What does "traditional hunting" mean, to you?

[rtherber]

"FUN" and "ETHICS" are my two guidelines. I thoroughly enjoy the shooting of the basic archery equipment and follow the game laws to the letter AND impose my own set of limits on the individual game I am bowhunting. What others do influences me in no way-I follow my own path and have done so throughout the wonderful years I've spent in the great outdoors. I can only hope everyone else is experiencing the same  "high" I get from exploring the woods with stick and string in hand. Wow, I can't imagine living day to day without it!

[Rooselk]

Traditional to me certainly means stick and string - and perhaps even no sights. Although I hunt on the ground and have never been in a treestand, I don't include my personal hunting preference under any definition of "traditional". The truth is that I hunt on the ground only because that's the way I was taught and therefore that's the method I am more comfortable with.

[Shakes.602]

My Opinion is of Course "No Cams,Wheels. or the Finery Involved with That Professional Compound Shooters." I still have my wheelie bow, got too much $$$ money to just Sell it for Discount Pricing.
  I started in Junior High shooting Their "Equipment, Bought a Used Recurve" (Back in the Day as my Children are so pleased in Reminding Me)
   Divorced, Moved Into City Limits,Compound Bow Freaked Out the  :rolleyes:   Neighbors,Tried Stick & Recurve, they didnt pay any attention     then. Peace and Tranquility Rules, until I happen to find some "Farm-Land" and get the HECK out of Dodge!!
    I Am  CRAZY  over the Idea "I  MADE  That!!" And ALL of the FRIENDS I Have Made. Its a Lifestyle that I enjoy,Very Much.  

[tradwannabe]

me, traditional is none of the following:

wheels,compounds,sights,release aids,rangefinders,night cameras,guns,4-wheel quads,cell phones or electronic stuff of any kind.

Binocs are ok. map & compass ok,stick,string,and arrows ok, modern materials ok.
Walk in, pack out.
r

[mcgroundstalker]

For me "Traditional Hunting" means using simple gear to take game. Believe me, if there was a "spear deer season" I'd be out there. Not gonna put any other legal method down. It's all good! And then to be accurate with our bows means alot of practice. This can be fun all year round. Hey... I can't shoot my .243 in my driveway! But Judos are another story.  

... mike ...

 * Read My Signature *

[Stringslap16]

To me "traditional hunting" is more of a mindset then XYZ= traditional hunting.  I was drawn to "traditional" bowhunting, and tradgang, not only because of the challenge but also because of the overall mindset and ethics of its participants.  Trad hunters respect the game, and the chase first and foremost.  It is not just about "kills".   With that said I don't think you have to make your own arrows, points, bow, and wear a wooly mammoth tunic to be "traditional".  But one better come pretty close to that setup before they take a holier then thou attitude toward others (not many, but there are a few around).   Hypocrisy can be seen pretty easily.  I mean someone might critize me because I have a SRF sight on one of my bows, because "sights are not traditional" However the same "ultra traditional" person uses a state of the art self climbing treestand.  Go Figure.  

I just hope to get enough seasons in before the apathy, greed, and laziness of the modern hunting scene brings the end on itself.

[Boone the Hunter]

good question, i looove hunting, archery, and the outdoors. It was only a matter of time for me to take it to the next level. I grew up hunting with a compound and loved hunting with it, and have no problem with people that shoot them,but a few years ago i started thinking there had to be more to archery than what i was experiencing. So last year i ran into one of JD's wisperstiks in a local archery shop and all i can say a year later is wow, that's archery baby, instinct, intuition, hard challenging but so awesome hunting and shooting. I'm hooked so hard i bought an old school hawken muzzleloader to take gun hunting to a new level as well, so i think traditional hunting is plain and simply true hunting to be enjoyed, without being so concerned about what outcome of each hunt is, and when you are successful you know you have really done something.

[Groundpounder]

As far as my traditional goes im new at the bow thing but i have hunted for years  with my muzzleloader in a trad manner. which to me means totally dressed in what a longhunter from pa would wear with my flintlock and taking  my game from the ground or a huge tree i hunt out of that has no modern stand its just a tree.i would hope to take a deer in the same manner with my newly acquired longbow.ok now that i think about it maybe traditional should be changed to period or historically correct. traditional could be any way that someone has learned from his father and his father before. tradition is something that is handed down.

[sputterman]

Hard work with a bigger appreciation at the end.

[Last of the Breed]

How about trying to do more with less.  There are those days that you just want the bare essentials.  My longbow, quiver/arrows, knife and nothing else.

[Stick_N_String]

Traditional archery to me is a whole lifestyle in and of itself, a simpler mind set using ancient tools, becoming more self proficient and self reliant with the simpler weapons and in the woods. No need for all the gadgets and gidgets.
Since coming back to the wooden bows, I have personally slowed down. I take more time to appreciate the sights, sounds, and smells that nature has to offer.
Daren

[RC]

Traditional hunting to me is trad bows. No wheels.I hunt with a longbow I can throw in the boat,beat back briars and still hit what I`m shooting at with it.RC

[reddogge]

Tradional hunting for me is to hunt the way I hunted in the 60s, same equipment and techniques.  I even regressed to wooden arrows as we had Microflight fiberglass back then.  We did hunt from tree stands then too, very small dangerous little tree stands.  I'm using the same homemade little items from back then also.

[elkbreath]

Spirit

It must be a personal contest, prey verses predator.  The earthy breath of pragmatic survival must satiate the veins of both parties.  When that sense leaves one participant, a spiritual process is cheapened.  Left alone, that process can exalt both parties, man and beast.  Might as well magnify what we have been given and respect the cycles we have dominion over.  "Traditional" hunting is my attempt at glorifying my portion, out of respect for the Giver.  Vastly personal in their own right, those decisions are.

Right now I find myself hunting with heavy arrows (800gr)
a 71# handmade curve, with antler embedded.  I prefer learning the language and calling in critters, elk, antelope, deer turkey.  Though, spot and stalk is is right up there.  I hunt barefoot when possible.  I try to slow down and smell the pine, feel the terra firma and be part of the experience. I wear plaid and camo at times, though I prefer plaid for its sex appeal.  I have a lucky hat.  I put in the time to know the land.  I put in the time to know the creator of and give thanks for that land.  I keep my range legit and only take ethical shots.  I kill to have hunted.  I enjoy the honest miss. and of course, always say grace over the  meal.  

I think wisdom comes from respecting what we do.  And doing those things in humility, wishing no ill on any of the participants for our own gratification.

[tj69]

To me it is nature, friends, fun, the challenge to hit with a  good looking and straight shooting bow without wheels or to much metal on it.

[Michl]

@tj:clapper:exactly my opinion

[MI_Bowhunter]

For me it simply means my bow no longer has wheels.

[woodchucker]

It really has nothing to do with equipment.....

It's hunting with "knowledge & woodsmanship" instead of "gadgets & gimmicks"

[Adirondack Bowman]

It has everything to do with equipment.

[George D. Stout]

Yes....it does have everything to do with equipment, but the word "traditional" has been corrupted so badly that no one will ever agree how it applies to archery and archery hunting.

It was initially meant to mean bows prior to compounds, but now it has become some ethereal mindset, so where does one go from here.

Some, or even most folks confuse the word traditional with primitive so it's difficult to get fact separated from supposed fact.  I have quit trying to define my hunting process....it is what it is and it doesn't include wheels and let-off of any kind.