JZarr, I don' t think there are many trads shooting at animals at a hundred yards any more. Heck, you can' t hardly get ' em to shoot at targets more than 20 yards these days without having to listen all kinds of moaning and groaning. That' s not to say that someone won' t go to the flea market, buy a recurve and then go fling an arrow at a deer a hundred yards down the road. That same guy would do the same thing if it was a compound or a crossbow.

I' m not defending the article at all. What I' m trying to get across is that there has to be a REASON for someone having that kind of view. It' s just fall off the log easy to say it' s a bunch of elitist snobbery and go on about your business, doing what got the article written in the first place. It would take a little thought and effort to try and undertand WHY there are those feelings in the first place.

I can tell you for a fact that over the past 7-8 years, I' ve been scared silly by the ' advances' in technology. The first 40 years since I got involved in archery, the changes were slow. Even the compound wasn' t really all that much of a change. At first. Then wham! Things changed so fast that, to me, it felt like we were stuck on a runaway train, heading for a broken bridge. Seems like things have slowed down again over the past couple of years, but the guys that bailed and went trad during the heavy times are probably still scared silly.

That' s what it' s about. Not elitism but fear. Bowhunting has fundamentally changed during the past decade. Trads are afraid of what is going to happen to our season when the next big technological advances come along.

But when they dare say anything, they get nothing but ridicule. Talk about elitist snobs! The compound community is chock full of them.

I don' t think it' s a case of the compound community being elitist snobs at all. In fact if anything I think the modern compound shooters have a greater appreciation for the traditional archer than most people. Heck, we all know how hard it is to get a deer with the equipment we shoot so we know the hurdles the traditional archer must face as well.

And you' re right, I think there is a big case of fear amongs hunters that our sport is becoming too money and gimmick-driven. You' ve got people who think that they' re bowhunters because they bought the most expensive bow on the market, all the gadgets to go with it, then they go out and take questionable shots on animals. It' s obvious that these individuals just have not been educated on the right and wrongs of hunting and everything that it involves aside from just winging arrows at animals.

Like it was already stated, I' m sure that is part of the point that the article attempted to convey. But the manner in which is was done is just unacceptable. Instead of dividing ourselves the author may have suggested some way to unite people and to better educate those who are behaving in the wrong. There' s obviously no way to eliminate the problem completely, but we can at least try to knock it down considerably.

It' s not the fact that he said something, it' s the fact that it contained gross and innacurate generalizations and misinformation. Any good that may have come out of that article is going to be lost to 99.9% of people who read it.

The Fundamentals of Bowhunting,whether you are using a compound bow or a stick bow havent changed.In the State of Texas the average distance taken on a deer is 17 yards . The very beating heart of this sport is getting close enough to an animal to make a clean ethical shot.All the high tech bells and whistles in the world will not help me acheive that, it just makes it a little funner.

Granted,yes, a 40 yard shot is possible with a compound, but I am sure most here will agree that that still is a hell of a shot to make and most ethical Bowhunters will wait for a closer shot

Quote:

so they can use these high-tech machines. Is it fair to the folks using traditional equipment to suffer shorter seasons and more restrictions

Nothing Elitist about that statement, excuse me for skimming this article.

JZarr, I' m sure you saw davidmil' s quip about how poorly trads shoot at the 3D' s he attends. Not picking on him, particularly, because that' s about the 9,375th time I' ve seen that jab on the forums. It was disrespectful the first time and just because it' s been repeated over and over doesn' t make it any more respectful. And, like I said, it does not mean those same trads can' t make good, clean kills in the woods by keeping their shots within their own limits.

For anyone that can' t figure out the concept, I' ll shoot at a rubber deer from anywhere someone drives a stake in the ground. It' s a flippin' target, fer cryin' out loud! I won' t take a hunting shot with my stickbows beyond 25 yards because that' s how far I' m confident I can put my arrow where it is supposed to be. Most other trads won' t shoot beyond 20. A great many limit themselves to 10 or 15 yards.

The point I' m TRYING to make here is the name calling and gross, innacurate generalizations and misinformation are being fired in both directions, by both parties. If anything, that article should be taken as a warning to all of us. This idiotic garbage has got to cease and we have got to reach an understanding among ourselves.

I still don' t hold out much hope that will happen. Somebody will go digging around and pulling up dirt that was swept away several years ago, just to keep the flames fanned. Just like what happened here on this thread.

I think it' s about time Charlie P explained his motives for posting it.

Very good point Arthur

I thought I already did.

I just attended my first 3-D shoot in about 13 years. I was amazed to see the number of trad shooters that were in attendance. They did not shoot as one group (some did) but were scattered amongst mixed groups of friends with trad guys shooting in the same groups as freestylers. The atmosphere was always friendly and the trad guys made some shots that were plain ass difficult for us guys with compounds. It was a great opportunity for my son (7) to see other types of archery in action. It' s a pleasure to be part of a club, Cook Inlet Archers, that treats all archers with respect and makes room for everyone at the table.

I think this is more about people than it is about archery. If you are a decent person and an ethical hunter I would be proud to to stand and call you my fellow hunter. I don' t care if you hunt with a recurve bow or a spear. However if you are a jerk then I just don' t want to know you. The person that wrote the article posted by Charlie P is obviously more concerned with his own agenda than archery hunting. He is bias, prejudiced, and full of crap. There are people like this all over the world. This jerk just happens to be spouting off about our sport.



You are right Arthur. Probably never going to happen There are idiots all over the world. There are bound to be some that find their way on to this forum.

Here' s the way I look at it. There are good and bad in every group whether your shooting a crossbow,compound, recurve or longbow. In ways it parallels the issue of race. Some people just won' t look past their prejudices.

My son will be old enough to hunt next year, I don' t want to explain to his son why we don' t have any hunting seasons any more.

Every argument I see against crossbows I' ve seen used against compounds, I just thought it would be interesting to see how powple reacted to this atricle.

Charlie, you know why there are two trad organizations? Because one group doesn' t buy into the goods the other group is peddling.

If you really wanted to bring everybody together in a group hug, posting that drivel was NOT the way to do it. You try to find common ground, not go around picking at old wounds.

Arthur P, What a better way to show how bad some is being (Not pointing fingers) then to then to turn the tables on them. Maybe the next someone is going to call someone a slob for shooting a crossbow they' ll remember someone else feels the same about them for shooting a compound. Or if someone wants to feel a high and mighty for shooting a stick they' ll remember that others feel that their just Fred Bear wanna be' s. Maybe that Drivel we' ll make someone think before they bash somone they don' t know.

Arthur, I' ve seen you post here and other sites for a few years now, I respect your opinion and would share my camp fire with you anytime. You' ve sat through the wars on the bowsite it gets old, doesn' t it.

I honestly couldn' t remember the ATHA when I was looking for info.