AK

I started off shooting compounds. I enjoyed shooting them, but over the years it seemed the more advanced the bow, the more crap went wrong with them and the more time I had to spend with the thing in the bow press. I also killed my share of deer with them, but always felt like something was missing a little, like I was sort of cheating myself out of an adventure. I admired the rare fellows I would see at our club shooting recurves, and finally decided to simplify life and take on a bigger challenge. If guys were able to kill deer with longbow and recurves 50, 500, 5000 years ago, why couldn't I? I bought a longbow and fell in love. A year later I began making my own selfbacked wooden bows. I enjoy the sense of self-sufficiency that comes with making most of my own equipment, and get a charge out of taking game with bows I've poured my heart into. Despite the limitations of shot distances and the fact that I now hunt mostly from the ground, my bowhunting success over the last 3 years of hunting with selfbows has actually improved quite a bit over what I was doing with compounds. When I set off into the woods with a bent stick and wooden arrows, I carry a comfort and confidence that I'm playing on the deer's level and that anything I choose to shoot will fall quickly to my arrow. Feels good.

CargoF16

Wow. AK that is the most moving testimony I've read on this board. You put it all together.



Cargo

Jerry/Pa

Vudo, I don't know if I can explain it any better the some of the other post but here is my 2 cents worth. I started shooting bows with the old Bear recurves in the mid 70's. Even then I just didn't get the mystic feeling some guys get when shooting trad. equip. So my bowhunting droped off for about 10 years. Then in 1990 some of my priorities changed and found myself looking to spend more time inthe woods. I picked up my first compound. Within two years I was out of controll. I couldn't get enough of it. I was thinking archery/bowhunting 24/7. I was shooting pretty good with a compound with all the gagets. A guy was talking about trad. shooting and "the arch of the arrow". So because I had such an obcession for the sport I went out a pick-up a Bighorn recurve. I was putting as much time and effort into shooting instintively as I had with the compound. Having fun and shooting ok but not getting the same feeling from it as I did with my compound. After a couple of years I pick-up my compound again and that was it. That recurve is still hanging on my wall. That was about 5-6 years ago and have never looked back. I found that I love the techie part of this sport. Shooting as many new bows as possible every year. always interested in the new material and advancement that come out every year. I tinker way more the I should. Trying different set-ups. Always feeling I can shoot tighter grougs. I started shooting competively a couple years ago and strive each year to better many standings and scores. That's what makes this sport so great. You can go as far with it as you please. When shooting 3-D and competively I shoot in the Bowhunters class so I put a limit to the gagets I use. While hunting I use the P&Y guide lines for limitations on equipment. Like you said this is a great sport and your equip. choose is personal. JERRY

vudoochylde

Thanks to all that have replied so far. The compound bow I can understand, since I actually like to shoot both. Archery seems to parallel another of my obsessions, guitar. Some guys want all the latest technology, while others just go straight thru the amp with maybe 1 or 2 pedals. I think it's great that there's such a variety available for people interested in archery or music. I guess part of me is just curious as to what others were shooting. Having grown up in Mich, I was really lucky to meet and talk to the great Fred Bear and he helped me fine tune my shooting. Certain things I agree with and see the need for, others just aren't for me, this is were the real beauty of archery comes in. It's all up to the individual.

Thanks for all the replies, good shooting,

Vudoochylde

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vudoochylde

JDoyle,
Yes I do understand progress, as a field service technician for a software development company I see it everyday. Maybe that's why I don't to go with all the bells and whistles when it comes to archery and bowhunting. I feel the same way about my guitar too !! I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just not for me in some aspects of my hobbies. Certain aspects I like and use, others I don't. That's what I like about both archery and guitar, I can go as high or low tech as I want.

I'll bet the kerosene guitar gave you the feeling of being down at the juke joint and made you play better<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>.

Have a good one,

Vudoochylde

An Archer likes to see how far he can shoot his arrow. A Bowhunter likes to see how close he can get before he has to shoot his.

BowTech_Shooter

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
OH BOY&gt;&gt;&gt; Well alot of things have changed... I started shooting a bow in 1970... is that old school ??? I dont know. I started with a recurve no sights fingers... and now I shoot one of the fastest and most advanced bows on the market with all the very best toys.
IN 1980 I got a compound bow and was able to break ballons at 15 yards and thought that was great... Well then I went to shoot in Ohio about 40 mins. from my house, called the Ravenna arsanal shoot. You had to shoot 100 points to get into a drawing so you might be drawn to hunt there. This is where the famed Hole in the horn buck came from..Well I made that 100 points but I'll tell you I seen some equipment there.. Those people were shooting around 900-1000 points.. Something I was doing was not as good as they were..I went to a local pro shop bought a better bow,got alot of pratice in and the next year I shot around 600.. Still fingers but I had sights now.. I was alot better.
I am not saying that alot of equipment will make you a better shot.
I am going to suggest that you go to a pro shop, that has indoor or outdoor leagues. Watch some of the better shooters. Look at the equipment they are using. ask them questions why they use that stuff.
In those leagues you will find all sorts of shooting forms--fingers--release--recurve--compound--and so on..
You need to ask yourself ..... how good do I want to be..
If your answer is the BEST I can be. Then the modern archer needs STUFF
I hope this helps
By the way at that Ravenna shoot, if you were in the top five archers you were automaticly able to hunt.. It took a couple of years but I was one of those top five.. and now over 20 years later I still shoot alot of STUFF and love every min.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>


FLETCHER, I used to shoot in the Ravenna shoot. I think my first time was in 1978 or 79... Holy crap am I that old?...LOL...
I was shooting a Bear Black Bear II with a stick on Bear rest, fingers and no sights and Easton Gamegetter arrows...

Ahh, the fond memories... I would always get my 100 pts. to qualify but barely...LOL...

I got drawn to the hunt once but I didn't go because I was told the club memebers used the people that got drawn as dogs to push the deer to them...

Let's see how does my equipment compare now...I still shoot Easton arrows...A bit more expensive that GG shafts since I'm shooting A/C/C's and soon to start shooting A/C/C Hyperspeeds... Other than that my equipment is not at all the same as it was then...<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Sitter

V
Like you said the choice is what makes this sport great. Like alot of people, I had a slow movement to the modern decked out bow. I started shooting with a bear kodiak and a glove, later moved to a compound, flipper rest, no peep and no sights. next bow was a faster compound, same setup. Fianlly got talked into a release, sights, and a peep. 29 yrs after I shot my first bow, Im all decked out, 2002 bow 295fps ect.. But Im glad I started where I did.

nodose

first off fletcher and bow tech...where are you in ohio? im also around 40 mins from ravenna arsanal. so we have to be in eachothers neck of the woods.
now i started shooting in the late 60's w/a recurve like the rest of the &quot;old school'ers&quot;. i think the best way that i can explain my transformation to modern day equipment is simply that i changed w/the times. i use to shoot alot of field and hunter spot rounds and as the times changed, the equipment got more advanced and the more everyone seemed to change w/it. the competition dropped way off in the bare-bow class, so in order to run up against any competition i pretty much had to go where the people were at. i will say this that the first compound bow that i owned my dad and i made it from scratch....so i didn't have all the bells and whistles on it. but eventually i came of age and broke down and bought a manufactured bow and decked it out. wow big difference! so i would say that circumstances have caused me to keep up w/tech and the times. i liken it to getting power everything on a vehicle verses manual everything....what would we do w/o our power steering or better yet what would we do w/o indoor plumbing...LOL



Edited by - nodose on 12/30/2002 21:59:25

Sagittarius

Pat,

Are you talking about Ravenna Ohio ?
Isn't that the area where the &quot;Hole in the Horn&quot; buck was found dead ?
Greatest Whitetail that ever lived!


Sag.