Trad Gang is not Popular Mechanics - UPDATE page 30

[Terry Green]

I think a few...just a few have missed my point.

I am not talking about 'new stuff' on the market.  New bows or bow materials, new string materials, arrow material, etc. etc.

I'm talking about a mentality of 'paralysis by analysis'.  And, forgetting the most important basics of tuning and shooting, and the true lethality of the Trad Bow in the hands of a skilled and accurate woodsman.  Missing the music for all the static. Even some new guys have posted here and on other posts that they are overwhelmed at all the tech chat that they themselves are confused.

That is my point.

[joebuck]

       

[xtrema312]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
I think a few...just a few have missed my point.

I am not talking about 'new stuff' on the market.  New bows or bow materials, new string materials, arrow material, etc. etc.

I'm talking about a mentality of 'analysis by paralysis'.  And, forgetting the most important basics of tuning and shooting, and the true lethality of the Trad Bow in the hands of a skilled and accurate woodsman.  Missing the music for all the static. Even some new guys have posted here and on other posts that they are overwhelmed at all the tech chat that they themselves are confused.

That is my point.

I think this post drives your point home better than the first one.

[jhg]

Originally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
Terry, I don't think you have to explain anything to anyone here.

I think he kind of opened the door to having to do that by starting the thread.

I especially appreciate whatever efforts Terry takes to forward his point of view. It helps me understand the why and the what for. It helps me pull the wagon, in whatever small way I can help pull it. The day he feels he never wants to do that I'll probably just drift off.  The fact he still trys to stay "real" makes the place a lot more welcoming to us new to this great sport.
Regarding the shooters forum and that that is the "place" to post tech stuff  I'd disagree. One of my first mistakes posting here on Tradgang was asking a tech question about arrows there. Its a shooting forum, not a tech forum.

Great thread BTW.  And did I say how much I enjoy trad archery and Tradgang? And I think we all care about it. (tradgang)

Joshua

[adirondack46r]

Sadly in the internet age the written word is cheap. There's a whole lot more typing than reading going on. I for one have been on here long enough to know that there are a few guys who take game regularly with their trad equipment - I read what they post. I also know there are more than a few who have spent a grand total of a day and a half in a treestand, but that doesn't stop them from dishing out advice like they were Fred Bear reincarnate.

If you kill deer year after year (and most of us know who you are, and it ain't me) I'll read what you post. If you are a wanna be (and for the most part we know who you are) I'll skip right on by. Nothing personal. I just learned who was killin' and who was blowing smoke a long time ago.

[Steve B.]

What would help alot is if people would use the "search" before posting, read through the history of threads on the subject, and then actually go out and try for themselves what they're working on....then come back and ask questions.

There are many, "which is best xxx", or " X vs. Y, which would you choose" threads, when it has been stated adnauseum that bows and arrows have to be tested by each individual before deciding which is best for that person.

[FerretWYO]

Valid concerns and I agree. I have been seeing the same old arguing and the same old what about this thing what about that.

Good Call.

[JEFF B]

       

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
Rob: A really good musician knows the difference between a good instrument and a superior instrument....and talent is different than knowledge...but marry the two and you have something special. But given the choice would the musician knowingly choose to play an inferior instrument than one he knows is superior? And that is my point...how can too much knowledge about how bows and arrows work hurt an archer in ANY way? Please explain that to me.

bill, pm headed yer way ....

[twostrings]

I love it Terry. Thanks.

[FerretWYO]

After reading a lot of these posts I am entertained. I have learned a lot from this site and I have got into the tech conversations as well. I will not play the my way is better than your way game.

Terry I think you are just trying to say that we need to remember why we are here? Is that correct.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Rob DiStefano:
 

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
how can too much knowledge about how bows and arrows work hurt an archer in ANY way? Please explain that to me.

bill, pm headed yer way .... [/b]

I'll take a stab at that one....just like the other day a new guy to trad said 'knowledge is power'.

It is....ONLY if you can apply it!!!!  If all you do is gain knowledge and you never learn to apply it in the field or it hinders you from applying it...its worthless.

[LongStick64]

It's a hard habit to break, especially from some of us that started in the wheelie world. What's hard to understand is the complex nature it is to compare bows even the same make and model with the variations involved in making the custom bow. Compound shooters are able to compare models because of the precision and materials used to make them.
It took my awhile to accept that there isn't a fact true method to compare trad bows except by shooting them myself and letting my testing answer the questions.
It is one of the true pleasures of this sport, that we can each have an identity in our equipment of choice. What works for me is what counts. It doesn't mean it should for you.

[Al Kidner]

If I may include to most people....new and old that the 'Search' function is always a fine tool in research...


Cheers,


ak.

[Steve B.]

I'm having my own side-thread here, I know, but at least I'm listening to me.  
The other day another "skinny string" thread came up and I was moved to search to see how many other similar threads had been posted lately.  Here's what I got.  
All I typed into the search was "string".  This is just page ONE:

Ok, imagine a list of threads having to do with strings and most of them being circled by me and then at the top is an infinite number of pages to select, also circled by me to bring one's attention there.  

I then did a search on "single bevel" and got 5 pages with 90% having to do with performance questions.


   

[ishiwannabe]

I think you are doing a fine job explaining your point Terry. Some seem to be taking it personally, and I can understand that too. But I agree with Biggie. Your house, your rules type of thing.

Im not going to pretend to be full of knowledge when it comes to traditional bows, arrows or tuning. I get my set up as good as I can, and I even managed to take my first deer this year.
That is totally due to TG and it's members. I have always been a good hunter, but this place helped me ge to be a good traditional archer. I thank you all for that.

I did a search of skinny strings, just to see. It stopped because it reached 300. Some15 pages of threads, all about the same topic relatively. Im sure the same can be found with other topics....three blades vs two, etc. My point is, most of it is all repeating information that has already been stated or shared, making the job of the mods tougher. Volume created just in these few topics is overwhelming.

Just throwing this out there to try to broaden the perspective. I think a tremendous amount of works gets done here by the mods, and it isnt really considered by the majority of "us".

I, for one, wouldnt be "trad" if it wasnt for this site, and my friends that I have met through here(nevr thought I could be accurate enough). For that, and all the work you mods do, thank you.

[joevan125]

Terry after speaking to you a few moments ago i have a lot of respect for you and i just want to say THANK YOU TERRY and im on your side.

I will help in any way i can to make this site the best it can be.

JVK

[Tsalagi]

Tery, I stand up and applaud what you just said in the first post of this thread. You, sir, have my admiration. I agree 100%. Too much emphasis on stuff that comes in a package and price tag rather than the stuff bound in flesh, bones, and brains. I tend to think people get into this rut of believing advertising that insinuates they'll be a better hunter if they buy Thus-N-So Brand Broadhead when we have several thousands of years of people who were great hunters using a knapped flint head on a heat-straightened hardwood shoot shaft with self-nocks.

   I think, Terry, you have done a great service posting this. New people come to traditional archery looking for something challenging and something simpler and relatively gadget-free. To read, "Nope, ya gotta have the BuckWhackaExtremeSharperThanScalpelsMagnum50MegatonIntercontinentalBallisticBroadhead broadhead!" or else they're going to wound some animal that'll die a lingering death or miss entirely must be very discouraging.

  There really is plenty to "tinker" with in tradarchery without going down Rube Goldberg Avenue to buy all kinds of trinkets and gadgets. Try painting each arrow individually. Make quivers and decorate them. Or, better, get out and shoot!

[centaur]

Maybe I have been mistaken, but I thought that most of us were in this sport for the simplicity and the challenge, kind of like fishing with dry flies as opposed to fishing with fish finders and all other techno gear. Shooting and hunting with trad stuff gives me pleasure and for a while, I am 12 years old again, just watching those cedar arrows fly; a very simple concept, but at the same time very fulfilling. Terry, I am with you; I don't need a bunch of techy stuff to make me happy. I just enjoy long walks in the woods with a simple bow and simple arrows, and if I happen to score on an animal, it makes that time in the woods all the better.
Traditional archery and trad bowhunting is what you make it, but   somehow having to have the latest and greatest whiz bang thingy for our trad setups seems to defeat the purpose of why we do this in the first place.
By the way, what the hell is a 'skinny string' anyhow???

[Rufus]

Traditional archery here. I guess there be compound sites, I don't know, never looked. The last time I shot a compound computers were room sized and not on my list of things to have. So, I agree, if we're going to be traditional, let's be so.
 Thanks Terry!