Why did you start hunting Trad?

[okcaveman]

I started shooting a osage self bow when I was maybe 8 or 10. Went through a couple compound stages, but i just enjoy shooting trad more. I enjoy the challenge with game more. In fact, it's been several years since I killed a game animal with anything other than a longbow or traditional muzzleloader. Even do most of my small game hunting with the longbow and a flintlock .36 I put together

 

[TradArcher]

The romance of tradbows got me, I fell in love with a green shakespeare recurve I saw - I did get other bows to start with though - my first was a Martin recurve I found in a local shop. I started with a compound because I wanted to do archery and I thought it would be more ethical to start with a bow that in theory would be easier to get accurate with. I don't find it hard to shoot my tradbows - both longbows and recurves - but then I've been shooting the same bunch of bows for decades so that factors in.

Fwiw you can approach it like shotgunning - if you shoot the same gun for years and years you get pretty accurate with it (especially if you have a smith fit it to you). Tradbows are the same - if you find a bow you get comfy with and love then spend the time setting it up the best you can and then just shoot a lot for years and you will get to the point where it does not seem "hard" to get accurate with it. It will become an extension of you and you will find your comfortable, ethical for you yardage for hunting and not think twice about it. Go stump shooting often - that helps a ton.

Besides just loving tradbows and preferring that form of archery I feel it's much easier to hunt with them. Less screws getting loose in the field, I don't have to worry about knocking a sight out of calibration, etc. I also found that after learning to shoot a recurve with the heavier draw weight I could not get off the string of the compound cleanly with fingers anymore so then I had to use a release with it which is yet another piece of gear I did not like having to carry. I just sold the compound shortly after one season of that and then confined myself to shorter distances with the recurve to start with (real short) and worked my way up to reasonable hunting yardage in the following years and just kept going.

I don't find it harder to hunt with a tradbow than a compound - I find it much easier. It's simple and quiet and what more could you want? I prefer to stalk, still hunt on the ground and occasionally take a "stand" on the ground and a tradbow just works so much better for me in that style of hunting.

 

[Ratbeetle]

I hunt with both compound and trad. I'm drawn to the simplicity of trad gear. Stick, string and arrow...that's it. No heavy, cold metal risers, complicated pressing equipment for tuning, no cam issues, no overly complicated string systems, etc. And walking through the woods with a lightweight trad bow in hand just feels right.

But I have to admit, in my hands anyway, the compound is just the more effective weapon. It gives me the range and margin of error that I just don't have with my recurve. If I can get my shot and aiming system with the recurve dialed in to 40 yards though, I'd give up the compound altogether.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I no longer bow hunt, I think I gave it up due to the complexity / PITA
of the compound. I have a couple traditional bows that I have tried and
I do love shooting recurves but I simply cannot get good enough to justify
hunting with them.
My traditional style of hunting is with a muzzleloader.

 

[kfili]

But for real, the challenge simplicity and force to become a better hunter overall

 

[Shawn Hultquist]

I just enjoy it more. Especially when I made the bow myself


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kfili]

2 more- I like shooting so when I'm scouting I'm stump shooting, love that.
And most importantly I never kill anything so I might as well not kill anything with a trad bow and at least feel cool.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I started in trad cause my family has a slight bit of elitist snobbery in our blood!
My first bow was a longbow when I was 14, cause that's just what the family did. The family ethos was to out work/out hike/out smart/out run/out gun our competition, and if it was archery season, we shot stickbows cause they're just better, darn it! Compounds would be cheating.

I've mellowed out since then. I'd switch to a compound now, except that I've spent so many hours getting good with a recurve. I'm a fairly good shot now with a stickbow, and it's hard to give that up.

 

[Recurve Man]

Pretty much the only way I've ever known. I was raised shooting recurves from 3yrs old. Been killing deer with one for 40yrs now. Just have never had a desire to change much to a compound. A lot of my friends over the years that i shot with shot compounds and always loved to shoot with me and talk about how simple it looks and wish they shot traditional. Some have tried and simply just didn't stick with it. I think most guys have that desire but just wont take the ups and downs of shooting with no sights and limited shot distances. I have memories etched in my mind of the booners that either got a pass because of distance or got away because i cut belly hair. Still i wouldn't change a thing.

My dad is still shooting at 74. He only shoots 43# now days. He had a massive heart attack memorial day weekend and im not sure he's gonna hunt much this fall because of just not rebounding back. Him and i had a conversation about me buying him a cross bow to hunt with and he simply said thanks but no thanks. I just dont think i coukd cheat a deer that way with sights and 300ft per second. Just the way he thinks and how he feels. Once again its just a matter of what makes ya tick i guess.

 

[SliverShooter]

I wanted to be a Bowhunter.

 

[SpringM1A]

First deer I ever shot at with a traditional bow, was shot just in front of the back ham. The deer was at 15 yards and as I loosed the arrow, I dropped the bow to see where the arrow was going to hit. I didn’t follow through and as a result the arrow shot 16” to the right. Luckily for me, the arrow hit a big artery and the deer bled out in about 40 yards. I was following through very consistently when practicing but, I put a lot more pressure on myself when hunting. It’s a lot easier to learn how to shoot traditional archery, than it is to learn how to hunt. Positioning ones self to where you can make a good shot can take years of experience and no two scenarios are alike. Most of the time compound hunters like to go high and (for me) in traditional hunting I seldom go over 12-13 feet. There’s just so much more to being a successful traditional hunter than JUST being a good shot. I shot so many deer with the same tactics with (limiting myself to 20 yard shots and under)a compound, that I just lost it’s luster and a lot of that was because, I didn’t always have an opportunity to hunt a mature buck so, to offset that I decided to make the challenge more of a challenge and shoot with, no sights, no release and no let off.

 

[bobinmi]

I started with a stickbow because my dad shot a stickbow. By the time I was old enough to pick out my own stuff, I didn't really view the compound as a bow. (this is not meant to take shots at anyone, this is a personal opinion). I hunted with one during my senior year of high school because I did not have enough time to practice with the stick.

 

[bisblue]

I killed elk with a compound first. Then when I got pack llamas I met a guy who had many similarities, rock climber, mountain biker, backpacker and and also had llamas. He is a badass hunter and stick bow guy and convinced me to give it a try.
Shot a few cheap bows and lots of ilf bows then found a belly mounted recurve that was shorter 62" but felt amazing at my 30" draw. I'm having the Bowyer make me some carbon limbs for it and bought a backup that's the same specs.
Trad seems more fun in every way, especially after a clinic with Joel Turner. I had a raghorn bull elk moving into my shooting lane last week. I knew if he stepped in my 33 yard and under spot he was gonna go in the freezer. Wind swirl put a stop to that, but still a blast.

 

[Te Hopo]

Rifle hunting was getting just too easy.
Where I live in New Zealand, there's no deer season and I have access to a lot of private property so whenever I felt like hunting up some meat , I went out and was often successful, some days I'd see 15 or so deer.

After I'd stalked to within 40 feet on more than a few deer/hogs/goats, I realized I was within trad bow distance (I've shot a few compounds but was never interested in pursuing that style).

Now I'm 12 months in, I have a recurve and a long bow, arrows galore, I'm still working on getting confident enough in my shot and loving almost every minute of this journey

 

[Anglo-American]

Rifle hunting was getting just too easy.
Where I live in New Zealand, there's no deer season and I have access to a lot of private property so whenever I felt like hunting up some meat , I went out and was often successful, some days I'd see 15 or so deer.

After I'd stalked to within 40 feet on more than a few deer/hogs/goats, I realized I was within trad bow distance (I've shot a few compounds but was never interested in pursuing that style).

Now I'm 12 months in, I have a recurve and a long bow, arrows galore, I'm still working on getting confident enough in my shot and loving almost every minute of this journey

I was very close to moving to the South Island of NZ.
Amazing.
The wife wanted to go back home to the US though, (from UK).

 

[ODB]

I started on a recurve as a 10-year old. Someone gave me Fred Bears Field Notes (still one of the most enjoyable outdoor books to read), and I wanted to be Fred Bear, like so many other. Pretty simple.

 

[Te Hopo]

I was very close to moving to the South Island of NZ.
Amazing.
The wife wanted to go back home to the US though, (from UK).

The South Island is definitely the most visually stunning, and where I live there's no too many folk around here

There's tons of goats which are a beginner bowhunters dream, easy to stalk, a fair size target, under rated meat and beautiful skins.

The US isn't a bad consolilation prize depending on where you are

 

[FLATHEAD]

NZ, one of the few places I would move.

 

[Anglo-American]

The South Island is definitely the most visually stunning, and where I live there's no too many folk around here

There's tons of goats which are a beginner bowhunters dream, easy to stalk, a fair size target, under rated meat and beautiful skins.

The US isn't a bad consolilation prize depending on where you are

That was exactly what I was looking for.
Farming and amazing hunting in the hills and mountains with building work to pay the bills, with not meny people.
The South Island is almost a paradise, with year round fun and sideways rain so it feels just like home.
Regards to you, yours.

 

[ledflight]

Stickbows are the only bows I like to shoot. Taking it to the woods is just the apex of that enjoyment.