Author Topic: Traditional Hunters in here??? (Read 3197 times)

Frog123 · « **on:** January 13, 2003, 10:33:07 PM »

I shoot a Mathews Q2-XL, but I recently picked up a 55lb Bear Take Down Hunter with a selway quiver. I've been wanting to cross over for a long while. I've dabbled a little in the past with it but I'm gonna give it a serious try this year. Any other traditional hunters here??

Frog

sweet old bill · « **Reply #1 on:** January 14, 2003, 10:06:08 AM »

I own and operate a archery pro shop. I have shot a compound since 1969, but 3 years ago I got a recurve and since then have got another 6 recurves. I shoot the recurve 4 or 5 times a week and the compound maybe 10 to 20 arrows in a week. I just seem to be having so much more fun with the traditional, I walk the woods with blunts and shoot stumps. I have a new 2003 compound by alpine the impact one and it is a great shooter, 2 3/4 lbs weight, single cam, fiber optic, stablizer, savage rest, peep and kisser. But it seems to do little as a challenge. But put the recurve in my hand and it is having fun. I sure can not shoot as well with the traditional, but it does take a lot more in time and effort to gain skill.

GJ · « **Reply #2 on:** January 14, 2003, 10:21:50 AM »

I currently shoot a Death Wish Long Bow. I also have a Jefferys Recurve, PSE Recurve, Several other Recurves and Long Bows that are hanging on the wall. Also have a PSE Carrol Marudar Compound But it does not get much use these days.

107ch · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2003, 10:26:09 AM »

Hi,
I shoot a custom made Bruin recurve @ 62lbs. I make my own arrows out of port orford cedar and tip them with magnus journeyman broadheads. I regularly shoot and with frequent practice find that the compound boys have nothing on me, except more equipment to buy. I like the simplicity of it. I shoot off the shelf with sealskin covering the rest. I used to shoot a compound, but I have much more fun with the traditional equipment. Also when hunting without the use of a sight or stabilizer I find that I am less prone to get "hung up" in the brush. I think you will find that once you try the traditional stuff, alot of the fun comes back.

Dennis Holmbeck

COB · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2003, 03:46:17 PM »

I have hunted for many moons now with recurve and/or longbow. Right now I hunt with a Morrison Arapaho recurve. I own two Assenhiemers recurves and also a Morrison longbow. Have bowhunted deer since 1970. Have never gone hunting deer with a gun. I like the stick and string. Kind of like the KISS principle, keep it simple stupid. Seems to work for me.

Ted A. Young AKA COB :-D

tomg · « **Reply #5 on:** January 15, 2003, 04:35:58 AM »

I hunted my first season with a recurve this year ... I can't believe that I wasted all those years hunting with a compound ...I only got a small doe but I am browder and had more fun taking it than the biggest buck I've ever taken. Does anyone out there feel the same way

I almost gave up hunting all together..

SoftPoint · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2003, 10:53:05 AM »

I have shot traditional only for the past 7 years. Thats when my compound broke a string and exploded. I shoot a Martin Super Diablo 55lb/28". Have taken elk and deer, and trying turkey this year. I have dabbled with custom bows, but cant find any that shoots far and above my Martin.
Cheers!
SoftPoint

KING · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2003, 06:43:37 PM »

Im here. Gots about 14 longbows and recurves. Draw weights from 55 to 120,make my own arrows and such and have fun in the process. There may not be many of us,but we do be here.....King :twisted:

tomg · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2003, 08:55:19 PM »

How hard is it to make your own wooden arrows??? I mean I've read about doing it in the new issue of trad. archerer but I don't know how to straighten them or even how to take care of one ...Up until now I've been using al... and just crown dipping the last 9 inchs but I would love to make my own ,,, Kind of a pesonal touch that would make the harvest even more special...

JeffG · « **Reply #9 on:** January 18, 2003, 04:34:41 AM »

Does any one know about Ricky Welch's Dakota recurves and longbows? I got their hog hunting videos, and these guys are to be admired. Those guys shoot very well. What exactly IS the difference between longbow and recurves? If I have a long draw length, which is better for avoiding "stacking?" Thanks!

KING · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2003, 06:36:12 AM »

TomG. Its more fun that trouble to make your own arows. I guess it might be kinda a misnomer,cause i buy my shafting and componants to do so. I have a Bitzenburger fletcher,and dip all of my shafts. First I get the arrows that are weighted or spined for the weight of bow Im shooting. I will then stain the shaft,usually with a compatable stain that will work with my crown dip paiants. I usually usle an 11 inch crown dip,with a very bright color, The color is usually a SATURN YELLOW,or WHITE. If using a bright color other than white,I will ditp em in white,let it dry,then dip em in the other color. These thing will just about glow inna dark. After letting everyting dry I will dip in a varnise media that has been thinned to some extent,this is done prior to the crown dip. After the arrow shaft has been colored,I will attach the nocks,and them Im ready to put on the cresting(TESTORS model paint works real good for this). Ya gots lots of colors to pick from so the sky is the limit. After they have been crested I then attach the fletching(feathers) in the colors that I want.(usually a abaaright color,such as white or orange) I fletch with three on a helical so the shaft will spin when being shot. That helps a lot for stabilization of the shaft. Ats abut all there is to it. I cant really tell ya how many arros I have made,but each bow that I have has 2 dozen arrows just for that specific bow. Last year I gave my tools to a kid who had never made a set of arrows before. When he got done,they had to be some of the prettiest things I have ever seen. They shot outstandingly well,so I had him make me a set. Beautiful,just beautiful arrrows. Sometimes it can be hard to get the shafting that you want,but I generally shoot Rabin wood,or port oxford ceder when I can get it. If ya make your own,you will be hooked on it fer life. I purchase from THREE RIVERS ARCHERY,or KINGS ARCHERY SUPPLY (no relation). Try it,have fun and good luck King

Bob/FLA · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2003, 06:44:14 AM »

Rack-up one for me too!
Wes Wallace Custom Recurve 60#
Saxon Longbow 55#
Buy shafts and make my own arrows
Shoot Zwicky broadheads.

I used to shoot a compound with Fred Bears son, but changed to recurve many years ago and never looked back. My brother dropped his wheelie bow 2 years ago when he saw me shoot a deer...on the ground...at 10 feet. He also dropped the tree stand and is now on the ground and loving it!

Ususlly don't participate much on this forum due to the nature of the discussions...too high tech with triggers and scopes and graphite. Thanks for the refreshing change!

TheBowhunter · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2003, 09:40:40 AM »

Hello all since I am new here and since this thread is something about of which I like to do very much I will jump right in.
First let me say I started Off with telling you a little bit about how I started with archery equipment when I was about eight years old, it must have been a start of my Bowyer times my first bow ever was made of willow cut from the river bank the arrows where crude as well they to were willow. My next bow was given to for Christmas it was a long bow made of Hickory man did I ever tear up the county hunting rabbits and stump shooting. Finally after several years of hauling hay and chasing cows I finally saved up enough money to buy a Recurve Bow it was a Fred Bear Grizzly 45# it still shots good till days and I still use to hunt with it has lost its poundage.
Now this time I had a better bow and spent my time hunting big game than Rabbits, I moved up hunting Deer, Elk, Coyote, and Bobcats with my Uncles we had some great times doing this together I will always remember pranks, jokes and great time sitting around the camp fire. Boy did my one of my Uncle get crap from the others after he bought one of those new fangle compound bows my other Uncle would not leave him alone but they eventually bought to but after trying out for several years just me we all went back to the old Recurve and have been true and loyal Traditionalist since 1971. I found my self unsatisfied with thrill using the compound bow not to mention the weight of it compared to the recurve.
Now today I spend my time while not hunting Making my own Bows out of Osage orange staves, Black Locust, or what ever kind of wood I can find laying around, and making my own arrows.
PLus I am a Senior Membor of Kansas Bowhunter Association and look foward to thrills and excimetment of each and every hunt.

KING · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2003, 10:20:15 AM »

Bob/Fla. How ya like that saxon lb that ya be shooting. I never got to try one yet,and i hear that they are really nice to shoot. Problem that I have is I shoot a 31 inch arrow,I anchor just behind my ear. Works fer me,and been doing it a lotta years,but would like to know if anyone that has the saxon lb like em or not. Gots.....almost....too many bows........almotst.......king :shock:

Bob/FLA · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2003, 05:13:55 AM »

I have a true 30" draw to the corner of my mouth and shoot it very well. I believe you will also like it alot, it does not stack and is pretty smooth. I always heard about the horrors of going from a recurve to a longbow, but have not had any difficulty. As a matter of fact, after 2 weeks, I was ready to hunt with it this year. MUCH lighter than the recurve!

tomg · « **Reply #15 on:** January 24, 2003, 08:45:32 AM »

King how hard is it to hand straighten wooden arrows? I once tried it with an old one I found and it turned out having more twists and turns in it than a west virginia road when i was done ... is there some kind of trick to straightening them? do you really need one of those straightening tools like you see in3rivers catalog and if so which one do you suggest ?? thanks tomg

TheBowhunter · « **Reply #16 on:** January 24, 2003, 09:39:35 AM »

I am not King but here is how I do mine (They are not hard to straighten out) put them over steam or heat some people like heat both work I like the steam. Steam the shaft for few minutes to softem it up (the steam soften wood up some what like a noodle) then bend just a little bit past center line the oposite direction of the kink you are straightening out. they bent hold ther till cool down. then continue on to the next till you get all the kink out of the shaft. I find wood arrows are a pleasure to work with.

KING · « **Reply #17 on:** January 24, 2003, 10:14:56 AM »

Tomg. Well.I do things lotsa ways,some work well,and others just kinda make me wanna try something else. Steaming shafts is a good way to get the kinks out,and it is easy to do. Generally if I dont have a location to make some steam quick,and I just wanna go outside and shoot but still check my arrows i use this little critter. All ya need is about a 2 foot section of 1.5 inch lumber,by 12 inches. I put a straight line down it lengthwise in pencil or pen. It is important that the line is very thin but can easily seen. Just under that line i put tow neails. One on each end of the board. If I have an arrow that I wanna check I just stand the board on its edge,or at an angle,and put the arrow on the nails. Rotate the arrow until you see the line dissapear. That will be the hump of the arrow,i then just pull it down below the line a little and it should spring back to true. I keep rotating the arrow until im happy with it. This also works great if ya steam em too. For what its worth,i fletch with a helical fletch so an arow that its not perfectly straight will still fly true. Its something to work on a litle. Lotsa wood shafting is not going to be perfectly straight,just do the best that ya can. Some of mine kinda remind me of a snake sometimes. HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH. That tool with the board and nails is simple to make and works pretty well. King

tomg · « **Reply #18 on:** January 27, 2003, 08:18:42 AM »

king ,that little tool sounds like it will work like a charm. and it's so simple I feel stupid for not thinking of it... my next

?? is parrell shafts or tapered shaft (23/64 tapered down to 5/16) I don't know that much about wooden shafts but I guess this is to help the fletching clear the shelf? Is it worth the extra money??? and is there any problems in using tapered???

KING · « **Reply #19 on:** January 28, 2003, 04:16:49 AM »

Tomg...I have never used tapered shafting material. If I remember correctly it is to help the fletching clear the bow. Regardless of what you are using you still have to deal with th archers paradox when the arow is released. The reason I never used them is that I kinda like to keep things as simple as possible,and have never looked into getting any. You will probably have someone tell ya that they are worth it,and maybe they are to that shooter,you would have to try it for yourself first. I never had any problems with what I shoot do the job,so thats why I have not tried them. king

bigpapascout · « **Reply #20 on:** January 28, 2003, 09:34:05 AM »

Hi fellas:D

I get out the ol recurve now and then and go hunting with it but mostly hunt with a compound.

Do any of you guys remember or hear of the Browning Nomad Stalker?
I have had this bow since I was 13 (am now 41) and this bow still looks and shoots like it did when I first pulled it out of the box some 27 years ago.
I know that browning makes Compounds but do they still make recurves?

TheBowhunter · « **Reply #21 on:** January 29, 2003, 01:40:33 AM »

Yes they do make five styles of recurves and all are take down.

Bill Lamb · « **Reply #22 on:** February 27, 2003, 04:00:57 PM »

I have been hunting traditional for about three years now. I have a new/used Black Thunder longbow, 62", 53#@28", cocobolo riser with cocobolo accents and yew core and bamboo lams. It is smooth, sweet shooting and very quick.

It has improved my shooting so well that I am selling my Chek-Mate Crusader longbow, something I didn't think I would ever do. Can't afford two at this time.

Jeff G.,

As far as stacking goes, the length of the recurve or longbow and other design factors will determine how quickly it stacks. You could talk with the bowyer that makes a given bow and he could fill in the details.

Bill

elroy · « **Reply #23 on:** February 28, 2003, 02:34:34 PM »

I have been using a locust longbow for about 8 years I used a Zipper curly maple recurve for a few years before that. Traditional bows are a little harder to get accuracy with, but once you get on to them , they are far more efficient and versatile than a compound. If the indians used compounds, there would be a bunch more cowboys. I was concerned about penetration because my favorite long bow is slower than dirt, but I shot a 230 # whitetail broadside at 35 yards 2 years ago with a 3 blade thunder head and the arrow passed right through.

Bowhunter57 · « **Reply #24 on:** March 02, 2003, 04:19:42 AM »

Frog123,
I've been bowhunting for over 27 years. I started out with a Bear Kodiak recurve, shot a number of different compounds for several years and then went back to a recurve in 1991. I came back to the simplicity of archery with traditional bows.

I can appreciate the "pin point" accuracy of compound bows, but the enjoyment of archery (for me) is the flight of the arrow and I don't get to enjoy that with a compound.

I shoot a 64" Assenheimer custom recurve (take down) that's 56# @ 28". This year I'm going to switch to carbon arrows....they just last longer.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

TheBowhunter · « **Reply #25 on:** March 02, 2003, 11:23:54 AM »

for those interested Graybeard has Given use Traditional Bowhunter and shooter our own forum section. fallow the link below and join use there.
thank you .
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=104

kirkwhitaker · « **Reply #26 on:** May 13, 2003, 01:28:05 AM »

stuck my head in here to see what the other half is up to....
i shoot a old pearson recurve and a tom parsons long bow...both 40lb draw...i just really got started in this last year...gave up on my compound because it was no fun...although, i may pull it back out, get rid of the sites, bodoodle rest and such...set up up to shoot finger style/traditional style...and try it for grins....trad shooting is too much fun...
insterent post K. about your release point...how did you end up with it that far back? I have been being tutored by a trad. shooter here in my home town who shoots sort of inbetween asbell and parsons styles...I am working for a smooth draw with a release at the corner of my mouth in one motion....bow never stops moving...you never draw and hold...if you draw..you shoot...i shoot with a glove...accuracy is improving...as my muscles learn what i am doing...and is good for the mind....like fishing...to spend a half hour every other day shooting 50 or so arrows...
too much fun..
kw

JACKNZ · « **Reply #27 on:** July 14, 2003, 02:59:28 PM »

Yeah me too,I shoot it all but my long bow is my baby.My compond gathers a lota dust while I shoot my longbow almost every day.The compond is ok but the lonbow is fun fun fun.I have to shoot my longbow heaps to stay good with it but thats cool because it is a joy to shoot.When
I started shooting, componds had only just come on the seen,Most folks went over to them but I held out for years then I too jumped ship, but I found them harder to hunt with,It seemed to take for ever to get a shot away plus there was no way I was going to get a fast shot on a running
rabbit or bird in the air,so I went back to the recurve an then the longbow.Now I am back to where I was before :lol: :lol: .I notice around my way more folks are going back to the old ways for their handling speed ect.When folks speak of speed they are often going on about arrow speed which I think is way over rated now days.Give me a 600g arrow and sharp arrowhead at close range any day. :grin: Cheers. JACK

jdbe · « **Reply #28 on:** September 19, 2003, 08:48:16 PM »

I too love traditional archery after lugging around a compound for a number of years. I shoot and make my own reflex/deflex longbows as well as arrows. There is nothing a quiet as a longbow or more fun to shoot. I almost got a shot at one of 4 nice bucks today, but they were just out of range - one was a nice 4 x 4 doh

. We are lucky that in Ut, we have the extended front range archery hunt that goes all the way through to the new year. It allows me to do my dove hunting, then a little deer with the bow, then back to waterfowl, then pheasant ( if you can find any in Ut lol) and back to deer again. I wish that fall lasted all year hehe. If I can find the time, I will also try to do a little cottontail hunting with the bow as well - saw a bunch while dove hunting.

TheBowhunter · « **Reply #29 on:** September 20, 2003, 04:51:27 AM »

I here you there jdbeI cant wait till October first seasin will begin here but most looking foward to Mid November for the rut the bucks will be very active the and being moble is much easier with lighter bow than a compound cand make several moves while rattleing those old snotters in yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. I am ready .