towerrat164

I have just finished reading my first Traditional Bowhunter magazine and I must admit it is way ahead of the other so call "archery magazines". I found that the articles were enjoyable to read and the tips or technical information was top notch. Too many of the other mags focus on TROPHY hunting in conditions only those with deep pockets can hunt. I myself grew up in rural Michigan with big dreams of hunting rabbits after school, deer on weekends in the fall on my grandfathers farm, and the ultra special family bear hunt on paper company lands around Newberry and Seney Michigan. The fact is these are the types of articles I found more of in Traditional Bowhunter than in the other archery mags. My hat is off the the following authors for their articles:
You are what you hunt. E. Donnall Thomas, jr.
Cottontails vs. whitetails. Bruce Garahan
Tips from the old timer. Dennis Kamstra
I understand that we should not believe everything written but at least these gentlemen write articles that relate to my childhood dreams (childhood being long ago). Can you imagine a ultra fast compound bow shooter filming a show about cottontails?
Another tid bit that I found refreshing was a good many of the article authors mention sticking to their personal limitations in regard to distance between themselves and the game they hunted. Michigan bowhunter paper used to print a phrase that went something like: It is not how far away you can shoot an animal, it is how close you can get...
This forum is a great tool and I hope to use it more in the future.
God blessings to all of you and Merry Christmas.
Vern
"shoot straight, aim well,
and tell tall tales to good
friends." vcp

Arthur P

I've been reading TBM ever since it first hit the market. In some ways, it's not as good now as it used to be. In other ways, it's even better. Still a great archery magazine.

Another you might find interesting is Primitive Archer magazine. Read a few of those and you'll start looking at trees in an entirely different light.

My favorite saying that is akin to the phrase you quoted goes something like:

Archery is the art of seeing how far you can get from something and still be able to hit it. Bowhunting is the art of getting close enough that you can't miss.

Bill Curlis

I've been reading TBM from the start and agree that it is a very good magazine. Too bad there aren't a few more like it. Some of the other mag. are starting to include a little more traditional stuff.

Lilhunter

I am with Arthur on this one. I havent been reading since it started but do have 2 complete sets of TBM, also a complete set of primitive archer mag....

The TB mags have been slowly deteriating in content. Some great writers, still are there and its about all I read anymore. That and flip through the adds and whatever catches my eye. Other then that I keep the subscription to fill out my tbm collection. Sure wish IA or L&R was still around!!!

Coop

Yeah Instinctive Archer and Longbow's and Recurve's were both great.

CT Bowhunter

Just got my first copy yesterday. I like it. I dropped most of the other bow mags I was getting. Got tired of product articles that were nothing more than a rehash of the vendor ads or the same article written during the same month every year with different pictures. One that I can't forget is using a bike to access areas. Seems to always be in the same month issue every year. Right, how do you carry a deer out on a bike? I'm new to traditional so this mag is refreshing. Hope it stays that way!