I have taken deer with self bows and cedar shafts. Never with a flint or obsidian tip. Truth be known, volcanic glass, like obsidian, can be sharpened much sharper than metal. The trick is finding someone who can nap a balanced tip. Ive gotten more lazy with age and dont bother with wood shafts. Carbon and aluminum is much easier to tune. I shoot trad bows, just dont deal with the wood shafts anymore. Even got into making them. Now that is a blast, shooting something with a bow you built.


Cougar mag, you hit the nail on the head. What ever weapon you chose, know and respect your limitations. My limitations with a compound are far less than my limitations with long bows (self, lams, R/D, or flat) and recurves.

I heard that about you.[8D]

I hunted with compounds for years, but grew an everincreasing feeling of dissatisfactionin knowing that the type of hunting I was doing didn't hold a candle to what the likes of Fred Bear, Saxton Pope, and early cultures had done. It felt likeI was hunting with amechanized killing machine instead of a bow. The fair ease at which I could nail targets without having shot for extended periods of time made practice seem moot, while the mass of equipment and tools that I lugged around made me weary of even wanting to shoot. At the same time, the gratitous marketing of faster / better archery equipment andthe rise of trophy hunting seemedextremely distasteful, if not disturbing to the point that I felt a geniune urge to disassociate myself with mainstream hunting. ButI still loved to hunt, and I finally gathered the stones to buy a longbow, like the rare fellow I'dmarvel overat a local archery range. My first few months with that longbow felt spectacular. Unencumbered, clean, freshjoy. Accuracy came only with quite a bit of practice, but it was fun. That was over 9 years ago.

Shortly after, I learned through the internet that a handful of folks were making their own self wood bows. I became captivated them myself and have been turning out my own dead serious wooden hunting bows in the years since. With practice, theserelicts of the pastunequivocably make meat, even in the deer devoid recesses of Pennsylvania. There absolutely is an exciting sense of history and romance with this equipment, as well a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction. I've gone as far as makinghomemade metal trade points for broadheads on the arrow end of the spectrum. I would like to explore knapping in the future, when I'm ready to tackle my next learning curve.

There are those whoopenly admit they avoid anything which is more difficult or requires more of their time, and those who simply scoff at primitive fair as being "ineffective". But there are a good many, I suspect, who've felt the same inclings that I had, but lacked the confidence or knowledge to pursue traditional bows. To those, I also suggest they seek it out and try it. They should tackle it with the same tenacity thatthey would with all things that are truely worth while. They may find a whole new world opens up.

I switched to trad for one reason only, the challenge.... Sure, there are other ways to increase the challenge, such as targeting mature bucks only, but to be honest, I dont have the time or energy anymore for that...

Those old does get my knees knocking again with my recurve in hand....

And that's what its all about folks, having fun and staying excited.

You betch ya its challenging and unbelievably satisfying! Don't tell anyone else that though! My knee's get a knocking just as much with a doe as they do with the buck I shot this year. When a person looses that feeling its time to hang it up and quit! My management ways will never change just because I switched over to traditional though, 125's and under still get free passes from me.

This is weird. Just the other day there was a thread about whether people used the same broadhead twice. It got to the point that there were those accusing others of being unethical because there was no reason to risk the chance that resharpened blades were a miniscule amount not as sharp as new blades. Now we are being told that it is noble to do it like the Indians and use a whittled stick with some chipped rocks to kill deer. Hmmmm.

It's simple, we keep hearing and reading that shooting a "traditional" bow takes practice, practice and more practice which I cannot argue, I started out that way however, if a traditional guy shoots 50 arrows a week, I shoot 100 arrows a week, why is it so much harder a hunt for him than I if we both hit our target 10 out of 10 times at 20 yards? The HUNT didn't get harder for either so why do I read, "hunting the hard way" or " bowhunting the real way" etc...?

Not everyone (I included) draws prematurely and holds a compound. I draw when I shoot and only then (from my traditional days) and not everyone draws and snap shoots a traditional bow, I've watched several guys at traditional shoot hold at full draw not unlike holding a compound, some very impressively so your point in mute.

Hunt with one next year and come back and tell us if you still feel the same.

If a trad guy shoots 50 arrows a week, he better be a born natural, or he'll have no prayer at hitting a deer at 20 yds.

Then make it 200 arrows a week and a compounder shooting 300 arrows a week, the point still holds true.

And as far as going back to a traditional bow, NO thank you, I realized a long time ago it's not for everyone and I KNOW there are some guys carrying them to the woods that have no right to and I REALLY respect those that can but my point again, it's not harder BOWHUNTING for either person, hitting yes, Hunting NO.

I know ask this then, why is that some of the same guys who defend gun hunting against bowhunting still chest thump about traditional being so much holier than compounders. ?