Back to traditional archery...

[BC Bigbore]

Well I've gone and done it. With all the bells and whistles involved with my compound bows, I decided to get back to simpler shooting which is more suited to my style. I went and bought several wood/glass recurve bows from ebay to get myself and family into traditional archery (My wife said she'd like to try archery but didn't like compounds so that was all it took) I also bought a bow for my son, to try and perk his interest in the sport. One of the fellows I work with is a member of Traditional Bowhunters of BC and was another factor - his constant razzing to skid the "training wheels" got me remembering how much fun I used to have shooting a recurve before I got into high tech (to ensure my transition, I'm selling my compounds) I guess I'm warning you fellows that you'll be seeing me here on the Archery forum as a participent rather than as a lurker in the near future and I'll be full of stupid questions ...lol...KF

Don't sell your compound just yet.

[blacktail3113]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just kidding anytime you get the family involved its a good decision!!!

[Calvin L]

bc big bore what is the info on your compounds ? poundage,draw length ,L or R handed , type , let off you know all the B S involved with the training wheels . Just shitting you . I would keep one just in case the booner is at 35
-40 yards and the stick bow just doesn't quite have it in it . Have the deer started to bunch up ? are the bucks running around with there dick out ? Or is the weather to nice for the rut to be in full swing . Around dawson it has been to nice . If it changes I may be up for the weekend . Good luck with the new bow's I sure the family will have alot of fun

[BC Bigbore]

Hmm...perhaps I'll hang on to the High Country "just-in-case" ...still too early for the deer rut to be in full swing quite yet. I did see two smaller whitetail bucks prowling across open fields, nose to the gound, this morning searching for lady-friends About another 5 days or so I'm thinking...KF

[Avalanche123]

Welcome to Trad. Archery and nice to see you getting your family involved. I think you will enjoy the simplicity of Trad Shooting and if you truly enjoy shooting your bow, the time you put in will be very satisfying. Just don't get to discouraged and enjoy your time out in the field, family in tow.

[3/4 Slam]

BC Bigbore,

You sound like me. I just ordered a Checkmate Hunter 2 Recurve and subscribed to Traditional Bowhunter Magazine. I have been bitten by the bug. Will probably be selling my Hoyt Compound in the near future. Been lurking on several traditional sites. This should be fun.

3/4 Slam

Just a word of advice from a guy who has been there, hang on to your compound until you are absolutely sure traditional is the way for you.

I too went from compound to a Checkmate Recurve for a year, including 3D shoots. At the end of that year I set up a McKenzie deer at 20 yds and flung thirty arrows at it. Ten arrows were good kill shots the rest were marginal. I deemed this to be totally unfair to the animals I am hunting so I sold the recurve and went back to my compound.

Better accuracy equates to less wounded animals in the field and this is a good thing. It is not fun for the animals to run around cut up all to hell.

To commit to traditional archery is making a commitment to practice as one must be in constant good form to be a good instinctive shooter.

Having said that, if my whole family was to be involved in the sport I may have a different outlook.

[Goat Guy]

Definitely impressive. The old man used to shoot a recurve and he wouldn't go out unless he could hammer 6 arrows straight into a cigarette pack at 30 yards. He used to pound min 24 arrows/day (usually more) all summer long before he'd go out. Takes a lot of dedication but I think it's worth it~that instictive shooting is something else.

[Avalanche123]

"Better accuracy equates to less wounded animals in the field and this is a good thing. It is not fun for the animals to run around cut up all to hell"

This statement is abit unfair to apply to just Trad Shooting....I would bet a lot more animals are injured by "long rifle shots" than folks who shoot Trad....I do respect your opinion though "Walksalot"

I do not shoot any further than 20 yards. During this season's moose hunt my setup was for 12 yard shots. In my opinion by limiting your shooting distance and regular practise the chances of wounding an animal are not much different than any other weapon.

Enjoy your new bow BC Big Bore and Happy Hunting!

[huntwriter]

Originally Posted by Avalanche123

"Better accuracy equates to less wounded animals in the field and this is a good thing. It is not fun for the animals to run around cut up all to hell"

This statement is abit unfair to apply to just Trad Shooting....I would bet a lot more animals are injured by "long rifle shots" than folks who shoot Trad....I do respect your opinion though "Walksalot"

I do not shoot any further than 20 yards. During this season's moose hunt my setup was for 12 yard shots. In my opinion by limiting your shooting distance and regular practise the chances of wounding an animal are not much different than any other weapon.

Enjoy your new bow BC Big Bore and Happy Hunting!

I have to agree with that statement.

Personally I find the discussions about the ethics of weapon choice very boring and counterproductieve to our sport that ever so often come up.

It is not the weapon that is "ethical" or not. All weapons are good to kill animals instantly. It is the person who hunts with a given weapon who has to accept the limitations of the weapon and his or her own limitations.

The beauty of our sport is that we can have fun doing it and choosing a weapon which is fun to shot for an induvidual is a good choice.

Personally I hunt with compound bow but also with a Bob Lee Signature and a crossbow but also with rifle and blackpowder gun. It depends how I feel and what the season is with what weapon I hunt but it always is fun.

"Personally I find the discussions about the ethics of weapon choice very boring and counterproductieve to our sport that ever so often come up."

We must police ourselves because the antis are gaining in momentum and it is threatening the future of our sport. If a hunderd deer are killed on the highway by vehicles no one pays attention but if one is found with an arrow or bullet hole in it a shitstorm results.

"The beauty of our sport is that we can have fun doing it and choosing a weapon which is fun to shot for an induvidual is a good choice."

In the hands of a person dedicated to traditional tackle this is a deadly weapon but it has been my experience this to be the exception instead of the rule. Just go to the 3D shoots and look at the traditional archers scores and you can instantly recognize the traditional shooter who logs the hours of practice. Most people get into traditional archery with no clue of the time it takes to learn to shoot with fingers and no clue of the dedication to practice it takes to become a good instinctive shooter.

This thing about being fun to shoot doesn't wash when we project it into a hunting situation. A buck was wounded on the last day of the late archery season and it was found dead in a back yard in early January. Boy, that was sure fun for that deer. Granted animals have to put up with injuries in the wild but that is natures way. We as "Wize and Thinking Man" have the power of reason and and the ability to deduce that animals do infact feel pain.

We owe it to the animals we hunt to be able to dispatch with the animals as quickly and humanely as possible with our weapon of choice. Lack of proficiency or a shot out of our effective range with a given weapon is a sorry ass excuse for wounding an animal to say the least and one more reason for the "powers to be" to listen to the anti's cry for an end to our sport.

[huntwriter]

I agree with you in many points. But it seems that many hunters lately soley focus on the "policing" of our sport. Unfortunatly is come to the point where "policing" has become nothing more than pointing fingers and most of the time for very selfish reasons. A avid rifle hunter points the finger at a traditional bowhunter. A avid bowhunter calls a rifle hunter and unethical road hunter and son on. We have missed the boat and instead we jumped on to bandwagons.
A recent research made in America shows very clearly that hunters by large have a very high moral standart, more so than in any other sport. Sadly the research also shows that the single most deterrent to get newcomers into our sport is the wall of obligations we have to fulfill backed up by a mountain of often more than ridicules laws.

In America, with the knowledge of this research, they begin to make hunting a bit easier accessible for newcomers and it shows good results. It is the vast hunter numbers in America which give them a clout against the anti hunter. Whereas here in Canada we seem to loos more and more ground. At the end of the day the anti hunting crowd does not care how well we police our ranks or how many education programs we can come up with. They want hunting outlawed period.

You mentioned a shot deer in a backyard of a house with the arrow still sticking in it. Was the deer shot by a hunter? Or perhaps by a poacher. You see that is exactly where the liberal press and the anti hunting crowd make no difference to them we are all poachers. Not so long ago I read a report in a News Paper about a poacher. Interestlingly as the report went on the word "poacher" was gradually replaced with the word "hunter" and the end of the report the reader was left with the word "hunter" in their minds. The anties are very clever and we do them injustice to declare them "cranks". But should we now go ahead and make ever more new laws and police our ranks even harder just to make the once suffer and give them a hard time who are obeying the laws. Havent we learned that with the hideous gun laws that it will do no good to no one, because people who are going to break the law or decide to be unethical will do so regardless of anything we might put up.

Perhaps it is time to put the fun back into hunting and promote the good things hunting does for everybody even the none hunters. Rather then be defensive about our sport we should promote just what our hunter dollars do for everybody. That hunting is a important industry which brings millions of dollars to local economies. That hunting is the most natural and cheapest way to control wildlife populations, yes it makes money for the government, money that has not to come from the pockets of the tax payers. Whereas the alternatieve to hunting wildlife population control put forward by the anti hunting and animal rights groups is not only highly questionable but would cost the tax payers billions of dollars.

Accident and bad shot at animals can and will happen, no hunter is happy about it, but they do happen and to call this unethical or to try and make it a thing of the past is impossible. Therfore we should not get hung up on it and focus all our attention to it but learn to live with it and explain it in a rational manner that works much better than pointing fingers and jump on bandwagons.

[Goat Guy]

Originally Posted by huntwriter

Perhaps it is time to put the fun back into hunting and promote the good things hunting does for everybody even the none hunters. Rather then be defensive about our sport we should promote just what our hunter dollars do for everybody. That hunting is a important industry which brings millions of dollars to local economies. That hunting is the most natural and cheapest way to control wildlife populations, yes it makes money for the government, money that has not to come from the pockets of the tax payers. Whereas the alternatieve to hunting wildlife population control put forward by the anti hunting and animal rights groups is not only highly questionable but would cost the tax payers billions of dollars.

WOW-you hit the nail on the head a couple times there-very well put.

[Avalanche123]

Well said "Huntwriter"...

and Walksalot.....I know quite a number of Trad shooters who shoot 3D and do not even hunt. Your statement "Lack of proficiency or a shot out of our effective range with a given weapon is a sorry ass excuse for wounding an animal to say the least and one more reason for the "powers to be" to listen to the anti's cry for an end to our sport" is right on the mark. I am just not sure why it is directed to Trad Shooters? Perhaps it isn't....

"This thing about being fun to shoot doesn't wash when we project it into a hunting situation" Hmmm I have alot of fun shooting while I hunt as I am constantly shooting stumps, leaves etc.....when I need a break.

Anyway I hope this isn't going to get blown out of proportion.....We are all responsible hunters and we all shoot our weapons of choice, some using several depending on what is going on. I prefer shooting Trad and merely wanted to congratulate BC Big Bore on his new purchase just as I would to you if you purchased a new weapon.

The Mulies are rutting! Happy Hunting