what does trad archery mean to you

[PAPA BEAR]

just curious to know what other hunters and shooters feel that traditional archery means to them deep down inside of your soul.
 traditional archery to me is a way of life,my drug of choice,my way out.i really don't know what i would do without the whisper of my arrows as they leave my bow,the feeling of power i get when i draw the string back,the anticipation of a well placed shot or the sheer joy of just being one with mother nature and father time while sitting quietly watching a deer feed its way past me.even the pesky yellowjacket brings me peace.this is to me what traditional archery is about.

[deermaster1]

traditional archery dosnt mean anything too me...or maybe i should say anything more.  when i hunt or fish, be it a rifle, compound or shotgun, i am the same person i am when im carrying around a longbow.  i enjoy everything outdoors, and "traditional" is really starting to mean alot less to me.  i cant figure out what traditional it...is it a bow with 25 layer carbon limbs that took an engineering degree to make?  its no less technical than a compound, really not any harder to shoot.....its just using technology in a different way.  is it keeping things simple, and using proven methods?  nope...with 80$ teflon coated super duper 6160 (or what ever) single bevel steel, and 39.5555555842% foc, things sure arent simple.  is it accepting all archers and being friendly and open minded?  no, there are some dog gone snobby elitist out there...is it hacking a bow out of osage orange?  but then you are using modern knowledge and skills to do even that.  i cant figure out what trad is, so ive decided to enjoy everything outdoors, and ya know what?  its purty fun.  i realize im not better than anyone, more elite, more skillfull, or challanging myself harder....i just enjoy it...whatever "traditional" may be.

[PAPA BEAR]

good point.well done.

[monterey]

deermaster, a good summation, IMO.  I feel much the same.

When I started shooting bows at age eight in 1954 there was no concept of "traditional archery".  But now, thanks to the advent of the compound bow we have this category called "traditional".  Like yourself, I love the outdoors, hunting and fishing.  I fish with dry flies and powerbait, homemade plywood bows and even occasionally a wheel bow.

I also like muzzle loaders, high velocity scoped modern plastic stocked cartridge guns, black powder cartridge guns and old milsurp guns.

Makes no diff what is in my hand, it's still the same feeling of being in the field pursueing the fish or animal du jour.

[Leo L.]

It's down there in my sig....

Honestly, I've gained more appreciation for the outdoor life since getting into trad just a couple years ago.

To me, it's a simpler, yet more challenging way of hunting.  I've never had so much more fun making arrows, shop tools, working with leather, knives, bowyering....I never would have found interest in these things had I stayed on the other side.

I find myself going back in time as every year passes, appreciating the simpler way that life used to be.  

That being said, I still enjoy my high tech crap, but tend to leave it all at home when venturing out.

[WildmanSC]

Leo,

The chiggers must eat you alive in the attire in your pic under your name.  I know if I dressed like that I would have hundreds of little red bite sites all over my body and I would be absolutely miserable!  And that to me is NOT traditional!  

Bill

[BEN]

Going ......BACK.......to age old ways.
     
Challenges...joys....even aggravation of doing things the "hard" way. Where when you can hear teheswish of the arrow, and SEE it arch into your target, and KNOW I did that!! by not using the newest and greatest technology to do it--but by focus and practice and simple equipment.

And best yet---when you can take a bow and arrow, hand it to your wife and child and watch the excitement in their faces as they release an arrow and watch it fly and then they are always begging to go with you whenever they see you grab your bow off the wall to shoot.    
Ben

[razorsharptokill]

Better than any psych therapy. Good for the body and the mind. I've solved a lot of problems while out shooting or hunting.

When I make an incredible shot with little thought or planning, the magic of archery is revealed. I think, " Wow! How did I do that!!?!"

[pine nut]

The time I have spend in the woods and fields helps me to get a better perspective on this thing called life. I don't mean that in a pompous way I mean it in a humbling sort of way.  I have grown to appreciate the friendships it has helped me to find.  I makes me appreciate  my quary and the efforts of my ancestors to survive.  The beauty of this world that God created and the way things fit together in nature with all the nitches being filled with something.  Ultimately it makes me appreciate the gifts from the Father.  I feel sorry for those who haven't troubled to watch the sunrise from a wild place.  They have no idea of how it can warm the soul.
I also agree with your summary Elkherder.  You said it well for me.
pine nut

[straitera]

Independence to choose the road less traveled. Exchange myself from noise, crowds, & technology for deep in the woods where I enjoy hunting just as I have always. Never gets old. Simple is better.

[lilbobby]

Peace!

[Froggy]

Traditional to me is hoping to pass the love of just being out in God's backyard, from seeing the first glint of a new dawn, and picking out the first shapes you can make out, to frost covered leaves startling your senses alive by a critter, and you wondering at first is it a squirrel or a deer. First cast on a spring morning hoping for "Ole Mossy Back" to come up and swallow the plug. Or a hot September afternoon busting some doves on a Georgia field, passing it on to my Kid's , then to my Grandchildren Lord willing so they can have that genuine love that was given to me from my Dad, God rest his soul. Traditional to me is just pure substance, just like shaking a good friend's hand... solid !!. It really isn't all about what your'e holding in your hand, it's what your'e carrying in your heart...

Froggy

[Brian Krebs]

its when I feel alive.

[Ssamac]

OK Here goes. I love to go hunting. Not so much for what I bag but the companions over the years I go with, which includes both my children, brother, and friends. I love to go sailing for the same reasons. Not that I don't enjoy the sport itself, but it would not be the same alone, although sometimes, I enjoy the time alone. Now why trad?
Why a sailboat rather than a powerboat? the challenge, the quiet, etc. Why a flintlock rather than a scoped bolt action 30-06? The sheer simplicity and challenge. And why a trad bow rather then a sighted wheel bow. same

I feel that by using the less technological tools, I get back closer to the sport, and in terms of hunting, I feel that I give the critters a certain respect they deserve, these great creatures with physical ability far beyond anything we will ever have. It's the tool and the intellect only that can challenge them. The hi powered rifle or even the modern wheel bow or cross bow is a no game situation. The only way to miss is to blow the shot.
With trad gear, no matter how hi tech it becomes, (btw I'm a wood arrow guy and I like the old classic bows), it's putting my skill with this tool, and a lot of the equation is me, up against their instincts, stamina and physical gifts and seeing how I measure up to nature.

OK now one more thing. Shoot a dozen arrows, and you can always do better. It's the constant challenge of perfecting that shot. There's an inexplicable joy of watching that arrow fly time after time and getting closer to that mark each time that never ceases to attract and amaze me.

OK someone else's turn.      

[vtmtnman]

I made a thread similar on another forum.

My mind amazes me how with no reference point,I can hit a 3" area from 20 yards time after time (When I'm not tired or unfocused).

I guess trad to me means learning to use the sight between my ears.  

[Stringwacker]

Traditional is a term that some embrace and others apparently scorn. Let's be truthful in the fact that todays recurves and longbows (we might add arrows to that list as well) are techno wonders compared to the past....yet; have we did anything to the sport that would fail a lithmus test of the past in terms of increased range or style? I don't think so. We have made trad equipment out of better materials and therefore... made equipment more durable.

Often I think the terms of primitive and traditional get interchanged when in reality they are two seperate things. Certainly the mid -70's recurves (20 years after the space age began)and arrows of fiberglass/aluminum are anything but hacked from a tree. That's as 'traditional' as anything else from the label's standpoint. However, It's not primitive. I'm a traditional archer, not a primitive archer. The fact that something is not primitive doesn't render the term traditional as invalid.

That being said, I love being a tradtionalist. I love the self limitation that it creates. I fail to see the thrill in other forms of hunting that create an upper hand for the hunter...seems a little unfair to the game in my way of thinking. I may be an elitest in my own thoughts, but I temper my thoughts to others to promote a tolerence of respect. Yet.. my way is my own and I hold no one less accountable than myself. I think to do otherwise is less than a genuine position. I just don't say it as a matter of individual respect.

[Charlie Lamb]

It is a way of life for me and a good one. It is archery pure and simple... let the other guys find a name for what they do. WE WERE HERE FIRST!!

[wollelybugger]

It is the sound of the gobble in the morning, waiting for the bird to come in closer, he would of already been a goner if I would of  been using a shotgun. Watching a ten point go because he was twenty five yards out, a chip shot for a compound, but too far for a ethical shot.
  The best part of Archery for me was the peace it gave me. I worked in a prison and the pressure was amazing some days, I needed a outlet to relax and enjoy. Archery was almost Zen like for me.

[Roy Steele]

I guess i'm alittle more traditional for reasons I chose than most.I like to take the road less traveled alittle harder to stay out of the rutts.Through the years i've perrty much taken the same route others have taken ahead of me to get where i'm at.And through the years i've slowed down and just keept on geting slower.But we only slow to the point we want.Oh we still load the bad boy on the trailer stop at sheets get coffie and lunch on the way to our hunting area.Ride the bad boy to the logy.Pull the bow up made from the latest kit.Wait my cells ringing.Just my friend wanting to know if I got his fire hose.@%#*# I droped my best 4 blade carbon arrow.Oh well I guess you can still call me a traditionalest as log as you keep this to yourself.You payed how much for that selfbow and cain arrows.I got that road kill cut up and put in the freezer last week.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I wrote this some time ago, But holds true with Archery. More so with Traditional Bows, Because They are all I use now. Hell I started off with a Marlin .30-.30. A few years of center fire arms to my T/C .54 cal Side Lock. Since my Heart surgery in 2002, I've been Archery only, Then came 2005 when I turned Trad    

 

Live to Hunt ... Hunt to Live

    It seems like only yesterday I started hunting, but it's been over 20 years. When I started I didn't have anyone to teach me what to do or how to do it. I just learned on my own. I had started hunting during the "Bad years" of my life; Drinking, drugs and  not really caring what I did or who I hurt.

   Hunting started to mean something to me slowly. More and more the spirit of nature got to me. The drugs eventually stopped and hunting became a larger part of my life. I never felt the peace that I get when I'm in the woods, mountains, or plains. Hunting has become a way of life. I learned to be a part of something more then shooting a gun or a bow, more than  just going out and killing a beautiful animal. I gained more respect of the game I hunted and in return I was giving the game the respect it deserves. Most non-hunters don't understand this and some just don't want to. Ask someone why he/she hunts and you will get many different answers. The only answer I can give is that hunting gives me peace, and nowadays it gives me life.

   You may ask Why is that? Well, hunting saved me...It saved me from going to jail and from death. BY hunting and stopping the drinking and drugs it added more life to me. I was born with a defective heart valve. The thrill of the hunt is a thrill that no drug or booze can give me. I have  been saying Live to hunt...Hunt to Live  for the past 10 years. Five years before I had found out about my heart. Hunting keeps me alive and being alive is what makes me hunt. Hunters give back more than they take out of  hunting. We as hunters give back to nature what others can only think of giving. Why is it so hard for the so-called animal rights people to see how we as hunters are the ones that help to take care of nature. They feel that hunting is not humane? Well take them to a cattle ranch and then  a slaughter house and then see humanity.

   Not that I'm downing the cattle ranchers or the people that work in the slaughter houses. But look at it this way, a calf is born a male, 99 percent of which is fixed, and become food for us and we'll also look to see how they are killed. Hunters have the power to bring back what  we have taken, like the buffalo, turkey, elk, and rocky mountain sheep to name a few. I can see that these days everyone hunts in one way or another. We hunt for work, a mate, a car, a house, a way of life. A way of life to live free, happy and at peace with God and ourselves.

         FOR THIS IS THE LIFE I HUNT FOR AND
         I LIVE TO HUNT AND HUNT TO LIVE.