Transition to traditional archery

[irishhacker]

Guys,
I'm really struggling to 100% commit to traditional archery.
I have been shooting my recurves and my longbow daily for the better part of that past 18 months. I love it. I enjoy it much more than shooting my compound. I rarely shoot my compound anymore. The problem is this. I feel confident that I can effectively hunt with my traditional equipment, but only out to about a max of 25 yards. I am very confident in my compound out to about 50 yards, though I freely admit that I have never shot a deer over 20 yards.
Last year I did not hunt with my traditional gear because I just felt I needed another year to practice. This year I am ready to hunt with it. I just feel like that compound sitting on my desk is some sort of crutch I can fall back on if I need to.

I have a chance to trade my decked out creed for a black widow pma II in graybark and a newer Kodiak recurve. Both have quivers, arrows, and other various accessories. I'm just nervous to take that leap into traditional bowhunting full time.

How did any of you handle the leap?

[TJK68]

Just trade or sale the compound and the crutch is gone. You will not regret it. That is what I did and I have never looked back, nor will I ever.
Tom

[Cmane07]

Just take the plunge man! I did the same thing and you won't regret it.  You just have to change your hunting style a bit to ensure that you get those close range shots even tho like you said, I could count on one hand the deer I took over 30 yards with my compound.  You won't regret the widow either, great great bows.

[r-man]

I shoot deer every yr, and pass up hundreds more, there is no need, unless say your hunting the flat land of the west and just getting with in 50yrds is a nightmare.

[bulldog18]

I understand, I was there recently. I sold my compound earlier this year and do not miss it one bit. It wasn't that hard. I barely shot the compound because it was not enjoyable to me anymore. You just have to take the plunge.

[D.J. Carr]

I'm at the same spot.  This will be my first season without wheels.  I figure once I put 1 in the pot I will get rid of the compound.

[GreyGoose]

I simply started hunting with my longbows, being aware that my effective range was more limited. But I hunt with firearms, too, the point of bowhunting for me is to see if I can succeed with the greater challenge.I did eventually sell my wheels, but not b/c I regarded them as a fallback; I simply had no desire to take them in the woods. Basically I wanted to hunt with the bow(s) that I enjoy shooting day to day when I'm not hunting.  Note that the value of compounds drops quickly with age; if you're thinking to sell, you might want to move quickly.

I can't remember the last animal I have shot past 20yds. I shoot quite a few critters and most are 10-15yds. Trad is different than wheel bows. You have to do things differently and 25+yd shots are not even part of the equation for nearly all successful trad hunters.

You should hunt with whichever bow makes you most happy. It is not right or wrong to go one way or the other. We are all just trying to have fun and what is fun for one guy is not for another. The main thing is to have fun.

If you go into the woods with a stick bow thinking "Man I wish I had my wheels because .................", you are setting yourself up for failure.

Bisch

[hnt2mch]

" I love it. I enjoy it much more than shooting my compound"
 
 looks to me you answered your own question.at least that is all it took for me to loose the wheels good huntin to ya

[Burnsie]

Since going full Trad almost 15 years ago I have had many nice deer fall just outside my effective range.  At first I would always say "Man if I had my compound, I could have shot that - so sweat"  Now I say  "I need to get closer"

[NOMAD88]

Just go kill a deer with your trad bow if you haven't yet. You will not look back or think back again  

[VictoryHunter]

The only way is to dive in head first, sink or swim! No need to ever shoot a deer further than 20 yds anyway    

[kadbow]

Just do it!!!

[mahantango]

I too think you've answered your own question. You never shot a deer past 20 yards with your compound right? Just remember, no matter how good a shot you are, even at 300fps a lot can happen in the time it takes an arrow to travel 50 yards.

[flinthead]

You just have to decide for yourself. I hunt w/ Trad. equipment and compound. Have killed a bunch of deer with compound and two with Traditional Bow[Widow PSA] . Also hunt with muzzleloader and rifle. This year am going to try with 44 mag. pistol. I enjoy all the different hunting .Will not lock into just one way of hunting. Would not be too fast to get rid of a good compound.Might wish it was back.   One opinion, Roy

[Mojostick]

Typically, there's two differing hunting philosophies at work when comparing hunting with a compound vs hunting with traditional gear.

When hunting with a compound, hunters often think in terms of "how far can I shoot". This thinking often shapes how and where they hunt, for the thinking is to cover as much ground as possible and have a wide cone of shooting options, out to 50-60 yards.

When hunting with traditional gear, hunters often think in terms of "how close can I get". Counter to hunting places with lots of visibility, traditional hunters often get into a setup where there's lots of traffic on a game trail, but the shooting may be 15 yards, tops.

The way to handle the leap is to make your bowhunting a 15 yard game and to figure out how you're going to get 10-15 yards from the game you're after and give up on thoughts of 30 yard plus shots-they no longer exist, so don't worry about them.

[HighTecRedNeck]

I am in the same boat as you my friend. To force the issue I have been selling my training wheel bows one at a time.

I am down to a single Hoyt which I will use this year.

Where I hunt there is a special doe season in Jan 2014 and that will be all trad going forward for me.

[wooddamon1]

It sounds to me like you've already set your heart on hunting with a single-string. Do it, you will love every moment.

[Grey Taylor]

You have the chance to trade a small hardware store with string wrapped around it for two nice recurves with all the necessary arrows and quivers?

I'm sorry, there's a question on this??

Guy

[jkm97]

Just do it. I sold all of my compound gear after killing nearly 100 deer with wheels in 18 years, and haven't looked back.