-
The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
-
We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules
Swapping to traditional archery
- Thread starter Robbo
- Start date
Kurt
Well-Known Member
I just did about 3 weeks ago. I picked up a Sage Samick takedown recurve. I've been shooting everyday since I got it set up. Lot of guys on here have been real helpful.
Oakridge
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2018
- Messages
- 625
I switched a couple years ago and couldn’t be happier. In my eyes if your willing to put in the practice that it takes to be confident with a trad bow, it can be an advantage in some cases. They are very effective weapons if you keep your shots close! I’m very happy I switched and I’ve now taken three deer with a trad bow.
Kurt
Well-Known Member
For me it's about embracing a new challenge. I take only close shots anyway. It's simpler, or I should say more basic. A stick, a string, an arrow, and me. I like that idea.
I switched 10 or 12 years ago now. 95% of my archery hunting has been with traditional equipment since then. It is quite a bit more challenging with stickbows and in my opinion the real difficulty comes from trying to get your bow drawn in the presence of game rather than getting them within shooting range. No let off means that you can't simply draw ahead of time and wait them out! I also switched for the challenge and the simplicity of it.....the considerable weight savings is just a bonus 
swampsnyper
Well-Known Member
All it takes is to get a bow just to play with in the yard. Then you won’t be able to put it down because it is so fun to shoot. Next you realize you only pull out your compound like a rifle before the season, to check that’s its sighted in. Then you don’t feel like lugging that boat anchor around and say the hell with it, I’m taking my Tradbow. Then a deer comes in range and you are falling apart like a kid on his 1st deer. You try to find sights to settle into but they are not there. You try pointing your arrow like you are looking down a BB gun. You forget everything you practiced all year. You watch your arrow fly over the deer’s back and you smile because you haven’t felt that way in years. Eventually you kill one and it’s the most satisfying hunt you ever been on.
ricky racer
Well-Known Member
I've been hunting with traditional gear for the last 25 years or so. The first 20 years were with a compound bow. When I first started bowhunting, I didn't even know anyone that was a bow hunter. I learned everything by trial and error but consistently harvested a buck or two every year. As my skill and knowledge grew and equipment got better the challenge that bow hunting gave me became less and less. The challenge is what really hooked me on bow hunting. After many years, it wasn't much of a challenge to scout and set up an ambush location that would offer me a shot at a whitetail buck. Any buck that came within a 30 yard radius of my stand could be harvested fairly easily. I'd simply draw back the bow wait for the buck to present a decent shot opportunity, line up the front and rear sight and pull the trigger. No real challenge for me there, in my view.
Desperately wanting the challenge that I remembered from my early days, I started looking for a different form of bow hunting, something that would offer more challenge. My first choice was to become a trophy hunter. During the next couple of years I worked my butt off doing the trophy hunting thing and the quality of bucks increased but somehow it didn't really offer the challenge I craved it was just more work. I already had enough work in my life and more work wasn't what I was looking for.
One day I was with my wife at the grocery store and picked up an issue of Traditional Bow Hunter Magazine. Reading through that issue it became clear that hunting with traditional equipment would offer the challenge that I was missing with modern equipment. I started shooting in the basement (it was winter at that time). I could only shoot about 10 yards in the basement but it let me work on my form.
The next bow season I only had moderate confidence in shooting my old Bear recurve and chose to hunt with my compound if a shot was likely to be much over 15 yards and use the recurve if I thought the shot would be really short. Since then I've only hunted with traditional equipment. The challenge it offers and the feeling of accomplishment I feel when I take an animal has not been met by any other means. Putting restrictions on your equipment will increase the challenge and the satisfaction of your bow hunting experience. Good luck and enjoy the ride!!
Desperately wanting the challenge that I remembered from my early days, I started looking for a different form of bow hunting, something that would offer more challenge. My first choice was to become a trophy hunter. During the next couple of years I worked my butt off doing the trophy hunting thing and the quality of bucks increased but somehow it didn't really offer the challenge I craved it was just more work. I already had enough work in my life and more work wasn't what I was looking for.
One day I was with my wife at the grocery store and picked up an issue of Traditional Bow Hunter Magazine. Reading through that issue it became clear that hunting with traditional equipment would offer the challenge that I was missing with modern equipment. I started shooting in the basement (it was winter at that time). I could only shoot about 10 yards in the basement but it let me work on my form.
The next bow season I only had moderate confidence in shooting my old Bear recurve and chose to hunt with my compound if a shot was likely to be much over 15 yards and use the recurve if I thought the shot would be really short. Since then I've only hunted with traditional equipment. The challenge it offers and the feeling of accomplishment I feel when I take an animal has not been met by any other means. Putting restrictions on your equipment will increase the challenge and the satisfaction of your bow hunting experience. Good luck and enjoy the ride!!
So gentlemen, what’s a good intro trad bow that’s not breaking the bank but is still quality? Also what’s a good weight to start at? I pull 70+ with the compound but obviously that isn’t going to work with the switch....
X2 what @swampsnyper and @ricky racer said above. It's simply more fun, challenging, and rewarding getting it done with a trad bow.
The sense of accomplishment and personal fulfillment cannot be replicated with any other equipment and never seems to go away, regardless of your success. I cannot even describe in words the feeling that I get when I take an animal with a stick and string. There is just something magical about watching an arrow hit it's mark without the aid of modern technology and knowing it's all YOU man.
A stick, a string, an arrow, and your built in sight/rangefinder (which is between your ears btw)...is all you will ever need...
Practice is the key. You need to shoot often, even it's just a few arrows at very short distances. A friend of mine asked me one time how he would know when he was ready to hunt with his stick bow. I told him know your limits and stick to them, no matter what. If you're only confident at 12 yards, then pass on everything else. You owe it to the animals you hunt and yourself to only take high probability shots, especially with equipment that isn't as forgiving of poor judgment. There comes a point in your traditional journey when your mentality switches from thinking "I can make that shot" to "I can't miss that shot". The latter is what you're looking for, regardless of what distance that is.
The sense of accomplishment and personal fulfillment cannot be replicated with any other equipment and never seems to go away, regardless of your success. I cannot even describe in words the feeling that I get when I take an animal with a stick and string. There is just something magical about watching an arrow hit it's mark without the aid of modern technology and knowing it's all YOU man.
A stick, a string, an arrow, and your built in sight/rangefinder (which is between your ears btw)...is all you will ever need...
Practice is the key. You need to shoot often, even it's just a few arrows at very short distances. A friend of mine asked me one time how he would know when he was ready to hunt with his stick bow. I told him know your limits and stick to them, no matter what. If you're only confident at 12 yards, then pass on everything else. You owe it to the animals you hunt and yourself to only take high probability shots, especially with equipment that isn't as forgiving of poor judgment. There comes a point in your traditional journey when your mentality switches from thinking "I can make that shot" to "I can't miss that shot". The latter is what you're looking for, regardless of what distance that is.
40-45# and you'll have to give me an idea of what you want to spend? Trad bows go from a couple hundred to a couple thousand
A few other important factors are actual draw length and type of bow preferred....ie longbow, recurve or hybrid.Thinking recurve to start so I’m not holding something really long straight away. Not familiar with hybrids but I’ll google it. I’d go as high as 500 but would prefer something in the 300 range. My compound is set up at 29” draw with a wrist release. Thank you!40-45# and you'll have to give me an idea of what you want to spend? Trad bows go from a couple hundred to a couple thousand
Lots of good options in that range, does it have to be new? Used bows give a lot of bang for the buck. I prefer short, hybrid longbows myself because they seem to be the best of both worlds to me.....short and speedy like a recurve but quiet like a longbow. Ha...edited, @Oakridge, great minds think alike!
kenn1320
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
- Messages
- 2,753
Get the sage in 35lbs and you can buy something fancier down the road if your heart desires. If your draw ends up over 28", you will have to deal with stacking on short bows and or cheap ones. I prefer ilf risers and limbs. They are smooth, fast, cheap on used market. You can buy cheap ilf limbs for $89pr and they are as good as many of the expensive one piece bows. Ilf packs down for easy transportation. Get on Lancaster archery and check out their ilf risers and limbs.
Look on Ebay for used bows. Id personally look at Bear bows (Grizzly, Kodiak) They made and sold ALOT of them over the years, so theres a ton on the market. Usually can pick one used for under $200. Grizzly is my favorite. Light, Balanced and quiet
Jartiam
New Member
All good advice. I’d echo getting a samick to start so you can change limbs cheaply and really figure out whether you want to hunt that way or not. I made the change about 6 years ago, and can’t go back...have actually picked the compound up a few times, shot a group, and put it back up...it doesn’t do it. I bought a sage with the 45lb limbs, worked out my shot over the spring and summer that first year, then picked up a set of 50lb limbs about a month prior to season and spent that month getting used to the extra 5 lbs. That was my go to bow for hunting the first 2 seasons. After that came the bears then the widow...it can be a rabbit hole, kind of like this stuff. I’m actually building my own self bows now . Good luck with it, it may just hook you!
I consider it every year. Honestly I’m just not so good with a compound that I need the extra challenge. A couple guys with traditional gear and a quiver full of flu flu stump shooting beats the heck out of a game of golf.