Trad only 365?

I went out for pheasants one day with a single shot .410. I would have shot at a pheasant if I had my longbow, but it just did not seem right with the shotgun on a nice day.  Now if it was real cold and windy, perhaps I would have prefered the gun. I think that I will save the gun for pass shooting doves, after I have lost all of my arrows for the day.  We have some of those big foriegn doves around here, one would think that I could hit them, BUT NO!!

[Jim Picarelli]

I haven't shot or owned a compound in almost 20yrs

[Butchie]

Trad only since 1995.  I did shoot my cousin's compound (one shot) a few years ago just to see what it felt like.  It seemed so foreign and unnatural.  Compounds are arrow shooting machines, not bows IMO.

[Richie]

Trade only here.  

[Basinboy]

I had a good from from Illinois that I hunted with who shot Trad only all his life. I marveled at how he could shoot his bow. We hunted together 10 years and I tried to shoot a recurve but never could get it to "click". I continued to hunt with the wheels but I yearned to shoot a trad bow well enough to hunt with it. In 2009 I decided to buy my first custom bow from an unknown new bowyer. The bow and I clicked and I threw my compound in the closet and never looked back!

[Bowhunter4life]

Yep, since the turn of the century trad only...

[damascusdave]

Always going to shoot as many ways as I can...I am first and foremost a shooter....always have been....always will be

DDave

[gregg dudley]

There are close to 40,000 registered users of Tradgang.  You can bet that the whole user spectrum is covered from people who have never hunted at all to people that hunt solely with a traditional bow.  Either end of the spectrum, as well as each and every point in between is essential.  No single path is more legitimate than the other.  The only perspective that matters is a pro-hunting one.  

Big tent?  You bet! As long as it is legal and ethical there is room inside.

[Sockrsblur]

For me Traditionally hunting the game I love to persue might take more time and effort but is a way to invest more heart and soul into a process i've always loved. The farther you take it, the more you learn, the more you realize there is that you didn't know and learn yet... To me it is not unlike many other things in life. Try walking up to a fly fisherman on a beautiful stream and handing him a spin casting reel and lure in trade for his primitive rod and hand tied fly lol
The journey shaped by our choices is personal and there is beauty in that alone.

[hedgerowhuntr]

I've shot bow my whole life starting out with simple kids bows and using some baler twine and bending a stick, using what every I could find to make simple bows. When I got a little bigger I made the switch to compound, why? Because I didn't know any better and knew nothing of the traditional world and just thought that's what you do when you become a big kid. I watched family and friends do it, so that's what I did.

Now this where my story changes, the compound world got to techy, to complicated, not to mention to expensive! I've got no problem with them it's just something that doesn't interest me anymore, so I made the switch 5 years ago and there's been no looking back.

Traditional archery was a conscience decision I made with no outside influences! Since that decision was made and with the help of the internet, meeting a guy of really great guys and 40,000+ trad gang members traditional archery has become a 365 obsession    

There you have it, a condensed version of my life long archery path!

[RunninWild77]

When it comes to archery its been traditional my whole life, its what I grew up with. I can still remember twenty some odd years ago going down to Denton hill with Dad and his trad buddy and camping for the weekend. Traditional is all I've ever known, that's what feels right for me. I have shot a compound maybe 4 or five times. Just felt totally foreign to me, I couldn't feel the limbs bending, aiming was totally unnatural, and I never saw the arrow in flight. Not that there's anything wrong with compounds, or crossbows for  that matter. Its all with what you want and what feels right. Who cares what the other guy is holding, as long as they don't scoff at me i could care less. Unless your holding a bow you carved with a piece of stone, string made of sinew, hand split or shoot arrows with wild turkey feathers held on with hide glue and sinew. All with a stone point wearing buckskin and moccasins, I don't think you have right to feel like your better than anyone else, even then, maybe, just maybe.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

trad only since 1985

[kbetts]

When I'm not is when I'm working on someone else's compound.  Even then, though, I'm talking traditional.....and usually I can still shoot the wheel guns better than the owners.

[dink]

trad only bow hunting since the 90's stil love my flint and do rifle hunt but dont seam fair anymore unless real close. i do agree that they have to start putting limits on some way people hunt i believe its more in the way you behave with what weapon you choose than what you use seams the ethics of hunting is in question for are future

[Hoyt]

I got aggravated with my compound, peep-site, release..etc. about 3yrs ago and went back to recurves. Haven't touched the compound since..may tomorrow.

Right now I just like to hunt with recurves, flintlocks (rifle and shotgun) and a rim-fire for squirrels every now and then.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

There is a time to hunt, and a time to harvest.
I have never had success on big game animals with my  long bow, although it doesn't stop me from trying.
Come the late fall, when elk are no longer bugling, I use a rifle to fill the freezer. Never have owned a compound though, and I don't think it would really increase my odds of success here in Montana. I absolutely love hunting with my bow, but I also love eating deer and elk meat.

[RecurveRookie]

I bought a recurve bow 2 years ago to see if I liked archery.  I thought I could spend the money on a compound setup later if I was really  serious.  I just wanted to learn the fundamentals first. My next bow is being built right now, it's a Maddog Mountaineer longbow.  All my archery friends shoot compounds, that's cool, I have tried their bows a couple of times (felt weird).  Trad is such a challenge and really fun!  Haven't hunted with firearms in a while, really want that first trad harvest.

[Ibow]

Started out with a recurve when I was a kid, did the compound thing a little bit in my early 20's but eventually went back to the recurve after that and THAT was a LONG time ago.   :p

[eflanders]

I started out trad before it was considered trad.  Then my son talked me into the wheelie bow and I have to admit I got into tuning them for others.  But the reality was (for me anyway), shooting the wheelie bow was no different than shooting a gun with open sights and thus I got pretty bored shooting it regularly.  That combined with the skill and utter beauty of a well constructed wooden trad bow, I just fell back into my own personal comfort zone many years ago now.  I don't even care to shoot anything else but my longbows now.  In fact, I sold off almost all of my guns now too.

[T Lail]

all Trad, all the time......