How Many Went From Modern To Traditional

[Swamprat]

How many of you that in your bowhunting life have got fed up with all the technology, pro shops, etc. and said the heck with it and went to traditional.

I pretty much made the switch several years ago after it seemed like every time I went to the pro shop they were pretty much bent on selling the latest and greatest and not catering to my needs.

I said heck with them and the mainstream industry and bought me a Bear recurve and have had probably more fun going back to simpler equipment. I have always shot instinctively with a compound so the transition was not hard.

I enjoy the hunt more with a recurve since I left 20 pounds of junk at the house and alot less to keep track of. I still break out the compound from time to time but I just don't find it as challenging.

 

[SELFBOW]

I'm gettin closer.

 

[maconducks]

I wasnt really bowhunter up until about 3 yrs ago, much less a big game hunter, just wasnt much of a challenge and I dont chase antlers(dont get me wrong, I want a big one, but am content to fill the freezer w/ does) with a rifle. I spent some time at a buddies farm and they hunt with traditional only on their farm in meriweather co. I shot a little and just loved the challenge! I had bought a compound the yr before and I have let a friend "borrow it" for the past 2 yrs. I have yet to kill anything w/ my traditional bows other than a bunch of stumps and targets.

 

[Swamprat]

buckbacks......you will enjoy it. So much simpler and relaxed

maconducks.......it is not all about what you kill or not or even the biggest horns but the challenge and the fun. You will connect one day and it will be one of the most memorable times you will ever have. A good wind and a well hidden stand is what you need.

 

[FERAL ONE]

swamp rat , i started with a compound in 1990 and immediately started shooting tournaments. i worked in a pawn shot and when a bow was released for sale i got to take the gadgets and build "super bows" it wasn't till i met a friend at church who was totally traditional (closer to primitive) that i got the bug. the first thing i noticed was the difference between what i had been carrying and the 1 pound long bow. i liked recurves but i was really drawn to the long bow. i broke into it gradually and even started shooting my compound instinctive . i started carrying the lb to the woods and my dad would tell me "you need to get some meat before you play" well i had killed several with my compound but i wanted a traditional kill!!! i decided 3 years ago that the only way to do it was to get serious. i sold my comp. and shot every chance i could. stump shooting is my favorite thing. seeing the feathers spinning in the air after the soft thump of the string is a beautiful sight. it took me 3 years but i finally made good on a tiny trophy this year. it may as well have been the biggest buck alive and i don't think i could have been happier. i still use a comp for bowfishing but i shoot instinctive. i just don't want to put my purty longbows through that mud and blood.

 

[Swamprat]

Feral....congrats.

Have never shot a LB but would assume it isn't much different than a shorty recurve. Just the simplicity and being able to draw almost standing upside down is worth the sacrifice.

 

[60Grit]

got rid of my hoyt this year and got a longbow, I can't wait to start shootin it. No more overpriced mechanical crap for me. Trad all the way, for bow season.

 

[Slingblade]

I started out in the late '60s shooting a recurve and then I went to a compound and it just never felt right...it was just a lifeless hunk of aluminum and fiberglass. I went back to recurves and longbows while I was stationed in Texas and make fast friends with a local bowyer who proceeded to build 3 custom bows for me(2 longbows and a recurve). I gave my compund stuff away to a single father that I worked with who didn't have the disposable income to outfit himself; I was as happy to rid myself of it as he was to receive it.

 

[Al33]

All I ever knew was recurves until I got burgled in 1978 and the thief stole both my bows and guns among a lot of other stuff. About the same time I had a severe shoulder injury and the compounds were making news. I believed a compound would be the answer for my shoulder problems and bought a Browning two wheel with a wooden riser. I enjoyed it for several years and killed a few deer with it, then I lost my eye in 1981. I thought I needed a sight to compensate for the lack of depth persecption but I was wrong and didn't know it then. I also bought a Martin Cougar compound and had a lot of problems with it. In 1986 I bought another recurve, a Black Widow which I still have. I still believed I needed a sight and put a pendulum on it. I killed more deer with it but I was always having to tinker with the sight. I do not recall what year it was but I finally decided I wanted to go back to strictly instinctive despite the vision problems. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I took my naked bow out and shot it. I couldn't hit with it like I could with the sight but it felt so much better when I did hit the bullseye. It didn't take long at all before I was back to my old self shooting like I was a kid again. I will never forget the exuberation I felt after taking a deer again with the bare bow.

I had never owed a longbow and for years wanted one but could not justify the expense with the family needs. Finally, I ordered one in 2001, a Loftin Choctaw Hunter. I still like my recurves, but the longbows have my heart.

For me I suppose, simple things for a simple mind.

 

[Swamprat]

got rid of my hoyt this year and got a longbow, I can't wait to start shootin it. No more overpriced mechanical crap for me. Trad all the way, for bow season.

That is one of the main reasons I got a recurve, got tired of all the junk needed before you even nock an arrow.

Was thinking of getting a new compound this year but am thinking instead of getting a new recurve or even a longbow.

Getting to old to spend time fiddling with gadgets. Just gonna use that expression K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid and probably be happier for it in the long run.

 

[frankwright]

I started out with a Ben Pearson recurve and hunted with it for years. When the compounds came on the scene I bought an all wood Browning Cobra. I put sights on it but took them off after I found I could shoot as well without them.
I never killed a deer with that bow. I did hit a buck in the shoulder blade with a Wasp broadhead and got about 1/2" of penetration and the arrow fell out when the deer turned to run.
I used that compound for two seasons and sold it around 1979 and bought an Ol' Ben Longbow and have not used anything but a longbow since.
I just like the simplicity of the Traditional bow and I am willing to accept the fact that I have to get within 20 yards or wait for another time. The heart pounding feeling I get when I am almost close enough is enough to carry me through the unsuccessful times until it all comes together.

 

[fflintlock]

Man I know that "heart pounding feeling" and been busted buy it as many times too. I hunt on the ground though, so it's totally different then sit'n up in a tree. I bought a compound once, back in the 80s, Hoyt Gamegetter II with all the gadgets. First time I went hunting, I had a good shot at a doe, but had to bend down and around under a branch for the shot, (you can NOT, cant a compound bow !!)
I hunted the rest of the season with it, cause I had the money in it, had to justify all that to the wife ya know LOL!!
Nothing wrong with the wheely bows, there just not for me. I did get a doe that year with it though.
Next year, had my Bear Grizzly in hand and all the world was at one again, but I never made meat that year with the bow. I was however, busted more times then you can shake a stick at and enjoyed every moment of it. I laughed at myself alot, but the main thing was I enjoyed the simplicity of it, quiver, arrows and a bow. I'm not near as good as a lot of folks, but i've got my fair share of small game with that ole Bear, moving shots at squirrels and rabbits, I could never do that with that compound, some folks could, but I could'nt.
There is indeed, something mystical and majical, about traditional archery. once you get it, there ain't no go'n back either.
Most people have a missconception about shooting intinctive traditional tackle, it really ain't as hard as you think. Decent hand and eye corridination, the right set up and lots of practice. From my experiences, most compound archers will only shoot their bow when it's close to hunting season, sight it in and go hunting, (I know there are those that shoot year round, so don't fling an arrow at me ).
But traditional archers usally shoot year round, to keep the hand and eye corridination in tact. You almost have to, to stay consistant in your shooting ability, besides that, dang, it's fun ta boot !!
Next thing ya know, you'll be make'n arrows, then you'll try your hand at self bows, THEN, your wife thinks you don't love her any more , cause your always out in the shop mess'n with that archery junk !! I'm tell'n ya, it's like a drug or something, once your hooked, that's it man, get ready.
Main thing though, really, it's just plain ole simple FUN !! Enjoy it !!
Okay, I'll go away now.

 

[choctawlb]

I started with a Bear Grizzly in 1976, an hunted for a few years with it, then in 1979 I got a compound. I shot a compound until 1989, when I met Bobby Lofton while I was living in Greenville,MS. Those guys were shooting 3D with longbows, and they just felt more natural to shoot, quieter too. So I got back on the traditional wagon, and enjoyed hunting a lot more. When we moved to GA in 1991, my job tied me up and I didn't get to the woods much. In 1995 I got drawed for a elk tag in Wyoming, and so I got a compound, because I didn't have the time to practice that I needed with a longbow. Killed a 4x5 while hunting there, and then hung the compound back up. Two years later a friend talked me into going bowhunting opening morning. I had not picked up a bow in 2 years, and after 2 hours in the stand had 2 does on the ground. It was just like going to the woods with a gun, not a challange. I had a job change 3 years ago, and now have time to practice with traditional equipment. I have made 3 bows in the past 4 months , and will most likely start hunting with all primative equipment, as that has been a dream of mine for years. I still shoot my Lofton Longbow from time to time, but I have been bitten hard by the primative bug. There is a great since of accomplishment and satisfaction, shhoying equipment you have made yourself. I make my arrows from rivercane, and fletch them with southeastern two fletch, and turkey tail feathers. I have gotten to where I can knap consistent mississippian triangles, and now I'm just waiting for this coming bowseason.
Ken

 

[fflintlock]

Since I'm down here, you and I need to get together. Brother to brother, we need to be in the woods together.
I'll do what I can do !!
Jerald

 

[reviveourhomes]

I had shot compounds and had a buddy that had started buying old Bear bows off of ebay without me knowing. We had gone on a weekend trip fly fishing on the Chatooga river. When we got back to his house he asked me if I wanted to shoot some old recurves he bought. Ithought sure why not, I had never shot one before. Well we spent the next 3 hours shooting at his 3d targets he had set up in his back yard. I immediatley went home and posted both my outback and my allegiance for sale on archerytalk and got a recurve. That was over a year ago now and its the best thing I ever done. I have only shot a compound once since then and it only reconfirmed my desiscion to shoot traditional.

 

[FVR]

Started with a lemonwood longbow of sorts that my uncle made. Elevated to Bear recurves then to wheel compounds, then to high tech cam bows, then I started going towards recurves again, then towards longbows, and now I'm just shooting sticks with strings attached.

 

[fflintlock]

Your just outdated Frank !!!

 

[Kawaliga]

I started out with a Bear Nomad 52# recurve in 1970, went to a Bear Polar LTD compund in 1977. Got interested in making my own about ten years ago, and now wouldn't use anything else. I cut the wood, dry it, and make the bows by hand. They are whisper light, and will slay a bear.

 

[ed'sboy]

I started shooting traditional as a middle schooler in the early 70's. Our P.E. coach was a big time bowhunter and most of the year that's all we did at PE was shoot. After leaving that school I never shot again until the early 90's when I got a compound. Around 95 I got a Bear longbow used from a friend but only shot it for fun (occasionally). In 97 went out west to hunt antelope and the guide was Steve Gorr who owns Cascade Archery. He had a bunch of bows there and during that week I shot with his bows when I wasn't hunting and by the end of the week I had ordered a custom made bow from him. Didn't get serious with it until about 2 years ago. Sold both compounds in a yard sale and I ain't never going back. If and when I get too old and weak to draw I guess I'll just sit there with my recurve and reflect.

 

[choctawlb]

Fflintlock,
We ought to do that, I went a hunting with FVR, a few years ago at Pinelog. He's good folk. I just recently got the primative archery a few years ago. If nothing happens I'm gonna put a flint tipped, turkey fletched, rivercane arrow through a pig or deer this fall. It's gonna happen.
Ken