so I had no choice since I knew my wife wouldn't let me spend $800 on a new wheelie rig.  I had a few does in close, but decided to wait the season out and see if I could spend more time in the field to see how the movement was in the new public area I was hunting.

I didnt end up with a deer this year, but accomplished my first goal of not going back to the wheels.  One I put my mind to it, I didnt have any second thoughts.  The bow is lighter, simpler, and just down right fun to shoot.  I was losing some of my ambition to shoot the wheels.  I didn't even have the pins sighted in until right before I sold the bow.  I'm glad I got rid of it.  The extra money was nice to have and it forced to shoot the trad bow.

[Two Wolves]

I posted at 5:40pm today and mentioned my grandfather that accidently ran over the last trad bow that I had when I was 18. Little did I know at the time that he had just passed away. My grandpa was my hero. The epitome of what you think of when you think of an outdoorsman. He taught me how to fish, hunt, build a fire, shoot, swim, sharpen a knife, you name it. He has suffered from dimentia for the last two years. If he had realized his condition he would not have wanted to live. He couldn't do the things he loved to do anymore. Now he can. He has gone on to that "Happy Hunting Gound in the Sky". When I grow up... I want to be just like him.

[Skipmaster1]

Originally posted by Two Wolves:
I posted at 5:40pm today and mentioned my grandfather that accidently ran over the last trad bow that I had when I was 18. Little did I know at the time that he had just passed away. My grandpa was my hero. The epitome of what you think of when you think of an outdoorsman. He taught me how to fish, hunt, build a fire, shoot, swim, sharpen a knife, you name it. He has suffered from dimentia for the last two years. If he had realized his condition he would not have wanted to live. He couldn't do the things he loved to do anymore. Now he can. He has gone on to that "Happy Hunting Gound in the Sky". When I grow up... I want to be just like him.

I'm sorry to hear that. My prayers are with you and your family. He will live on in your heart and always be with you.

So sorry to hear of your grandfather.  I can see from what you say that he was a great man and good friend.  

Now you can pick up where your grandpa left off....teach the young'uns about all of the good things of life...

We can talk about thread topic later..

Take care!

[Possum Head]

I sold a recurve in 78 and got my first wheeler.3 yeras ago went back to trad and no lookin back.The compound came of the wall to hunt then right back.I cant hang my curve or LB but over night!Year round for me.

[sswv]

almost 30 years with wheel bows.  in the early years I had a TON of fun but eventually the fun went away. I actually went for about 15 years without shooting more than a handful of does with a wheel bow, just bucks, the macho thing I guess. switched to stickbows and the very first kill was a big doe. I was PUMPED to say the least. that someting that I once had was back, the FUN. this past season was my 6th with a stickbow and I've had more fun in those 6 years than I'd had in a long time. have no problem filling all my deer tags and even got a black bear with my LB. I've made a load of new friends and actually share my hunting areas more than I ever did in the wheel days.

bottom line....traditional archery is GOOOD medicine.

[fredhill]

started with a Kodiak Mag in '82 when i was 12. got my first compound in '87 and used wheel bows exclusively until my friends and i started doing late season deer drives in '95. in the places we hunted/drove it was so thick that 20 yards was a long shot and the target wasn't always standing still. so i drug out the Bear recurve and had no problem getting back into it. i love how light the recurve is to carry. i still hunt with a compound when tree stand hunting, i used trad bows for ground hunting. because i started with trad bows some things crossed over to wheel bows. i shoot both styles with fingers, alluminum arrows, and fixed blade trad broadheads.

[Pepper]

I started shooting a bow many, many years ago.
Started shooting a compound in the early 80's.
Worked for a shot for a retail outlet in Missouri, and eventualy opened my own pro shop which I operated for 13 years, along with competing in several venues, along with my wife and youngest son.
One day when it was time to pick a new bow, my son said, "Dad, I don't want to do this anymore, it just isn't any fun.".  That was the last time he picked up a bow. (Hope to get him to start traditional one day).
That's when I started to take a look around.
Compound shooters live in a hundred dollar world.
Sights, rests, stabilizers, peeps, arrows, you name it, it is going to cost at least a hundred dollars, and then the next week, the industry comes out with something else that no archer can do without, and it cost a hundred dollars.
This is not sour grapes, the industry made a nice living for me, and for that I am grateful.
I am more greatful for my son who made me open my eyes and step forward to enjoying archery again. I now shoot both recurves and longbows, and cherish every moment, and have great fun doing it.
Because of his statement, and being"burned out", I can proudly say that I have introduced serveral of my former compound shooters to the life of traditional archery, which I have been told is the best move they have made regarding archery.

[JrsyBowHunter]

i started 27 years ago with a compound and it just became boring, and i got tired of the arrow rest, peep sights and bow sight, switched over to trad about 6 years ago and now shooting is fun again.