Why aren't all hunters hunting trad ? POLL

[Shawn Leonard]

Yornoc, easier to shoot yes, but easier to kill deer with, that is a matter of opinion only. Brian Sorry, I have killed 50 plus deer with a compound and 20 plus with Trad gear, not splitting hairs, I set all my stands than and now for shots under 20 yards. Did not make any difference which bow. Gun, well than you could make a valid argument to me, as that is different. To me killing something is the only goal, the other things make it nice, but why am I out there hanging 63 stands and preparing stand sites by trimming and even raking my paths into them, well to kill something. If your main goal is not to kill something maybe that is your problem. Make it your main goal(not only goal)but your main one and maybe just maybe you will kill something. I feel as hunters we all should strive to do our best and the best a hunter can do is achieve his main objective and that is too kill something we are hunting. stratera well said,='s Nuff Said! Shawn

[ti-guy]

I remember an encounter with a compound shooter who just could'nt understand my (our)phylosophy.My goal is to get as close as possible to my prey (to me=better hunter).Is goal was to be able to shoot it as far as he could (to him=better long distance shooter).He was kind of shaking his head in disbeleaf.Life and time are not static it's a continuous movement and trad archery is,to me,a movement to commitment...

[YORNOC]

Shawn, totally agree. My opinion has NOTHING to do with hunting/killing deer. Just easier to be accurate with.
I personally dont care what anyone uses. I like trad gear myself. But I'll go on a rifle hunt anyday than go to work.  

[huntnmuleys]

while i think a compound is MUCH easier for longer shots, and doesnt take near the amount of practice or persistance, i think a traditional bow is actually easier for close shots.  and, i think a lot of it is the hunter, as in i think the upper tier compound hunters would fare well with traditional gear as well, given the practice with the equipment. maybe not as well as they do with the compounds, but im betting they would still get their share of animals.  

i shot compounds for many years, both compounds and tradtional for many years, and now am strictly traditional for one reason, WAYYYY more fun!

[Thumper Dunker]

To each thier owen. Just go hunting for goodnes sakes.

[marshall brown]

For what it's worth, here is my opinion.... Most of us at one time were compound shooters. Most of us love bowhunting more than the average guy and wanted that extra challenge that we feel we weren't getting with the compound and made the switch. Is it handicapping ourselves, I say no, only challenging ourselves to be better hunters and get closer to game. This is the fire that we all crave.

[2madjacks]

Shawn, can I ask why you chose to start hunting with trad after hunting with compounds?

[David Dumke]

I have nothing against compound hunters, rifle hunters, or any other hunter. I have a big problem with snide remarks made by ignorant people. And an even bigger problem with snide remarks by well informed people.

Brought in my bow to the man I bought it from to get set up with some arrows. He apparently forgot the only person in town to come in looking for a recurve bow. He began telling me a story about his friend who nearly made the olympic team shooting a recurve and that he would always tell him that some day he'd grow up and buy a compound. Now, it was by now means what he said that got to me. It was how he said it and the way he looked at me after he said it.

A few days later I was in to pick the arrows up. My fletching choice was pink and green, 2 pink 1 green. Easier to see and imho they came out to look very nice. One of his buddies came in who needed some fletch work done and he agreed to do it free of charge. Before the man left he noticed my arrows. "Those are some nice looking arrows there, looks like something you'd see hanging from a womans ears!"

Again I have a tolerance for rib jabbing, if he knew they were my arrows. I then heard the owner, and man who fletched, very sloppy I might add, my arrows reply. "Thats exactly what I thought when the guy asked for pink" and a loud chuckle.

The man is a very two faced sort of man. He has a reputation for being a jerk and I was giving him the benefit even after what he said the first time. He shoots compound but obviously has no respect for traditional archery. He even told me the day I bought the bow he wouldn't reccomend hunting white tail because a recurve at 49# wouldn't do well enough to kill the deer.

Sorry for the long windedness but I know the difficulties of shooting a compound, sights or not, you need to aim and that can be a pain. I chose traditional to start my hunting days with because it gave me a feeling of accomplishment just thinking about taking a deer with stick and string.

I respect hunters, but I do not respect badmouths. (To put it politely).

Shoot to kill, and only shoot if you can kill it. Everything else in the equation has no merit. We enjoy traditional, and that's why we congregate here. To each his, or her, own.

[Bowwild]

Not much for me to add. I agree with some of what is written above and not so much with a couple comments.

One thing I didn't read directly mentioned has to do with access to view and handle the variety of top-notch recurves (ok, longbows too) out there. I think if a pack of compound shooters went to a trad-vaganza they would be amazed, impressed, and intrigued. I think those who were past piling up a body count (not that the body count isn't an important part of the trad hunt) would be drawn to the "trad" equipment.

I shot recurves with others of my generation in the 60's and early 70's. I killed a couple of deer with a Pearson Cougar and a Bear B Mag.

Then, I was introducted to a PSE (Citation compound 33% let-off) in 1975. As soon as I saw the thing shot (the shooter was an indoor pro)I was sold -- literally. Thus began a 34-year attraction to 20+ compound bows. I liked the accuracy and, while I only used extended range twice in all those years, I liked adding 10-15 yards to my effective range.

Around 2000 I was a guest speaker a the Kentucky Klassic in Pulaski County Kentucky. I had never been to a trad-fest before.  I couldn't believe the beautiful bows; Hummingbird, Acadia, Fox, Bighorn, and assorted others I had never heard of. I bought one the next year and another 4 years later. However, I wasn't ready to give up those 10-15 yards of "gimmee" range yet. Then in 2010 I did.

Unless I get hurt or damaged to the point I can't shoot my recurves, I can't imagine ever turning back to hunting with the compound. I have nothing against em or those who hunt with them -- some of the best hunters I know still use compounds. I enjoy the beauty of custom recurves. I love the challenge of shooting the recurve accurately.

I feel greater accomplishment when I've killed a deer (hopefully a turkey soon) with a recurve. That feeling was beginning to wear off with the compound.

Personally, I'm all for starting new archers with compounds. Let them learn a lot with this equipment about archery, bowhunting, and themselves. At some point I think many will seek to make the hunt a bit more difficult and they will turn to traditional.  However, far more will simply quit bowhunting altogether because they develop shooting issues, have changes in priorities, or get bored with the compound and don't know there is an exciting, viable traditional alternative.

I've developed a bit of a bad habit that I'm gonna break.  Occassionally I catch myself talking bowhunting with another hunter. Too often I've found a way to 'slip in' that I hunt with a recurve. Shame on me. I think I'm wrong to do that and it says something unappealing about me. I'm going to focus on the hunt, the quarry, and the hunter and let the equipment choices speak for themselves.  The last thing I want to do is come across as better or elite. There are far too many fellows out there better than me in every aspect of bowhunting for me to ever act like that.

[LoneWolf73]

The world changes very quickly these days. We are a High Tech society. New high tech gadgetry that is constantly changing in design is the rage these days. I have seen compounds and crossbows take over the Trade magazines. Trad is a minority because the Archery market is approx 80% high tech and 20% Trad so the visibility/dollars/energy goes high tech. A few people remember where we come from and enjoy/"live" the challenge of the old ways. But most people live in the present and high tech rules the present/future. Enjoy that fact that you are a minority "living" the Traditional ways. But do not have expectations that Traditional Archery is ever going to come close to the High Tech market in the future. And yes you are Hunting(pursuing game for food or sport)whether you have a spear or an AR15 or something in between in your hands!

[Shawn Leonard]

I myself hunt with Shotgun, muzzleloader, pistol and even a compound on a occasion as I have had some health issues so I hope the comment above was not directed at me. Marshall has it right, for me it is about getting close, hell if I could legally hunt deer with a spear I would do it and I would not consider it a handicap at all because I chose to do it, same with a stick and string! Shawn

[OBXarcher]

This is hard stuff. Those of you that think it's easy must have forgot the learning curve. I have hunted my whole life and killed a lot of game. Switched to "trad" 6 yrs ago. took 2 years for first kill. Probably the best of my life.

Not everyone has the time to learn this way. I will never knock someone for their choice of weapon as long as the laws and good ethics are followed.

[YORNOC]

Dont jump to conclusions anyone. Saying trad archery is not as easy as compound archery does not necessarily make compound shooting "easy."
I for one believe trad is much more difficult.
That does not mean compound shooting/ hunting is a piece of cake.  Just easier than trad equipment "in my opinion."
Hopefully no one is knocking anyone. It was a pretty simple question and is just getting answered in the opinions of those asked.  No need to take things beyond that!

[giff]

trad hunters need to practice all year. wheelie hunters can pull out the bow 2 days before the season opens.

[Spectre]

Because different people have different interests. I like rock, you like classical, I like scotch whiskey, you prefer Pepsi. Some folks just aren't interested in traditional.
 Thats ok, being different is what makes this world interesting.

[Izzy]

As I have said before without shame, to me trad has been a whole lot easier and more effective than my old Hoyt compounds otherwise I still be hunting with wheels. I had a lot of equipment failures with compounds and missed a lot of split second opportunities. If you hunt like me, you are looking for 10 yard shots with gun, bow or anything else. For this type of hunting trad is easier than a compound.
         I love guns and gun hunting but just have more opportunities to bowhunt otherwise Id never put down my .35 that I inherited from my dad.
      The thing that really sold me on traditional hunting is the bowyers art  and the exotic woods used nowadays not a higher level of challenge. I also like to look at fine guns although I cant afford many of them. Not many compound bows out there that you can look at and say "Wow Thats Pretty!"
       Trad is definately no excuse for not killing stuff and no more challenging than wheels or a crossbow for that matter. In my book we have the upper hand so lets not fool ourselves and say we're taking the enlightened road.

[greg fields]

23 years of living traditional archery hunting here....  read/listened to anything traditional related, had  good equipment, shot year round, etc, etc, etc.  This is the first year I will be carrying a compound......  I lost interest in it..  Got sick of shooting all the time,  passing up shots that were just not in my range, making poor/missing shots on close deer.  After last year I was totally fed up and quit the traditional side of archery...  
 Damn right traditional shooting is more difficult.  I am not totally sold on the compound yet, but I shoot it more accurately than I ever shot the recurve.

[adkmountainken]

yes you are a "hunter".  i hunt to soothe MY sould and it is in my blood, i was born with the desire to hunt. i "kill" when it feels right to ME and i need not justify MY reasons to ANYONE. its a personal thing, there is no right and wrong just what feels right to YOU.

[horatio1226]

Its clearly a personal decision to most of us. I just know that I can't wait for the opportunity to get out and try again this fall.To teach my kids to respect nature.Will I kill a deer if the opportunity presents itself?You're damn right.Call it what you want. I hope everyone has a great season and they get out of it everything that they want. And if I should shoot one, I'll be sure to take some pictures with my camera!

[buckeye_hunter]

If not for my own inadequecies, I should have had several deer EVERY year with trad equiptment. The senarios were perfect, the deer stopped in shooting lanes and looked the other direction, etcetera. Everything was perfect except for me. Trad equiptment is not a detriment in the woods. I could have shot a doe yesterday morning, but passed because she was too jumpy. I didn't like the possibility of a wounded deer, so she walked. It turned out to be a good choice because she bolted seconds later. She would have been outta there before the arrow was even close. A compound would have made ZERO difference.