Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I go traditional[:@] What's up with that. He tells me it makes no sense to shoot traditional and that there is no way possible I could ever be as accurate as he with his compound and that it is just not ethical. He says he will quit hunting with me if I do. Of course he can bite me, I'll go traditional if I so choose but I couldn't believe how strongly he felt about it. We've hunted together for 15 years. Is this a popular mindset for compound shooters?

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I would think, that you will not go to the woods until you are sure of your abilities. He is just trying to influence your decision. He will still hunt with you he is just playing the reverse psychology card. Good hunting buds are hard to find.

Practice, demonstrate your abilities to him, and then go huntin like usual.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Sounds like your friend just doesn't know any good traditional shooters. There are some really good traditional shooters out there. Sounds like a challenge for you to prove him wrong! :D

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I was once in a bear camp with several guys from around the country. All compounds except for one guy. The traditional guy could out shoot ALL the compound guys up to about 35-40yds. I'm telling you he could bust nocks at 35 and under. He also had a photo album full of big game trophies to back it up.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Maybe a twinge of jealousy because he is afraid of the committment it takes to go traditional. Who knows though? Some people are just afraid of change. Show him just how good you are and that will be proof enough..

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Not at all[:'(] I actually hope to go traditional some day when I've got more time to devote to it. Right now I don't think it would be ethical for me to switch to traditional gear and hit the woods. If you switch and become proficient there is nothing wrong with traditional gear. The Native Americans hunted with this gear for thousands of years and were very sucessful(they survived).

If you switch to traditional gear and are proficient you can hunt with me anyday! It's a bit of a drive but you're more then welcome to if you wish:)

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I shoot both and this is what I would do. Where do you hunt? If it is his hunting grounds, and you really like the area/areas, then take your compound for those particular outings. If you hunt in your hunting grounds, or public land then let him know that it is his choice not to hunt with you and emphesis that you are doing nothing illegal and you plan on using the same ethics as you always would. Try to assure him that the bow you choose if only your choice of weapon and is a piece of your equipment, and it has nothing to do with the hunter traits inside of you. I think your friend focuses too much on equipment that he prefers.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I also hope to someday go traditional someday. I just hate that a tradition a bow cost the same or more than a top end compound!![&:]

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

No! At least not for me. I don`t think after 15. yrs of hunting together and being friends with someone that he would just stop hunting with you just becouse of what kind of bow you use? If he does he is in bad shape. I would also like to hunt with triditional equipment someday. But no this is not the normal mind set of any bowhunter! I would not think so anyways[:'(]

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I'm ready to switch and will as soons as buying the new bow gets to top priorty

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

sounds kinda weird to me! I have been hunting with my uncle for 15yrs now and if we say something like that i would have to smak him in back of the head and tell him to snap out of it![&:]

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Wolfen....he's just flat scared thats all. He don't want you to show him up with a trad bow... [8D]

LOL .... I say PUT IT ON HIM :D:D:D

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

As long as you are practiced enough and are confident you can kill a deer, I don't see why your buddy would have a problem. Makes no sense to me. I want to reach a time where I'll pick up the recurve to hunt with again. I just don't currently have enough time right now, but I will at some time in my hunting future.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I see so many comments here about how people do not have time to shoot a recurve/longbow and I just want to make a comment which is not ill intended at all. First, think about it, you will take away pretty much all of the time that is spent "tinkering" with your setup if you move to traditional, this time could be spent practicing. Second, you will find that practice sessions are not quite as long with traditional mainly because you do not aim as long. Third, I would go out on a limb and say that a person with consistant practice session of every other day shooting maybe 3 dozen arrows a session, could be pretty accurate to about 20 yards in maybe 4 months or so as long a consistant quality practice sessions are followed. In other words, I don't think it is as bad as it seems.

I also noticed a comment about the price of traditional bows. And yes they can cost as much as a compound, even more. I know I paid over $500 for my last longbow and the same bow is going for 700 now. I could have sold my bow for a few hundred more then I paid for it the day after I received it and still can. But, the bow is made directly for me with the wood that I picked out, my specific draw length of 31" ,the poundage, and the length. The boyer that I bought it from is in high demand right now and isn't even taking orders at this time. He makes everything from start to finish on the bow. But these are the top of the line bows. For someone starting out, I would suggest something used. Usually about $100-150 could get you started until you know for sure if you like it or not.

Here is a picture of my OL Adcock longbow.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

"hard to find hunting buddies..."
Yeah, I'm 17 and still haven't found one... my last one stole my g/f behind my back, so now I'm hunting by myself...
As for the tradtional hunter response, I give a lotta respect to those who can take any animal with the traditional equipment, because they are the ones really who started this bow thing, not some cavemen with hyped up Mathews compounds...:D

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I have made cracks about that very thing on this website before, on a few ocasions over the years (traditional not being ethical). I am always using it as a what if type thing and going to the extremes of an attitude someone may have. Usually in reply to someone that has problems with things getting to advanced. I have never implied that is my personal feelings, just that some may see it that way.

I would like to get a recurve bow as well some day. I doubt I will ever hunt with it, but I would like to learn to shoot one just the same. I have seen some pretty amazing things done with traditional equipment and instinctive shooting. I would assume it takes LOTS of practice, and maybe even some training to get it right. I have tried it a few times and couldn't hit a the broad side of a barn, from inside the barn! I just flat out suck, but I am sure I could learn if I messed with it enough.

I think your buddy has probably tried it as well and found out how hard it is and thinks it would be near impossible to hunt that way. I think if you got proficient enough at it and could prove to him you were good enough he might change his mind. If not, I don't know what to tell you, maybe he isn't as good of a friend as you think. Unless he knows you well enough to know that you don't have the commitment to do it right or something?

I know if I told my hunting buddies I wanted to try and hunt with traditional equipment they would not chastize me for it. They might look at me a bit odd because it's against my personal nature, but they would back me up on it. Probably even offer to loan me a bow or something and help me get started. They know that I would spend hours a day every chance I got practicing and researching my new toy. That's just the way I am. And that I wouldn't even consider hunting with it unless I was really confident using it.

Of course I wouldn't catch any grief if I decieded to use a crossbow either. I might get ribbed a little, but no one would refuse to hunt with me.

Hunting is a very individual endeavor, with room for many different types of people. If it's legal and your profecient with it, use what ever weapon makes it most enjoyable for you. If you feel your hunting skills are good enough that you want to make it all that much more challenging, go traditional. You will probably love it. Just make sure you know what you are doing before step into the woods with it. I can't imagine anyone going to traditional that would not do that though.

Good luck,
Paul

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Wolfen,

I would say that you should take this pretty serious. I think you are pretty lucky that you found someone willing to put up with your crap for a season much less 15 years;):D

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

One of the guy's I hunt and fish with is strictly a Trad bow hunter. Him and his son both have taken pheasant on the wing with thier trad bows. I would put him up against any compound shooter out to 30yds.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Definately would hunt with you if you went traditional. Might give it a second thought if you picked up a gun or a crossbow though. I rib all my gun hunting buddies. Really I have nothing against gun hunting I just prefer to bow hunt only. Reason I try to get them to drop the guns is I believe if someone puts a serious effort into becoming a bow hunter they will no longer have a desire to pick up the rifle again. They get tired of my deer scoring formula for rifle killed deer. I automatically deduct 30 inches off the net score if it is taken with a rifle. lol

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

No way!! I think it is great you are trying to go back to the old ways. If you practice enough, you will be just as proficient.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

Thanks for the replies fellas! My buddy is the type of guy who tends to think his way is the only or best way of doing things. I'm grateful to him for in the beginning it was him who helped me with my very first bow, in fact, he sold it to me. He introduced me to the awesome sport and passion of bowhunting and I'll never forget that. It's apparent that he likes for me to lean on him for advice and as I have evolved over the years and broken away from his manner or approach to bowhunting I have received criticism from him and in this case, harsh criticism. Not to be boastful but if you add it all up, over the years I've put up better numbers than he and I think he resents that as well. I think it would gnaw at his guts for eternity if I were able to bag a monster with traditional equipment.

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

I think that it is great that you want to try something new. I will someday also try to use traditional equipment, but that day is not here.

My personal opinion...If he don't want to support your decision, it is time to find a buddy that will. A true friend, hunting partner, whatever it is you would like to call him would support your personal growth of any kind. Personally, my hunting buddy wouldn't care at all. More than likely he would find his own bow so we could have at it together and see who can master it first. But that is just how we are...always got to one up the other:D

Now if you decided to only use a gun only to hunt, than that would be a different story all togther.;)

RE: Buddy says he will quit hunting with me if....
 

What kind of pal is that. Can't believe someone you've know for so long would even say something like that. Now if you told him you were going to do some poaching or something like that than I can see it, but otherwise its crazy. In my opinion, however, bowhunting is much more fun on your own.