GOING TRAD

[ChuckC]

I use a longbow because that's me.  Like wands and wizards, sometimes the bow chooses the archer.
ChuckC

[Stump73]

Got bored with compoundsand quit hunting and shootin for about 8yrs. Then decided to pickup my Bear grizzly and start learning how to shoot it. Now I just cant stop if I wanted to. It's apart of me now.

[finkm1]

Originally posted by britt:
Spiritual, simple, fun, challenge, family ,fellowship, and good therapy.

Well said!!!  

[njloco]

I shoot trad because by the time you get your range finder out, figure out which pin to use, draw, line up the peep so you can sight in with your pin, my deer is dead ! Plus everything stated above.

I have thought about trying to shoot my compound instinctively for sometime now, but it still seems to me like something or too much would be missing or lost. Also as mentioned in the above posts, it's in our DNA, or it's what we do, of you don't feel it, then you don't have it.

I have a friend who is a national and world champion compound shooter, he doesn't use any sights or mechanical release in this category. The only time he picks up his compound is when he is going to compete other wise he only shoots trad,and in fact I have never seen him shoot his compound gear, but I have seen him out shoot compound shooters with his trad bow, and that was at 75 yards !

[CoachBGriff]

It's fun; it's sentimental; it's challenging; it's rewarding; it's humbling.

It connects me to a simpler group of people who realize life is about more than having the most and the best (although I love my trad-toys).  It extends my journey - thereby extending my rewards.

[ISP 5353]

I like to hunt with my recurve.  Simple as that!  Same reason that some people type in all capital letters.  Personal choice.

[mooshkat]

For me the compound got to easy and boring, i used to go in the backyard and shoot the compound, after 20 minutes i was bored. I started on compounds, so i never knew what i was missing. One day in the grocery store i picked up Traditional Bowhunter magazine, gotta be 25 yrs ago, had an article on Pronghorn bows, i called Herb and ordered one, sold my compound the next summer, and now 25 or so years later and probably 30 different longbows and recurves later, i am loving it. I just dont understand why one compound was enough, but to shoot trad you need many bows.

[Cootling]

I shot "antique" compounds (early Allen bows) with wood arrows until the late '80s and had a ball with them.  It wasn't a lot different than shooting traditional gear in terms of mindset or application, although I shot them far better.  I diverted for a few years into more modern compounds before turning to recurves and longbows in the early '90s.  Traditional archery pleases my aesthetics and continues the mindset I had before I modernized briefly.  No way is traditional gear more effective for me, but my bow is not a limiting factor if I do my job and I'm content with my success.

These things are family quirks.  My dad is 77 and still hunts ducks with cedar decoys he carves for himself.

[KillerBee]

After taking an animal with a trad bow the compound lost its allure! Sold my compound four years ago without one regret!

[KyStickbow]

Traditional bows are just easier for me. I don't have to worry about all the things with the compound...sights getting knocked off..rest not dropping..etc...etc. I just don't need to worry about all that crap.

Not to mention that compounds got very boring for me. To the point where I didn't even shoot for enjoyment...only to hunt. Totally different with longbows...I cant go 5 minutes without thinking about something trad related. Lol

[jgharris]

I like the simplistic beauty of a wooden bow and wooden arrows.  Then again it may be the influence of that archery class in middle school that has grown and festered into an obsession...
The romance and the history of it is what has kept me interested all these years later.

[Ulysseys]

My switch had nothing to do with the days of yore or my forefathers or even tradition for that matter....I was good with a compound and terrible with a recurve and started shooting it more just to see if I could hit a target...it was kind of like a carnival game.  Eventually I shot it as good as a compound at 20 yards so now don't see a reason not to use it.  I have nothing against "modern" guys, I actually respect that many know their limitations and won't attempt wounding a deer with gear they're not effective with.  I've seen quite a few "trad" guys that should have the same sense of self effectiveness.  Hunting trad takes a LOT of work to become competent so the more I think about my reason I guess I also prefer the company of hard working people.

[Pine]

I have to work with high tech and computers all the time . Trad is an escape from that . Besides I shot trad before it was Trad . Tried the the compound thing for a very short time in the late 70s and didn't like all the mass weight and snagie things .

[akbowbender]

Moving to trad originally was mostly a thing of practicality.

I shot "trad" in the 60s thru the middle 70s. Nothing serious. Did manage to kill a little buck with my Shakespear Yukon Wonderbow using a Herter's Farbenglas arrow with a Ram MX broadhead.

While in the Army in the late 70s, I was introduced to compounds, and my interest in archery really took off.

I was still using compounds when I moved to Alaska in 1980, but I had a few bows blow up on me, and I didn't want something like that to happen after I had climbed to a top of some mountain chasing Sitka Blacktails or Mountain Goats, so I started shooting a recurve for the simplicity. Only had to carry a spare string to keep hunting if the string on the bow somehow got damaged.

So, I got into the trad journey following the KISS principle!

[Joeabowhunter]

I killed my first deer with a rifle when I was 16, first time ever deer hunting and as soon as the hunt was over I sold the rifle that had I saved all summer to buy and bought my first bow.  I then hunted with a compound for the next 30+ years.  Probably in the last 10 years though I started to read and learn more about trad bowhunting and bowhunters.  I had always truly respected the commitment and challenge.  About 4 years ago, after killing my biggest P and Y bear I decided it was time to give it a try.  I bought a cheap Kodiak Hunter off **** and started to practice.  My goal was to harvest a deer with trad equipment.  The next season I did just that.  I let the doe go over night because I knew it was a liver hit.  The next morning my Father was with me to recover the deer.  It was a moment I will never forget...
I know I've become a much better hunter since I commited to traditional AND I enjoy the hunts and harvests even more.

[Tsalt]

Many reasons....
1.  Simply more fun to shoot
2.  The influence of others...A guy named David... He's my bow hunting mentor.  When I saw him shoot a squirrel 20 feet up with a long bow I wanted to be like him!    The Wensel brothers... I watched Hunting October Whitetails and then Primal Dreams and I was inspired.  In fact, all my Huntjng heros are trad bow hunters.
3.  I became repulsed by the main stream hunting communities obsession with the latest greatest gizmo.  I wanted to move in the opposite direction.
4.  The romance of all things trad.
5.  Did I mention it's just more fun?!

[goingoldskool]

I started on compounds and got pretty decent with them. It got to be almost automatic with killing deer....If I got drawn on one, it was going home in the truck. As I got older I started liking simpler things, hence my conversion to trad.

After taking my first deer with the longbow,  I don't see myself going back to the compounds. I get more satisfaction from watching my arrow hit the target at 15 yrds than I did hitting a 60 yrd target with compounds.

I guess it was an evolution for me....

God bless,

Rodd

[Thumper Dunker]

Originally posted by Izzy:
Traditional bows are more effective hunting tools than compounds in my opinion. Still gun hunt some and will never give that up but for bowhunting, a stick bow is easier than a compound with the way my brain functions.

What he said.

[VA Elite]

I can't consider myself trad yet.... But I'm in the process. I don't think it is a matter of compound being too easy for me, but the last deer I shot was my 56 th with a compound and she was 8 yds. I thought to myself that day, what is keeping me from a recurve? I have been on the fence for 4-5 years. I finally that day decided to take the steps I need to get back to a more simple way of hunting with a bow. I hope that this journey will last for as long as breathe.....

[katman]

Started with traditional equipment before there was high tech and loved every minute of it since. Played with compounds some a while back but found no challenge to harvesting deer with it so it sits getting dusty. Even made some selfbows. Now having fun trying different types of 'traditional' bows, glad there is a long list to try.