I get the feeling that some ofthese tradguys think the world owes them a favor because they pretendto besome kind of indian Tontowanna-be throwback woodsman, who has some "higher level" of appreciation for archery, the wilderness, and all that is wild and natural in life. They have howling wolf sculptures in their house, with dreamcatchers hanging from the rear-view mirror. Meanwhile they hunt about as hard as my left ass cheek. Sitting at home and staring at your $1000 longbow, orcheering onFrodo as heshoots Gargoyles on Lord of the Rings with a recurvedoesn't make you the next Tred Barta. Sorry.

There are great hunters out there who hunt with traditional gear. I concede that. Some of them frequent this site. There are also a bunch of people running around in fur hats and leather-fringed coats who think they're god's gift to hunting season just because they're getting skunked witha Howard Hilllongbow in their hand. Big flip. I can go out and get skunked with my recurve too. It's not that hard. Just because you hunt with a longbow or a recurve doesn't make you special. If all it took was a $200 trad bow to turn an average schmuck into the next Fred Bear: Newsflash: We'd all have one. But that's not how it works.

For what it's worth, I'm a compound hunter. But I just bought a recurve to tinker around with in the 2nd season. I bought this bow the day before I hunted with it.Within 15 minutes of shooting it, Iwas inside a pie plate at 12-15 yards almost every time. In 4 hunts, I've had 3 deer within 8 yards on the ground. One was a legal buck, for which I had no tag. I honestlybelieve he would have been dead if Ihad a tag.The other 2 were doe (together) and busted me drawing. I took a running shot at 25 yards and just missed my mark. I also missed a big doe at 33 yards, when she stepped out of the way of my arrow. So I have no doubt that if I put the time in, I'd get one. I might get one this Saturday, now that we're on the subject.

I'll concede that trad hunting is a little harder b/c where I hunt (hardwoods) - you have to "prep" the area by going in and building natural ground blinds appropriate for every wind direction. You also have a definite yardage limitation. It's also fairly easy to get picked off while drawing that huge contraption. The damn bow is gigantic.

Other than thosefew considerations, for the most part - a guy who tags out every year with the compound would likely do the same with traditional gear.If you're hunting with trad gear and eating your tags, it's not because you're necessarily handicapped by "inferior" equipment. It's a plain old lack of skill.