what is traditional to you?

[hayslope]

Just remember (well, SOME of you can actually remember) - long before "Trad" came about as an add-on to archery or bowhunting, it was just "plain ol' archery or bowhunting.  As I recall, I remember lots of folks adding sights of various sorts on their recurves.  I could never force myself to put holes in my bow, so I never went "there".  I would venture to guess you might still to this day find an old Bear hunting bow in an attic somewhere that has some sort of old sight mechanism mounted on the riser.

As for ILF, metal risers and rests, well, go for it.  I doubt that it will increase your range much, but if it helps with accuracy and consistency AND it works for you....well.....You can't really say that it isn't traditional.  Some folks may differ on the metal riser part, but it's not really giving you much of an advantage.  I would say that most modern longbows and recurves are much more efficient that their older counterparts.  I doubt that anyone would say it isn't traditional because it's more efficient.  You're still dealing with a stick and string.

[Rob DiStefano]

bent stick(s) + string = 'traditional'

[ottertails]

Limbsaver, sorry for you. You don't agree with your friend because you don't understand.
Read Ghost Dog, that is what your friend feels.
Shoot with whatever you want, & don't worry about being "traditional".

[ottertails]

Uh....I meant Limblover.
And yes Rutandstrut, imo, thats traditional.

[PAPA BEAR]

i shoot all wood bows and aluminum arrows.my choice,your choice is yours.no training wheels pretty much says it all.i prefer wood and wont shoot metal handled bows but i use aluminum arrows.everyone has different taste.

[Gooserbat]

Me thinks George shot a robin hood with his post!

[Ragnarok Forge]

No wheels = trad to me.  What trad means to you is what really matters.  Shoot what you want.  I shoot wood bows with carbon and aluminum arrows.

[Darren]

No wheel's for me also. But myself, I would have a hard time hunting with an aluminum riser. I just love my wood longbows.

[Ben Maher]

i shoot Hill style bows with wooden arrows and have hunted with nothing else for over ten years . i don't wear camo etc ... am i trad ? don't know and don't really care 'cause i also play with and shoot Ilf bows with metals risers and , heaven forbid , my new one has sight pins on it !!!
roll with what feels good and floats your boat and don't let anyone tell you different ...

ben

[Earthdog]

What's become traditional today is one of the major things that's made me what I am today.
It's what's set me apart from the crowd for the last 40 years.
It's been the single most constant thing in my life.
I used to say we were an elite,,but that words not very popular now days,I'm not suppoused to say it anymore,,,,so,,, I guess I won't.
But I think you get the idea,Trad means a whole lot to me that's not so much about the equipment,but a heck of a lot about the mind set and life style of shooting a real bow of any type.

[just_a_hunter]

Originally posted by vermonster13:
I'm an archer who hunts with what works for me. I'll leave the definitions to those who think they need them.

+1!!!

Todd

[wapitimike1]

I'd say any thing with out wheels, sights, stablizer and release. That's hard enough for me with out getting to picky.

[wollelybugger]

Tradition, Knowledge or customs handed down through the generations. Traditional means following traditions. This site is making traditional hunters by passing down info. to the next generation.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I have to agree with earthdog, and everybody else as well. I made the switch to trad gear about five years ago and just the fact of having to close the gap and be able to put it in the spot with no wheels or sights makes feel like I accomplished more than with a wheelie bow.
Great stuff

[Dick in Seattle]

What is traditional to me?

I've been around "traditional" as a concept for a long, long time.  When I was a kid, muzzle loaders weren't traditional, they were just grandpa's guns, and all we kids were allowed to shoot.   Later on, as a practical matter, I learned to sew, on a treadle sewing machine.  It wasn't traditional, just grandma's sewing machine.   As a boy, early 50's, archery was wood or alum. arrows and lemonwood longbows, or, if you were wealthy, fiberglass Hills or early Pearson and Bear recurves.    

I've thought about it a lot, and, to an old phartt like me, most of you all have converted the concept of traditional from WHAT you shoot to HOW you shoot.   To me, "traditional" means you're trying to use the SAME equipment that was in common use at a specific time and see if you can do as well with it as the people of that time did. Note I said "common use".   That doesn't mean that maybe you can find an example of a developmental variation of that time, but what the bulk of folks really did use.  The Ferguson rifle was a breech loader in the Revolutionary War, but it doesn't make breech loaders trational to the 1700's.

Most of the conversation on boards today consists of talk of things that are not traditional to me... RD bows being called longbows (which they ain't, rules aside), metal risers (a few of which existed back in the day, but weren't in common use, which is why they caused so much discussion, and were, in fact, about as detested as wheel bows are today), use of modern materials, etc.  

These are developmental things, not traditional things... and God bless 'em for it.  Where would we be without development?  However, I hope there is still someone out there besides me who can see the ROTFLMAO humor in a recent thread title I came across on one of the "traditional" boards:  "Carbon/foam vs. glass/foam vs. glass/wood".  To me, that's funny enough, without even going into the use of tv cameras in the woods by "traditional" hunters.

I know I can't change the world, or even shift its direction any, but I sure can chuckle as it marches by.

Dick in Seattle
The Old Phartt

[Wolfie2nd]

Originally posted by Earthdog:
What's become traditional today is one of the major things that's made me what I am today.
It's what's set me apart from the crowd for the last 40 years.
It's been the single most constant thing in my life.
I used to say we were an elite,,but that words not very popular now days,I'm not suppoused to say it anymore,,,,so,,, I guess I won't.
But I think you get the idea,Trad means a whole lot to me that's not so much about the equipment,but a heck of a lot about the mind set and life style of shooting a real bow of any type.

I like that "ELITE" thing let's stick with that over traditional or primitive. We the ELITE shooters!! Elite man that kinda just flows.. Lol

[LimbLover]

LimbLover, sorry for you. You don't agree with your friend because you don't understand.  

I don't really understand what you meant by that. I love to shoot traditional bows and bowhunt more than anything. I totally understand his pain but I would find a way to do something I wanted to continue doing and there are ways.

[lpcjon2]

Traditional to me is buckskin underwear...LOL      

Just shooting an animal on its terms with no mechanical devices or high tech crap plain and simple wood bow and wood arrows and lots of patience.

[SveinD]

In Norway, the tournament rules for traditional is basically none-very mild rd longbows only, no metal parts, just stick+string with no arrowshelf. Not even silencers are allowed!
Some horsebows are allowed, I think..

But to me, longbow/recurve/horsebow, all wood, no glass, external arrowshelf, no metal is what I personally define as traditional.
Basically, what a bow looked like 500 years ago and older..

I do not mind other stuff, but would not deem it as 'core' traditional!

So, I shoot a TD recurve with silencers and shelf, because I like it  

[John3]

No wheels, pulleys or mechanical advantage and your in...

For me a metal handled bow is just too close to a compound. I love the warmth and beauty of wood.