And you know, I never will use one, but if a fellow hunter wants to carry one to the woods that's fine with me. I don't hunt to compete. I hunt with a bow for ME and ME alone. What someone else carries into the woods is not going to be the reason I succeed or fail. Whatever the reason, I simply try harder next time. Heck, I hunt during shotgun and muzzleloader seasons with my bow every year. I don't care what they carry if it's legal.

I like compound bows too. I tried out a crossbow once (ONCE... ONE TIME ONLY...) and did not like it. It was at the Sportsman's Show here in Richmond last August. They had a full lineup of Horton and Parker and some other types of crossbows. Curiously, I went in and checked one out. Bizarre looking thing.... It was a Horton model complete with a tiny scope on it. I picked it up and shouldered it, and that too was weird. The stock of it and trigger was like it was made for an 8 year old boy. It was that small of reach for me. That thing that made me immediately put it down after I shot it, was the overall feel. A crossbow is FRONT HEAVY!!! [:'(] It will try to tip downwards on you if you don't hold it up with some effort.

I would really like to see what a recurve bow or even an old long bow would be like shooting, but would be scared to death of losing an arrow into parts unknown.

Just buy or borrow one and start. You start out shooting at distances of feet, not yards. You gradually work your way back and eventually you be into yards.[8D] When I say start at feet, I mean feet. And you stay there for days and weeks if need be. Then one day the arc of the arrow will be visible to you before you shoot it grasshopper.

If you want to go primitive, I thought this might interest some of you. 15 years ago I worked at a mining operation on the island of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. These natives would bring their bows around and sell them. One long stick of native hardwood with vines for strings. There is no grip, no shelf, not even a notch. They hold the arrows resting on their grip hand. Arrows are not nocked, they are held flat against thethe 5/16" vine. Little native kids would shoot birds off the lower limbs with short versions of these. They were also deadly with slingshots.

Imagine growing up with nothing to do but shoot arrows, get water, and grow sweet potatoes. They shoot before they can walk and are unbelievable with these things. They shootpigs, cassowaries, and other tribes. Those arrows are poison tipped. You can just make out the top of the bow on the right - it is 76 inches.

I was not in to bowhunting at the time or I would have brought more bows home. I have two bows which have beenstored away, and I just got them out when we tried traditional shooting. But I'm not going to try for an elk with one.

Thought you might be interested.

Yes, but Jones.... anyone can see these are canned hunts. Check out the chain link fence.[8D][8D][8D][8D][8D] Interesting qivers they have attached to their manhood. Are we suppose to believe they fill those things up?[8D][8D][8D][8D] Although, as they say, bowhunters have longer shafts.[&:]

I don't see that in this thread however. Choosing sides that it. FWIW, I don't really care what a person chooses to hunt with. Only that they are informed.

IMO if a person is a true traditional archer, no matter what they choose at any given time, they will come totraditional at some point in their life.

I had alsogone full circle, from recurves, to compounds back to traditional. I almost forgot the pure enjoyment of shooting. And the feeling that I myself with only my shooting skills made the arrow go from point a to point b.

My first few shots were terribly off. BUT ....... thats the allure of trad shooting. If I wanted to shoot 1/2" groups at 500 yards I'd use a rifle. if I wanted to shoot 3" groups at 40 yards I'd shoot a compound. Its about the challenge of shooting - the dicipline to make an arrow go where I want it to without anything mechanical aiding me.

I killed a squirrel 2 days ago - I drew back, focused, shot and missed the first shot by maybe 6". The second shot I did the same, and double lunged that sucker. Stepped it off - 27 yards. I was more tickled with that shot and kill than any deer I ever shot with a compound, including a couple of P&Y ish bucks.

jones123 I dated a girl that looked like the dude on the left

Poison tipped ! - Now I see the reason for the protective equipment.

Going into my second year of traditional archery I am amazed at how it has changed my views on hunting...... I have fallen in love with archery again.... Just pure archery... It's a beautiful thing..... I find myself so much less concerned with killing something..... I can't even stomach to flip through a main stream hunting magazine..... It actually makes me nautious(sp) seeing what the sport has become.... And I was right there just 2yrs ago, caught up in all the BSthe main stream hunting industry shoves down your throat.... You can't really see it until you seperate yourself from such things.... I haven't watched the outdoor channel in over a year...... I used to be a 4 night a week fan.....I still get the 4 big bowhunting magazines and they never leave the post office.... I throw them straight in the garbage...... That's really all they are, garbage....

If you sink yourself into traditional archery, it will change you as a hunter and even a possibly change you as a person..... Sure, I still haveplans and desiresto hunt big game all across the country, but my outlook on those hunts have been re-prioritized......

In the end, ask yourself what you want out of archery or hunting..... Your answer to that question will lead you down the path that you were designed to be on....... And I agree with BobCo19-65 in his post above, traditional archers will eventually find themselves coming over to our side, no matter where they are at this point.... I'm a case in point.... I come from the new generation.... I'm 29 yrs old and all I know is compounds..... I started shooting at 10 yrs old or so..... Began bowhunting at 12..... Killed my first deer at 14 and then killed 2-3 per year until finally it became no challenge for me..... If I wanted a deer to die, it died..... All the deer had to do was get in bow range..... I lost that rush of adrenaline and pride you get when you kill an animal with a bow..... It had become to automatic...... Draw, aim, shoot, go get animal.... I always had that yearning to go traditional..... I kept it hidden for years...... Scared I may miss out on an opportunity to kill a large buck that would be out of trad bow range..... Finally it dawned on me, its not the outcome that means the most in our lives, its the journey...... If you work your butt off for something, the gratification is amazingly sweet.....

Like I said, traditional or compound...... Decide what you want out of hunting..... The rest will fall into place....

...Good stuff!....