Any traditional bow hunters out there?

[.38 Special]

Objectively, compounds are better in most ways. More accurate, easier to shoot, more powerful...

But they also strike the same chord with me as do inline muzzleloaders: they were designed in large part to take advantage of "special" hunting seasons, so it's accurate (if uncharitable) to call them "cheats". Or, at the least, "the easy way".

Now, I don't truly have anything against inlines or compounds, and apart from the occasional jest, I'm content to share the range and field with them. It's just that when I see a flintlock or longbow I know their owners are likely going to be on my page, and when I see an inline or compound, I know my forward-facing ball cap, lack of forearm tattoos, and full vocabulary will make me seem an outsider.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Flatter trajectory and more power are real advantages.
As is a more exact aiming system.
And more quiet delivery (compared to recurve).
There are very real bonuses to a compound.

Flatter trajectory with light weight arrows. Nothing to brag about. "Real world power". Nope.
Aiming system? What???? !!! Once one runs out of pins, a good longbow or recurve will out shoot a compound. (with a skilled shooter...yes, takes less skill to shoot a compound. At 3-D shoots, I've seen longbows/recurves hit or come very close at 80-90-100 yards. The compound shooter could not come anywhere close. Of course, what does that have to do with hunting? A sighting system makes one dependent on it. But yes, an advantage at known ranges, and for those too lazy to learn to shoot a bow.
Not sure about more quiet, but you could be right. !! However, enough difference to make a difference?
But we shall agree to disagree. a compound is not a bow, it's just a "contraption" that spits out an arrow. The dark side. A freak of nature. Technology gone wrong!

No offense, I say this with a smile on my face, and somewhat in jest.

 

[Laphroaig]

Talk about sticker shock! I went to the local archery shop today to get one of my kids some arrows for Christmas. I was browsing through the store while the tech was cutting them to length. There was a rack of recurves and long bows. Every one was over $500, and a couple were over $700. A Bear Grizzly, like mine, was $525 if I recall. I had no idea traditional equipment was so expensive.

I started to shoot it some this year, and plan to get more serious next spring. One of my bucket list things is to take a deer with it.

 

[.38 Special]

Talk about sticker shock! I went to the local archery shop today to get one of my kids some arrows for Christmas. I was browsing through the store while the tech was cutting them to length. There was a rack of recurves and long bows. Every one was over $500, and a couple were over $700. A Bear Grizzly, like mine, was $525 if I recall. I had no idea traditional equipment was so expensive.

I started to shoot it some this year, and plan to get more serious next spring. One of my bucket list things is to take a deer with it.

Prices skyrocketed during Covid. (Sound familiar?) A few years ago, a "standard" longbow, like the Bear Montana, could be had for close to $300. It retails now for almost $500, but "street" prices are closer to $400. In a way, custom longbows have become something of a bargain - prices went up, but not as much as everything else. Might be time...

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Talk about sticker shock! I went to the local archery shop today to get one of my kids some arrows for Christmas. I was browsing through the store while the tech was cutting them to length. There was a rack of recurves and long bows. Every one was over $500, and a couple were over $700. A Bear Grizzly, like mine, was $525 if I recall. I had no idea traditional equipment was so expensive.

I started to shoot it some this year, and plan to get more serious next spring. One of my bucket list things is to take a deer with it.

Oh yeah, it's all gone up like everything else. What I pay for a dozen shafts, feathers, nocks/tips etc. is about the same as I would have paid for tailor-mades a few years ago. Mostly it's the price of shafts that have really jumped.

I think on-line you can still get a decent bow for under $500. And good used ones out there. In a shop they would be priced high. On the other hand, there are lots of them in the $1000.00+ range now. The Omegas are very high performance bows at good prices. The risers are not "fancy" with exotic woods, but boy do they shoot.

 

[.38 Special]

Flatter trajectory with light weight arrows. Nothing to brag about. "Real world power". Nope.
Aiming system? What???? !!! Once one runs out of pins, a good longbow or recurve will out shoot a compound. (with a skilled shooter...yes, takes less skill to shoot a compound. At 3-D shoots, I've seen longbows/recurves hit or come very close at 80-90-100 yards. The compound shooter could not come anywhere close. Of course, what does that have to do with hunting? A sighting system makes one dependent on it. But yes, an advantage at known ranges, and for those too lazy to learn to shoot a bow.
Not sure about more quiet, but you could be right. !! However, enough difference to make a difference?
But we shall agree to disagree. a compound is not a bow, it's just a "contraption" that spits out an arrow. The dark side. A freak of nature. Technology gone wrong!

No offense, I say this with a smile on my face, and somewhat in jest.

The serious target guys that I hang out with have some pretty fancy sights, and have everything worked out for various distances. Their accuracy is simply amazing. One of these fellows moved from 20 yards to 70 without remembering to adjust his sight, and shot five arrows. He didn't expect to see them on the target from where he stood, but when he walked out he was surprised to find that none of them had hit the target at all. He found them in the dirt, behind the target, and two of them had been "telescoped" or "Robin Hooded" by two others, with the fifth in the middle of the group. Yes, they have to know their distances, but the truly competent fellows are as to longbow shooters as practiced thousand-yard centerfire riflemen are to flintlock shooters.

It's still cheating, of course.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

but the truly competent fellows are as to longbow shooters as practiced thousand-yard centerfire riflemen are to flintlock shooters.

Well, at least we don't think of flintlocks and center-fire rifles as the same thing. !!! I don't hear too many calling their 30-06 a "flintlock", just because they both throw lead. For sure, a competent fellow, shooting a compound with sights, may/might/probably/will/would develop instinctive shooting skill, and not even realize it. I think the fellow you cite above is an example of that. I think that if you took the sights off of some of them contraptions, where the shooter has been shooting for years, they would be very surprised at how well they could shoot without sights.

 

[Hookeye]

The advantages of trad are less things to go wrong mechanically and quicker deployment ( depending on style ).

Outside of those a.compound wins

 

[Hookeye]

Ive been to some big trad shoots and a lot of supposed purists dont shoot very well.
Thankfully w YT and clinics I think better information/ instruction can counter the old fuddisms.

I prefer unconscious gap shooting w trad but that takes a lot of practice to ingrain. Using the arrow tip as a sight can work very well, but feels funky, is stilted.

Add in fixed crawl or face walkiing, arrow sighting can be very accurate.

Amazing shooting at Tradworlds, look it up.on YT.

 

[Hookeye]

BTW my recurve arrows go from 480 to 530gr.
My compound arrows were 430gr.
My 2005 Hoyt cam and a half at 72 # shot 272 fps.
It was like a rocket launcher compared to my 55# Blackwidow LOL

IIRC i did break 200.fps.w the Widow shooting some tapered carbons a 3D guy had. But the noise and shock was brutal. He shot em at 65# but was sponsored so didnt worry about limb damage LOL

 

[MDoutdoors]

Oh I think any broadhead will put a turkey down. I use those "tri-blade" broadheads for turkey...but...I've never actually shot a Turk yet. I use those just as/because I have some laying around from "the old days", and that saves my good Zwickeys from damage. Pretty rocky where I hunt, and I'm not going to be surprised if I miss. !!! So I'm thinking whatever you have, I sure wouldn't spend any extra money on expensive or "trick" broadheads for turkey.

I deer hunt with a VPA 3 blade so I think I'm gonna take a few of those that are in worse condition then others and cut a couple notches in them to make almost some homemade turkey spurs. I know my arrow/bow setup right now will zip right through a turkey no prob so I think if I grind a few notches into the broadhead maybe it'll slow them down on impact and do a little more carnage. I'll start with cutting up just 1 broadhead incase I **** something up or it just plain don't work

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Ive been to some big trad shoots and a lot of supposed purists dont shoot very well.

For sure. It takes way more practice, patience, and dedication to shoot a bare bow accurately instinctively. A quality in short supply today. I want it NOW, I want it FAST, and I want it EASY!!!

I don't shoot "very well" if I don't practice every other day. I'd rather shoot and hunt with my flintlock then with any of my modern guns. I just enjoy a traditional bow, and the pleasure and challenge of it more than I would a contraption that is more accurate (or "better") because of cams, releases, and a "sighting system". The brain is a pretty good sighting system, and ballistic computer if you allow it to be.

I like old cars and motorcycles better. My daily drivers are from the 1940's, and 1970's. One of my motorcycles is a 1937. I like riding that better than my "newest" one, a 1992. My newest car is a 2005, my newest truck a 2006. I'd rather kick an engine over (after a routine of priming, choking, ignition off, ignition on) than push a button, and then scroll through a "menu". But one could sure out-argue me as to which one is "better", and "faster", and "easier".

So maybe a compound is "better" in some technical sense. But it's still a silly contraption to me and does not "win" in any sense, other than achieving the easy way. Easier equals better. !!! Wait, I will admit, the compound wins the UGLY bow contest, if you can call it a bow. They look like some kind of bad accident where a robot went haywire trying to tie a knot. Or something. Like someone poured Ugly Sauce on it.

I don't know, sorry to ramble on. No offense. If compounds and inline muzzle loaders are your bag, more power to you. I believe the OP asked about traditional bows.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I deer hunt with a VPA 3 blade so I think I'm gonna take a few of those that are in worse condition then others and cut a couple notches in them to make almost some homemade turkey spurs. I know my arrow/bow setup right now will zip right through a turkey no prob so I think if I grind a few notches into the broadhead maybe it'll slow them down on impact and do a little more carnage. I'll start with cutting up just 1 broadhead incase I **** something up or it just plain don't work.

That was something else I was thinking, that my Zwickeys would pass through a Turk like a razor through...fog. Or something like that. The Turkey might not even realize he's dead! I figure the three bladed head will create a bit more resistance (??) or impact. So yes, I agree with that. They probably don't even need to be very sharp as long as they have that nice needle point. ?

 

[MDoutdoors]

That was something else I was thinking, that my Zwickeys would pass through a Turk like a razor through...fog. Or something like that. The Turkey might not even realize he's dead! I figure the three bladed head will create a bit more resistance (??) or impact. So yes, I agree with that. They probably don't even need to be very sharp as long as they have that nice needle point. ?

These 3 blade heads from VPA are the real deal. Plain and simple best heads on the market imo. And yes they also make 2 blades, so go check em out lol. Every deer I've shot this season with these heads has been a full pass through even with a huge 1 ¼" cutting diameter. And a MASSIVE bloodtrail. Think of a wound channel as more of just a big gaping hole then a "knife stab" wound youd see with a 2 blade. Definitely helps to have them razor sharp/HAVING A NEEDLE POINT and using a heavier draw bow at ranges of about 20 yards and in but still these broadheads are the juice I can't recommend them enough. Sorry for that infomercial lol I just really am stoked on these heads after this first season with them.



And then try and turn them into something like this



These guys are selling these spurs but all they did was take a smaller version of their 3 blade and make some cutouts and call it a day. Think I'll just give it a shot myself and see how they turn out rather then spend more money on some new heads lol

 

[LoonWulf]

Flatter trajectory with light weight arrows. Nothing to brag about. "Real world power". Nope.
Aiming system? What???? !!! Once one runs out of pins, a good longbow or recurve will out shoot a compound. (with a skilled shooter...yes, takes less skill to shoot a compound. At 3-D shoots, I've seen longbows/recurves hit or come very close at 80-90-100 yards. The compound shooter could not come anywhere close. Of course, what does that have to do with hunting? A sighting system makes one dependent on it. But yes, an advantage at known ranges, and for those too lazy to learn to shoot a bow.
Not sure about more quiet, but you could be right. !! However, enough difference to make a difference?
But we shall agree to disagree. a compound is not a bow, it's just a "contraption" that spits out an arrow. The dark side. A freak of nature. Technology gone wrong!

No offense, I say this with a smile on my face, and somewhat in jest.

In no way saying i am or was a great archer, but when i shot both daily, i shot out to 100+yds ....ill still take my recurve and shoot at 90 or so yds at the archery park. I only have 50ish here at the house, which is plenty enough to practice......


Which i shot better really depended on how often I was shooting my traditionals.....i have to practice with those alot to maintain my efficacy outside of 20-30yds.
The major advantage with the compound and sights required me to range my target, but I could put the bow away for 6 months, pull it out, check tune and still put an arrow where i wanted it.....yes its the easy button

Traditional was simply more fun, so i stuck with it longer.
Gave my last metal riser trad bow to a buddy of mine. Were supposed to shoot on fridays but only went once so far....who knows, i quite shooting guns for almost 10 years and played paintball instead, maybe ill really get back into archery again....if i do it'll be with a "traditional"

These 3 blade heads from VPA are the real deal. Plain and simple best heads on the market imo. And yes they also make 2 blades, so go check em out lol. Every deer I've shot this season with these heads has been a full pass through even with a huge 1 ¼" cutting diameter. And a MASSIVE bloodtrail. Think of a wound channel as more of just a big gaping hole then a "knife stab" wound youd see with a 2 blade. Definitely helps to have them razor sharp/HAVING A NEEDLE POINT and using a heavier draw bow at ranges of about 20 yards and in but still these broadheads are the juice I can't recommend them enough. Sorry for that infomercial lol I just really am stoked on these heads after this first season with them.

View attachment 1183238

And then try and turn them into something like this

View attachment 1183239

These guys are selling these spurs but all they did was take a smaller version of their 3 blade and make some cutouts and call it a day. Think I'll just give it a shot myself and see how they turn out rather then spend more money on some new heads lol

Friend of mine game me a whole bag of old broadheads when i got back into archery 10 years ago or so, some were that design.
I cleaned em up, re-sharpened, and took some game with them. They are a solid cut on contact design that generally punches bone pretty well. I did have issues with arrow turning (in consistency in the heads) on the old ones, and switched muzzys for both my recurves and compounds....if these tune well they should be really good options.

 

[MDoutdoors]

In no way saying i am or was a great archer, but when i shot both daily, i shot out to 100+yds ....ill still take my recurve and shoot at 90 or so yds at the archery park. I only have 50ish here at the house, which is plenty enough to practice......


Which i shot better really depended on how often I was shooting my traditionals.....i have to practice with those alot to maintain my efficacy outside of 20-30yds.
The major advantage with the compound and sights required me to range my target, but I could put the bow away for 6 months, pull it out, check tune and still put an arrow where i wanted it.....yes its the easy button

Traditional was simply more fun, so i stuck with it longer.
Gave my last metal riser trad bow to a buddy of mine. Were supposed to shoot on fridays but only went once so far....who knows, i quite shooting guns for almost 10 years and played paintball instead, maybe ill really get back into archery again....if i do it'll be with a "traditional"



Friend of mine game me a whole bag of old broadheads when i got back into archery 10 years ago or so, some were that design.
I cleaned em up, re-sharpened, and took some game with them. They are a solid cut on contact design that generally punches bone pretty well. I did have issues with arrow turning (in consistency in the heads) on the old ones, and switched muzzys for both my recurves and compounds....if these tune well they should be really good options.

From the factory they tune great, but we'll see what happens once i start cutting notches into them

 

[toxophilus]

I enjoy all types of hunting with a bow; started out with an old Bear Grizzly recurve back in 1983, back then it was all I could afford but I killed my first 10 Whitetail deer with it.

In the image below the night before, my Friend had made a bad shot on this doe (hit it in the right rear hip bone), he didn't have any hope at all the next morning when we went to look for it (he actually brought his 10/22 rimfire for small game...). I had already filled my tag the previous morning so I had some broadheads but mostly small game tipped arrows in my quiver.

I tracked the deer and found it on the side of a berm next to the bog, it had stiffened up and when we approached it, it tried to stand so I quickly shot it in the lungs (paced it off to about 35 yards later), he was able to tag/retrieve it.

What you don't see in the picture is when he put the rope around it and hauled it up with his ATV the front two tires on the ATV were well off the ground

Note the bent aluminum burnt orange shaft in my quiver from when the deer rolled over my arrow (this was back in the 1980's)

Now days I've been using my A&H Longbow when I bowhunt; I still archery hunt big game but avoid the rifle seasons (stick to walk in lands for small game during the fall/winter). The flo-pink feathers help me locate my arrow in the off chance that I miss plus they're easy to see and no one else claims them as their own!

 

[4570Tom]

So I am not a bow hunter, but I do occasionally shoot a recurve in the backyard when the spirit moves me. My best friend is a lifelong bow hunter, and has pretty much used recurves the entire time. Some off the shelf stock bows early on, and later some custom bows. He is a right handed shooter and about 15 years ago developed right shoulder problems to extent that he couldn't shoot any of his bows well anymore. There was a well known custom bow maker near where he lived, and my friend met him to talk about a custom bow with a reduced draw weight. The bow maker listened to my friend describing his issue, and then said "why don't you try shooting left handed". The bow maker handed him a left handed bow, said go and try it, and let me know. In pretty short order my friend was able to shoot left handed well. He ordered a custom left handed bow and is still bow hunting to this day. I mention his story in case others are having shoulder problems affecting their bow shooting.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I would like to apologize a bit for any anti-compound comments I've made that sounded mean or "snarky". I'll just say instead that traditional archers are not snobby, we choose traditional bows for the enjoyment and challenge of them. Not for any advantage. Compounds, it's about getting any technical advantage possible. So sorry if I've caused any offense, the "which one is "best" conversation" should have never happened, as the OP's question was about traditional bows. Compound shooters, and traditional shooters are of two different mind-sets. It's not snobbery on either side.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

The flo-pink feathers help me locate my arrow in the off chance that I miss

My fletching is either black, or turkey feather. (making one's own fletching is really cool/fun) not so easy to find! I do have red fletching on my small game flu-flu's, plus the "Judo-Points" which keeps them from going underground.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

From the factory they tune great, but we'll see what happens once i start cutting notches into them

I'm curious, in Washington State you can't have any kind of "barb" on a broadhead for big game hunting, but I don't know if that applies to turkey. I'm thinking it applies to any hunting. Not sure. Is it legal to use a barbed arrow on game in your state? Or are your "barbs" or notches going to be facing forward?

 

[Ugly Sauce]

In no way saying i am or was a great archer, but when i shot both daily, i shot out to 100+yds ....ill still take my recurve and shoot at 90 or so yds at the archery park. I only have 50ish here at the house, which is plenty enough to practice......


Which i shot better really depended on how often I was shooting my traditionals.....i have to practice with those alot to maintain my efficacy outside of 20-30yds.
The major advantage with the compound and sights required me to range my target, but I could put the bow away for 6 months, pull it out, check tune and still put an arrow where i wanted it.....yes its the easy button

Traditional was simply more fun, so i stuck with it longer.
Gave my last metal riser trad bow to a buddy of mine. Were supposed to shoot on fridays but only went once so far....who knows, i quite shooting guns for almost 10 years and played paintball instead, maybe ill really get back into archery again....if i do it'll be with a "traditional"



Friend of mine game me a whole bag of old broadheads when i got back into archery 10 years ago or so, some were that design.
I cleaned em up, re-sharpened, and took some game with them. They are a solid cut on contact design that generally punches bone pretty well. I did have issues with arrow turning (in consistency in the heads) on the old ones, and switched muzzys for both my recurves and compounds....if these tune well they should be really good options.

One of my two deer I used the tri-bladed broadhead. Using the Browning Furyll 72#. It didn't penetrate well, or much, but it hit the deer (doe) in the spine, and dropped it on the spot. ? I assume the spine may have been too much bone and a single blade would have acted the same. ? Anyhow, that was a weird experience, seeing the deer drop being shot with a bow.

 

[toxophilus]

So I am not a bow hunter, but I do occasionally shoot a recurve in the backyard when the spirit moves me. My best friend is a lifelong bow hunter, and has pretty much used recurves the entire time. Some off the shelf stock bows early on, and later some custom bows. He is a right handed shooter and about 15 years ago developed right shoulder problems to extent that he couldn't shoot any of his bows well anymore. There was a well known custom bow maker near where he lived, and my friend met him to talk about a custom bow with a reduced draw weight. The bow maker listened to my friend describing his issue, and then said "why don't you try shooting left handed". The bow maker handed him a left handed bow, said go and try it, and let me know. In pretty short order my friend was able to shoot left handed well. He ordered a custom left handed bow and is still bow hunting to this day. I mention his story in case others are having shoulder problems affecting their bow shooting.

That's what I did; had rotator cuff surgery on both shoulders... those barbarians did a sabre cut on my right shoulder all the way to the bone so my mobility/range of motion is limited when I shoot right handed. I didn't want to give up shooting my bows so it took me 27 days to learn to shoot left handed and I tend to favor shooting that way.
On my left shoulder they drilled three holes, cleaned up the issues and recovery happened with full range of motion.

I used to shoot my compound right handed better when using a release but I sold my last rig (Matthews Helium) about eight or so years ago.

@Ugly Sauce; I have a friend that makes snarky comments to compound users and I just tell him to not knock it until he's tried it then I proceed to kick his butt at 3D league... he came in third last week, it's all about having fun and we do place much pressure on each other in jest

 

[Hookeye]

I like and shoot compounds and recurves.
Theyre just different, and both are cool.
Enjoyed shooting compounds fingers back in the day as well.

I should write down and count up how many bows Ive had.......

looks like over 30 recurves LOL

 

[Hookeye]

Shooting a compound well isn't exactly easy.
Depending on what one is calling "well" LOL

I do think it easier once one has developed the skill, to jump back and be decent.
Doesn't take much practice if one has already gotten good form.

Do think trad takes more practice as form is more easily corrupted.
BTDT.