RE: anyone start out traditional?
Yes, I started out traditional but that was back when I was a young teenager. I was interested in hunting with a bow and all I could find was an old fiberglass recurve that my cousin had. I remember countless hours and lost arrows small game hunting. It was probably a God send that no deer walked anywhere near me to tempt a young foolish "bowhunter". When I was 15 I received a shiny, black metal flaked Bear Black Bear II for my Nov birthday, well some arrows later I was out with it still shooting instinctive with a compound. I learned, I experienced and became wiser in the ways of bow shooting as well as bowhunting but I didn't kill/recover a deer with that bow til my early 20's and it was a small doe. Before the next year I received a new compound, a Jennings Carbon Extreme for my birthday, setup with sights, etc...and a release. After a full season of 3D shoots I took my first bow buck that fall and never looked back. Now after 20 years of bowhunting and countless whitetails as well as other species of bow kills, I've never looked back. I also accept the fact that I will never be good enough to hunt with a recurve or longbow and will not go back to instinctive shooting with a compound. Do I feel like I'm gun hunting, Hell no....
I was working a Hoyt booth at an outdoor show a while back when a young lad came to the booth, looked at all the equipment with a scow on his face and I knew he anticipated saying something so I bit....I asked " Do you bow hunt?" , he pushed his chest out, shoulders back and said, "yeah, but I hunt the hard way"....so I asked "Oh, how's that?" and he replied..." with a stickbow".....I said " can you hit every animal you have within 20 yards?"....he snapped "I absolutely can!"......I replied...so can I so why is it harder for you? Isn't it about getting the animal under 20 yards the hard part.... his chest sunk, his shoulders relaxed and we had a pleasant conversation.....so you see, gun/bow, bow/crossbow, compound/recurve, flyfisher/worm fisher....your always going to have some "I do it the hard way."
I personally think it's gotten out of hand in the hunting industry but I'm not immuned to it myself. In the end, we need to be together or lose what we know is hunting today.