How did you come to be a ......

[Curtiss Cardinal]

traditional archer/bowhunter?
After a few responses I'll tell my story.

[M.P.]

C2 you may remember the guy who got me back into traditional archery.Jeff Dodd from the old trad chat line.He sent me a self bow and later I passed it to another.that was over 10 years ago.

[Orion]

When I started more than 50 years ago, it was just called archery.  Didn't know I was traditional until folks started calling me such.

[ishiwannabe]

My dad always tried to guide me towards traditional equipment. He was upset when I brought my older brother's compound to the archery hunter's course. He was even more upset when I bought one a few years later.
Fast forward 15 years and numerous deer.
My buddy Damon told me about the JLMBH and how much fun it was. Then we went squirrel hunting with curves. I used my Dad's Shakespeare. What a blast!! Then when the hunt finally came, I won two bows, and met some of the best people I have ever met. I havent picked up my wheelie since. Every time I shoot, my dad is there. He is in a home with Alzheimer's and never knew about my transition, which saddens me, but I know he would be proud. He walks the woods with me every time I go.
It started with my Dad, and was realized through people like Damon Wilber and Shawn Leonard....and everyone else I have met so far.

[bowdude]

Got bored with mechanicals.

[Tim Fishell]

My dad has always shot tradtional so that is just what I shot when I was and kid and never stopped.  I have never owned a bow with wheels and I am sure I never will.

[ductape]

I got my first bow as payment for work, bought some arrows and shot. I sucked big time!!! I bought a compound for a while but got bored after a while, all machanics no thinking. I worked with a guy in FL which shot a recurve and we got together one afternoon and he showed me how to tune the bow and my arrows and I havent put it down scince. I shoot about 100 arrows a day and cant stop. My 8 yr old and 12 yr old both have bows and shoot with me. This year the 12 yr old will go hunting with me in Mo and can't wait. I can't think of a better way of keeping the occupied.

[Lin Rhea]

I was invited to a bow shoot by a fellow gang member, Starkman, and his enthusiasm for trad shooting and hunting got me interested. I had been compound hunting for years, but my interest grew stale in the last few years. Nothing but trad now. Love it.

   I feel like a kid again with a good bow in my hand. I'm really coming to a full appreciation for what good equipment is capable of.

                                    Lin

[bowhunterfrompast]

Read Fred Bears Archers Bible and bought my first recurve at a swap and shop. Strayed for a few years for lack of traditional equipment in my local archery shops     but found my way back. Coming back has been the greatest thing I ever did. The rest is history.

[Tim Nuss]

Watching and learning from a friend and mentor (Mr.Lawrence McGuire) is what got me interested.  Then reading every thing I could get my hands on and then just trying traditional archery. That is it. After that I was hooked. It has become a way of life for me.
 
 Tim

[Recurve50LBS]

I started out as a compound shooter/hunter. One day while shooting with my friends one of the guys shows up with a long bow. It looked pretty cool and boy was it quiet, much quieter than our modern compounds. I should add my friend Reiner shoots this bow or any Trad bow very well.

I asked to look at his bow and he handed it to me. I was taken by how light weight it was compared to our modern compounds. He gave me his shooting glove and some arrows and gave it a try.

I didn't shoot his bow very well. He told me that I shot it like a compund bow and started to mentor me in how a Traditional bow should be shot.

I was pretty well bitten by the Traditional Bow bug but I coulden't afford to go out and buy one. I had so much money in all my modern archery equipment....Compound with over draw, climbing tree stands, lazer range finders, and camo for every occasion.

One day I had saved enough to by my first Traditional bow. I bought a used Hornes TD Mountain bow and a dozen fletched 2016's. I was on my way. I wanted to keep thigs simple and to tread lighty in the woods.

So for me it's one of my long bows, a handful of arrows that I made and a plad shirt and jeans for camo.Burnt cork to hide my ugly mug. Most of the time I'm hunting on the ground sitting on a stool or bucket,carrying in a tree stand is pretty much a thing of the past for me.

Well thats my reason for going Traditional. Keeping things as uncomplicated as possible in the woods enjoying Mother Nature and escaping from the fast paced get it done yesterday every day life. Every day life is complicated enough why make my relax time or me time complicated too.

[woodchucker]

I started shooting "traditional" bows back in the 1960's and I bowhunted with "traditional" bows in the 1970's. I shot compounds for 4-5 years in the 1980's before giving up bowhunting. I had gotten rid of all my old Bear recurves and the compound bow just didn't feel right.....

In 1999 I decided to get back into bowhunting again. I contacted a local shop owner Joe Skipp (who is also a TradGang member and sponser) Bought an old Bear Kodiak Magnum and a dozen cedar arrows.....and I felt just like it was 1970 all over again!!!!!

Over the years Joe and I have become very good friends. I joined TradGang several years ago and I have met many great folks who have become very close friends and "family" to me.

The Master of Life has been very good to me.....  

[Jedimaster]

Had a compound, shot it very well.  Hated everything about it:  the weight, mechanics, tuning, release aids, noise, sights, etc.  I saw a recurve shooter in a magazine and everything clicked.  I remembered how much fun I had shooting an old longbow at barn rats (among other things) when I was a kid.  After doing the research I ordered a longbow.  When it arrived it was the prettiest thing I ever saw.  I quickly ordered a recurve and arrow building supplies.  I went back to the "machine" one last time because my buddies ribbed me.  I missed an easy shot on a nice buck because my pins got banged up, then I wounded a doe and didn't recover.  I've never looked back - 13 years.

[rybohunter]

Started with a recurve 20+ years ago, never killed anything. Went to a compound for many many years and killed a decent amount of things. Now I want to take care of "unfinished business" and take one how I started. I still like shooting all bows, so sometimes the trad stuff goes along, sometimes the wheeled bow.

[George Tsoukalas]

I started a long time ago way back about 1956 as an 8 year old kid growing up on a farm. T'is a fine thing this archery. Every time I pick up a bow I feel like that little kid again.  Jawge

[Dsturgisjr]

I caught a nasty disease when I was 3 and being a trad archer was a result of that.  

[BleekLight]

I started out in trad when I was about six my dad bought me a fiberglass kids bow at a garage sale for my birthday. A few years and a new recurve later I was still shooting. But ended up switching to a compound for about a year until I ended up getting bored with it and I have been trad ever since.

[BowHuntingFool]

I've hunted with the compound for many years, I've always wanted to try and shoot traditional/instinctive but never did. This year I just jumped in feet first and loving every minute of it! The compound will be collecting dust this season!

[Bowtie]

Two years ago, a good friend made me a hickory self bow.  That opened the door to traditional archery for me.  I've read trad books, watched videos, spent hours on the computer reading forums, purchased custom made trad bows, and have done a ton of shooting, and have met some great people.  I'm hooked!

[Curtiss Cardinal]

It was the Summer of 1964. I was three and a half. I watched my Father, Mother and four older brothers shoot archery and cried when I was told I was too young to shoot. I had to be able to pull the little Bear recurves all the way to the corner of my mouth the right way and I probably wasn't strong enough to do it. I took one of the 24#@18" bows from one of my brothers and drew it to my ear. My Dad was already teaching my older brothers and one more kid to teach, especially one so young was one too much for a man working 80+ hours a week at two full time jobs. In my family we have half left handed and half right handed siblings. I was the middle kid and was also born ambidexterous. We had two Bear Lil Bear, both 24@18" If I remember right and I would sneak whichever bow was not being used at the time and shoot it when no one was around. When I turned 4 my Dad finally figured he had to show me the right way of doing things and so that is when my more formal disipline of the bow began. I'm 47 and have spent most of my life behind a bow.My life in archery predates the compound and while in my late teens and 20s I strayed to the use of the wheels and cables I returned to the real bows in my 30s. I have never regretted returning to the "True Path" Archery, bows and arrows and the pursuit of game with same is a Glorious Gift from God Almighty. Thanks Dad, You're the greatest because you taught me about something so amazing.