Get rid of the compound?

Joined
Aug 9, 2017
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Southeast Texas
I’ll start by saying that I am pretty obsessive by nature, so I tend to go “all or nothing” once I find something to try.

That being said, archery has always been a constant for me. I’ve never given it up, and I always have enjoyed it since I can remember. I’m currently trying to get going in the trad world, but money is tighter than I’d like. This kind of puts me into a spot that has me questioning whether or not I’m just an idiot.

I’m debating selling off all of my compound stuff, simply because I’m a little put off by it. I have an old Samick type recurve with bent limbs hanging in my garage that I have more fun shooting than my Hoyt Hyperforce that I can effectively shoot decently far. I haven’t killed a lot of animals with my compound by any means, but the more I use it the more the technology of it kind of puts me off. When I pick up a recurve, I just don’t get that nervous feeling I get when I grab a compound.

Maybe y’all can give me a push either way, whatever that happens to be, but I’m seriously thinking there is no point in keeping a compound.
 

Wrench

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Aug 23, 2018
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I always shot both....then I bought a few nice stickbows and I literally haven't touched my compounds since.

I am finally at a point where I'd be scared to be shot at by me inside of 50 yards.
 
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
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I sold my compound last year so I would be forced to become proficient with my recurve and actually hunt with it. I’m so glad I did. Killed two deer with it which was the best feeling ever. I’d sell it, pocket the cash, and shoot the heck out of the sammick (that’s what I’m shooting). Traditional is so much fun it’s hard to imagine going back, at least for whitetails.
 

manitou1

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You can straighten the limbs on the recurve if not too bad... google it.
Life is short, go for what tugs at your heart strings. If you change your mind after a while, you can always buy another compound. There are tons of 1-2 yr old compounds on the market for cheap. The ONLY reason I got away from trad is my shoulders couldn't take it any longer. I really need surgery but keep putting it off. 10-13000 arrows a year didn't help, along with age. Like many of us, you will go through different seasons in your hunting career and want to try different challenges. Embrace them and live life to the fullest. You only go around once!
 

PredatorX

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If you do want to go all trad you should be prepared to send a lot of arrows downrange. It is a big investment in time...but oh so worth it. Make sure you have time to devote to the craft.

I unfortunately don't, and can tell in my shooting and confidence. Taking the wheelie bow out west this year. Hoping next year I can get back to it. I have a treasure in my original Paul Schafer made Silvertip waiting for me.

It puts the challenge back in shooting and bowhunting.
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2017
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N Idaho
Depends on your mindset. I met a trad bowyer at a shoot that all the guys who shot with us were shooting his bows (beautiful bows). The subject came up between the two of us about shooting compound. We seemed to be on the same page on the idea of liking hunting with all kinds of implements. I like high powered rifles, pistols, muzzleloaders and compounds as well as trad. Anti wheels for years because thats what my trad buddies and the internet told me i should do if i was a "real" archer. That's a great soap box to be on if that's your thing. I like everything so thats my mindset. No wrong idea here, totally personal.
This will ruffle feathers im sure but i found the trad only mindset a bit self righteous(Some of my best friends still adhere that way).
Every group in every pursuit has to have sub- factions to separate themselves from the others. Just human nature i guess.
If money is a motivator though, then thats your answer.
Best of luck.
 
OP
Gerard Marcaurele
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Southeast Texas
Thanks for the responses, y'all. Greatly appreciated! I'm gonna dive into the trad world head first as soon as I can. I've gotta set a bit of money aside, and just so happens that I'll be in Wheat Ridge in August, so I'm going to have the Clum folks show me the ropes to get going.

If money starts to get to tight on the hunting budget, I'm not scared to cut ties with the wheel bow. They ain't gonna quit making them tomorrow.
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
605
I’m in the same boat. I get tired of everything that goes into compounds, all the tuning, bow presses, releases and tinkering it takes.

Maybe it’s my lack of experience with trad bows. I know you have to tune and get things correct as well as shoot consistently. But, it just seems so much more simple and enjoyable because of that simplicity.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
3,158
You can 'go trad' and still keep your compound. It's kind of like going on a diet and keeping a box of Little Debbies in the closet. :giggle:

Or maybe it's like keeping an old girlfriend's phone number tucked away while you're trying to date someone new.

Just say no to holdovers!
 
OP
Gerard Marcaurele
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Southeast Texas
I’m in the same boat. I get tired of everything that goes into compounds, all the tuning, bow presses, releases and tinkering it takes.

Maybe it’s my lack of experience with trad bows. I know you have to tune and get things correct as well as shoot consistently. But, it just seems so much more simple and enjoyable because of that simplicity.

You’re pretty well spot on to why I am personally not as into compounds. I do some work for a local pro shop, and while I don’t mind the tinkering to get other people enjoying archery, for myself I want things to be as simple as possible. No rest, no sight, no stabilizer, no D loop, no peep sight. It’s going to suck for a while as far as accuracy, but I’m not into it just because I’m going to be great. I like the challenge.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Messages
74
I find the the technology and geeky detail, and incredible gear selection options/decisions of the compound system super distracting in a negative, consumerism type of way. I'm not shooting trad yet, but hope to start this year.

On the compound side it's helped to develop my own assessment, reach it, then not push much further. For me it's a stress assessment .... sprint than shoot, at 60 yards, 3 positions (stand, sit, kneel) on a 30 second timer ... so sprint 20 yards, hit the target standing at 60 yards all in 30 seconds (run with your bow and arrow knocked), then do the same to a kneeling position, then the same to a sitting position.

Once I am able to meet this standard, I stop the focus on improvement. I quit letting the compound technology distract me and focus on google earth research, scouting trip planning, etc. This, I found, helps.
 

Tradchef

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Man....that’s a decision only you can make. Both are super fun, both have pros and cons, and both can give you a level of satisfaction depending on where you are or want to be in your archery and bowhunting career.
This is my 8th year after I sold all my stuff to dive in. It’s been a rollercoaster to say the least but lots of great things learned. I did it mainly for simplicity. I lived in rural areas not close to a shop and i didn’t have the equipment to work on my compounds at my house and I just wanted to give it a try since I was never a long range hunter with my compound.
On the other side.......I still like to go to the shop every year and shoot the new compounds that come out. When I do that I marvel at the technology and how far it’s come over the years. Super fast, smooth, accurate......they just flat out shoot and kill shit. Then I look at my single string with nothing on it and it flat out kills shit......you’ll come to a point when you realize it comes from you and not which bow is in your hands. They have advantages over one another. I’d say keep the compound and see how you like trad. Shooting both is a good compromise too. If you feel like you gravitate to trad more.....sell your compound after you hunt with it. Go kill some small game, big game, stumps etc...... it’s a ton of fun and frustrating at the same time. There’s great resources and people to help you out along the way. Good luck man........keep us posted
 

LostArra

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I was over 60 years old when I bought my first compound due to a shoulder flare up a month before elk season. Shoulder recovered nicely and the compound sits on the rack most of the time now. I still like to shoot it occasionally just like I enjoy shooting a rifle or a nice pellet gun sometimes. At my age the compound is a good backup if the shoulder would act up again.

I don't know what your compound would bring for your finances but having a backup bow is comforting.



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Joined
Mar 3, 2018
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605
I think this thread cursed me...

Doing a little more tuning today, measuring draw weight and holding weight before paper tuning. My LCA handheld scale slipped and shot off my sight and into pieces. I thankfully had an arrow nocked as I was paper tuning. Only thing wrong with the bow is that the cams are now out of place for the moment.
 
OP
Gerard Marcaurele
Joined
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Messages
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Southeast Texas
I was over 60 years old when I bought my first compound due to a shoulder flare up a month before elk season. Shoulder recovered nicely and the compound sits on the rack most of the time now. I still like to shoot it occasionally just like I enjoy shooting a rifle or a nice pellet gun sometimes. At my age the compound is a good backup if the shoulder would act up again.

I don't know what your compound would bring for your finances but having a backup bow is comforting.



Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

One of the reasons I thought to even post the thread was that I have exactly $0 available for a recurve and my compound rig as it sits would probably bring $900 or more and with releases I’d get $1300 pretty easy. I’d be well into a starter set up with a dang nice pot set aside for when/if I decide to get a nice ILF or even a semi-custom recurve. I have my eye on some Wapiti recurves at RMS that look amazing that I want to shoot a bit.

But, selling that now means that I’d better get damn good by next year, because I’m bound and determined to go on an elk hunt in 2020.
 
Joined
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Here's a true story....

Buddy of mine was torn between his new recurve and the comfort-zone compound he'd used for years. We were getting ready for a caribou hunt in central NWT and there was more than a little riding on the decision. He asked me what I thought. I told him to just go with what his heart wanted and stop agonizing. Choose a bow and put the other one away for good....or until after that hunt. A week later he told me the recurve was the bow he chose and the compound was put away. He killed a heck of a fine caribou bull on that trip. I watched him make the shot and he nailed it. It's surprising what you can do when you remove options and just focus on one thing.

I would never tell someone to do it a certain way....meaning my way. I ditched the compound back in the mid '80s and went full-on stickbow. I wanted nothing more to do with a wheelbow and so getting rid of it wasn't a matter for debate. I gave myself no option except to get better with the recurve. I did. I killed as many and then more animals with the recurve versus compound. Best move I ever made and I still wouldn't change a thing if I could.
 

DEW0341

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Mar 19, 2016
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camp pendleton, ca
Your situation sounds a lot like mine. I bought a used sammick sage on eBay almost a year ago for 90$, once it showed up on my doorstep I have shot it everyday at minimum in my garage and driveway, I have put maybe 15 arrows through my compound since it showed up. As of yesterday the compound and all of the trinkets to go along with it are sold to a buddy of mine at work and I’m now ordering a longbow from Striker bows and will hand my sage down to my boy or loan it to a friend to learn on. Not only did I become addicted, but like a lot of guys already said I wanted to just focus on one thing, also found myself “keeping up with the joneses” with the compound, constantly trying to buy the new sight, Broadhead, quiver, release etc. etc. with the trad bow I found it’s much easier to keep it simple stupid and comforting in a way to be minimalist. Now I can spend that trinket money on tags for hunting opportunity or save up for another cool handmade trad bow


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OP
Gerard Marcaurele
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
469
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Southeast Texas
Thanks man, I know it’s just the internet, but even these conversations help when you don’t have archers like yourself to voice ideas off of.

Here's a true story....

Buddy of mine was torn between his new recurve and the comfort-zone compound he'd used for years. We were getting ready for a caribou hunt in central NWT and there was more than a little riding on the decision. He asked me what I thought. I told him to just go with what his heart wanted and stop agonizing. Choose a bow and put the other one away for good....or until after that hunt. A week later he told me the recurve was the bow he chose and the compound was put away. He killed a heck of a fine caribou bull on that trip. I watched him make the shot and he nailed it. It's surprising what you can do when you remove options and just focus on one thing.

I would never tell someone to do it a certain way....meaning my way. I ditched the compound back in the mid '80s and went full-on stickbow. I wanted nothing more to do with a wheelbow and so getting rid of it wasn't a matter for debate. I gave myself no option except to get better with the recurve. I did. I killed as many and then more animals with the recurve versus compound. Best move I ever made and I still wouldn't change a thing if I could.
 

slvrslngr

WKR
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
895
Here's a true story....

Buddy of mine was torn between his new recurve and the comfort-zone compound he'd used for years. We were getting ready for a caribou hunt in central NWT and there was more than a little riding on the decision. He asked me what I thought. I told him to just go with what his heart wanted and stop agonizing. Choose a bow and put the other one away for good....or until after that hunt. A week later he told me the recurve was the bow he chose and the compound was put away. He killed a heck of a fine caribou bull on that trip. I watched him make the shot and he nailed it. It's surprising what you can do when you remove options and just focus on one thing.

I would never tell someone to do it a certain way....meaning my way. I ditched the compound back in the mid '80s and went full-on stickbow. I wanted nothing more to do with a wheelbow and so getting rid of it wasn't a matter for debate. I gave myself no option except to get better with the recurve. I did. I killed as many and then more animals with the recurve versus compound. Best move I ever made and I still wouldn't change a thing if I could.

Post of the day (maybe the week, month or year)!
 
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