A challenge to us traditional guys

[LimBender]

Well, there is Howard Hill - "Hunting the Hard Way" and "I do everything the hard way, the Barta way."  So some of it might be compound shooters being defensive - like, what, you too good to shoot a compound?

[iron_llama]

I just like hunting.  Period.  I like venison, and I like knowing that I made that meat instead of buying it at the store.  I like being out in the woods, sneaking through an animal's home turf, trying to bring home meat.  I've hunted with rifles and handguns and muzzleloaders as well as bows and arrows, and I have every intention of continuing to do so.  

I originally got into bowhunting- and, for that matter, muzzleloaders- to extend my season.  I originally got into traditional archery to become a better archer and hunter.  At the end of the day, I like venison, and as much as I try I can't taste a bit of difference between venison killed with pointy sticks, lead pellets, or pickup trucks.

In my perspective, rifle hunting is very different than bowhunting, and hunting with a recurve is just a different experience than hunting with a compound.  I don't consider one experience superior or inferior to any other.  I don't consider myself to be a poorer hunter, or, for that matter, a lesser human being because I'm as likely to walk into the woods with handloaded ammunition as I am with a quiver full of arrows.  I'll hunt with anyone willing to follow a blood trail.

[JDunlap]

I shoot a longbow and a recurve, not because of a commitment to somebody's lofty tradition, but simply because I like 'em!

[chopx2]

Originally posted by Medley:
I think everybody worries about everybody else way too much, in all areas of life.

nuf said

[**DONOTDELETE**]

where i have problems with modern archery equipment is the "Get the meat at any cost" type hunters that aren't really hunters at all. You typically find these so called hunters driving the skid roads in their truck or riding around on their ATV's with a fire arm. This was one of the biggest reasons i became an archery hunter in the first place. i got tired of spending two hours trying to work my way closer to a group of deer or an elk heard, only to have one of these "road hunters" zipping bullets over my head at the very animals I'm stalking.

i understand that most of the guys here taking time to post on these forums are all hunters. but there are a lot of guys out there that dust off their rifles every fall and go hunting, that are not hunters at all.

my point is that modern archery equipment in just the last 5 years alone has gotten to the point where these closet dust rifle hunters, are now driving the roads in archery season flinging arrows cross canyon at 100 yards......

i started into traditional archery for the same reason i sold my rifle and went to archery hunting with a compound bow.

I cannot help feel animosity and down right disgust for guys flinging arrows 80-100 yards at game animals.... period..... it's down right irresponsible shooting those distances with an arrow, even if you practice daily and can group your arrow consistently at those long distances...... the animals move before the arrow arrives even with arrows traveling over 300 FPS.... I've seen it happen with my own eyes too many times.....

i don't bad mouth compound bow hunters, but i detest people who buy hunting tags and go hunting every fall that are not hunters at all, and there are a LOT of them out there..... i see more of these bozo's  with compound bows in my hunting areas every year, and i just can't feel all warm and fuzzy about handing them my bow after they just emptied their quivers over my head from a skid road above me.....

i blame the modern technology for making it too easy to kill animals at long distances with a compound bow for bring out the bozo's, and promoting long distance shooting..... a hunter will always respect his quarry. You just don't see too many Traditional bow hunters that are not hunters at heart......

[GRINCH]

Hunting is Hunting it's just your ethics that matter,If you don't care about the animal your hunting then you shouldn't be in the woods.

[Turkeys Fear Me]

Originally posted by Kirkll:


I cannot help feel animosity and down right disgust for guys flinging arrows 80-100 yards at game animals.... period..... it's down right irresponsible shooting those distances with an arrow, even if you practice daily and can group your arrow consistently at those long distances...... the animals move before the arrow arrives even with arrows traveling over 300 FPS.... I've seen it happen with my own eyes too many times.....

I have to take issue with you on this one Kirk.  It doesn't matter  if its's 80 yards or 8 yards.  If you can't consistently make the shot, the distance or equipmnet is irrelevant. There are people that I would feel more comfortable with taking 80 yard shots on game with a compound than others taking 8 yard shots on game with their longbow.  An afternoon at any trad shoot will illustrate this clearly.

Equipment choices don't make you a "hunter."  Whatever equipment you choose, knowing it's (and your) limitations, and more importantly staying within them, is what makes you a "hunter."

[jhg]

The point he was making is not that they can make the shot,
its that the animal can move while the arrow is in flight since it takes so long to get there.

In other words its unethical since there is a much greater chance at long distance that the shot will become a wound even if the archer is able to put his arrow in a tight group.

I agree with this opinion on long shots and like it or not compound tackle tends to encourage archers to try making them too often.

[Turkeys Fear Me]

Originally posted by jhg:
I agree with this opinion on long shots and like it or not compound tackle tends to encourage archers to try making them too often.

I agree with your opinion on long shots but ultimately, shot choice is a decision that the hunter makes, not the equipment.  It's like saying that handguns "encourage" crime.  Total bunk in my opinion.  A person that is inclined to take marginal shots with a compound is a person who is inclined to take marginal shots with a longbow.  A person who is inclined to only take high percentage shots with a longbow is a person who is inclined to take high percentage shots with a muzzleloader.  Personal ethics and choices define a "hunter" not equipment choices.

[tecum-tha]

Modern compounds are not considered bows in my opinion. They're a mechanical shooting device. Nothing "bends" anymore.The idea to invent the compound was the ability to make it easier for hunters to hold a bow at full draw.
The decline to the shooting device started with ridicilous high let-off percentages, mechanical releases, scoped sights and olympic style stabilizers. Archers don't need training wheels. I don't like compound shooters and I don't like to hunt together with them. I am not a fan of modern guns as well, I stay with my flintlock.
I try to sourround myself as much as possible with traditional archers/ traditional black powder shooters. At the local "wheeli bow club" 3D-shoots,I leave the compounders alone and I rather shoot alone. I have no desire to snail shoot with them.I tolerate them, but I don't have to like them or accept them as archers.

[BoonRoto]

Originally posted by chopx2:
 

Originally posted by Medley:
I think everybody worries about everybody else way too much, in all areas of life.

nuf said [/b]

X2

[straitera]

Any of us can shoot or hunt with whatever we want. I hunt longbow w/gun hunters all the time. Not to show them up; but, because I'm lucky & blessed enough to totally dig longbow hunting. For real, guns or other just doesn't do it for me. Pass along my regrets to your friend for the elitist attitudes. Just bet there's a big bunch of us folks here who wouldn't mind what he shot, compound or otherwise.

[Hoyt]

I hunt for meat and self gratification and a big rack is very gratifying. Since I hunt public land and my kills are few and far between anyway, I figured if I wasn't going to kill much I might as well not kill it with flintlocks and recurves so when I do get lucky it would be much more gratifying.

I don't care what anybody else uses...just the amount of bragging they do when they stack the odds so high in their favor.

[JDunlap]

The idea that you like or dislike someone based on whether they shoot a "traditional" weapon or a "non traditional" is strange. Aren't there more legitimate standards on which to base your views of other people??

[Running Buck]

Gotta shoot what makes you happy, life is way too short to get twisted up over what the other guy is shooting. Our common thread is hunting and sharing a tradition that started a long time ago.

[BuckyT]

I haven't personally noticed this type of behaviour, but I believe it.

Reminds me of how some guys that hunt with a compound make digs at guys that hunt with crossbows...  Don't ban me for saying crossbow!! LOL J/K!

Hunting is hunting.  No matter which weapon you choose to take afield with you.

I'm a rookie trad hunter.  I'm so green, I've yet to even hunt with my new recurve yet!  LOL!

I've been shooting deer with a bow for 20yrs and I finally decided to jump head first into trad archery this year.  I got my recurve in March and have been steady shooting ever since.

It's quite addictive and I enjoy shooting it immensely.  I don't know any long time veteran trad shooters, so I've been slowly reading, shooting, reading, shooting, tweaking my bow, reading some more, and shooting some more.

I've been very pleased with my progression and I believe I have a finely tuned potential killing machine in my hands now.  As long as I don't screw it up......lol!

So far I haven't seen this negative attitude in person this thread is about, but I believe it's out there.

Hunters can be royal pains in the you know what... Over the silliest of things too.

Good luck to all this coming hunting season/seasons with whatever weapon you choose take out there.  Well..since this is Trad Gang, a little more extra special good luck to all of y'all carrying traditional equipment! LOL!  Lord knows I'll need some of that!

[tecum-tha]

Sorry JDunlap,this is legitimate enough for me. If someone uses the same kind of weapon I like to use,these people usually view things pretty close to my own views. In my off-time I like to hang out with likeminded people, not with people I just need to tolerate. I only have to tolerate other peoples choices, but that doesn't mean I have to like other peoples choices or therefore other people calling themselves "archers"....

[JDunlap]

No problem tecum-tha. I fully understand that friendships are based on common interests. I just never considered shooting a stik bow to be a worldview or character issue.

[Bowwild]

The hunter and the hunt are far more important than the equipment used -- as long as they are legal. I hunted with recurves from my mid-teens until 21 years old. Then I hunted with compounds for the next 34 years. I returned to recurves last deer season. During most of these years I've also been an avid rimfire squirrel hunter and occassionally kill a doe with a single shot .308. Bowhunting and archery are my passion but I certainly tolerate others and their methods.

I really haven't encountered an equipment elitist in person. HOwever, I've read an occassional post from a few who sound like they might be. I've also read columnists who are quick to point out they hunt "traditional" (whatever that means)which they seem to think automatically raises their credibility.

I hunt with my son and my best friend. Both of them hunt more with compounds than recurves.

Hunting is such an individual pursuit. For some it is purely the hunt. For others it is the beast or the food. Some get off on the equipment and gear. For most though it is a combination. It matters to me first what I hunt, then how I hunt and the decisions I make, next what kind of equipment I use, and finally who I'm hunting with (although usually I bowhunt alone).

[BradLantz]

I spend a lot of time on a bowhunting forum in my state ... I'm one of the few recurve shooters. Talking with compounders is very difficult, they all want to shoot 350 gr total weight, mechanical heads the majority and 300 fps.

I seem to be the guy always going against the grain as far as broadhead choice, and I argue KE all the time.

Its an Arkansas forum, so not so much anti-crossbow ideologies as many states have to battle.