Trad Gang is not Popular Mechanics - UPDATE page 30

[Richie]

Great post Terry!!!!

[battman]

Thats exactly why I lost interest in bow hunting and finally made the switch to traditional gear.

[JamesKerr]

Well said Terry! I feel that equipment questions are an important thing to ask but not to the point of saying that one thing is better than another. I would love to see more posting about the way people hunt and their respect for their quarry. I feel that Tradgang is the best bowhunting site out there period and the willingness of people on here to help each other is what makes this site what it is. A big Thank You to all the moderators and admin of this site for keeping it based on traditional bowhunting!      

[Walt Francis]

Thanks Curt, I was thinking a couple of weeks back it was getting this time again.

[Looper]

I have to say, I don't see what the big deal is. You can't honestly expect everyone to be on the same page regarding experience or maturity or even interest. This place has thousands of members, from all walks of life, covering all sorts of personality types and interests. What one fellow is going to find interesting, another will find boring. Some might ask questions to satisfy a curiosity, others might ask because they are struggling to find the setup.

There are also a lot of members here, I'm sure, that aren't hunters, or don't have the opportunities to hunt as much as they want. There are also guys that are, or want to be, dedicated target shooters. Should their questions go unanswered, or ignored?

Honestly, I think a lot of the technical questions are partially a result of folks coming over from the compound world, were technical details are of the utmost importance. There is a way to gently steer the discussions past the details, but it will be an ongoing, never ending process. You're just experiencing the very nature of a large, public forum.

[turkey522]

[ron w]

 Good to see this again......it would help sometimes if folks would do a search before asking some questions. A lot of good info here and some real entertaining tales.......be a shame to have it go away at some point!

[Jeff Strubberg]

I know that the mods don't share my view on this, but IMHO the best way to avoid spending a lot of time and money on the technical stuff is to talk it out and learn from others mistakes.


The other option is to poke and hope.  I think putting up with some boring tech talk is worth it to avoid that.  

But this ain't my campfire, and I hope Terry and the mods will say something if I stray across the line.

[jsweka]

I have to think, deal with technology, and do enough mathematical modeling at work.  I don't need it in my time off.  I've been noticing lately that I've been passing up a lot of threads because they sound too techy for me.

The search function works wonders if you have a specific question.  Chances are somebody else has had the same question.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Being a knowledge driven individual I enjoy the tech threads when they are posted by all parties in a friendly chat or friendly debate format.  I have to agree with Terry that some folks seem to have an agenda and want everyone else to join their team.  That is simply not what Trad is about. There really is no right or wrong way to do Trad.  For you there is just your way.

I think a tech section would be a good idea.  Those of us who like to could post there and not annoy the non-tech guys.   The prior poster hit the nail on the head for me.  He said that he is not reading certain threads that seem to be to tech driven.  I think that is an excellent choice.  I personally avoid threads that are not of interest to me and do not post on many threads that I have an opposing opinion about.  Once upon a time my momma told me that if I have nothing good to say I should not say anything at all.  I try and remember that every time I post.

I have seen a lot of positive tech threads go crosswise when an anti tech person throws their sentiments in.   That is just as destructive to positive discussion as a tech focused guy throwing his voice into a non-tech thread when it is not needed.  

Terry,  

I do not envy you the job you have and this is your back yard.  You set the rules, I will do my best to follow them.  Trad Gang is the best site on the web and you do a great job of keeping it focused where it needs to be.

[Hopewell Tom]

Thanks for this. That's how I feel. I need the how-to-hunt help. I figure there'll always be the opportunity to "upgrade" the equipment, form, etc. particularly on the Shooters Forum.
I'm going to get some photos up on my property and ask this vast knowledge base for help.
Excellent thread.

[Gator1]

I think as someone mentioned a Tech Section, if possible is a good idea.

To discuss Arrow tuning, shaft choices etc...

i'm in agreement, and I read the posts that interest me.  Nothing wrong with Carbon shafts, but since I've joined here it is somewhat taking me back to wheelie days.  Shaft Material EFOC, carbon shaft material.

I'm not trying to bash new materials personal choices.  But I remember the good old days of shooting aluminum shafts and woodies, and "just shooting".  I've spent too much energy in all the techie stuff the last couple of years, and I'm ready to sit back and take a breath.

Thanks for posting Terry....

[flippnsticks]

THANK YOU TERRY          

[Bowwild]

I must have a 6th sense to avoid the contentious threads.  I can't remember the last time I read a post here where I thought someone was being critical of another.  

That's why I stopped even reading on the ***********.

[KentuckyTJ]

I haven't been on much lately due to post season "burn out" and the off season threads that always start this time of year so I am just seeing this.

This is a touchy subject to say the least. I know personally I strive to be the best shot and have the best flying arrow I can and my reasoning is that the animals I hunt deserve that from me. Most of my time goes into fine tuning myself and not looking to some gadget for improvement. But with that said that is the reason I use carbon arrows and make sure every fletch is perfectly aligned and so on. There are some on here that use totally traditional equipment that think I am a gadget man and am not truly trad.

I think we must be careful as to what we limit as it seems of late there is a big changeover from compound shooters to trad gear and that's a good thing. I agree that a thread that is malicious in content should be pulled, but not sure how to handle the in between threads that someone is asking about a gadget and looking to improve their shooting. That is all part of the learning process in my opinion and most likely simply a step closer to true traditional gear. How many of you jumped straight into being true traditional? I know mine was a progression that is still going. If a neighbor came over and wanted you to help with his new snazzy arrow holder and clicker on his trad bow would you slam the door in his face?

Do we shun those guys, their thoughts and questions?

Do we have a "Gadget" section and let them run wild?

I don't know where to draw the line or how to answer these questions, but I do know if that neighbor walked over to my house I wouldn't slam the door in his face.

[gringol]

Good post, Terry.  And a good discussion by the great people here.  Nothing wrong with a friendly (albiet curt) reminder that traditional bow hunting is more about the hunting than the bow.  A wise old indian (seriously, he was an indian) once told me the most important thing in bow hunting is getting close.  Get inside 15 yards and draw weight, arrow weight, type of broadhead, etc get exponentially less important.

Most of us have been guilty of a little too much techie talk, so no one should take Terry's post personally.  In the spirit of personal betterment, we should all strive to steer OURSELVES away from too much of the techie talk.

[easyup]

Terry, I see the same things in my other sports.  It is now common in my bike club to delay and cut short a ride due to an argument over a few grams of weight or which shifter is smoother.  What is sad is it is becoming an expectation in the younger guys, so when slow up a hill they go after a couple of grams of bike weight with physical conditioning never being considered.  We are becoming a nation searching for quick tech fixes to our short comings.

[psychmonky]

I have virtually NO experience compared to a lot of you guys.

Lately, I have been bitten by the building bug, so I have been spending a lot of time in the bowyer's bench room. It seems that in that forum, "tech" questions are almost necessary. Being able to ask questions on boo vs. hickory or find opinions on power lams is a boon to folks who are just starting in the craft.

If in that forum, "tech" questions are acceptable, maybe a designated Tech forum would be a good thing. A place for people to ask performance questions.

I will add one final thought. A lot of folks have mentioned the search feature on this site. The search feature is nice, and there is a ton of info there. The problem is that old threads aren't dynamic. They are static in that the info doesn't change. If I ask a question that has been asked 100 times in the past, in all likelihood, someone will have gained a fresh perspective on the subject and be able to offer new advice.

Scott

[Smithhammer]

Not surprisingly, I'm going to disagree.

If such conversations are advancing ideas that truly have no merit, then I believe the best thing to do is let those conversations happen in the open, where others can at least learn from it. Banning certain subjects, when those subjects are relevant to traditional hunting and tuning (whether you personally agree with them or not), helps no one learn anything.

I also don't see such conversations being driven by folks who are "crossing over from compound hunting," at all, or by folks who are seeking to have gear replace skill. And they are certainly not discussions that are the result of inexperience, looking at some of those individuals who are contributing to them. Nor do I truly find such discussions to be all that "techie" - no more so than discussions about the virtues of different string materials, etc.

Maybe you are someone who has gravitated to traditional archery because you don't want to focus on technical matters. That's perfectly fine - I also appreciate the simplicity of it, and it is one of the things that has drawn me to it. But there are also many of us - dedicated traditional archers as well, who still want to be able to discuss such matters, and learn from the experiences of others. This always has been a fundamental part of our "tradition." I see nothing wrong with this, and certainly nothing so extreme that it should be "banned." There will always be threads that interest some more than others, no matter what the subject, but all of these subjects are still relevant to the topic at hand. If a certain topic doesn't interest you, it's simple - ignore it.

The idea of a "Tech" forum could be a constructive solution.

Again - I believe the most valuable learning happens in the open, not by shutting doors. And that all of us, regardless of experience level, should hopefully still be open to learning. "Tradition" only avoids stagnation by being balanced with an open mind.

[Terry Green]

For those that didn't notice...this thread is over 2 years old.

It was started for a purpose and it served its purpose....it has also been resurrected for the last 2 years for a reason.

Some of you are new, some haven't even been here 3 months that don't have a clue why this thread was started as they have no idea the history behind this site, and what generated this thread 2 years ago.

TradGang, a Trad Bowhunting forum, is not going to be taken over by tech threads.