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Hunting the hard way.

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    #16
    **** Bisch that sucks. i had neck surgery 2 years ago and got back to it, took about 6 mths. good luck hope you get it back. i still shoot a few with my compound every year. i know you miss it

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      #17
      I started rifle hunting in 1989 and bow hunting in 1994. I got my first trad kill on a deer with a Bear recurve in 2009. 2 years later I got my 2nd and I’ve been pretty nonstop trad hunting since then. I’ve killed a few animals with a gun or compound here and there but I have a really hard time leaving my trad bows at home. I’ve been lucky enough to kill a few animals every year with them so I think I’m pretty hooked.

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        #18
        Originally posted by Featherflinger View Post
        I’ve been lucky enough to kill a few dozen animals every year with them...
        FIFY

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          #19
          I started out rifle hunting for the first 4yrs of my career, very religiously. I would walk down the aisles of Walmart and see the archery section and wonder why in the hell anybody would do that. I got a bow and started shooting...don't even remember how I really got in to it or which bow I first started shooting. I had ZERO knowledge of what I was doing. I remember shooting in my dad's back yard in high school. Memories are kind of fuzzy I do not remember my first hunt.

          Somewhere around the beginning of my junior year of college...AUG of 2003, I met a guy who I think pointed me to TBH...We were in RA training in the dorms. He ended up killing himself in the dorm that next February.

          Somewhere around there, with my interest in bowhunting, my uncle let me have a bow a local well known bowhunter had given to him as a gift/trade for some legal work. That man was a pharmacist from our home town who quickly died from cancer. I vaguely remember the man, Mike Staton from Sweetwater, but I do remember him.

          My next memories are of shooting with some TBH'ers in College Station in 2003-2004. I still have a picture from this Austin Colony bow range with all of us early TBH'ers.

          Around that same year, my girlfriend, now wife of 10yrs, took me to Bass Pro Shop in Katy Texas and I bought my first compound bow- a Fred Bear GS2.

          I've been exclusively bowhunting for almost 15yrs.

          NOW regarding TRAD BOW hunting...

          My uncle from WA state, took me on my first hunt ever when I was in the 8th grade. He took me on a deer/elk trad bow hunt near Morgan Creek outside the town where the TV show "northern exposure" was filmed in the Cascade mountains of WA state, near Stephens pass.

          2014 he sends me this 1960's Fred Bear recurve bow when he sent me his 1950's Jeep willy's to Texas to have. I started shooting this for a few years before I ended up at Buff's ranch to hunt exotics. Buff took my bow, reflected my feathers and got it all set up properly.

          I ended up killing a Texas Dall ram, hybrid Ibex, WT doe and finally a 4pt WT buck. I had promised my uncle I would retire the bow after I killed something with antlers, which I did. Just posted about getting the euro done finally. This was 2016 that I killed that buck.

          I haven't hunted TRAD since. My career in medicine has been hell with 4yrs of residency and fellowship. My life is about to improve time wise and I plan to hunt this next season with my trad bow as much as I can.

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            #20
            I started off shooting a recurve bow when I was around 5 or 6 with my dad bowfishing. Didn't shoot through my teens. Took up hunting with a compound as an adult but after a few seasons it felt too easy. Shot a buddies recurve and it just felt natural to me. I occasionally shoot rifle but recurve is definately my favorite.

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              #21
              Honestly I don't consider it the hard way at all.
              less likelihood of equipment failure
              The equipment is lighter
              Easier to DIY your equipment
              Closing the distance is basically the same as a compound (at least for me)
              When you miss the target often doesn't even spook
              Multiple animals can be shot at during the same set
              I think its more fun to practice
              Less gear to haul around
              Makes you closer to nature and pay more attention to your setups, wind, cover etc
              Practicing can be done quicker and more often to stay in "tune"

              Maybe some of these makes it "harder", but for me they make it more enjoyable. Never really considered switching to trad equipment harder than modern archery equipment just COMPLETELY different.

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                #22
                Well to me it's like a rifle hunter who has never bow hunted or a compound shooter who has never shot single string. Unless you done the other you have a skewed perception of what it really is.
                Having been a compound hunter for three decades I can tell you that I am much more capable of killing an animal at further range and in more difficult shot set ups. Taking a forty yard shot with my compound is a matter of lining up the sights and using proper form, release and follow through. With a single string it's I hope I don't lose my arrow.

                Gary

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                  #23
                  I'm 56 and been shooting bows since 4. Mostly trad for the last 25 years. I've bounced back and forth with compounds as recently as 2 years ago. For me compounds are much easier to shoot accurately. Traditional has it's benefits over compounds as well. You just have to shoot both enough to distinguish the benefits of each method. I go mainly traditional for the benefits of dependability and ease of maintenance.....no pressure or archery tech needed. I also still gun hunt, and prefer my Blackhawk 44 mag to a rifle but still carry a rifle when a particular situation calls out. Either way hunt and shoot what you like. As for me......I like it All!

                  Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by DRT View Post
                    Well to me it's like a rifle hunter who has never bow hunted or a compound shooter who has never shot single string. Unless you done the other you have a skewed perception of what it really is.
                    Having been a compound hunter for three decades I can tell you that I am much more capable of killing an animal at further range and in more difficult shot set ups. Taking a forty yard shot with my compound is a matter of lining up the sights and using proper form, release and follow through. With a single string it's I hope I don't lose my arrow.

                    Gary
                    That was my point. For me I’m never shot at anything but pigs over 20-25 yds with my compound. I could have, I just chose not to. So for me the ranges are still very similar. I’m not saying that trad isn’t hard or that i have it mastered. I’m just saying that a lot of what scares some people away from trad is what I enjoy and embrace.

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                      #25
                      Lol. I'm beginning to think it can't be mastered.
                      Well at least I don't think I can. But it sure is a lot of fun. Lightweight bow in the hand makes easier stalking, taking a larger role in creating my arrows and figuring out how to make t work better. Harder, but dang it feels good when it comes together.

                      Gary

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                        #26
                        Great thread, Gary. As you know, I never really even started as much of a deer hunter -- mainly grew up hunting ducks, geese and quail with my Dad. About 20 years ago, hunted deer with rifles and had success. Due to circumstances, lost a lease and was more or less relegated to be a bow hunter. Came across my Dad's old 50# Ben Pearson Javelina recurve in a closet at the home place and started shooting it after getting a new string and some arrows.

                        That was seven or eight years ago, I believe. Early on, I read and became convinced that Dr Ed Ashby was correct with his decades of testing and thousands of shots into actual game carcasses that heavy arrows were the way to go. Problem that I found -- by shooting heavy 680-grain, slow arrows out of the 50# bow (and also 55# bow) was that deer ducked the arrows. Eventually, I went to heavier and faster bows -- upping heavy arrow speed from 140 FPS to more like 170 FPS. While this is still slow by compound standards, it does approach an acceptable speed for hunting.

                        The happy ending to this story-- which makes me an expert now -- is that I actually killed a doe last week using a 67# recurve, shooting 600-grain arrows at 21 yards. Only took about five years -- depending how you count -- to achieve "success."

                        Is this the "hard way"? **** right it is!!

                        The main differences between trad equipment and compound are only: distance (like double or triple range), holding draw weight (full amount vs. 15% of draw weight); finger release vs a "trigger". So, there is not much advantage to our "wheelie" brethren. I still don't have anything against those compound guys, though, and I wish them all luck hunting. But, there is no doubt that taking game by traditional means is "harder." It is also more rewarding, I believe. Thanks, Gary.

                        I should note one stat for those out of state guys or purists who may tend to denigrate the "ease" of hunting over a feeder out of a blind. Real experience: three weekends over feeders in blinds on two different properties with a total of nearly 150 hours hunting time resulted in ONE shot opportunity at a distance of 21 yards, which happened to be successful in a harvest, but was really beyond ideal range for trad equipment.

                        Good luck to all, no matter your equipment. Just know that our trad brethren need a little more luck than some others.

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                          #27
                          One other thought: I would encourage everyone to shoot the First Shot Challenge shots when possible. I realize that the purity of a SINGLE shot per WEEK is not observed in most calls these days , although the first shot of a day is virtually always maintained. However, the idea of seeking hunting shot practice with a FIRST shot of a day is still alive. I believe that practicing downward-angled shots off of a ladder helped me harvest my first deer from an elevated blind.
                          Last edited by tradtiger; 01-25-2020, 12:19 AM.

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