Maturing

[T Lail]

I'm 55 now, so I will let you know when it happens.......  

[Hoyt]

I've been shooting bows almost 60 years and the only thing I'm settled in on is choice of broadheads...Simmons Tree Sharks.

[northener]

Most of us are a work in progress, just a natural process,I think.
Hunting maturity begins when we say the hunt is more important than the kill.

 You reach maturity when one really means it and still derive satisfaction in the experience!

  Yes, we all want to take game, after all, that is what keeps us going, but how many of us have honestly pass on a chip shot and let a 160 class buck walk and still be fully satisfied.

[ChuckC]

Do I have to ?   My wife claims I haven't yet.

I thought I was quite "mature" in my style, my choices etc.  But I had target panic bad and couldn't kick it.  Last fall, after a particlarly bad episode (no animals were hurt. .  well, maybe their sides hurt from laughing)I gave up and acceded that I won't win.  I switched to lefty and started selling my righty bows.  Already I am more consistent than I was before.   I need to settle in left handed now, and that is a big change, not just in shooting, but in being.  Maybe in another few years.

ChuckC

[Sam McMichael]

Back in the late 80's I got back into archery after being out for several years. I decided to try the longbow and found I liked it a lot. That's when I got serious about shooting, but it was in the 90's that I got good enough and confident enough to call myself a bowhunter. 16 years ago was the last time I hunted deer with a rifle. I'm not sure what it means to be a mature archer, but I certainly qualify as an old fart that likes to shoot bows. Consistency and accuracy still seems to be a constant challenge for me. I might be getting older, but I refuse to grow up.

[Pat B.]

Tim, you and I think alike!

[paoliguy]

I've not been serious about traditional archery very long but I sincerely hope I never "get there". All of the fun seems to be in the journey! I gain confidence in some things then try something new, hope I never stop.

[7 Lakes]

I don't believe any of us have finished "Maturing" at least I hope not.  I started off as a pretty bloodthirsty kid.  I strove to kill & eat every legal animal and fish I could. At one point I went through a big antler phase then I moved to a gated community where the deer come up in the back yard and watch me grill burgers in the evening.  Haven't killed a deer in a few years.  I'm entering a I'm hungry for deer steaks all year round phase, I doubt if this will be the end of my traditional hunting maturation but I've gone without backstraps long enough.