I'm happy to say I started when I was a little kid and there was no such thing as traditional. It was just 'archery' for the first 13 years of my shooting, until the compound was invented, and 'traditional' was invented soon after. Took me more than 10 years after they hit the market before I ever gave in to the inevitable and soiled my hands with a compound. Shot them in competition a lot. Even hunted with them some, but I've never switched to compounds. My primary hunting bows have always been recurves and longbows.