what a turnover!!!!

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I thing a lot of it has to do with the average age of hunters.

I could be wrong, but I have noticed a lot of guys I meet on Tradgang are in there early to mid 40's and have hunted most of their lives with a compound.

We have an aging group of hunters these days and I believe the older you get, the more it is about the experience. Hence the reason it appears there is a large influx of new trad guys.

I might be off base, but I have contemplated this a bit myself just based on what I see on TG and what I see in my State on local hunting message boards.

Paul

[Steve Clandinin]

Blacktail,theres still alot of us older Fellas flinging arrows and trying to make it over the next hill LOL.Shot my first deer with a bow in '73,with a 58# Carrol recurve, back then there was no trad archery.The nice thing today is the knowledge we have thru sites like this for beginners and for some of us older ones to remminise the past.To many here it is our life.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Blacktail- You just described me perfectly. I've been bow hunting for 26+ years and I've killed a truckload of deer with a wheelie bow. Now that I'm 42 yrs. of age it's more about the experience and the hunt. I just got serious about traditional this year, and killed my first coyote ever with a bow.....and did it with my Bear Grizzly. That was the highlight of my entire bow hunting memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I love my recurve and Osage selfbows, I'm getting more out of archery now than ever before, which is as much about the preperation as the actual hunt. I've had a blast building my own woodies, sharpening broadheads, fletching arrows, cutting my own feathers, practicing till it's too dark to see outside and now building bows for the first time in my life.
I guess it's true that we slow down and enjoy things more as we get older.      

It's not so much about the end result as it is the journey to get there now.

[Bow Bum]

With all the technology and hype that surround the compound scene; I think its started to push alot of folks to look for something else, myself included.

"traditional" archery fits the bill pretty well. Not alot of hype, you won't get looked down upon for having an old used bow. In fact you may likely get a compliment! There's not the push for the newest camo, or to be super scent free, blah, blah blah. I'm preaching to the choir.

Brian

[frank bullitt]

I feel what David, Vermonster, Steve Clandinin, and Earl E Nov...ember are saying!

There is an age group who were "on the edge" so to speak!

Truely, I believe, if it's in ya, you'll show up!

Those who have the Traditional Seed in them will soon sprout! There is no Conversion, you have it in ya or not!

This isn't a "Play Game", it's Life!