Got really into the trad bow thing a few years ago. Had some success but quite a bit of frustration. Can't seem to get ( for me ) consistent with it. Some days I shoot great, others I shook ok, then others I just shoot like arse.

Haven't shot my compound since last March, save for 1 shot in November, and after a frustrating session with the recurve, decided to break it out and the first 3 arrows all touched each other at 35 yards.

I like the challenge of trad archery but the setups have to be perfect to get a shot, can't use it out of a pop up blind and can't really get consistent past about 15 yards with any regularity.

Yes. About 30 years ago I started with a compound, then put it up for a long time. Then I started shooting traditional, then I bought another compound. I've killed a few pigs with a trad bow but do most of my hunting with a compound, when I feel like bow hunting anymore. I shoot them interchangeably now and just shoot what I feel like shooting at that time. Although a lot of people want to make it seem like it, you don't have to choose sides in which Bow you like the most LOL

I started on a trad and recurve and switch to a compound after about 30 years. I still have issues shooting my compound like a trad bow. Every once in a while I'll let go of the release. Mostly happens when I'm stressed about target panic not letting me get on target. I tend to rush shots. It's been about 7 years. I don't know if I will ever get competition proficient with a compound. It's a mental thing and usually happens during competitions. When hunting I've not had any issues shooting either. Oddly, I just don't get as nervous hunting as I do in competition.

Bowhunting is Bowhunting. Shooting a deer with a compound is not something to be ashamed of. The only one who is judging you will be you.
Now, if you use a crossbow, we won't consider it a bowkill, but it will still eat good.

Over the 40 plus years of bow hunting. Started with recurve and got a couple deer, switched to compound for years and I guess getting older felt the urge to shoot recures again so bought one and have hunted with it some. Missed 2 years with shoulder problems, wasn't going to miss a third that next year Texas started allowing the crossbows so bought one. Hunted with it then got to missing shooting the recurves so got another one and started hunting. Which goes hunting depends on mood and which stand I will be hunting that day as well as how.

i do not bow hunt as much as I did years ago but still do some and like to shoot. Missed the entire season last year with shoulder surgery but will be back at it this year.

quote=passthru]Bowhunting is Bowhunting. Shooting a deer with a compound is not something to be ashamed of. The only one who is judging you will be you.
Now, if you use a crossbow, we won't consider it a bowkill, but it will still eat good.[/quote]


I’m not ashamed of a compound kill, it’s more of a frustration that I haven’t mastered this thing yet.

I compare compound hunting to trad hunting like fishing with a spinning reel vs. a fly rod. Completely different disciplines.

Hunting with a crossbow is like fishing with a cast net.

I started compound, hunted three years before i killed a fawn. Then I switched to trad and refused to use anything else, barely hunted the rest of the season anyway.

Then I picked up a crossbow. Then I started shooting the compound again.

I will probably use the crossbow, shotgun, and rifle this year. I am not worried about the equipment used at this point. What matters to me is getting my family more involved in things outdoors, and putting meat in the freezer.

Sure, I prefer the trad bow. Doesn’t matter. You won’t hear any disparaging remarks about equipment used in my household and especially if it involves my kids. Nothing but high 5’s and hugs, and good food and memories.

I’m not ashamed of a compound kill, it’s more of a frustration that I haven’t mastered this thing yet.

I compare compound hunting to trad hunting like fishing with a spinning reel vs. a fly rod. Completely different disciplines.

Hunting with a crossbow is like fishing with a cast net. [/quote]
Honestly, thr minute I think I've hot the hang of it, I have a practice session like yesterday evening and I get humbled.. we all have those days. But making the more humane choice for hunting is something I respect.
I've sat in a blind many times never intending to pick up my bow because in a prehunt practice I just couldn't zero in. Less so now that I gap shoot, but still, some days. . .

Switched bows and started shooting my 57# bow better than the 53#.

2/3rds of it is, I am overthinking it.

That said, I do enjoy shooting the compound and am going to start shooting it more instead of trying to live up to some noble idea that the Trad way is the only way.

I hunted in high school with a compound (early mid 80's) back home in Tennessee. An aspiring career as a professional bass angler kept me out of the woods my senior year until about 23 years old. Gave it up to take care of my growing family and got back into hunting. Bought another compound and killed 2 deer my first year hunting here in Tx. Went back home to visit my dad and help my brother on a job and was standing in line at an old country store with a 12 pack in my arms after working all day with him when I spotted a magazine. Primitive Archer magazine. I bought it, came back to Tx and immediately went to making selfbows out of Bois D ark wood. Bought wooden dowels for my arrows, homemade plains quiver....the hole enchilada. Killed elk, caribou, deer, hogs and various small game over the next 15 years. Decided it was too much work and got tired of passing up elk at 30 yards so I went traditional longbow for about 10 years. Still passing up elk and deer at longer ranges so I bought meselfs a compound in 2015 and still shooting it today.

It was fun, VERY satisfying but it is not just a casual thing shooting primitive, you gotta work year around with it and pass up shots that make you want to kick yourself in the arse. I'd have a couple beautiful 6x6 and 5x5 elk on my wall if I had been shooting a compound....but no regrets

I've hunted compound for 25ish years. I've got a long bow that I have had dreams of hunting with, but haven't been able to get proficient enough with it to confidently hunt with. Even if I did get proficient, I'd probably make 1 kill just to say I did, then switch back to compound. I love my compound bows.

I started bowhunting as a teen in the late 90’s but never got serious about it and gave it up around 01’. I picked it back up again in earnest in 2010. Had an initial learning curve but a year or two in I really got the hang of it and began to rack up some kills.

In 2021 I was watching an episode of “Alone” and saw the one where the guy kills a muskox with a recurve. That got the ball rolling and I dove in with both feet; ordering bows, arrows, reading Traditional Bowhunter magazine, listening to podcasts, you name it. I became obsessed with killing animals with a recurve. Had some good misses but a few hunts in finally got one on the ground, a doe. Had some more misses and the next year I was able to get another doe on the ground. The last two years I had more misses and figured out I can’t shoot out of an enclosed blind so I switched my set ups to tripods.

Spent two hours in a stand last year trying to get a shot at a mature buck only to have him bust me when I was drawing back.

I love the simplicity and process of shooting trad, I hate the arrow tuning process. Trying to stay consistent is challenging.

It does not help that my part of Texas isn’t very conducive to Tree stand hunting, which forces me to tripods or pop ups ( which I struggle shooting out of with a recurve)

My first experience with archery was in the boy scouts with a fiberglass 20# recurve, and I was hooked. I shot recurves for about 5 years exclusively, then Rambo came out, and I got my first compound bow for my 16th birthday a Bear whitetail hunter II. I hunted that sucker hard, and slowly started acquiring better and newer equipment. Then about 20 years or so ago, I had the epiphany that I was buying a new bow and all the furniture every 3 years or so, and decided that I didn't need a new compound bow. What I needed was a new challenge, so I bought a recurve Bear Kodiak and setup and started shooting it, and I was terrible. The first thing I learned that a 50# recurve and a 50 # compound are two very different animals, so I sold that one for a non brand takedown recurve with different limbs for different draw weight and as I mastered one set of limbs I moved up to the next. I still hunt deer with a compound, but most of all the rest of the time (hogs, javelina, small game), Iuse the recurve with the adjustable limbs.

I started with a Bear recurve, went to compounds and now am playing with a recurve.

ME! Compound bow for years then switched to Trad recurve for like 10years. Loved the simplicity and challenge. Switched back to compound the other year since didn't like the slow Trad arrows. Couple of deer turned at shot and even w/ good shot still had bad hits. Now my eyes are bothering me making it hard to focus on target and pins so I'm thinking of going back to Trad. It's all fun!

All I can think about right now is that compound bow pushing that big 3 blade grim reaper clean through. The itch has returned. I think it’s gonna be a compound bow year for me. Plus I just bought a new house with a small piece of property and I got does bedding right behind my house. I am so excited.