Traditional a handicap?

Broken Arrow

Lil-Rokslider
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I went on my first elk hunt and shot a cow this year. Many people commented great job and with trad bow. How many of you feel like a simple stick n sting is a handicap? Me personally I've shot compounds with sights etc and to me that's a handicap. When I have a critter in front of me it's just a simple draw pick a spot and release. No rangefinder no thought about distance no peep sight release or anything else. How's that a handicap?
 

spdrman

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I started hunting with a trad bow because I felt like a compound was making me lazy, back when I first started hunting I'd try really hard to get within 30-40 yards of animals. As I became a better shot and shot more it got to where I was comfortable shooting 60-70 yards so when I got within that range I'd shoot then I took a couple animals around 100 yards and decided that wasnt what archery was about, with a lot of practice and patients there's no reason you can't shoot 30 yards with a trad bow and I get a lot more out of a hunt the closer I get to the critters. This year I could of killed a great bull at 60ish yards if I had a compound but the bull I shot at 8 yards with my recurve was the funnest elk hunt to date
 
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Everyone's definition of Bowhunting is very different. I feel like the vast majority of people that bow hunt would consider triad gear a handicap. If you feel the opposite way that is great. I hope to have the time and patience one day to take game with a trad bow.

Facts are facts.... your odds of killing game are much better with a compound.

Joe
 

Mudd Foot

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Part of my affinity for trad is the gear itself. All my bows are as well finished and executed as top-end furniture, although my wife would say that we don't own anything as nice as my Wallace Mountain Longbow or my Toelke Whip. By the way, both weigh around 19 ounces.

In terms of percentages, there's no question that compounds are more efficient. However, last summer I traveled to Marietta, OH to take lessons from Dave Wallace. Dave's IBO record makes him the Jack Nicklaus of longbow shooting in the modern era. Without a warm-up he put six wooden arrows in a space that we could wrap our index and thumb tips in a circle... from twenty yards. Once I was able to visualize this kind of accuracy, my groupings immediately improved. After Dave told me his average shooting distance for deer was 35 yards, my starting point every day became 30 yards.
 
OP
Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow

Lil-Rokslider
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Joe, I don't disagree but I do disagree.
I believe hunting experience plays a much bigger part in someone's "handicap"
But on the other hand take a person that is experienced in both hunting and proficient with both compound and trad gear. Then yes your odds go up with a compound.
I am an each his own kinda guy. Just wondering if there are others out there that don't feel like they are handicapped by choosing trad gear.
 

InDeep

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My personal experience with hunting both ways is the opportunity's will still be there the trad goes without saying its just simply harder ..Now depending on how you hunt for you game like out treestand, It may only be the shot that might be harder ..But on the ground even the simplest of things like the fact that you are carrying 50 to 66" or maybe longer bow can be pain its a a lot of movement when trying not to move .Then add in the shortened range of trad gear and you have some challenges. I do also think the animals your chasing plays a part in it ..I have never harvested an elk with one, or even tried for that matter.. But have hunted and harvested on and off for blacktail, and will someday give elk a try. But I'm going out on a limb to say that imo opinion elk may be a easier task to get done with trad gear ! Like Is aid its just my opinion and its a bold one coming from a guy who cant fully take that plung, and believe I have came so close . But just got nervous with my shooting in last months and that made me doubt it / so sorry for the rant but I truly love . trad shooting and the limited success and even misses are some of my best hunts ..But also love meat so in this point in my life compounds are crutch for me , but hopefully that will change! Good luck to you
 
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I just switched this season from being a longtime compound user with lots of elk and deer harvests to trad gear. This year I did not harvest and elk and I honestly thought it was just me struggling. Things that I took for granted with a compound like when to draw on an animal and like already stated the increased movement have all left me struggling on how to get this done. I had shot everyday for an entire year to prepare for the trad conversion only to suddenly learn it was going to be harder than I had thought. I honestly had a 320 class bull at 17 yds only to not get a shot. Unbelievable, I thought i had that bull but only had one opening and didn't feel comfortable with that shot. With a compound I would have drawn back as soon as the elk entered the opening and just followed him at full draw till I had a shot, which that opening would have been plenty of space. So yeah At least for me I think it's definitely harder, but I am not about to give this up I am a trad guy for life. I just hope at some point I can start harvesting game again.
 

Rod

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I also do not feel it's a handicap. It's a choice to make things harder, more like the old days when things were way simpler than today. With the high tech world we live in today, it's nice to grap my simple stick & string & go hunting. I have been shooting trad gear 30+ years & for me it's all about the challenge of getting longbow close! I need to be a better hunter to get within my effective range. Yes it can be tougher because if lots of reasons, but it can also be a benifit when in close in thick cover & you need to make a very quick shot. I'll stick with my longbow until I cannot draw it anymore!!

Rod
 

tater

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The real secret to the advantage (and one that 99% of hunters ignore) of trad bows is the ability to draw and shoot from a wide variety of positions in the field. If inverse draws and full horizontal cants are practiced you'd be amazed at the increase in shot potential.

There are plenty of old pics and vids of guys like Howard Hill and Ron Laclair shooting laying down, cross body or inverse drawing, and shooting from positions that a compound user with sights and bubbles just can't do.

Having said that, it is more 'stuff' to practice, and a lot of folks don't realize the true time investment in becoming even moderately proficient with trad gear.
 

slvrslngr

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Like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to hunting with trad gear. I think the only real "handicap" is between our ears. In all reality a trad bow is capable of killing at compound ranges, it's the hunter that limits the tackle.
 
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Anything can be a "handicap" if you let it be. Whether its your skill level, your woodsmanship, your fitness level, you name it. I think as long as YOU enjoy what you are doing there is no reason to worry about what others think. I switched to a Hoyt recurve several years ago and I won't go back. I don't necessarily think its harder, unless I make it harder. Through a ton of practice and blown stalks and misses I have become comfortable with what shots I can accurately make and when. The only think I think that is really hard about using a "trad" style bow is maneuvering it through the woods, 60+ inches of equipment just sucks.
 

marc

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Not at all. I have done it a long time and have extended my range out to the same range that I would feel comfortable shooting any bow at game. My recurve is lighter, less to go wrong with it in the backcountry, and allows me to get shots that would not be possible with a compound and sights.
 

boom

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Handicap implies something negative. a handicap hinders, impedes, etc.

for me since cleaning the rifles, putting them away, and picking up a (compound) bow, i have never felt handicapped..but i have felt challenged. i dig the challenge.
i am envious of you guys that feel you have taken enough animals with a compound, that you are willing to up the challenge and take the next step to a traditional bow. kudos. personally, i cannot wait until i reach that level. at this rate, i might never get there..i am not finding this easy. super fun tho. glad i like vegetables.
 

boom

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let me add. since taking up bowhunting..i have become such a better hunter!! take AZ couse deer. i go every year. i am at the point that i find deer pretty much every day. my brother and i always comment on how the hunt will be over if we had rifles. i can easily get to 100 yards of a couse. closing to compound distance is a mofo! lord, i really want to arrow a couse. "just barely close enough" is a bitter taste.
 
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let me add. since taking up bowhunting..i have become such a better hunter!! take AZ couse deer. i go every year. i am at the point that i find deer pretty much every day. my brother and i always comment on how the hunt will be over if we had rifles. i can easily get to 100 yards of a couse. closing to compound distance is a mofo! lord, i really want to arrow a couse. "just barely close enough" is a bitter taste.

Yep! Those Coues deer are a blast with the bow!

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Handicap I'd say no, but you need to fully commit. There is no way you will totally commit with a compound bow somewhere in your house. You will also need to be prepared for bad shots. I have hunted with some real big named Traditional shooters and none of them are absent of bad shots. I'd almost go out on a limb and say it's the "dirty little secret" of shooting a traditional bow. Shooting at a deer with a wheeled bow at 20 yds is a world of a difference vs. shooting at that same deer with a recurve or longbow. Not even close.
 

G Posik

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Hunting with a trad bows will make you a better hunter. You have to really know the game you are chasing. I only hunt with trad bows and feel I have become a much better hunter because of it. Controlling your movement, play the wind and learn when to draw. When I get a critter that I have made up my mind is the one I will chase I get super excited. Sometimes I will start shaking teeth chattering up to the point it is time to draw. Then it is like I get this tunnel vision, everything is calm. Release the arrow, watch contact and then it is back to shaking like a dog sh!tting a peach seed. It is the best feeling. Like said above the only handicap is between your ears. When I shot rifles I thought compounds were a handi cap. Then when I shot a wheel bow I thought the same about trad. Now that I shoot trad I think the rifle & compound guys are missing out on a whole new rush in life. Everyone has their own style and enjoys it. So happy and safe hunting.

Glenn
 

Kebler

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Last year was my 1st trad season, killed a spring turkey and a tremendous whitetail off public lands. This year I missed two deer at point blank range big deer 150 inch type off public land one from the ground at 5 yards the other from a tree at 10 yards.

I am frustrated and plain and simple rushed my shots, trad is a love hate relationship, I love it but right now it hate it, but love it to much to give up. It will take you on a roll coster of emotions, it like the bow becomes part of you. I build my own cedars your soul is in them.

Its so simple it can be hard, I love it.
 
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I think I would have killed a bull this year if I had my longbow. I had one sneak in behind me at 20 yards. I was more worried about being slow and crap than getting my bow up and shooting. I also tried to range him lol. I would have never messed with that if I had my trad gear.
 
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