Keeping my Traditional Focus

[Hickrylb]

I'm a new member from OHIO ,and my issue has always been I can't stay focused with Traditional Archery ,I get limited time to feed the family ,so I take most of my meat in our gun season ,but I've always been in love with Traditional Archery ,I even make some great selfbows ,I seem to always bailout I want so badly to keep focused and take all my Deer Traditionally ,how do you you guys do it ?

[KentuckyTJ]

No shame in that. Hunting is personal. Personal reasons for us all. If filling a freezer with a gun gets you to be able to hunt for enjoyment quicker with a stick bow then go for it.
Welcome from Kentucky!

[ed cowden]

If you have doe tags and get out early before they get all fired up from hunting pressure. You can get one or two and still use your gun when it gets harder. Now a big buck is totally different. You may have to spend many days in the woods to capture him with a traditional bow. But you will be a lot better hunter because of it. You can't get them unless you are where they are. Good luck.

[Crittergetter]

I hunt trad only, but I have 3 kids and a wife that love to hunt also. My wife bow hunts until rifle season starts. I hunt hard all season and take my kids periodically, then when youth season gets here I get them in the woods almost daily and they usually take a couple deer to fill the freezer. It's a win win for me. No pressure to kill anything (other than what I put on my self) and my freezer gets full!

[Crittergetter]

I know that doesn't really help you. I guess my point is that it's supposed to be fun and relaxing! Now if it was left up to me to fill the freezer id have to break out the ole smoke pole!

[McDave]

For most of us here, the desire to take an animal using traditional equipment outweighs the desire to bring home the bacon (or venison, as the case may be).  However, there is an overall respect for hunting in general here, including for those who mainly want to feed their families.  There is plenty of opportunity to develop your focus in shooting 3D tournaments or even just plastic bottles in your backyard.  Also, don't overlook the opportunity to take small game, such as rabbits and squirrels.  The shooting requires just as much focus, even though the payoff might not quite be as much.

[Michael Arnette]

Michael, I wonder the same thing myself sometimes. I am no expert and each of my traditional harvests have come with a lot of hard work and hunting scouting time but after being equally successful for several seasons on public and private land I know it can be done and hope to do better. I think if you will keep these things in mind it will help in the future.

It's a learning curve...a big one...and on so many levels. I didn't harvest a deer for the first 2 years I hunting with trad although I missed a few so don't feel pressure just learn and don't be to picky about the age/quality of the animal you are taking.

The big secret is consistently getting within 20 yards of the animals you hunt...like at least once every sit is good to try for. To do this you need to have more than one good place to hunt and you need to carefully hunt it hard, always give 4-5 days between sits as a norm. If you are hunting private property this may mean investing in food plots and other wildlife habitat enhancements. I hunt a lot of public land and actually prefer it although it's a lot tougher to hunt than private land and can be frustrating with other hunters. Don't settle for a poor spot...the good spots (by this I mean exact stand locations) are out there and they can be hard to find but when you find one it's a game changer.

An example would be the one private spot I have which is my family farm. We own 180 acres but on the whole acreage there are only 3 spots (as in 3 trees) that will offer a shot 90% of the sits. T'his could be changed with food plots ect but my parents have a cattle operation so that isn't an option.

You will have to pattern the animals you hunt with significantly great accuracy in order to be successful consistently. One big mistake I see new trad guys do is to hunt like the compound guys by setting up on a food plot or other general area and hoping for a close shot. That is a great technique when you have deadly accuracy out to 35-40 yards but it's not when you need shots inside 20 yards.

...again:
1) Practice Practice Practice
2) Find good stand locations
3) Hunt carefully

Most importantly have fun doing it!

[MnFn]

The trade off for me is I often do not fill a tag.  I have hunted both bow and rifle season some years.  But when I lived in MN, many years it was one deer per year only.

Mostly, that is ok.  I want to take a big deer with my bow so I have passed up shooting a lot of deer.  I had multiple chances at deer and dome were bucks within ten yards this year.

Still enjoy it- it is worth it to me.

[Michael Arnette]

I guess you have to be good and knowledgeable rather than lucky but it's ok to be both lol  

[Tim]

It sounds like you hunt for the right reasons, to provide your family with venison.  I'm fortunate to be able to hunt often and take advantage of our long and liberal seasons.  Venison is a huge part of our household menu and if I wasn't able to get it done with my bow I may also head in a different direction.

This is a great site...welcome!

[Kopper1013]

I gave up compound about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. That being said venison is very important to my family so my season goes like this: All archery season I hunt with the equipment I love (my recurve) when gun season comes around if I haven't gotten the meat we so need the guns come out, however as soon as I'm satisfied that the amount of meat I put in the freezer will carry us through to next deer season then my beloved equipment comes back out.

[John146]

Great advice from everyone who responded.

             

[RedShaft]

My best advice would be to have a place when your success can be high. High odds. Good private land. Then you know you'll get opportunities.
I hunt all hard hunted pa public land and it's a cruel joke sometimes. So if I wanted to go all trad it would take sometimes a few year to even get one. But sometimes u can get lucky.

[GREASEMAN]

I agree with TJ
No shame in hunting and securing meat with a gun.

Keep at the Trad Gear and one day it'll all come together and then your hooked for life!

[Gdpolk]

I both gun and bow hunt.  I need meat for the family and time in the woods for my soul. For what it's worth I traded my compounds in for a matches pair of knives to match my longbow and I've sold all but one of my guns.  I only need one gun as a guy that's primarily a bow hunter and if I'm going back to the bow the longbow is much more enjoyable for me.

I bow hunt HARD in the early pre-gun season to take in any meat that I can.  IF I am comfortable with that, then I bow hunt the rest of the year but typically I am not good to keep the rifle locked away.  Opening weekend of modern gun, I put the bow down while in the woods for deer until I get my meat quota that's needed for the freezer.  Sometimes that takes more tags than others, depending on the sizes of the deer but meat hunting with a gun for me is not selective at all.  If it's legal and brown, it's down and in the cooler.  As soon as I have the meat that I need, the gun gets squeaky clean and locked away for the rest of the year.  When bow hunting after I have all the meat that's NEEDED, I start becoming very selective with which animals I take and I concentrate on only mature bucks/does.  Again, this is because they are harder to HUNT and I like the chase way much more than the kill.  If/when I take more meat that I need for the family, I start sharing with co-workers or donate it to homeless shelters/soup kitchens/charity drives.  No meat ever goes to waste.

I truly enjoy the HUNT better with a longbow.  However, I need to bring home meat too and a gun is a superior tool to do so with so I continue to gun hunt as needed and I call that "meat insurance" or "grocery shopping."  

I've gone some years without a single bow kill and I've gone some years without the need for a gun at all.  To me the gun is a wonderful tool to improve the odds of feeding the family.  The bow is a wonderful tool to improve the experience of going afield and immersing yourself in God's country while hopefully bringing home meat as well.  They are two different tools for two different purposes in my opinion and BOTH are equally as valuable in my household.

[Stump73]

Welcome!

[Hickrylb]

Alot of good info on here ,I'm glad I joined the forum I will start after some small game the remainder of 2015 ,then work my way up.I will make 2016 year of the longbow .

[Sam McMichael]

Welcome from Georgia. Don't worry about using both the bow and the rifle as many guys do it. For many years, I did , too. The point is that when pursuing game with archery tackle, you enjoy traditional gear. It is about having fun.

Welcome to the Gnag!

The only thing I can say is that ONLY you will know when you are ready. If you go into the woods with doubts, you are likely to mess up, and that will greatly hurt your efforts to go all trad, as you will be messed up in the head over it!

Wait till you feel ready and confident, then go hunt with that confidence and kill a deer with your longbow!

Good luck to you!

Bisch

[KyRidgeRunner]

Good advice here so far.  As many have stated I too pack my rifle during gun season to make sure I take every advantage legal to feed my wife and daughter.  We are a single income family so the venison helps out.  That being said I packed my recurve during early archery season and harvested a doe early this year.  When rifle season came in I put my bow up to fill my other tag.  Now that my two annual tags are filled we have the option to buy two bonus tags which I will fill with my bow.  I call this part of the season fun hunting.  All pressure is off I have two in the freezer and the bonus tags are just that.. A bonus!  I enjoy every aspect of hunting with every weapon type available.  I will tell you nothing compares to this part of the late season when I'm hunting does and I carry nothing put my Tall Tines recurve,a quiver full of arrows (Big quiver), and a green stream light stylus to light my path.... I feel dominate and love doing more with less.  Good luck in your trad journey!