How has traditional archery changed your life?

[Sean B]

As I read some of the posts on this site,I find that some of the names of the members are familiar to me, and I see that there is a closeness that has developed between many of you, apparently, do to sites such as this, and other organizations.  How has hunting/shooting with the stick and string opened doors or effected your life that wouldn't have if you shot a compound?

For me, I've only recently found this site, and have met some really good people because of it, that I would have never met otherwise. Traditional archery has also put the excitement back in hunting that was lacking when I hunted with the compound.

[Whip]

Changed my life?  Without a doubt!  I'll name just a few examples, but there are many more.

I fell in love with mountain hunting and at the time was a smoker.  It didn't take long to realize that I wouldn't be doing many trips to the mountains if I didn't give that up so the butts were gone.  I ride bike and hike every summer in preparation for my western trips, so overall hunting has greatly improved my health.

I have formed deep and long lasting friendships with so many people that I would have never had the chance to meet otherwise.  These are people that I share a common interest and values with, and it seems more like we are brothers than just friends.  The richness they have added to my life is priceless, and one of my most valuable possessions.

I enjoy the whole traditional community so much that I have ended up making a small business out of it after retiring from my banking career.  It has given me an opportunity to travel and to see and visit all of those friends I have made.

So yeah, I guess you could say it has changed my life!  

[Lenny Stankowitz]

I would say not at all.  It's a hobby that I enjoy VERY much but I would be the same person with or without it.

I too have met some great people as a result of traditional archery but the same can be said for work, church, golf, skiing, biking, and the guys at Home Depot.

There are great people to be met and great experiences to be had everywhere.

[hunt it]

Well said Joe! It has had a great impact on myself as well. If I had not taken up the Trad bow I would never have found this place. Having done a great deal of hunting with gun and compound,the challenge was wearing off. It became way more about who and where than what. That fit in perfectly with the trad scene. Once I started travelling to Trad events such as the Compton and Denton Hill the passion within the trad community sank in. I doubt anywhere on earth is there a finer more genuine group than the traditional archery family. Through Trad Gang and these events I have met so many super people and formed many good friendships that will last a lifetime I hope. Today I enjoy the hunt so much more than long distance shooting. It's great fun to stalk within 10-15ft of a critter and pull it all off. Nothing more fun than sharing camp with my Trad Gang buddies.

[flightmedic]

it allowed me to pursue a hobby that my family could do with me, i always picked hobbies that were specific to me , but this has allowed my family to join in. my wife and kids have become so envolved that our entire summer is wrapped around compton, ETAR, OSTA, and michigan longbow shoots. and their kicking my butt at shooting now.

[Sean B]

Lenny, you have a good point. But, for me, I never really considered hunting in its self as a hobby as much I do a life style.  In 30 years of bowhunting, and about 19 or 20 with stick and string, its who I am.

[GMMAT]

I fall in line with most of the previous points....and I've really just begun my journey into trad. archery.  

JUST counting the guys I know who are members HERE, I feel like I'm blessed.  

I keep going back to this...but it's had a lasting effect on how I now view my hunting.  When I was thinking of switching over to full-time trad. (just last year), I came here looking for a nudge.  I got MANY.  But one member's words stuck with me...and helped define how I NOW view my pursuits.  I'll paraphrase....but it went something like this....

"Jeff...when the 'how' becomes more important to you than the 'how big' or the 'how many'....you'll make the switch.  We'll be waiting". - Orion

I've never forgotten that....and it's defined my outlook, every since that day.

Hunting with the compound bow was really fun....and really rewarding.  This past season, my first all-trad., was magical.  

My hunting has grown.  I've found a home.  "Changed my LIFE"?  Considering how important hunting is in my life.......YOU BET!

[inn8hunter]

I don't know if trad hunting changed my life or MORE LIKELY my life changed and I found trad hunting.

Due to some heavy medical bills(not chronic, just a knee blow out) for one of my sons and the fact that being self employed I just don't have as much time to trophy hunt. I decided I was spending too much money hunting and not having as much fun as I used too.

Trad hunting (haven't hunted yet with recurve) is a year round "hobby" as I am finding you always have to shoot. It is also very simple, nostalgic, and will be much more of a challenge.

I don't know what I'll shoot at next year. Who knows, it still may be a big buck, but instead of letting horns dictate my shot, it will be the enjoyment of that particular hunt the dictates whether or not I loose an arrow at a deer.

I really can't wait because it will likely be from the ground in a ghille suit.

Tim

[GMMAT]

I don't know what I'll shoot at next year. Who knows, it still may be a big buck,  but instead of letting horns dictate my shot, it will be the enjoyment of that particular hunt  the dictates whether or not I loose an arrow at a deer.
 

Good stuff, inn8.    

I'm a former PGA Professional.  Tom Watson once said that there's NO substitute for actually placing yourself "in the arena".  Your thought (portion I quoted) reminds me of his words....and my new outlook.  I don't NEED to have taken an animal, to have garnered a LOT of personal satisfaction in having simply hunted it.  I've made it a personal goal to expand my horizons with each coming year.....and to PURSUE a different animal each year I can afford to do so.

It didnt' take much looking to find animals RIGHT HERE I can do that with.  And, I'm heading W in the fall to pursue elk for the 1st time.  I'm 45....and feel like I have a LOT to look forward to.

I couldn't agree more with your point.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Good question but I don't know how to answer it. I've never done anything else since I was 4 years old. My life is what it is because of it.

My family is used to me mmmmmmissing holidays and birthdays. WE don't know any other way.

The only other thing that I've given up is football. I was pretty good, but it clashed with deer season.

[LongStick64]

It has helped me be more focused in my life by teaching me patience and humility.
It has opened my eyes to the generosity of others, so frequently displayed here.
It has allowed me to share the fruits of true artisan's labor.
But most of all it has given me something that I can trully enjoy passing on to my children.

[Nate N]

I am relatively new to traditional archery.  I have always been an archer but shot compund bows.  I am by nature a very competitive person.  I still play baseball and expect to win every game.  I put 100% into everything i do.  

In september i had a severe nervous breakdown.  I was put on medicine and had to go to the therapist and all that good stuff.  In my talking with her she stated that i needed a hobby where i can just let everything go and not have to worry about anything else.  I bought a 50.00 used longbow that next day.  

Traditional archery to me is a way that i can get myself squared away and not have to worry about what everyone else is doing.  I no longer have to go to the therapist and also no longer have to take my medicine.  I have to thank AdamH for helping me through my difficult time and also for just hanging out and talkin bows with me.  By just being himself he helped me get better as a person and also as an archer.  

Traditional archery to me is defined by the adventures you and your stick take, not by the animals that you take with it

Nate

[Don Stokes]

After shooting a bow since childhood, and hunting with a bow for 30 or more years, I met Dan Quillian in a time when I was unhappy with the status quo of my life and, without really knowing it, looking for something more fulfilling. Dan got me interested in finding a better, stronger species of wood for arrow shafts, and my life changed completely. I quit my job, went into consulting and research full time, and started the Superceder arrow shaft business. My life centered around archery for the next decade or so. Retired from business archery, I make my living now as the Technical Director for a wood products inspection agency, but archery is still very large in my life. I shoot to hunt, and nearly every year I take time off to make an archery hunt with my friends.

I would have never devoted my life and living to compound archery the way I did to traditional archery. I've done it both ways, but compound archery is like buying your food from a restaurant instead of cooking it for yourself. The fullness of the experience is lost without the complete personal involvement.

[mjdglobal]

For me, traditional archery has affected my life in many positive ways, both personally and hunting-wise.  As far as hunting goes, I feel I appreciate hunting more now and have more respect for nature and the animals in it.  It has also helped me 'graduate' from being a 'shooter' to a real hunter.  As far as my personal life, I can't even begin to tell of all ways I am a better person now.  I KNOW traditional archery is one reason I have bettered myself.  While I'm not what you would call a very religous person, there is something very 'spiritual' about what we do.  I'm sure you all know what I mean.  When we surround ourselves with this 'spirituality' and others that have it, I think there is no doubt that we become better people.

[sswv]

in a nutshell....it put the F U N  back into hunting and shooting.

[Greg Clark]

It has made me poorer $$$$     , but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I will have plenty of good memories when I get too old to chase things with stick and string.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

I put everything on the line and bought a place where I could hunt out the back door. Thats how much trad hunting means to me!!   now i get to carry my bow and hunt about 100 days a year

[wapiti]

Bow rich and cash poor. I have to refrain from looking or handling some bows. Compound was like being married to your sister. Sticks are like a weekend at the Playboy Mansion.

[LimbLover]

It centers me. I started shooting last year to help relieve stress from my job. Now I shoot in my basement every night. It is amazing how good 20 perfectly shot arrows a night at 10 yards can make you feel.

Traditional archery also made me want to hunt for the first time. This is significant because I was never a hunter and my Dad had given it up.

After 28 years my Dad and I are hunting together for the first time and we both have archery to thank for that.

I'm forging some valuable relationships as well. I haven't met a traditional archer I didn't like.

[snag]

A lot of good thoughts here that I can identify with.  I guess I can add that it has made hunting fun again for me.  I too have made some great friends that I share time and experiences out in the woods with. I am blessed to have a grandson that at 2 yrs old loves to sit on my lap and hold one of my arrows and smiles...more blessings to come hopefully.