Hunting with A Recurve Making the Switch from Compound

[Cedarsavage]

I've hunted with recurves off and on the whole time I've hunted. Last year was the first time in quite awhile I committed to TRAD, after years of most/only compound. Definitely came with some stumbling blocks, but I don't see myself going back to a compound. I put together a video of stuff I learned, what's different, how I got around some things. Are most of you guys trad only or dabble back and forth between modern?
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[bisblue]

I'm a recent convert to traditional (18 months) maybe if I have a massive suffer fest of a season and I'll be running back, but hopefully not. I do live in Idaho with lots of opportunity.
I got my first non ilf traditional bow the other day through a trade and really love it.
I also use a rifle and muzzleloader depending on what is going on.

 

[Cedarsavage]

I'm a recent convert to traditional (18 months) maybe if I have a massive suffer fest of a season and I'll be running back, but hopefully not. I do live in Idaho with lots of opportunity.
I got my first non ilf traditional bow the other day through a trade and really love it.
I also use a rifle and muzzleloader depending on what is going on.
View attachment 414274

I see you have a hay bale behind your target. I've been stubborn and haven't done that, but some days I spend too much time looking for arrows lol

 

[bisblue]

I see you have a hay bale behind your target. I've been stubborn and haven't done that, but some days I spend too much time looking for arrows lol

I have a wood stopping board with horse stall mat on it behind the hay. But when I miss I ricochet off the shed and land in the road.

 

[sneaky]

I see you have a hay bale behind your target. I've been stubborn and haven't done that, but some days I spend too much time looking for arrows lol

Horse stall matts work well too

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Squints08]

Here is my backstop made with a hanging stall matt. Super simple and effective.

 

[Midwest_Farsight]

I see you have a hay bale behind your target. I've been stubborn and haven't done that, but some days I spend too much time looking for arrows lol

Haha, I tell myself that it is better without the balea because it forces me to takes breaks every now and then

 

[WyoArk]

I made the commitment to go trad only about 12 years ago. It took some time to get proficient. Being honest, there are still some days that wonder why I am so hard headed and won’t take the easy way.

I lose more than I win, that is for certain.

That being said, there is no better feeling than taking any big animal with a trad bow. Taking a doe or a cow feels like winning the Super Bowl.

Taking a true trophy animal with a recurve or longbow is indescribable in words. I commend you for taking on the challenge! If nothing else, I can guarantee that it will make your form much better with a compound.

 

[Cedarsavage]

Haha, I tell myself that it is better without the balea because it forces me to takes breaks every now and then

Same thing I don't wanna freak when theres a deer standing in the open

 

[Cedarsavage]

I made the commitment to go trad only about 12 years ago. It took some time to get proficient. Being honest, there are still some days that wonder why I am so hard headed and won’t take the easy way.

I lose more than I win, that is for certain.

That being said, there is no better feeling than taking any big animal with a trad bow. Taking a doe or a cow feels like winning the Super Bowl.

Taking a true trophy animal with a recurve or longbow is indescribable in words. I commend you for taking on the challenge! If nothing else, I can guarantee that it will make your form much better with a compound.

I think the same thing; why can't I do it the easy way? lol I think at some point we as hunters make it harder, I run alot of trail cameras and do alot of scouting, and here at home there really aren't enough big animals to justify holding out for a "big buck" but making the weapon harder appeals to me. Different strokes for different folks if I still lived in farmland it'd probably be different for me.

 

[SevereTravis7]

I committed to trad only, even sold my compound, and came up empty handed one season. SUCKED. wanted to quit. The next season I stayed committed and killed a mature buck. Nothing beats that feeling once it all lines up. I'm hooked on trad now. The most obvious thing for me compared to compound is that I genuinely just enjoy shooting my trad bow in the yard, and I end up shooting all year long vs my compound I just checked it to be sighted in a few times in the summer.

I carry a rifle maybe twice a season just simply to be hunting in others company, like my father in law. Ultimately I just think the frustration of Trad fades away when it finally connects, the frustrating points to me end up being why I like it? You cant fake it. You either executed your shot or you didn't.

 

[bobinmi]

I'm a recent convert to traditional (18 months) maybe if I have a massive suffer fest of a season and I'll be running back, but hopefully not. I do live in Idaho with lots of opportunity.
I got my first non ilf traditional bow the other day through a trade and really love it.
I also use a rifle and muzzleloader depending on what is going on.
View attachment 414274

Not to derail anything but is that a Vortex and how do you like it? I shot one with a G10 riser at Kalamazoo this year and I may have to move some of my ILF bows and order one.

 

[bisblue]

Not to derail anything but is that a Vortex and how do you like it? I shot one with a G10 riser at Kalamazoo this year and I may have to move some of my ILF bows and order one.

It's a bow made by heartland customs, got it in a trade. Shoots great.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I hadn’t bow hunter for a decade and decided to get a trad bow just to mess with in the yard. Now I’m sort of obsessed. I have a few custom set ups and shoot about an hour most evenings. I’m not great but I can usually hit stuff. For the sake of transparency, I have not killed anything big with one of my trad bows yet but I have plans for a black bear hunt and maybe some blacktail deer with the ultimate goal of tagging a nice bull moose with one.

It’s really been an addiction for me, I have two excellent bows but there’s 5 or 6 others I want at the moment. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to compound.

 

[Dalton Lewis]

I’ve been stickbow since high school, wouldn’t turn back for anything. It has made me a better bowhunter and just fits me better than anything else for whatever reason!

 

[calebflies]

Best thing I ever did was sell my compound after my first trad kill. I’ve been trad only the past 5 years and it’s forced me to focus on my shooting and hunting skills. I have to get closer, pass up more animals, and be patient. But by doing so I’ve gotten to spend a lot more time watching animals than before. That buck I would’ve shot at 30 yards, im now seeing for another 15 mins as he closes the distance and learning a lot by how he’s moving, what he’s eating, and how he checks the wind.

 

[Boxerboxer]

2019 I tagged out in September and sold my compound a month later. Got a recurve for Christmas and haven't looked back. It took me til this spring to fill a tag with it because I'm not that great at the hunting part, but I'm a lifer til I can't physically draw the thing (which hopefully is when I'm dead).