Commitment???

[Aklongbow]

Just curious how many of you guys are so devoted to traditional archery that it's hard to hunt with anything else ??
Bears are about to start coming out and hunting is just around the corner !!! I've been getting all my gear together, shooting my bows trying to decide which bow to use ?
Anyway I really need to use a rifle at first to fill the freezer some , so I worked up some loads and am all sighted in this winter . Gives me something to do during the long winters and I'm lucky enough to have a 300yrd range in my front yard !!
But here's my problem I love guns !!! Pistols , rifles, shotguns and I love casting bullets and reloading ........ but when it comes to hunting , I just can't use anything but my longbows !!!!! Trying to talk myself into using a rifle to fill the freezer , but I haven't been able to do that in years ! Other than duck hunting !!!ha!ha
Anyone else suffer from this ??? Just the thought of it makes me feel like I'm having a affair or something ha!

 

[PatrickW]

I definitely feel your pain! The last day of gun season here I had a nice buck walk out, stop, and look the other way at about 60 yards while I watched from my tree saddle holding my longbow.

 

[SliverShooter]

Around 20 years back I decided to hunt with nothing but bows and arrows I built, never regretted the decision. I build glass longbows and recurves, but have never hunted with one of my glass bows. Always use a selfbow that I have built. This decision may have resulted in not taking a few critters, but for 95% of my encounters it hasn’t made any difference. I manage to get a few good ones and Always have an ample supply of game meat.

My thoughts in a nut shell, you can consistently get close enough, or you can’t, then put the arrow where it needs to go, or can’t. Most often this is determined by you ( your mind); what you think you can do, and/or what you are willing to attempt. When you commit to a short range weapon, you may surprise yourself on how careful you become with the little things and how close you manage to get to critters.

 

[Squirrel Master]

It's my first choice...but I end up taking a rifle a lot because I like to take my granddaughter, and it's hard to get them in longbow range with a 5 year old girl!! If it's just me, I'll normally bow hunt. But if I can take her I do 10 times out of 10 because she's ate up with hunting already.

 

[Aklongbow]

Around 20 years back I decided to hunt with nothing but bows and arrows I built, have not regretted the decision. I build glass longbows and recurves, but have never hunted with one of my glass bows. Always use a selfbow that I have built. This decision may have resulted in not taking a few critters, but for 95% of my encounters it hasn’t made any difference.

In a nut shell, you can consistently get close enough, or you can’t, then put the arrow where it needs to go, or can’t. Most often is determined by you; what you think you can do, and/or what you are willing to attempt. When you commit to a short range weapon, you may surprise yourself on how careful you become with the little things and how close you manage to get to critters.

Agreed!!! This year I will probably be using my freshly built Osage self bow and bamboo arrows ...... I always use wood or bamboo !! But have been using laminated longbows .
Alaska (especially where I live ) definitely poses challenges to spot and stalk longbow hunts . Lots of thick brush , alders, swamps , streams and rivers !!! And the one thing to hunt year round is the Black Bear ....... not exactly a easy spot and stalk animal in my part of the world, but I love the challenge !!!!!
I'm normally never concerned on how the hunt goes , but with meat prices the way they are up here .... I need some meat in the freezer lol .
They actually have the security things on the meat at Freddy Myers ha!ha
So I'm kicking around the idea , but I haven't done it yet lol

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Just curious how many of you guys are so devoted to traditional archery that it's hard to hunt with anything else ??
Bears are about to start coming out and hunting is just around the corner !!! I've been getting all my gear together, shooting my bows trying to decide which bow to use ?
Anyway I really need to use a rifle at first to fill the freezer some , so I worked up some loads and am all sighted in this winter . Gives me something to do during the long winters and I'm lucky enough to have a 300yrd range in my front yard !!
But here's my problem I love guns !!! Pistols , rifles, shotguns and I love casting bullets and reloading ........ but when it comes to hunting , I just can't use anything but my longbows !!!!! Trying to talk myself into using a rifle to fill the freezer , but I haven't been able to do that in years ! Other than duck hunting !!!ha!ha
Anyone else suffer from this ??? Just the thought of it makes me feel like I'm having a affair or something ha!

Have you ever killed a moose with your longbow?

 

[Aklongbow]

Have you ever killed a moose with your longbow?

Not yet ...... but I'm hoping this is the year !!!! I'm going to scout all year and do my best to make it happen ....... it's just finding the legal bull lol .
Last season scouting / grouse hunting 1 week before opening , I walked right up on a bedded 55"-60" bull . Neither one of us knew each other was there !!! When he stood up in the tall grass less than 10yrds away , I was surprised to say the least ha!ha .
I had my longbow and a perfect shot ..... figures lol

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Not yet ...... but I'm hoping this is the year !!!! I'm going to scout all year and do my best to make it happen ....... it's just finding the legal bull lol .
Last season scouting / grouse hunting 1 week before opening , I walked right up on a bedded 55"-60" bull . Neither one of us knew each other was there !!! When he stood up in the tall grass less than 10yrds away , I was surprised to say the least ha!ha .
I had my longbow and a perfect shot ..... figures lol

It’s a goal of mine too, I’ve been looking forward to good weather so I can do more shooting.

 

[Aklongbow]

It’s a goal of mine too, I’ve been looking forward to good weather so I can do more shooting.

Agreed!!! We was getting some nice weather ..... then it dumped snow all day yesterday, just got done plowing snow again rrrrrrh !!!
I try to shoot a lot , if nothing else just up in my shop at close range and practice on my form . I did buy one of those 1/3 scale woodland moose 3ds and made a stand for it . I just move it outside , shoot and move it back into the shop .
Usually 3 days a week in the evenings after work I'll do my workouts , then work on form for 15min with my 65# longbow
The other 2 weekdays I try to snowshoe at least 2 miles with a 60# pack . Weekends I drag out my 3d target , shoot and try to get in 4-6miles each day with my 60# pack while grouse /rabbit hunting with my pup !!!!
I plan on spending a lot of time in the woods / mountians this year !!!!! Gotta make it happen this year lol

 

[Aklongbow]

I really want a Mountian goat with my longbow ..... that is my Ultimate dream !!! I've just got to get figured out where , how and how much money I gotta save up lol
I've been up here 8yrs and still trying to figure it all out !!!! I have the will power and the energy....... but I have a destroyed ankle from motocross 15yrs ago rrrrh . This year I am going to push it to it's limit and see how I do !!!!! I know 2 weeks ago I bought trekking poles , after the first 5 miles of snowshoeing with a 60# pack ...... I realized that I've been a idiot for not already using them , made a 100% difference in my pain level !!!

 

[Felix40]

I like a traditional bow more than anything but I’ve done more than my fair share of watching animals walk. I bought a compound about 6 years ago and it sure has been fun to kill a bunch of animals with it. I switch back and forth now and couldn’t be happier to have both.

 

[Aklongbow]

I like a traditional bow more than anything but I’ve done more than my fair share of watching animals walk. I bought a compound about 6 years ago and it sure has been fun to kill a bunch of animals with it. I switch back and forth now and couldn’t be happier to have both.

I used to be I die hard compound guy !! Everyday I was shooting, I shot out to 140 yards all the time . I still have my mathews chill , Tommy Hogg sights and all the bells and whistles !!!!! Since I started shooting longbows , and making selfbows ...... it's been sitting in the crawl space under the house for over 9yrs . I fully committed to traditional archery and lost any desire for compound hunting .
I don't have anything against it at all !!!! But if I ain't using a longbow , it's only because I need meat in the freezer....... so I am going to use a rifle. A man should use whatever brings him joy . I haven't killed a animal ( besides ducks ) with anything but a longbow in over 9yrs lol . But I need to , I just don't want to and the desire just isn't there .......
Maybe the solution is get off my but , hunt harder and make it happen ha!ha

 

[Kevin Dill]

I'm a bowhunter first, and my preferred bow is a longbow or recurve. I don't dislike compounds at all; it's just not what I like to hunt with. I have...for a long time...not thought of myself as a traditional bowhunter. I'm just another bowhunter in the woods, and I use MY preferred bow type. That said, I love a longbow or recurve so much that it's never hard for me to turn down all other weapons. If I'm hunting (as opposed to killing for food) you can be darned sure I'll be carrying a bow.

I love guns, and I don't see the conflict in hunting with one (over the bow) if that's what someone wants or chooses. If there's a conflict it's an internal one and only the guy experiencing it can decide what's best. I do NOT judge others in this matter, though I know plenty of trad guys who are openly negative toward those who flip between weapons. I say follow your heart and go have a good time. If your heart doesn't have the answer, then apply some logic and use that answer instead. I haven't killed a big game animal with anything but a longbow or recurve since the mid '80s. But I definitely would use a rifle in the right situation and circumstances. That wouldn't be to collect a prized trophy....it would be to collect meat and fill a freezer.

Always and forever, my desire to hunt with my bow has overruled any thought of using a gun for better odds or insuring a kill. I suppose that's one way to define a diehard bowhunter....when HOW you do it becomes much more important than success defined by a punched tag. The hard and challenging way is almost always the most rewarding way....and that's irrespective of actual killing.