Are U a Tradbowhunter or Tradarcher?

[Ragnarok Forge]

I always shoot what I hunt with.  68 inch longbow, 55lbs @ 30 inch draw, with 584 grain arrows.  I am a hunter first and foremost and I use 3D shoots to improve my skills so I can make a clean kill.  That is what all of my shooting is about,  a clean kill taken at short range.

Do I like to win, you bet I do.  Do I care if some guy I am shooting against is using a high end target bow and beats me.  Not a bit. His equipment is his choice to make and he is welcome to it.  I cannot push my ethics, equipment preferences, or views onto anyone else.  If you feel outraged or offended that someone else shoots something else, you can of course just not attend that shoot again.  In my mind that is self defeating.  We need to support all archers and clubs to keep our sport healthy and enough members shooting and hunting to keep the Anti's at bay.  I embrace our fellow archers, enjoy chatting and learning about each one of them and their equipment, and of course love it when I shoot better on a target, a course, or a full shoot.  It happens enough for me to look forward to it.
 
I know that I am competing against my best prior score and nothing else.  I cannot expect and don't expect to beat someone who is better than I am, or has better equipment.  I also don't complain when I think the clubs set up is unfair.  Life is tough and the world is unfair.  As Grandpa used to tell me "Get the he@@ over it boy.  Life isn't fair and if you think it should be, your going to have a rough life."

[joebuck]

I wanted this Thread not about SCORE.....it's about the Face of the current 3-D Traditional Shoots......It's not about Somebody beating Somebody Else.......it's about in your oppinion......Are we leaving our hunting bows in the cars and shooting our 3-d bows at shoots? if so why?

[Randy Koleno]

What the heck, I'll give it a try.

 I haven't scored a 3-D round in many years(although I did win a hot dog off my buddy a couple of weeks ago). We go for companionship and to have fun shooting our bows. One of the local clubs quit giving out trophys because of the bickering about equipment, the targets are partially obstructed, shots are to long, short, medium, blah blah. These are mixed shoots. I use my hunting bow at 3-d shoots because that's what I want to become most efficient with. I have no problem with any equipment anybody else is carrying.

 The only large trad shoot I've been able to make so far has been ETAR (Denton Hill). Maybe the reason it still attracts a lot of people is that it's non-competitive, other than the Eagle Eye.

 I think as a person starts to realize what he/she wants from archery, they will gravitate to the type of shoot they will enjoy the most. To each their own.

[J-dog]

Never attended a shoot so take it for what it is worth. but your answer is human nature. Trad shoots just like wheelie shoots. They keep evolving as people get competetive.
Why?? people want to win simple - you see folks in the wheelie side get sponsors and money and all that - trad will be the same way; not a bad thing necassarily either.

J

Trad Bowhunter - have one bow - spend most time shooting by myself as I hunt from hunting positions and scenarios best I can. Just me.

[AJP66]

I think the drop off in 3d participation is more from the economy,and a little boredom. there are only so many ways to set a course. As far as target bows or hunting bows, I have both and shoot which ever I feel like that day.

[hogdancer]

I would never  leave my hunting bow in the car, especially during the summer ! too hot !

[James Wrenn]

Around here most people would hunt with the bow they are shooting.Some might not like the looks of them because of metal risers and such but they are bows that will be hunted with in most all cases locally.

Rules at 3ds set what you can and can't do.I hunt with a rest on my bows but have to shoot off the shelf at many shoots.They won't let me shoot my hunting bow so ..yes it does stay in the van or at the house when I shoot there.For that reason I have a recurve setup for shooting off the shelf.I will hunt with that bow some but only after I put a rest back on it.I also use a short stab on it for vibration that has to come off for the 3ds.So when you are talking all about hunting bows no matter how you set rules they will always keep some hunting bows in the car. :

[tlsharb]

I don't post much but this discussion intrigues me. I guess I come from a different perspective. I started shooting at age 12 (1966) and for the next 15 years had a recurve glued to me hand. Back then we were just "archers". We shot all year long-- punched paper for months (NFAA rounds of 28 targets) and when hunting season came I put down the Tamerlane and picked up the Thunderbird. When we competed, we picked our class (barebow, open, etc.) and learned to shoot the best we could. Yes, we did keep score.
I put the bow down in 1980 (marriage, kids, etc.) and didn't pick it up again till a couple years ago. Feel like Rip van Winkle. Now I'm a "trad" shooter, and it seems while I was sleeping there came the death of "archers". I know I'm different on this-- but why is there even something called a "trad shoot"? The club I joined is a great group of folks. I'm one of only a few recurve shooters, but when the club has a shoot I'm just happy to be able to go shoot (not at all concerned what others are shooting).
So back to the original question-- I have no idea if target shooters are going to mess up the future of "trad shoots". I come more from an era where we just went to "shoots".
One sad note. The recurve shooters that do come to our club for the most part are pretty bad (big exception...Bill and Laura Carlsen have shot with me a couple times and are very good). They have the "trad hat", "trad back quiver", "trad arrows", and "trad bow", but they can't hit a trad thing. I keep thinking "these guys would benefit greatly from getting a target bow and flinging 112 arrows on an NFAA course. Their form would be so much better. Just an observation from "Rip".

[Chortdraw]

I have built a few bows and shot a lot of targets and 3-d's. I do not shoot for score anymore but have a great time practicing with friends and showing new shooters some of the things I have learned over the years. Myself and one other fellow are the oldest shooters in the club and they don't have a class for us except we get the over the hill prices at the 3-d shoots. As long as I can still pull a bow and have more fun than one should, I will show up and share this time with anyone no matter what or how they shoot!! You can always learn something new or re-kindle what you have forgotten. Take time to smell the roses then shoot.

[SteveB]

I hunt with and kill deer with a 53# metal risered recurve, rest, and plunger. I shoot 3d with the same set up and am often put in the "target class". I will help anyone who asks with their setups from longbow/wood to compound.

Don't know, worry or care if anyone considers me a "trad bowhunter". And as hard as I look, I see no why my equipment choice hurts "current trad 3d shoots" when everthing I use  was in wide use for hunting 50 plus years ago.

I guess if you look for division hard enough, you will find it or invent it.

[joebuck]

You don't have a car Hogdancer!

IMO.....In the future..........I think the people at Trad.shoots will stay the same but their equipment will change...Or will the tradbowhunter fade off?......Will we have bows for 3-d and bows for hunting...Do we the vast majority doing that now?.....Is that a good thing?......

i personally admire the guy the shows up at the Traditional 3-d with his metal riser bow,plunger etc that he HUNTS with and says screw a score, Mr. Scorekeeper /rules committee...this is what i hunt with....I'm shooting for practice.....

[wapiti792]

Until this weekend I had never been to an "all Trad" shoot. What I saw this weekend out of about 100 shooters was dudes and gals with much the same equipment as me: a longbow or recurve with no junk on the bow and some arrows. Now I didn't stop and ask 'em how much weight they were shootin' and except for one hefty girl shooting a pink recurve, I didn't see no pink halter tops neither    

PS Having grown up in Memphis I can say that anybody that puts BarbQ sauce on perfectly good dry-rubbed pork is just plain sick    :p

[joebuck]

Amen Wapiti on the "Q".!!!!..Hogwild memphis style

[McDave]

I kind of have mixed feelings about this.  Sure, I'd really prefer to compete against people shooting more or less the same equipment I'm using, so we're competing on skills alone.  As people have said, there's nothing wrong with ignoring the tournament rules and just having a fun day shooting with a group of your friends, but it would be even more fun for me if I knew I could play by the rules and have a chance of winning.

But the fact of the matter is that there just aren't enough trad shooters out here in the West to justify having all the categories.  If I sign up for Master Senior Trad Recurve in a lot of the shoots around here, I may well win first place because I'm the only guy shooting in that category.  Woopie Do!

[Ragnarok Forge]

McDave,

I know what you mean.  Tricia and I shot a safari shoot last month and both took first place.  Of course we were the only trad shooters there.  We both got a laugh out of getting a trophy.  The club was very insistant that we entered our score cards despite being the only shooters in our class.

[Don Batten]

question one. Are we talking hunting BBQ sauce or 3D BBQ sauce?  

Question 2. Why would anyone who bowhunts, not shoot his hunting setup at a 3d shoot? That is if he is really there to practice for hunting season. That said, I am guilty myself of not shooting the bow I hunt with some times. I got a black widow marked 88@27 that I shoot at 3d on occasion just to make my 47lb hunting bow more managable come hunting season.

Joey, you  are a baseball fan. It's kinda like swinging a heavy bat in the on deck circle. Go heavy in practice and lighter on stand. you with me?

But to give a reply to what I think the orriginal question was, I would not think twice about shooting a deer, bear, hog, cat, dog, coon or anything I run into in the woods, with any bow I shoot at a 3d gig. Don

[Don Batten]

One more thing, What the hell would Dan Quillian say about this? I think anyone who ever met him knows what he would say. and as to the Trivia about who wrote the IBO trad rules. I think it was Dan. later DB

[dnovo]

After reading this thread for days now I figured I may as well chime in. I enjoy shooting 3d shoots. I don't do many local shoots as much as I used to as I got tired of standing and waiting at each target for someone to glass the target, finally sight in and shoot after holding for what seems like 5 minutes then standing at the stake and glassing the target again to see where they hit. Come on, is the arrow going to move before you walk down there?
I enjoy the trad only shoots where we can have more fun and get some shooting in.
I am an average shooter and I do use my hunting equipment. Yes Joe, I have killed a deer with the bow I am shooting (and a bear or two, hog caribou, etc)
I shoot what I hunt with so that it is natural to me when I go in the woods.
I think that there are a lot of people coming to the trad ranks from the cable side and bringing the same attitude with them of having separate equipment for shooting targets versus hunting. To a lot of this crowd it is all about score and they will use the equipment to up the score.

[lpcjon2]

We are all little archers in a big shoot.who needs a label! It's all archery when you look at it.

[John Dill]

I was at the South Eastern championship one year and talking with Dan Quillian. My wife and I stood their with him, while I asked him what was a perfect release? He said "get a hand full of string" and go to the practice range and give it a whirl" The whole time patting my wife on the behind...and asking her what kind of bow she shot(LOL) I think he had his hands full(LOL) Dan was my kind of fella. Really enjoyed him at the Atlanta Buckerama in the 80s....He was outspoken on using trad equipment for hunting and 3-D

Not to stray from the subject above....but I really like seeing hunting equipment at shoots, but also dont mind the seperate classes for more target oriented stuff.

Some of the largest shoots in the country have none or little competitive tournaments. Some of the best run 3-D sanction shoots have small turnout but show with some of the best shooters in the country. Is the majority of trad shooters a non competitive group? The word non competitive is hard for me to type....it goes against everything I stand for. I like competition it makes us strive to be better. Also the friend we make on the way is the icing on the cake!