Traditional: Misunderstanding What Was.

[heydeerman]

ttt

[Bill Tell]

Webster's definition of traditional is "(of a person or group) adhering to tradition, or to a particular tradition"

tradition is defined as this "the transmissions of customs or beliefs from generation to generation"

Customs very from place to place and beliefs very from individual to individual.  This in and of itself makes defining "Traditional" archery  arbitrary.

I am sure that generationally passed down traditions for somebody who is of Crow heritage is vastly different then what someone might receive in Southern Michigan.

I simply like to tell people I bow hunt.  If they ask me what bow do you shoot I just say a "recurve".

For me traditions have been passed down not by Fred Bear or Howard Hill.  They are two generations ago.  They are not the people who speak to me today.  The people that have helped me are Fred G, Ron Laclair, Fred Eichler, Brooks Johnson and many on here.

If you want to label yourself a Traditional hunter then do the one thing that is truly our "tradition".  Introduce someone to the sport with your customs and beliefs and pass it on to the next generation.  I am trying to with my daughter.

[HATCHCHASER]

Thanks for your insight Mr. Stout.  I like to shoot, "I like it alot".

[JC]

Originally posted by HATCHCHASER:
I like to shoot, "I like it alot".

Yup, ditto here Wally.

And George....we don't need no stinkin sights (said with appropriate thick mexican accent and tounge firmly planted in cheek).  

[DeerSpotter]

Referring to your starting post, very well said, it is about acceptance, and understanding, they only know what they have been taught.

It is kind alike that with everything, people have a tendency to develop their personification of what something should be.  It is like the establishment of this country and its constitution, it is and was founded on principles that are not followed today.

It is the same as traditional archery some people are trying to  " change history  " so that it makes their ideology look like truth.

That's the biggest part of traditional archery, accepting it for what it is, and not for what we can make it.

I have said the same thing about the word of God.  God has excepted us for what we are, so therefore Jesus Christ has taken up where we fail if we allow Him.

The same thing with traditional archery, we cannot make it something it is not, just to please our convenience or shape our world.  Some people want to keep traditional archery at a fast pace and I think it's more about slowing down, and the phrase  " last is more"

Pastor Carl

[George D. Stout]

I agree about the sights JC, but I have to humor my friends.     Wow....I thought this one had gone to the great beyond.  :rolleyes:

[NDTerminator]

Very true, George.  I was one of those folks with a simple but sturdy pin sight on my Shakespeare Sierra back in the early 70's...

Also, I think we all regarded them more as weapons than the functional works of art we tend to do now.  

Pretty much everyone I knew either painted their bows, or to a lesser degree used camo limb covers (we called them socks).

Can you younger guys imagine slapping a coat of flat green spray paint on your new Widow, Blacktail, or even Chek-Mate?   :eek:

[JC]

George, yer too popular for that....obviously heydeerman thinks so too!

[nutmeg]

George great post and well said per usual. I remember those days well. I too was the exception to the rule back in the days, being one of the few in my area not shooting a sight.(nut)  

[Grant Young]

George, I watched this thread last year and I couldn't agree with you more. Even in the eighties I was kind of surprised when I heard myself referred to as a "traditional" shooter-I was doing the same thing in '68 and was just a bowhunter. Many of my friends shot with sights and I don't recall any friction resulting from it. Occasionally one may suggest I use one too if I was having a bad patch of shooting, LOL. Without going overlong, I feel we often do ourselves a disservice by making too many valuative distinctions between methods of aiming, draw weights and arrow materials. The drive to improve is largely responsible for the high quality conventional equipment available to today's archer. My Dad used to tell me "Don't measure "my" corn in "your" bucket. I try to remember that.                 Grant

[George D. Stout]

NDTerminator....I still paint some hunting bows:

 

[WilliamMcC]

Great post.

I believe that a big part of “traditional” archery is each man shooting what works best for him.
 I think most would agree that shooting traditional gear is not just shooting the gear, but also the mentality that goes with it. Traditional shoots bring a different breed of hunter then the rest of the compound world. That is one of the biggest draw for me.

[Rufus]

 Still trying to get pix sizes correct. If this works, an old "Widow" with holes drilled and tapped for sights or whatever was popular in the 50's. The limbs on this bow are numbered 5143. This bow was used all over Europe by my old friend (deceased)when he was over there in the Army. Target archery was very popular at that time in Europe and I believe it still is since a friend of mine from Pampa sells a lot of bows over there.
 I'd be one or another of the ancient "hordes" that were building laminated bows "traditional?" way back when stuck a stick on a bow to gain an advantage. The Chinese were pretty innovative also.

[Rufus]

By the way, my mutt in the background is doing what she does best besides eat. Didn't use her for target. She finds my arrows for me occasionally.

[30coupe]

Wow, I can't believe I read this whole thing! As usual, George gives us something to jaw about and mull over. The neat part of this site as opposed to some others is that we can do it in a civil manner. As much as I hate to admit it, I too am getting to be one of the old-timers. I don't care much whether I am considered traditional or not as long as it is understood that I am a hunter first. I tried a compound for about a week...not for me, but I don't have a problem with their use. The same could be said for sights. If they work for you, fine. I don't think they make me shoot any better because when I make a bad shot, more often than not, it's because I plucked the string. Sights won't fix that, only practice will.

As long as what you hunt with is legal and ethical, you will hear no criticism from me. We need to support hunting, period.

[Rufus]

 Old "widow" still shoots well even with the hodgepodge of arrows I grabbed. Coulda put sights on it but like 39coupe, it wouldn't help plucking. This 40 MPH wind factor either. 50 yr. old or so bow and 63 yr. old shooter, I guess we be traditional in some manner.

[Brian Krebs]

George; Love ya buddy- but I just plain disagree.
 I don't think that the traditional way of bowhunting goes back to just the days of Pope and Young; but thousands and thousands and thousands of years before that.
 The societies that hung onto it; and the last of them on this continent - 'ISHI' did not have a sight on the bow.
 I did live the Howard Hill; Fred Bear times too; and I remember that what fascinated people about Fred Bear was that he went out intending to shoot game at very close ranges.
 The "BUSH BOW" was made to make it easier to work through bushes to get closer to game.
  Oh yes - I know about tigers and other things; and yes Fred put a sight on his bows sometimes- but there is still the elephant in your room that you seem to be trying to ignore.
 Go to a traditional bow shoot; and people are there not to use "George Jetson" era additions to their bows; but instead to shoot the traditional way........which as I pointed out goes back further than your lifetime or mine...the oldest bow still in existance is 7,500 years old; and there were no tap holes in it from a sight pin.
  YEP came the age of the Atom Bomb and we were trying to make everything technologically easier. This led to all kinds of technology; the roots might be a hat pin stuck in cork; but chopping that root off left us with the idea of NOT using sights and trigger releases; and stabilizers and keeping pullies and wheels and cams and lighted this and that: OFF our bows. All this technology headed in the direction we know not where; but we do know away from: TRADITIONAL BOWHUNTING.

As far as those that insist on pointing out that at traditional shoots- a lot of people do not shoot as accurately as you THINK they should be; do remember.... that while target archery in groups is a sport; for every one person there; there are a thousand that are NOT THERE. A lot of us do not like shooting in front of people; because their concentration and perhaps 'purpose' is interfered with- so they don't show up.
 Target archery is one thing; bowhunting is another.
  I seem to remember the top target in the country missing a buck at 20 yards--- completely!!
   I have shot horribly on targets in front of others; and made great shots while hunting.
  Target archery is one world; bowhunting is another; and while they do overlap; they are not the same world.
  In Rufus' picture of his deer target; how many of those arrows would have killed the deer; and how many would have won an archery tournament?
  Traditional bowhunting and Traditional Target Archery perhaps should not- and cannot be compared...
  Love ya George; and there is nothing better than a good Stout beer - but gotta disagree: with respect.
           
   
   
  To judge one on the performance in another is not fair.
  I hate shooting in front of others; and I love bowhunting.
  I have made perfect shots at close range; and that is where I belong; and want to be.
       

[Rufus]

First arrow killed the deer of coarse. Real deer wouldn't let me target practice probably.  

[George D. Stout]

Brian,  you're welcome at my camfire any day 8^).

[Jim now in Kentucky]

Yes, but buy the time they reach the auction site they could have changed hands 10 times and moved 2,000 miles.

I was shooting in the 1960 in Oregon, but only by myself and have no idea whether lots of people used sights.

We're all using a traditional site at the moment.lol javascript:void(0)
Wink