The better woodsman you are, the closer you can get to game, so the less of an archer you need to be. The less of a woodsman you are, you're not going to get as close to game so the better archer you need to be. Being an archer and a master woodsman are two different things but they are NOT mutually exclusive. You most definitely CAN do both. ALL bowhunters should try to be both.
Quite frankly, 3D is not such a good game for turning folks into archers. One lousy arrow at each target, maybe 30-40 targets? Bah! You don't hit, you don't get another chance to correct your mistake and you just get left wondering how you screwed up. Field archery though...
4 arrows per target, for 28 targets, 112 arrows total for a full round. You miss the first arrow at a target, you've got 3 more to shoot. You get the chance to not only figure out how you missed, but to learn how to hit at that distance. When you learn how to hit the target at different distances, it turns into a game of consistency, trying to put all 4 arrows into the spot. That kind of game will definitely make a shooter out of you.
We talk about the fun and the people but that's only part of the good things that come from tournament shooting. Another side benefit of going to tournaments and meeting new folks is it can expand your hunting opportunities. You often run across folks looking to fill up a lease, or maybe looking to swap a deer or javelina hunt for wild hog or exotics, or vice versa. Getting together and meeting folks - what the yuppies used to call 'networking' back in the day - is something that hardly anyone thinks about when they think of tournaments, but smart folks work it.
When you turn your back on tournaments, you are turning your back on some good times, both on the range and in the woods.
Texas is a big place and you might not be anywhere even remotely close by, blackwidowbowman. But if you're in the Dallas area, I've got a few places that you can check out. There's the Texas State Longbow Assn over in Fort Worth, but they have only one shoot each year. The State Longbow Championships.
Collin County Bowhunters in McKinney has one or two traditional tournaments every year, and a whole bunch of traditional shooters hang out there.
The club I belong to, Denton County Archers (east of Denton & south of Hwy 380) is all-traditional, but do allow compound shooters on a limited basis. We have 5-6 all-traditional shoots a year, plus a weekly fun shoot every Thursday evening during daylight saving time.
www.dentoncountyarchers.com
Unfortunately, our insurance won't allow us to have treestand shots. But we do have a deep gulley on the property that'll allow us to simulate treestand shots.