I used to shoot a lot of 3D for many years. Back in the early 90’s on the west coast it was primarily a compound bow game, and you rarely saw traditional archers at theses shoots. Originally my hunting partners and I used this as practice for hunting, and rarely shot from the stakes or kept score at all. We would side step into the brush or trees to create realistic hunting shots that were more challenging, and to learn your bows trajectory…. Do you shoot over that branch? Or under it? What happens shooting through a fern or small leafs to hit your target? It was good training and we didn’t use range finders at all.
Then I got the competition bug, and started spending all winter shooting indoors to fine tune my accuracy. I bought a light weight 60# competition bow that I could shoot 200 arrows a day with and became deadly accurate with it clear out to 80-100 yards. I shot the IBO circuit for a few years with some incredible archers and rubbed shoulders with national champs on occasion… it wasn’t hunting at all, but it was incredibly good training. I harvested a lot of animals with my compound bows before something snapped inside me one year. I could shoot 100 yards more accurately than most guys could with a rifle, but the animals can move before the arrow gets there….
I had a nice bull elk that was laying down 80 yards away. Wide open shot, and I took my time setting up just like I did shooting 3D competition. The moment I let the arrow fly, the bull stood up, and the arrow stuck in the ground at his feet…. The bull didn’t even move except to sniff the arrow and then look around a bit….Something snapped inside me that moment…. I could have easily nocked another arrow and shot again, but instead I plopped down on my butt and laid down my bow… I was done with it. I watched that bull for another 20 minutes, then walked away…
That was the year I got into traditional archery, and I’ve never gone back. I did a bit of competition with my trad bows, but never really got back into it. We do not have all that many traditional archery clubs out here in the west, but there are a few clubs. The 3D events I attend have dwindled over the years to practically nothing now…. Kirk