Traditional archers?

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Another thread got me wondering: How many here shoot a simple stick and string? I know we have a few. How many more are interested in trying it?
I'm 67, I wear cheaters for anything closer than the end of my arm, so I know firsthand that even with challenges of age and diminishing eyesight, traditional archery can still be an alternative to most anyone who will take the time to learn.......
I just had one shoulder replaced July 6th, expect the other to be done in the next few weeks, so I'm out of the game right now. In the meantime I'm missing it something fierce! Lord willing I'll have this rehab behind me in 2-3 months and be back at it seriously by the next 3D season this spring....

In the meanwhile if there's any way I can help somebody get started in traditional or help someone who's already shooting up their game I'll sure be glad to try to help......
 

Matty

Six Pointer
Contributor
I do, but am pretty green. This is my first year toting a recurve into the woods. I bought a bow (and another and another and another....) in FEB and have been shooting regularly since then. I feel very confident from the ground well past yardages I would ever shoot at an animal, but am struggling to transfer that to an elevated position. It's getting better, but until I feel 100% confident I will only carry the strugglestick for ground based hunts.

I hunt out of a saddle and have practiced out of it, but am finding it difficult to maintain form/anchors etc. My next step is to practice out of a lock-on and see if that supports hitting my marks in the near term. I am extremely comfortable shooting elevated and from a saddle with training wheels, and falsely assumed that would be the same with the stickbow. I neglected elevated practice with my recurve this summer as I focused on form and the basics...it was a rude awakening a few weeks ago when I climbed a tree in the backyard and slung my first arrow.

Any tips you may have would be greatly appreciated! I'm picking up a cheap ladder/lock lon this weekend to put in the backyard and will be putting in as many reps as possible.
 

Matty

Six Pointer
Contributor
I forgot to mention...best of luck with the shoulders. I had shoulder surgery in 2009 and know how rough that can be.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thanks Matty, so far so good with the left shoulder, if the right does as well I'll be shooting soon!

The main thing I think most people fight when shooting from elevated positions with both compound or stick bow is not maintaining the upper body "T". They tend to lower the arm to the target instead of bending at the waist and keeping upper body form in tact. Uphill or downhill doesn't matter, not maintaining that same form changes your draw length and influences the shot. The second is probably trying to judge the distance diagonally from an elevated stand to target instead of horizontally from the base of the tree to the target, sometimes there's a big difference....
BTW, I went exclusively to ground hunting almost 15 years ago. I like being a little more proactive and able to move with changing conditions. I keep a pair of pruning shears in a pocket and have no problem creating a natural blind in front of or into anything that hides my shape. I think I see just as many deer and it's just more enjoyable to me.

Good luck this season!
 

adkarcher

Six Pointer
I hunt with a longbow when I am able to get out in the woods. Travel baseball takes up much of bow season, so not a lot of time left to bowhunt. But I enjoy shooting the longbow (and some recurves), so I do shoot year round.
 

willb

Eight Pointer
i have a 55lb Bear and a 45lb bearpaw that i really want to hunt with but i cannot figure out how to shoot with consistency to save my life.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Matty, I think LR hit on the biggest challenge when shooting traditional from an elevated position, and that is maintaining the correct draw length. Obviously compounds do that part for you. Whether you bend properly or not, you know your draw length is going to be the same, which somewhat forces your body to take a semi-correct form. With traditional, everything is freeform, so to speak.

I have not used a saddle, but I could see it exerting different forces on your body, which might change your form. From a lock on, it's not too much different than shooting a compound elevated. One thing I see a lot of hunters do with compounds is draw horizontally, then bend to get on target. I do the opposite with the recurve. I extend my bow arm, bend at the waist, then draw while focusing on the spot I want to hit. In all my shooting over the years, I've never been able to draw my recurve and then move it to my target, and hit consistently.

Try the lock on. Also, it helps to keep your stands lower. With a compound you can set your stands a little higher and shoot at slightly longer ranges. If you are shooting 15-20 yards, your angles will be steeper, and it will be harder to keep correct form the higher you go. It also makes the anatomy a harder target.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
i have a 55lb Bear and a 45lb bearpaw that i really want to hunt with but i cannot figure out how to shoot with consistency to save my life.
Consistency comes only after mastering a solid and repeatable form, you have to be able to do exactly the same things every single time. Pick up a dvd called Masters of the Barebow III. You can find it online at Lancaster Archery I'm sure. Rod Jenkins is a world class archer and coach, I was lucky enough to attend one of his two day clinics. He has an awesome step-by-step tutorial on that dvd.

Master that 45# first, the biggest mistake people make is being overbowed. It creates a lot of bad habits that can take months to overcome....

Jimmy Blackmon on YouTube is another great source as well as a coach named Arne Moe....
Shoot me a PM anytime, be glad to help if I can.
 

dfitzy

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I would love to learn to shoot a traditional bow. I marked this thread as I want to learn. I enjoy my compound but like the idea of going traditional. Where is the best place to start? Also where is the best place to pick up a used traditional bow? I have a 32” draw length so not sure how that comes into play here.
Thanks for starting this thread.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My pleasure dfitsy, hoping I can help. Most every good coach these days will suggest starting with a light bow, around 40# or so until you learn good form. The Samick Sage recurve is recommended a lot for beginning trad shooters but there are others. The Sage is only about $150 new and with replacement limbs readily available it's a good starter that can grow with you. Lol, trust me, you're gonna buy more! Replace the factory string, they're junk, and it's a good as any. As I've said elsewhere, one of the worst things you can do is start out overbowed.

Your draw length, while likely to shorten some with traditional gear, is a consideration too. I'd suggest at least a 64"-66" bow, anything else is likely to start stacking and stressing the limbs getting near your draw length. I drew 31" with a compound, I draw a measured 29 1/2" with trad gear. I shoot 66"-68", I've just found longer bows are just naturally smoother drawing...

The best advice I can give is to get instruction if possible. Don't know where you're located but there are a lot of archery clubs in NC, 3D archery has a good following here. Find the top scoring archer and follow him around for awhile, lol, that's what I did! Never seen one that wasn't happy to share information or help a new shooter....

Probably gonna catch some flack for this statement but learn an aiming system! I started out shooting instinctive and had spotty success with it until a fellow named John Dill, without question one of the best trad shooters I know, told me early on that if I wanted to get anywhere l needed an aiming system I was comfortable with. I hear people bragging about being an "instinctive" shooter. There are a few good ones and I'm happy if they're happy but the vast majority who brag about it are scratching for arrows behind the targets every weekend. The top archers didn't get there guessing or "poking and hoping". They have a system, a baseline to fall back on if they're struggling.

I couldn't wrap my head around "gapping at the target", putting the point of the arrow behind a deer's knees to hit his lungs or trying to figure out where 16" below the ten ring was from 25 yards away so I learned to "gap" at the bow, putting the point in fractions above or below the intended point of impact, like looking at it in 2D like a picture. I saw Longbow World Champion Larry Yien explain it in one of the Masters of the Barebow videos, I tried it and it just clicked for me......
 

Matty

Six Pointer
Contributor
Probably gonna catch some flack for this statement but learn an aiming system! I started out shooting instinctive and had spotty success with it until a fellow named John Dill, without question one of the best trad shooters I know, told me early on that if I wanted to get anywhere l needed an aiming system I was comfortable with. I hear people bragging about being an "instinctive" shooter. There are a few good ones and I'm happy if they're happy but the vast majority who brag about it are scratching for arrows behind the targets every weekend. The top archers didn't get there guessing or "poking and hoping". They have a system, a baseline to fall back on if they're struggling.

I couldn't wrap my head around "gapping at the target", putting the point of the arrow behind a deer's knees to hit his lungs or trying to figure out where 16" below the ten ring was from 25 yards away so I learned to "gap" at the bow, putting the point in fractions above or below the intended point of impact, like looking at it in 2D like a picture. I saw Longbow World Champion Larry Yien explain it in one of the Masters of the Barebow videos, I tried it and it just clicked for me......

YES!!! Couldn't agree more. I stringwalk for 3D and use a fixed crawl/gap for hunting. I know this doesn't fit the definition of trad for some, but it GREATLY accelerated my path to proficiency. I may have to resort to plaid/wool/fedora in order to regain some assemblance of trad status!!!;)
 

KrisB

Ten Pointer
When I first got interested in hunting back in 2018, I thought I'd be hunting deer with a traditional recurve bow. I started with a 22# Snake and worked up to a 35# Matrix J. (youth version of a Matrix) and was intending to work up to 40# (I'm a 5' tall lady, so reaching the minimum pull of 40# in the regulations for hunting deer with archery equipment would have been an accomplishment for me). I had an excellent mentor who is on this forum, but he doesn't often post: @Bud B. He is very active with the Barefoot Traditional Archers near Burlington. Great group.

As it happens, when I moved up to Person County for work, I lost interest in archery and started getting more comfortable with hunting with firearms. Also found out I love hunting small game and have no interest in deer hunting. I have not practiced archery in a long time. I'm not sure whether to hold onto my bows in case I get interested again or pass them on to someone else who would get a lot of joy out of them. But I think it's great you started this thread! Brought back some good memories for me. It's good to know there are other people out there taking up traditional archery and hunting with traditional bows. :)
 
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Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
KrisB, Bud is an outstanding representative of traditional archery and he and Barefoot have helped a lot of archers into the sport. You couldn't have been in more capable hands. Hope you decide to "pick up the sticks" again soon!
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
YES!!! Couldn't agree more. I stringwalk for 3D and use a fixed crawl/gap for hunting. I know this doesn't fit the definition of trad for some, but it GREATLY accelerated my path to proficiency. I may have to resort to plaid/wool/fedora in order to regain some assemblance of trad status!!!;)
Lol, sadly many, though not all, of the more vocal "trad elites" as I call them were not actually alive or shooting bows in those early days, they would be surprised what we actually hunted with. The ones that were however tend to be among the better instinctive shooters. Just remember, there's a reason we find so many old Bear bows with holes in them for sights......:censored:

We do have a barebow class that allows stringwalking in our local coalition of clubs but it's relatively new, it was introduced in '18 if my memory serves me.The class I participated in is still "one finger must touch the nock".

I went to a fixed crawl a couple of years before these old wingbutts gave out on me. Deadly aiming system for hunting.....
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I hunt with a compound, 40” axle to axle, shoot with fingers and I do have a sight but no peep...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Outstanding! I've got an old factory camo Jennings Forked Lightning, 43" axle to axle, hanging on the wall that I bought just for that purpose.....
 

Lee

Six Pointer
I bought a Samick Sage and promised myself I would hunt with it when I was confident of a humane kill. Most days I can shoot decent groups, but there are troubling flyers now and then. I know my groups won't improve up in a climbing stand with a deer in front of me. It is fun shooting it in the meantime
 

dfitzy

Ten Pointer
Contributor
My pleasure dfitsy, hoping I can help. Most every good coach these days will suggest starting with a light bow, around 40# or so until you learn good form. The Samick Sage recurve is recommended a lot for beginning trad shooters but there are others. The Sage is only about $150 new and with replacement limbs readily available it's a good starter that can grow with you. Lol, trust me, you're gonna buy more! Replace the factory string, they're junk, and it's a good as any. As I've said elsewhere, one of the worst things you can do is start out overbowed.

Your draw length, while likely to shorten some with traditional gear, is a consideration too. I'd suggest at least a 64"-66" bow, anything else is likely to start stacking and stressing the limbs getting near your draw length. I drew 31" with a compound, I draw a measured 29 1/2" with trad gear. I shoot 66"-68", I've just found longer bows are just naturally smoother drawing...

The best advice I can give is to get instruction if possible. Don't know where you're located but there are a lot of archery clubs in NC, 3D archery has a good following here. Find the top scoring archer and follow him around for awhile, lol, that's what I did! Never seen one that wasn't happy to share information or help a new shooter....

Probably gonna catch some flack for this statement but learn an aiming system! I started out shooting instinctive and had spotty success with it until a fellow named John Dill, without question one of the best trad shooters I know, told me early on that if I wanted to get anywhere l needed an aiming system I was comfortable with. I hear people bragging about being an "instinctive" shooter. There are a few good ones and I'm happy if they're happy but the vast majority who brag about it are scratching for arrows behind the targets every weekend. The top archers didn't get there guessing or "poking and hoping". They have a system, a baseline to fall back on if they're struggling.

I couldn't wrap my head around "gapping at the target", putting the point of the arrow behind a deer's knees to hit his lungs or trying to figure out where 16" below the ten ring was from 25 yards away so I learned to "gap" at the bow, putting the point in fractions above or below the intended point of impact, like looking at it in 2D like a picture. I saw Longbow World Champion Larry Yien explain it in one of the Masters of the Barebow videos, I tried it and it just clicked for me......
Thanks for this. I live in Fuquay. I will start looking for a bow in the 66-68 range as you mentioned. Again thank you for the wisdom. I am sure I will have lots of questions but excited to explore this evening more.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I bought a Samick Sage and promised myself I would hunt with it when I was confident of a humane kill. Most days I can shoot decent groups, but there are troubling flyers now and then. I know my groups won't improve up in a climbing stand with a deer in front of me. It is fun shooting it in the meantime
It is fun watching arrows fly! Those flyers for me happened most often when I shot too many in a group or range session so I started taking just 3 arrows to the range with me. I didn't tire as easily or as quickly and it gave me time to focus on what I did wrong while I was walking to the target to pull......
Keep at it!
 

NCbowjunkie

Ten Pointer
I’m a traditional shooter as well and I have converted my son in law to one also this year I will be shooting a 62” hybrid long bow that I built. 48# at 28”
And a back up recurve PSE coyote at 50# The long bow shooting gold tip 500s with original bear broadheads and the PSE with cedar shafts I build topped with Ben Person Deadheads I have never shot a dear with these. Hope this is the year. Been shooting tradional since 1977 but have shot compounds along the way also
 

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NCbowjunkie

Ten Pointer
My son in law is shooting a Hoyt buffalo with 45# or a Big Jim Take down recurve @50# that he just got both shooting Easton autumn orange full metal jackets with muzzy phantom COC broadheads
 

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timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
I have an old Fred Bear that I have messed around with for years. I got it set up,and tuned with Easton 2117s, 150 grain head and arrows were flying like darts. I will go out and practice and one day drill the 10 ring shot after shot at 30 yds, then the next day, I'm lucky to hit the target!! Just haven't got myself confident enough yet.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I’m a traditional shooter as well and I have converted my son in law to one also this year I will be shooting a 62” hybrid long bow that I built. 48# at 28”
And a back up recurve PSE coyote at 50# The long bow shooting gold tip 500s with original bear broadheads and the PSE with cedar shafts I build topped with Ben Person Deadheads I have never shot a dear with these. Hope this is the year. Been shooting tradional since 1977 but have shot compounds along the way also
You build some beautiful bows sir......if I ever get over your way I'll be sure to look you up!
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have an old Fred Bear that I have messed around with for years. I got it set up,and tuned with Easton 2117s, 150 grain head and arrows were flying like darts. I will go out and practice and one day drill the 10 ring shot after shot at 30 yds, then the next day, I'm lucky to hit the target!! Just haven't got myself confident enough yet.
Laughing, yeah, I have those days too. The bow rarely changes....just gotta figure out what YOU did different!
 
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