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How and why did you choose Traditional Archery?

Heydeerman said:
About 25 years ago my father in law (ex wife) who is still a good friend of mine asked me to go deer hunting. My dad would never take me hunting and I would lay awake all night as a kid the night before he would leave to hunt hoping he would take me. He never did. But Ron Lester asked me so I went and killed my first deer at 30 years old. I loved it and everything about it except all the guns in the Woods made me nervous. A guy I knew from work killed a monster that made a magazine cover with a bow. His name is Steve Garverick. I asked so many questions he approached me and told me he would be willing to teach me if I would listen to him and only him. He wanted to mentor me. I accepted. He told me to get a compound so I got one. He showed me how to shoot, scout, pick trees for stands, how to get permission to hunt, how to sharpen heads...pretty much everything. He did everything with me and got me started in bow hunting.

A few years later I was at a Christian Bowhunters of America deer hunt in Tar Hollow State Forest in southern Ohio. I knew nobody there. I was out back shooting my compound into foam and there was a guy sitting on a picnic table watching me. He said something about my compound being quiet and we made small talk. He asked to shoot a few so I took a seat. He picked up a Recurve and after a couple shots I asked him how he was able to be so accurate without a sight. He explained and I couldn’t understand so he invited me to shoot. He handed me a glove and armguard and I didn’t know how to put them on so he put them on me. He walked me to the target and coached me through a couple shots. I was not impressed at all. When it was time to pull arrows I handed him his bow and he said “just drop it on the ground”. I wouldn’t so he took it from my hand and dropped it and said “ it’s just a piece of wood”. I told him if he dropped my bow to the ground we would be rolling on the ground and he said that’s why he won’t shoot one of those things.

The second half of that season I kept thinking about that. I killed 4 deer all on the ground and all under 10 yards. Every time I would think I could have done that with one of them recurves. Then I dropped my compound from a treestand and had to go home to fix it thinking I probable wouldn’t have to do this if I had one of them Recurve bows.

His name is Hoot Gibson and at that time he was president of the Ohio Society of Traditional Archers. I am also a former President now. I re met him on the Ohio Forums on the Bowsite after all this and he helped me get my first Recurve and longbow. He coached me over the phone on how to shoot. One time on the phone he told me if I don’t get rid of them compounds I’ll never get any good with a traditional bow because I would always have a crutch to fall back on. After some hard thinking I sold my 3 compounds, presses, and everything I had compound and bought my first custom longbow made by Dave Dwyer. Yes I sold it later...stupid.

Ron Lester got me into deer hunting.
Steve Garverick thought me how to hunt with a bow.
Hoot Gibson brought me into traditional archery.
Lee Cornelius taught me how to make Flemish twist strings and how to sharpen a two blade broadhead.
Jamie Miller, another past OSTA President taught me so many things about Traditional archery and hunting I don’t know where to begin.

Over the course of twenty years I have had the pleasure of meeting and even sharing a meal with the likes of Dean Torges, Dan Quillian, John Fazio. I did not realize who Dan was when I was talking to him. We talked for hours on the phone many times. I hunted Rabbits with Dean in Ohio. He invited me to the second Great Ohio Rabbit Hunt in Ohio. I later took it over when he stepped down. I sold John Fazio’s bows in my shop and became good long distant friends and almost made an Alaskan bear hunt with him. All of these men are gone and sadly missed.

Traditional archery and bow hunting has introduced me to a lot of people who are now dear friends. One is my best friend Dusty Steele of Louisiana who I introduced to traditional and watched him kill his first longbow buck. I also met and hunted with Jerry Gowins who owns a couple of my bows I would like to get back. He put Dusty and my backside on the cover of TBM a couple years ago. Mike Peters who is on the board of the Christian Bow Hunter of America has also been a big help many times and a good friend to share a hunting camp with.

This year is my 20th season with a stick and I’m 55. I wish I had started sooner but I’m glad I didn’t miss out on the last 20 years. I love this stuff.

This was a long one and if you made it this far I appreciate it.
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Probabably the most incredible journey I’ve heard of. Good on you sir. Carry that torch!
 
Started traditional archery this year at the ripe ole age of 42. Been rifle hunting since I was 16. Got tired of only really having a couple weekends to hunt and not seeing deer so I got over my fear of shooting deer with an arrow and having to watch it run off to die and then hoping I recover it later.

Something more exotic about a recurve, simpler then a compound. I did break down and add a brass pin sight to my sage and that helped with my aim tremendously. The sage was so easy to tune and quiet. Very good bow for the money.
 
Hunting and fishing has always been part of my life growing up. My dad is a great outdoorsman and I was his shadow growing up (daddy's girl). My first bow was a compound but I didn't use sites. As an adult I have primarily used a compound bow with sites for hunting and competition. I've enjoyed the ease of newer technology in hunting and fishing gear. However, as I've aged, I wanted to enjoy "the "old way" of doing things. For fishing, I learned to fly fish and enjoy it much more than using a spinning reel. I decided to do the same with archery. About 5-6 years ago, I purchased a Samick Sage just to get into traditional style archery. I was hooked just like fly fishing. Thankfully, I was able to purchase a Navajo Apache long bow this year. My future plans are to build my own long bow backed with sinew and snake skin.
 
Heydeerman said:
Everyone likes to tell their story and I like to hear and read them. Give some detail and honor those who influenced you by telling their names. There is plenty of room here. A pic or 2 wouldn’t hurt either if you have them. Choosing the trad way to means you have chosen to do it the hard way on purpose and you are willing to take your lumps for the failures as well as the glory for the success. I’d really like to read your story.
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Pretty simple for me.Owned one compound and the constant tuning and getting sights bent when pushing thru rain forest brush,,,a peep sight full of water and or leaf material,making it worthless when needed most.Add to that the fact that you need to be able to accurately estimate yardage despite your multi pin sight.Why not just keep it simple and let your brain do its job?
 
Because chicks dig trad bows duh. But seriously I didnt kill a deer for 4 years straight even though I was still hunting plenty with my compound. That feeling of excitement that makes you reach for your bow when a deer walks into range just wasnt there anymore. I started making excuses to myself like I didnt feel like dragging and butchering that day or he isnt big enough, so I was letting everything walk. I wasnt hunting anymore, I was just hanging out in the woods every fall because I had always been a hunter, its who I was. But I was a hunter that didnt enjoy hunting. I sold the compounds and picked up a recurve just to shoot for fun and was pretty accurate with it so I started hunting with it. Now I get excited by every deer walking by. Now I actually shoot my bow every day and look forward to it.
 
Some great stories on here.
Im really leaning towards pulling the trigger on a recurve this winter.
I picked up this book years ago and its had me messed up for awhile.
Im going to find a knowledgeable shop and take a lesson (s) .
 

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Heydeerman said:
You need to do that and I am glad you will.
My dad missed out. My kids had little interest in hunting but I started when they were a little older and they did go with me from time to time. My grandkids all love the outdoors and they all get longbows as soon as they can walk. Last weekend my 3 year old granddaughter shot a Longbow for the first time and she loved it.
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Well, I did end up taking him this morning and he got this nice spike. He was pumped! He definitely has hunting in his blood and he is already talking about getting a bow.
Mark.jpg
 
Kind of wish my story was like some of y'alls. Pretty far from it though...

My Dad was a bird hunter in his youth but had given up hunting altogether by the time I was born. My experience with the outdoors was limited to me and my little brother playing down by the creek. Fast forward 20 years and my family fell on hard times financially. With a quickly emptying freezer, I decided that I may be able to augment our grocery bill by spending some time in the woods. I bought my first compound bow that year because hunting with archery tackle allowed me to spend an extra month chasing dinner. Harvested two deer that year; one bow and one shotgun.

God is good and He didn't allow that time of financial hardship to last forever. The following season I walked into the woods because I wanted to, not necessarily because I needed to. In that short amount of time I realized how much I enjoyed being out in creation. Being still and experiencing what God made for me (and no-one else) to see in that particular moment brought joy to my heart and a smile to my face.

I've been going into the woods now for 8 seasons with some successes and some failures. Along the way I learned to tune my own gear, build my own arrows, and even ended up switching hands (right to left) due to eye dominance. Never thought I'd get into traditional archery though because of the range limitations. However, I've got a primary and backup bow tuned to perfection and nothing else to tinker with. Soooooo... :oops: of course I picked up a Samick Sage on Friday.

Met up with @GCTerpfan over the weekend and he helped me fling the first couple arrows. They might not be the last ones. We shall see.
 
Red Beard said:
Kind of wish my story was like some of y'alls. Pretty far from it though...

My Dad was a bird hunter in his youth but had given up hunting altogether by the time I was born. My experience with the outdoors was limited to me and my little brother playing down by the creek. Fast forward 20 years and my family fell on hard times financially. With a quickly emptying freezer, I decided that I may be able to augment our grocery bill by spending some time in the woods. I bought my first compound bow that year because hunting with archery tackle allowed me to spend an extra month chasing dinner. Harvested two deer that year; one bow and one shotgun.

God is good and He didn't allow that time of financial hardship to last forever. The following season I walked into the woods because I wanted to, not necessarily because I needed to. In that short amount of time I realized how much I enjoyed being out in creation. Being still and experiencing what God made for me (and no-one else) to see in that particular moment brought joy to my heart and a smile to my face.

I've been going into the woods now for 8 seasons with some successes and some failures. Along the way I learned to tune my own gear, build my own arrows, and even ended up switching hands (right to left) due to eye dominance. Never thought I'd get into traditional archery though because of the range limitations. However, I've got a primary and backup bow tuned to perfection and nothing else to tinker with. Soooooo... :oops: of course I picked up a Samick Sage on Friday.

Met up with @GCTerpfan over the weekend and he helped me fling the first couple arrows. They might not be the last ones. We shall see.
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I can't wait to hear the story when you make your 1st trad kill.
Welcome to the hard way.
 
Sorry; I don't have a long interesting story to tell. When i started bow hunting there were Long Bows and Recurve Bows. The compound wasn't around to lead you astray. Tried them like most but always went back to Traditional Archery. With age the poundage has dropped but the love has grown.
 
I missed 2 deer in a ten minute timespan with my compound this past season. I have killed a lot of deer with that and other compounds, but now I can’t see my pins clearly, lol. Great vision beyond 3’, but between my nose and and that 36” is an absolute blur.

I had known it was coming so I had already bought a nice recurve and shot it for a few weeks. Then here comes all the advice.....do this, do that, squeeze this, picture that and all of a sudden not only was it confusing, it just wasn’t fun with all that going around in my head. When I missed those two deer, cleanly I might add (thank you Baby Jesus), I just started laughing and said “I’m done”. Climbed down and haven’t shot my compound since that day.
 
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