What is traditional archery?

[cocky84]

I went to a small bowshoot last weekend to shoot the traditional class. I was told at sign in that i could not shoot that class because i have a limb mounted clicker on my bow. I shoot a Black Widow Ptf (one piece) off the shelf with a glove and black eagle vintage arrows.
Ironically enough the guy who told me i couldnt because of my clicker was shooting an aluminum riser, ilf, with stabilizer ,a spring rest, carbon arrows and a tab. (but no clicker)
Now im not complaining about him, he was very nice and simply said they are not allowed. I said no problem, ill shoot the fun class. His bow met the rules and mine did not, so im not bitching.
But it did make me wonder, “what is traditional?”
Even though i know there is no way to draw a line in the sand on this topic thought it would be an interesting thread to see what peoples opinions are on what they consider “traditional?”

 

[ozyclint]

Here in Australia it seems that almost all trad events only allow wood arrows to compete. Carbon bows are fine just wood arrows. Go figure. I'm not into 3D or competitions only hunting.

 

[ScottinPA]

IMO you're closer to what I'd call traditional than he is. Again, IMO, trad should follow the KISS method - simple stick n string, aim using arrow or instinctive. Clicker I'm okay with though I've never used one, I have put one on my son's bow to help him hit full draw consistently.
You and the other guy shouldn't be competing in the same class. When I shoot 3D its for fun so I shoot the "hunter" compound stakes with the compound shooters I'm with. Stumping or chasing a tennis ball around the yard is better practice for me.

 

[Chipz]

A one piece wood bow, string must be made of plant or animal fiber. Arrows must be one piece wood, fletchings natural feathers, and tip must be hand carved stone or bone.

Any adhesives must be something you can gather from the natural environment and made over a campfire.

To me this is "real" trad, but I'm sure itll piss off most trad guys.

 

[LostArra]

Describing traditional archery is a lot like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's difficulty in describing obscenity leading to his famous quote "I know it when I see it".


Traditional archery is fairly simple until you get into the absurd world of competitive archery where everyone is worried that someone has an edge. This coincides with the emergence of self proclaimed experts known as Trad Police who tell others what is acceptable to be considered traditional even when not competing. There is even debate on what type of aiming is acceptable and it is categorized and argued about at the world level.

Shoot what you like and call it archery. If you go to a 3D meet pay for a fun round, keep your own score and enjoy yourself.

 

[Scoot]

Atlatl or its way too fancy!

 

[cocky84]

A one piece wood bow, string must be made of plant or animal fiber. Arrows must be one piece wood, fletchings natural feathers, and tip must be hand carved stone or bone.

Any adhesives must be something you can gather from the natural environment and made over a campfire.

To me this is "real" trad, but I'm sure itll piss off most trad guys.

I cant imagine how someones logical opinion, even though maybe different than theirs would piss someone off but i know it happens all the time.
i can get on board with that. I kinda think that anything that could be hand made pretty simply is traditional. Like if the indians could of crafted it. But then on the flip side of that, i could simply craft a release aid or a sight pin of some sorts. So kinda shoots that theory all to shit.

 

[IdahoElk]

I went to a small bowshoot last weekend to shoot the traditional class. I was told at sign in that i could not shoot that class because i have a limb mounted clicker on my bow. I shoot a Black Widow Ptf (one piece) off the shelf with a glove and black eagle vintage arrows.
Ironically enough the guy who told me i couldnt because of my clicker was shooting an aluminum riser, ilf, with stabilizer ,a spring rest, carbon arrows and a tab. (but no clicker)
Now im not complaining about him, he was very nice and simply said they are not allowed. I said no problem, ill shoot the fun class. His bow met the rules and mine did not, so im not bitching.
But it did make me wonder, “what is traditional?”
Even though i know there is no way to draw a line in the sand on this topic thought it would be an interesting thread to see what peoples opinions are on what they consider “traditional?”

Why not just pull the string off your clicker and shoot the trad class?
What you described is why I avoid all organized shoots except when I go to Austria,Trad is huge over there and a good time is had by all.

 

[cocky84]

Why not just pull the string off your clicker and shoot the trad class?
What you described is why I avoid all organized shoots except when I go to Austria,Trad is huge over there and a good time is had by all.

yep i could of done that for sure.
I personally dont really care about competing i just go to get practice for hunting. I made a deal with myself that if i cant walk a 40 target course and hit in the kill on all big game animals, then i wont take it hunting until i do. Unfortunately at this point where i am at with my recurve i cannot do that without a clicker. I hope to be able to someday. I am close but not there yet.
im just there for practice, and your absolutely right. All i had to do to compete in that class was unhook clicker. They informed me of that and even tried to talk me into doing so. So therefore again, i have zero complaints about their rules. It just got my mind to thinking of how they arrived at the set rules of what is traditional.

 

[sneaky]

If you're waiting to hunt after being able to put all 40 arrows in the kill zone on a 3D course, you may be waiting a looooong time. That's extremely difficult for even the best archers in the world. Social media shows you their great shots, seeing them blank targets at shoots shows you the reality. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[cocky84]

If you're waiting to hunt after being able to put all 40 arrows in the kill zone on a 3D course, you may be waiting a looooong time. That's extremely difficult for even the best archers in the world. Social media shows you their great shots, seeing them blank targets at shoots shows you the reality. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

with a clicker i can do it regularly. Now these courses are typically 25-30 yrd max and i am not including squirrels or rabbits. I cannot do it consistently without a clicker yet.

i want to be able to put all arrows in the kill of the sized game i am hunting from the distance i will be shooting from. And when i say kill, i dont mean the 12 ring. I mean 12s 10s or 8s. No 5s or misses. For me personally, if i cant do that under relaxed circumstances then i have no business flinging arrows at an animal under high stress situation. Not judging anyone who thinks differently, its just a goal I personally set for myself.

 

[Rich M]

Imo traditional is wood and string, maybe a knock point.

 

[BFR]

You’re on the right track, I would add bow must be handcrafted by you, arrow same, feathers off of birds you have killed. any grip cover must be leather you tanned from a kill you made. That ought to do it.

A one piece wood bow, string must be made of plant or animal fiber. Arrows must be one piece wood, fletchings natural feathers, and tip must be hand carved stone or bone.

Any adhesives must be something you can gather from the natural environment and made over a campfire.

To me this is "real" trad, but I'm sure itll piss off most trad guys.

 

[cocky84]

You’re on the right track, I would add bow must be handcrafted by you, arrow same, feathers off of birds you have killed. any grip cover must be leather you tanned from a kill you made. That ought to do it.

Id certainly say thats traditional, very traditional!!

 

[Courtlandfarms]

I view trad as having 0 letoff and Instictive aiming, I shoot ilf for the ability to tune to an arrow, but I know my arrow drops and "guess" where my shot is going to go. Not into any fixed crawls and point ons.

 

[IdahoElk]

You’re on the right track, I would add bow must be handcrafted by you, arrow same, feathers off of birds you have killed. any grip cover must be leather you tanned from a kill you made. That ought to do it.

And you have to get to your hunting spot by horse.

 

[BFR]

Dang, knew I forgot something.

And you have to get to your hunting spot by horse.

 

[Tartan]

The “vision” of what most people have in there head is mostly a fantasy. People try to hark back to a day before compounds. Sights, clickers, And elevated rests were all used before compounds. It’s well known that paul Shafer shot vanes and it’s hard to not consider him “traditional”. It was just archery and you did whatever you needed to in order to be successful.

competition rules seem to have little to do with “period correct gear” and more with what perceived advantages are associated with each class.

me personally, I just like single string archery. Be it a single piece longbow and wood arrows. Or a metal ilf riser and carbon limbs.

for me archery is about competing with myself, not others. I’m tempted to start going to more official shoots, but until then, I’ll just shoot whatever I want.

 

[William Sublette]

No one gave a shit what it was called the first time you picked up a bow.

It was just fun seeing those fletches jump, and speed down range.


However you find that joy is the way.

 

[vaeVictis]

Must be English or Welsh Yew Longbow with a draw weight of at least 120#. Bonus if it has been tested against the French. Anything else isn't traditional enough.