I’ve messed around with face walking, but never got serious with it as well. I just stick with gap shooting. In my limited experimenting with face walking I had problems shooting down the middle as my anchor changed, especially with longer shots. Each anchor position changed the horizontal relationship between the arrow and my eye and some anchor positions felt pretty awkward (although with enough practice that would probably go away I guess). I can definitely see it working better with a compound since the letoff and draw stop would make it easier to get the right alignment at each anchor position.
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Starting the Traditional Archery journey...again
- Thread starter GCTerpfan
- Start date
When you tune with the fixed crawl, you will prolly need to adjust your nocking point some - which will affect how the limbs are 'pulled' or 'bend' i.e. tiller based on where your fingers are on the string - but you are right the bow is slightly out of tiller with the crawl but your arrow is tuned so all is well....Stringwalking and fixed crawl work best with ILF bows where you can adjust tiller a bit.....
Denny Sturgis Jr. does a combination of gap and face walking I believe....He does the face walking for the longer shots i.e. lower anchor to achieve this.....I either heard him mention this on a podcast or read it somewhere....
tyson12590
Well-Known Member
I shot a three piece non ILF recurve with a fixed crawl last year. I was able to get a bare-shaft shooting straight after some tuning. I had to raise my nock to 7/8 inch high. The bow was still louder than normal but it shot straight. You don't have to have an ILF rig to shoot a fixed crawl, it just helps. I would be careful shooting a fixed crawl with some older bows especially one pieces. Now I'm shooting a one piece laminated longbow that is tillered for my crawl and it is a sweet shooter. Super quiet. 
Tim W
Well-Known Member
Enjoying my trad journey so far! Purchased a Hoyt Satori this spring and been shooting probably more than I ever shot my compound, I think I've got it tuned and arrows tuned with it, accuracy surprisingly progressed quicker than I thought and I feel ready to hunt this fall....
Just to bring this thread full circle. I was able to kill my first deer in over 20 years with a recurve this past weekend. The story on the 'buck' I shot is kind of funny and confirmed some thoughts I was having at the moment about the important things in life.
When I decided to switch back to a recurve I decided I was going to try to take a doe in early season and was going to take the first 2.5+ yr old buck that I had an opportunity at. My early season attempts at a doe resulted in several opportunities at 1.5 yr old bucks but I was never given a shot I was comfortable with at a doe. I almost pulled the trigger one night on a 4 pt but, kept thinking about having to sit through November without a buck tag, so I passed.
Fast forward to this past weekend and me and my 17 yr old son went to a camp we have that borders some public land about an hour from our house. I grew up hunting out of this camp and although I still have family that get together there during rifle season every year, I haven't hunted there for over a decade because I have 'better' places to hunt. When I was growing up someone would occasionally kill a decent buck at camp but, we all got excited over any buck we killed, regardless of size.
So this weekend started with a spike walking by me the first morning before I even had my linesman belt unhooked. I had an under 20 yd broadside shot but passed. The weekend continued like much of my early season, we were in deer constantly and I had several opportunities at 1.5 yr old bucks but, couldn't get a doe to cooperate. I did have a 2.5 yr old 8 pt chase a doe by me Saturday evening but, I couldn't get him to stop.
Sunday afternoon I got set up at about 11:00 am on the end of what we used to call "White Oak Flat". I had several does feeding towards me about 12:30 but, like was typical for my season so far they ended up looping down wind of me and took off. I sat there for the next four hours without seeing a deer. As I was sitting there I started reflecting on the hunting I did in this exact spot when I was a kid, the camps we used to have and how none of us cared how big the bucks we shot were. I was also thinking about how my son who doesn't get a lot of time to hunt anymore had already passed up two bucks this weekend that I would have loved to shoot when I was his age. I got the impression he at least partly passed them up because they were deer he thought his Dad wouldn't shoot. Then I started thinking about the recurve I was hunting with. How It was the first bow my dad ever built and he gave it to me 20 years ago and I had yet to shoot at a deer with it. At that point I thought, screw it. I am shooting the next deer I see, regardless of how big it is. Within minutes of me thinking this, I hear the unmistakable sound of a deer walking directly below me. I looked to my right and ten yards from the base of my tree was the smallest spike I had ever seen. I have no idea where he came from. I literally looked up to the sky and with a smile said "Really", he couldn't have at least been a four point?
About 1/2 hour before this the thermals had started pulling down hill, which was the way I was facing, so I had stood up on my platform and turned around with the tether over my shoulder to watch above me. This meant the buck was now on my weak side with me standing with my back to the tree. This deer stood there at ten yards as I picked up my bow, pivoted around on my platform, grabbed a hold of my tether and slowly let myself back down into my saddle so the deer was now back on my strong side. There was one limb in my way but, just like it was scripted he took two steps forward and stopped, so I now had a 12 yard quartering away shot. I ended up making a good shot, a little higher then I wanted but still got the tops of both lungs and I watched the deer pile up about 100 yards away.
It was a 1.75 mile hike back out to the packs, then back in to cut it up and back out all after dark but, it was well worth it. My son and I had a blast joking around and and talking on the hike. When we got back to the deer I realized that neither horn was three inches long which means according to MD law I have to use my doe tag on it, so I still have my buck tag for the rest of the month. But the buck serves a purpose as neither of my boys will ever have to worry about shooting a buck smaller then Dad's anymore. I am not sure it's possible for one to be smaller.
When I decided to switch back to a recurve I decided I was going to try to take a doe in early season and was going to take the first 2.5+ yr old buck that I had an opportunity at. My early season attempts at a doe resulted in several opportunities at 1.5 yr old bucks but I was never given a shot I was comfortable with at a doe. I almost pulled the trigger one night on a 4 pt but, kept thinking about having to sit through November without a buck tag, so I passed.
Fast forward to this past weekend and me and my 17 yr old son went to a camp we have that borders some public land about an hour from our house. I grew up hunting out of this camp and although I still have family that get together there during rifle season every year, I haven't hunted there for over a decade because I have 'better' places to hunt. When I was growing up someone would occasionally kill a decent buck at camp but, we all got excited over any buck we killed, regardless of size.
So this weekend started with a spike walking by me the first morning before I even had my linesman belt unhooked. I had an under 20 yd broadside shot but passed. The weekend continued like much of my early season, we were in deer constantly and I had several opportunities at 1.5 yr old bucks but, couldn't get a doe to cooperate. I did have a 2.5 yr old 8 pt chase a doe by me Saturday evening but, I couldn't get him to stop.
Sunday afternoon I got set up at about 11:00 am on the end of what we used to call "White Oak Flat". I had several does feeding towards me about 12:30 but, like was typical for my season so far they ended up looping down wind of me and took off. I sat there for the next four hours without seeing a deer. As I was sitting there I started reflecting on the hunting I did in this exact spot when I was a kid, the camps we used to have and how none of us cared how big the bucks we shot were. I was also thinking about how my son who doesn't get a lot of time to hunt anymore had already passed up two bucks this weekend that I would have loved to shoot when I was his age. I got the impression he at least partly passed them up because they were deer he thought his Dad wouldn't shoot. Then I started thinking about the recurve I was hunting with. How It was the first bow my dad ever built and he gave it to me 20 years ago and I had yet to shoot at a deer with it. At that point I thought, screw it. I am shooting the next deer I see, regardless of how big it is. Within minutes of me thinking this, I hear the unmistakable sound of a deer walking directly below me. I looked to my right and ten yards from the base of my tree was the smallest spike I had ever seen. I have no idea where he came from. I literally looked up to the sky and with a smile said "Really", he couldn't have at least been a four point?
About 1/2 hour before this the thermals had started pulling down hill, which was the way I was facing, so I had stood up on my platform and turned around with the tether over my shoulder to watch above me. This meant the buck was now on my weak side with me standing with my back to the tree. This deer stood there at ten yards as I picked up my bow, pivoted around on my platform, grabbed a hold of my tether and slowly let myself back down into my saddle so the deer was now back on my strong side. There was one limb in my way but, just like it was scripted he took two steps forward and stopped, so I now had a 12 yard quartering away shot. I ended up making a good shot, a little higher then I wanted but still got the tops of both lungs and I watched the deer pile up about 100 yards away.
It was a 1.75 mile hike back out to the packs, then back in to cut it up and back out all after dark but, it was well worth it. My son and I had a blast joking around and and talking on the hike. When we got back to the deer I realized that neither horn was three inches long which means according to MD law I have to use my doe tag on it, so I still have my buck tag for the rest of the month. But the buck serves a purpose as neither of my boys will ever have to worry about shooting a buck smaller then Dad's anymore. I am not sure it's possible for one to be smaller.
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Vtbow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
- Messages
- 5,516
COngrats man. I"m sure it will be one of the most unforgettable harvests ever!
Congratulations! Great story and well shared, Thanks.
I have had this same reflection on the next generation of bowhunters. My buddies son is 21 and yet to take a buck with his bow. He's taken several nice ones with his rifle but has yet to connect during bow season. I believe the biggest reason for that is he is trying to apply our old guy standards for buck harvest. Funny thing is though when we were that age any buck was a shooter. I keep telling him to not set his standards to high but he seems good with it and stays positive he'll connect.
I have had this same reflection on the next generation of bowhunters. My buddies son is 21 and yet to take a buck with his bow. He's taken several nice ones with his rifle but has yet to connect during bow season. I believe the biggest reason for that is he is trying to apply our old guy standards for buck harvest. Funny thing is though when we were that age any buck was a shooter. I keep telling him to not set his standards to high but he seems good with it and stays positive he'll connect.
Mtnbuck
Active Member
Sounds like you enjoyed this hunt like its supposed to be brian!i have one maybe 2 more days of bowhunting to make it happen with my recurve this season,trying to get this big addition closed in before the snow flies up here....congrats and go get ya another!
NORKALNIMROD
Member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2019
- Messages
- 47
Something special about the old stick and string!
Are you sure the Bear bow in your first post is a Kodiak? Looks to long to be a Kmag and of a different riser design to be a Kodiak? Possibly a Grizzly?
Norkal
Are you sure the Bear bow in your first post is a Kodiak? Looks to long to be a Kmag and of a different riser design to be a Kodiak? Possibly a Grizzly?
Norkal
It's about time you take a year off. I'm not sure there are any big bucks left in Western MD the way you have been killing the the last few years.
Now that you mention it, might be the Grizzly. We used to have one of each. This is the only bear bow he had left. I'll have to check when I get home.
swampsnyper
Well-Known Member
Great story. Congrats!
Mtnbuck
Active Member
Haha still managed a nice mountain 8 pt during my 3 hr muzzleloader seasonIt's about time you take a year off. I'm not sure there are any big bucks left in Western MD the way you have been killing the the last few years.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2018
- Messages
- 8,059
I've been talking to a gentlemen on another forum that might trade me a Bear Grizzly. Would y'all consider this an upgrade from a Martin Jaguar? I am trading different gear for the bow, not the martin jaguar. I'd love to hear anyone's general thoughts on the Bear Grizzly or the Martin Jaguar. I believe this one is new, not vintage.
Real late to the party on this thread but I'm just starting my own trad story and reading through all this stuff. Hope to have a memory like this one day!
You won't regret it! And thanks for bringing this thread back up. I enjoyed reliving the memory! I'll get a hold of you when I'm going to be at Lake Anna this summer and we can get together and do some shooting.
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So happy to to see guys embrace real archery.
It ain't always easy and tag soup can be a regular dietary component. But when you get it done, it's sweet.
It ain't always easy and tag soup can be a regular dietary component. But when you get it done, it's sweet.