What brought you to shoot Trad.?

[Sean Butler]

My dad was my big influence.

We just don't shoot compounds.  Ever. I have shot one arrow throw a compound bow and hated every second of it.  It was a foriegn concept.  Why was there a sight? i could see the target, i could pick my own spot.

A few years ago i was shooting with some friends who used compounds.  it was not the good natured practice i thought it would be.  Everything was about what this gizzmo did or who's set up was the best (expensive).  I was standing there with my thunderstick quietly firing away arrow after arrow. They wanted to move to 40 yards to get sighted in (and show off who had the best pin set up).  My first arrow went over, my second arrow went under, and my third arrow stuck in the vitals of the 3d deer so neatly everyone paused. I was sighted in.

[Fletcher]

This is all I've ever shot.  I had a green Paul Bunyan solid glass straight bow for several years and bought my first recurve, a new 55" Shakespeare Necedah, in my early teens.  I still have it.

[longbowben]

After killing 8 years in a row a 130 class buck or better.I needed a challenge.And traditional archery brought the challenge back with my largest buck and with traditional equipment,  took my largest buck scoring 178 3/8 .I don't think there is a more rewarding way to hunt, stick and string.I cant wait for september i have a date with a south carolina hog.

[nc recurveman]

I did it becuase everyone I know said it was too diffcult. I'm just a smarta$$ that way

[thunder1]

I had hunted with compounds for years. Some of my friends that I trained how to shoot talked me into having a local bowyer make us some longbows. After shooting them off and on for a couple of years I put my longbow down for what I thought would be for good. Never shot it very well and I was lethal with a compound. Then One day after a successful bow hunt I came to realise that hunting with my compound was a lot like gun hunting. I see my prey, I line my sights up and shoot. Hunt over with. I'm not saying I'm a great shot or anything like that. I do my work and learn how to shoot my weapons and shoot a lot. I decided that day it's not getting there that was fun but how I get there. I learned CORRECTION I'm learning every time I shoot my longbow. The past three years have been good for me with several deer down. No matter how good I shoot today tomorrow brings new challenges with it. I love the sport and have used nothing else to hunt with for the past couple of years.

[varmint101]

It was my next step in hunting.  Shotgun, muzzleloader, compound, tradbow.  Eventually I will probably make my own selfbow.  It's all good stuff!

[cahaba]

I grew up in Wilsonville Alabama birthplace of Howard Hill. I hung around people like Jerry Hill and Richard (Sylvester) Shaw who both were from Wilsonville. I also met Mr. Hill a couple of times and his words gave me much inspiration.
I also used to shoot a slingshot when I was a kid. Not much difference than instinctive shooting. I would shoot my slingshot every day and not braggin but I was deadly with it. So the longbow was an obvious choice. It extended my deer hunting and was a great challenge.

[Day Dreamer]

A long time ago a buddy had a Black Widow catalog, and I would just day dream, that would put a spark in my heart. Then 6 yrs ago I picked up a TBM mag at Gander Mtn, and it lit a fire. Trough TBM is how I found out about TG, through TG is how I found about AlOT of good info. including Vince and my Mowhawk LB.

[KentuckyTJ]

Definitely the simplicity and the challenge.

[twostrings]

A friend offered to glue me up a reflex/deflex longbow after I had been shooting a used compound for a couple of years. I jumped at the opportunity because I thought it would be fun to finish out the bow...I enjoy doing things myself. So, I made the bow, started shooting it, and was having a blast. Then I moved out to East Texas where I visited Rob at Bob Lee Bows in Jacksonville, purchased my first recurve and I was hooked. I have been plucking away ever since.

Also, I grew up shooting a 20# fiberglass recurve my mom found lying on the curb coming home from work one day. I must have put thousands of shots through that little bow before I ever turned eleven.

Matthew

[Brian Krebs]

Tonto.

[slivrslingr]

I was a born and bred rifle hunter but wanted to switch to archery hunting.  Had my dads old Shakespeare recurve in the closet, twisted limbs and all, dusted it off and got a proper string and arrows for it.  One shot with it and I was hooked!  Never really had any interest in compounds, never owned one, never will.  That bow still has the best grip for me of any bow I've owned or shot.

[The Great Jashu]

Originally posted by twostrings:


Also, I grew up shooting a 20# fiberglass recurve my mom found lying on the curb coming home from work one day. I must have put thousands of shots through that little bow before I ever turned eleven.

Matthew

That made me laugh out loud. I love that kind of luck. What a great mom to pick up something like that for her son. Not many moms would do that today.

[acadian archer]

I enjoyed stump shooting with my bear Pronghorn Hunter compound in the 80s and one day realized it weighed as much as my Ruger M77 270 Win.

Picked up an inexpensiv takedown and I was off to the races.

Simplicity, ease of use, challenging and just more fun.

[frassettor]

Simplicity...Relying on "me" to make the shot. I feel closer to nature when I go afield with Traditional tackle. When you do finally connect, the sense of accomplishment is overwhelming.

You don't need the "latest and greatest" to harvest animals. All you need is concentration, and you believing that you can make the shot.

[Arwin]

Being flat broke got me into it, LOL! I couldn't afford to replace all the gadgets and tuning on my wheels.  
 It's comforting to know when I miss, it doesn't anything to do with my bow.  

[Eugene Slagle]

I started out shooting a Bear Grizzly in 79 & stuck with it till about 86 when my uncle gave me a Ben Pearson Model 250 compound bow & from there I would just toy around with my recurve but not keep up my abilities like I had.

Last year I was shooting my 32 A-A Hoyt Trykon at the Fredericksburg Expo when my release broke & was upset because I couldn't shoot it, I had already started to loose the fun in shooting with my compound but that made me realize I needed a change & decided to retrain myself with a recurve again.

Now since I've been shooting my different recurves, I've regained the fun that I had lost & even though I'm not the best shot around I'm very happy with my progress & look forward to each day of what my abilities may show me on my next outing.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Simplicity.

[crotch horn]

I got into it by accident really. I had bought a new Bowtech in the summer of 06 and practiced until I could hit bullseyes from 40yds in. Hunted that fall and shot a buck @ 18yds. Never saw the arrow pass through him. Decided I needed to keep my skills up over the winter so I decided to join a league. Come to find out the only one I could get into was trad. So I finally decided to join just I would go and shoot figuring I would shoot the compound after. One of the guys had a LH recurve I could borrow so There I was the first night not knowing anyone or anything about trad bows. It took about two shots to realize I sucked and was hooked. Bought a used recurve three weeks later and killed a bear that fall in 07. Took my first turkey the last day of spring this year. My two biggest tropies by far because they were with trad gear. I will not say I would never go back. Only 43 and had to have reconstructive surgery on my left shoulder in 08. Maybe someday I will have to let wheelies keep me in the game but NOT until I can no longer shoot trad. I would like to thank Ed, Tom & Tony from that league. You all have helped me so much to not only get better but be a better person.

[Hot Hap]

It's all there was in 1958. Hap