Spectre.
No. These kinds of custom bows weren't even available when I acquired my first bows; Pearson Cougar, Bear Grizzly, and Bear B Mag. If they had been I wouldn't have been able to afford them anyway.
I subscribe to the premise that when someone shoots a bow they are an archer. When someone hunts with a bow, they are a bowhunter. If that archer uses a compound they are a compound archer or bowhunter. If they don't, then that's a "traditional" archer to me.
I completely agree with your assertion that the bow--it's price, quality, or wait time, if not a compound, has nothing to do with a person being a traditional archer or not. I don't think owning a $1,500 custom is the key in making a person a better shot, and certainly not a better hunter.
Like you said and another wrote (respect), there are important basics to learn in order to match bow and arrow. There are better ways to learn to shoot than others. There are certainly superior ways to think about your shooting to avoid trouble down the road.
And then we come to the hunt. One would have to be super-humanly attentive and be able to absorb information better than anyone I've ever met to find a substsitute for experience. Some things, we just have to learn on our own, if only to back up or refute what we've been told. I think the highest level of sportsman or woman is one that has a very high respect for themselves (not arrogance). When they have this they will respect others and, to me most importantly, this activity that is an important driver of so many of our lives ...bowhunting.
Again, I think all non-compound-using archers are "traditional". After that, it is simply adjectives that describe the "level" of traditional archer one is. Some are avid some are not. Some are more or less self-sufficient. Some are one/few bow people and others are not. Some like to tinker with equipment and form, some don't. Some are cool with never shooting past 10 yards and others aren't.
I enjoy reading the threads of folks searching for the bow they like best (for now). I certainly hope they aren't trying to live up to some "traditional" standard they imagine exists.
I have zero interest in longbows but I read those threads. I don't feel like I have to own a longbow to fit the traditional mold or fit it better.
I don't think more or less of folks who are over-joyed with one bow that's older than my children. Same goes for people who own more great bows than can be found at a trad fest.
In fact, like others wrote above. I would highly recommend the new archer start their journey with inexpensive equipment that fits them. If the broadside of a barn has no fear, I can't see how the archer can ever be anything but extremely dissatisfied. No amount of antler bling, checkering, rain forest lumber, or multi-angled limb design can make up for a shot gone wild.
Topic: I have noticed a lot of guys here who are waiting to get their bows (Read 467 times)
