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Starting the Traditional Archery journey...again

My first fall this year with trad - Samick Sage 68 inch longbow. Took all winter and spring to finally get it figured out.
Got my final arrows tuned with my setup and form, using a fixed crawl with 3 fingers under. Last session a few days back was holding decent group at 18 yards, Two full months to practice so hopefully good out to 25 yards by opener. Can't wait for the Mantis to arrive so I can start practicing from that. Looks to be an interesting fall coming up.
 
It's more about the equipment and the challenge than just big horns....When shooting trad you just have to accept the limitations of the weapon and accept that you may miss an opportunity on a trophy....

Truth.

I like to think I'm prepared to watch a big boy walk away just out of range but I know it'll be tough. I'm still dedicated to using the recurve all archery season and the old 1969 JM Marlin 336 w/ Skinner sights I picked up will be used all gun season. Next year I may be back to the crossbow and .270 if too many close calls occur...haha. Seriously though, my excitement with archery has been way up since switching to a recurve... There's just something about it I love in a way I never felt about my compounds or the Xbow.
 
My first fall this year with trad - Samick Sage 68 inch longbow. Took all winter and spring to finally get it figured out.
Got my final arrows tuned with my setup and form, using a fixed crawl with 3 fingers under. Last session a few days back was holding decent group at 18 yards, Two full months to practice so hopefully good out to 25 yards by opener. Can't wait for the Mantis to arrive so I can start practicing from that. Looks to be an interesting fall coming up.

I'm shooting the same bow, also 3-under fixed crawl. I love it man! I'm hoping to get into a Dryad or Striker recurve next year, but I'll be toting the Samick this year. @tmattson I'll shoot you a PM to exchange some notes on set-up and stuff if you don't mind.... don't wanna hijack this thread too much.
 
@ThomasHemlock, I think it was you that told me about the Oakley Forest WMA this past winter. Did you ever make it over and check it out?

That was me. I didn't make in there last year. GOOD NEWS though..... It's no longer a quota area. It used to be open during archery and quota only through gun season. It's wide open this year. I have a friend who owns property on the southern end and she said I can park at her place and access the WMA from her property... that gives me access pretty far away from the nearest public parking/access spot.

I plan to scout it soon. I'm on vacation next week but when I get back I'm gonna hit Oakley Forest, Rapidan, and Mattaponi WMAs. Last year I only hunted MCB Quantico, CF Phelps WMA, and the GW National Forest.

I also found out about the Rappahannock River Easement public property last last year.... That's VERY interesting. If you want to know more about that let me know and I'll send some info.... should be pretty sweet, low pressure public land.

If you wanna meet-up and do some scouting on the WMAs let me know. You should ABSOLUTELY look into hunting Quantico if you haven't already. I can spin you up on the check in procedures and everything... If you can't make it down to scout I'll let you know what I find after scouting OF and the other areas.
 
That was me. I didn't make in there last year. GOOD NEWS though..... It's no longer a quota area. It used to be open during archery and quota only through gun season. It's wide open this year. I have a friend who owns property on the southern end and she said I can park at her place and access the WMA from her property... that gives me access pretty far away from the nearest public parking/access spot.

I plan to scout it soon. I'm on vacation next week but when I get back I'm gonna hit Oakley Forest, Rapidan, and Mattaponi WMAs. Last year I only hunted MCB Quantico, CF Phelps WMA, and the GW National Forest.

I also found out about the Rappahannock River Easement public property last last year.... That's VERY interesting. If you want to know more about that let me know and I'll send some info.... should be pretty sweet, low pressure public land.

If you wanna meet-up and do some scouting on the WMAs let me know. You should ABSOLUTELY look into hunting Quantico if you haven't already. I can spin you up on the check in procedures and everything... If you can't make it down to scout I'll let you know what I find after scouting OF and the other areas.

I will be down there on vacation with the family the first week of August. I am hoping that I will be able to finish my cabin while I am down there. My plan is if I can get that done then I should be able to make it down there a couple of weekends in the fall to hunt. My wife's uncle has a farm southwest of Culpeper that he wants me to come over and hunt with him. It wasn't something I was real interested in until after he showed me pictures of five bucks over 140" that he has has killed there, now I am thinking it might not be a bad idea :).

I will be back down there one weekend in late August, I will get in touch with you and if it works out maybe we can go scout Oakley together.
 
I will be back down there one weekend in late August, I will get in touch with you and if it works out maybe we can go scout Oakley together.

Sounds good. Take advantage and hunt the Culpeper area for sure! There are some studs taken out there every year. It's one of top "big buck counties" in VA according to the VDGIF. My buddy has some trail cam pics of some big boys on a small property he hunts in Culpeper.
 
I got into shooting a trad bow early this year after a guy on the Beast gave me one of his old ones. I was having a lot of fun with it, but really was just practicing form. I need to get proper arrows for it, mine are way too stiff. This recent move has consumed all my time, and I haven't shot since we left Michigan. I will probably break it back out here soon, but I'll rely on my compound for this season. They are a blast, though!
 
Truth.

I like to think I'm prepared to watch a big boy walk away just out of range but I know it'll be tough. I'm still dedicated to using the recurve all archery season and the old 1969 JM Marlin 336 w/ Skinner sights I picked up will be used all gun season. Next year I may be back to the crossbow and .270 if too many close calls occur...haha. Seriously though, my excitement with archery has been way up since switching to a recurve... There's just something about it I love in a way I never felt about my compounds or the Xbow.

Me too.
But I love big antlers AND how I (occasionally) shoot a mature buck is at the core of how I want to do it.
I have had some bucks of a lifetime walk because of the limits I place on myself and I have NEVER ONCE wished I had a compound, or crossbow, or a bullet shooter. When the buck wins, I don't blame it on my choice of weaponry, I just realize I need to do better. I also realize how satisfying it is to be successful with a true, close-range weapon that cannot be drawn a couple minutes before the shot like an 80% bow can be drawn.

I think most of us have read the thing about the progression a hunter goes thru over the course of his hunting life.
I'm at the stage where how I kill is most important to me.
If that means I might use my buck tag as a soup additive, then I'm fine with it.
I can shoot does for the freezer...and, the majority of the time, they walk too.
Challenge is exhilarating.
 
I'm on my 8th season with trad and the last 3 years it's all finally coming together,even the walk out or in is something different everything is a target....squirrels rabbit stumps ...keeps your mind sharp....last season I took a great 8 pt in pa with a longbow I made last summer....nothing beats it!

Congrats on the buck. I'm originally from PA and hope to get back up there to hunt this year... It's been a while. I'm definitely gonna try to get to ETAR next year. I've never been and heard it's a blast.
 
Get back with me when a big ole bumpy horns strolls past you at 40 yards. ;)

If that’s a problem, don’t trad hunt. Name of the game is getting close. When they pass out of range, I try to figure out what I need to do to get them in range. They can always pass out of range of any weapon. That’s hunting. It would get boring fast if they walked into your barrel every hunt. But there is always golf and tennis.
 
Congrats on the buck. I'm originally from PA and hope to get back up there to hunt this year... It's been a while. I'm definitely gonna try to get to ETAR next year. I've never been and heard it's a blast.
Thanks...I live in western Maryland but hunt both md and pa since it's so close...several buddies go to etar and love it...time is tight for me building a huge addition and a 3yr old takes my time plus got another on the way,time is gonna be limited this season hope to have it under roof by mid October but did manage to get permission for 521 acres right out my back door.
 
This is the 1st I hear of a fixed crawl. I watched the videos of it. Seems to me it would throw your bow out of tune. Anyone shot a bare shaft 3 under arrow, then an arrow at your fixed crawl position or any string walking position and see if the arrow is still flying straight.
 
Yes. I tuned my bow/arrow with three under, before doing fixed crawl, final tune was with bare shafts and fletched shafts (they should have close impact point, or as good as expected based on your form). After shooting for some time with decent accuracy at 15 -18 yards, I then went and started my fixed crawl set up, for me point on at 20 yards, at least for this year. Few more sessions and I will move back to 25 and 30 yards. For me my fixed crawl location was about an 3/4 inch lower - but does not seem to change my tune at all.
 
This is the 1st I hear of a fixed crawl. I watched the videos of it. Seems to me it would throw your bow out of tune. Anyone shot a bare shaft 3 under arrow, then an arrow at your fixed crawl position or any string walking position and see if the arrow is still flying straight.

swamp - you should tune at your fixed crawl. There's no reason to change finger position when using the fixed crawl - that is the beauty of fixed crawl over pure stringwalking. Stringwalking tune can be tricky and most folks(target shooters) tune at a mid range crawl and then will sometimes move their plunger button in and out at the different ranges for tune as the arrow spine acts weaker/stronger depending on your finger position........I'm not a stringwalking expert by any means but I believe there is a certain amount of 'out of tune' at certain ranges and stringwalkers accept that as part of that style of shooting...

I have tried a fixed crawl but don't currently use it because I went with a high anchor, longer/heavier arrow, and have a 25 yard point on for hunting. I would have used a fix crawl if that combination didn't give me the point on I wanted. A fixed crawl should give you just as good a tune as a 3 under finger position but not necessarily the same arrow/point weight setup. Closing the gap at your hunting ranges will make anyone using any style of shooting(gap, instinctive, split vision, etc.) a better and more consistent shot..

You prolly know all this but thought I'd share my thoughts....
 
swamp - you should tune at your fixed crawl. There's no reason to change finger position when using the fixed crawl - that is the beauty of fixed crawl over pure stringwalking. Stringwalking tune can be tricky and most folks(target shooters) tune at a mid range crawl and then will sometimes move their plunger button in and out at the different ranges for tune as the arrow spine acts weaker/stronger depending on your finger position........I'm not a stringwalking expert by any means but I believe there is a certain amount of 'out of tune' at certain ranges and stringwalkers accept that as part of that style of shooting...

I have tried a fixed crawl but don't currently use it because I went with a high anchor, longer/heavier arrow, and have a 25 yard point on for hunting. I would have used a fix crawl if that combination didn't give me the point on I wanted. A fixed crawl should give you just as good a tune as a 3 under finger position but not necessarily the same arrow/point weight setup. Closing the gap at your hunting ranges will make anyone using any style of shooting(gap, instinctive, split vision, etc.) a better and more consistent shot..

You prolly know all this but thought I'd share my thoughts....

My bow is tillered for 3 under so I was just thinking if I moved my fingers even further down, it has to throw the timing off. May not make much difference but I want all the performance out of my bow I can get with only having a 25in draw length. With my current set up, 3 under the arrow, My point on is at 20, so it makes no sense for me to do a fixed crawl. I was just curious how it effects the performance of the bow and tuning.
 
Do any of you guys walk your face? I have (or had) 3 cousins and an uncle who shot point-on but would change their anchor point for different distances.
Example...
Little finger at corner of mouth for shots under 10 yds.
Ring finger at mouth for 20ish.
And so on.
These guys were deadly accurate with that technique.
I often shot target rounds with one of those guys. He shot both trad and compounds, bare bow, and drilled bulls eyes out to 80 yards. 560s on a fita target (600 round) were common for him. He was unreal.
I goof around walking my face when screwing around in the yard, but I've never gotten serious with it.


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