Getting ready for opening weekend, finishing the last of the chores and will start setting up the pop ups next week.

Problem I’m facing is this:

I fell in love with the nostalgia and luster of traditional archery back in 2020. Fast forward 4 years and after many, many hours of practice and thousands of dollars on bows, arrows, broadheads, etc…I’m still not very consistent. Not as consistent as I would like to be I’ll say. Some days I shoot good, some days I shoot like dog chit. Some 3 shot groups I’ll have all 3 touching in the heart, the next 3 I’ll have 3 scattered all out. 12-15 yards I’m ok, but at 20 groups can open wide. Now i understand 20 is a long shot that I would never take in the field, but still.

I’ve successfully taken two does and a porcupine, but I’ve missed prolly 6 or 7 deer and several hogs. One buck I shot in the shoulder ( I still think I might have killed him) but with no blood, I was unable to recover him.

So I’ve been shooting all summer and still, have not been getting the consistent accuracy I’m wanting. Part of the reason is my right eye isn’t nearly as sharp as it used to be and I believe it could be a contributing factor.

Add to that, I’ve got 5 stand sets, and can only trad hunt out of 3 of them. I cannot for the life of me shoot out of a popup, my depth perception is all jacked up inside the tent. Due to lack of tree cover, I am forced to shoot out of a pop up on a few and ranges will be more along the lines of 20-25 vs. 12-15 yards. With my current set up, I can only reliably hunt out of two stands with a 3rd alternate if the wind is out of the north. With the compound I can hunt 4 and then a 5th if the wind is good.

So, I’m left with 3 options:

1. Go back to the compound, which I have rifle like accuracy and keep practicing with the trad, but shelve it for hunting season.

2. Stick with the trad bow, keep ranges real short and hope I can put an arrow where it needs to be.

3. Alternate between both ( this is my least favorite option )

I have permissions to hunt some other properties that are compound only setups, so I’m gonna have to use it a few times at least.


Really bummed out about this but I am not 100% confident in my ability with the recurve and am tired of missing, and damn sure don’t want to wound anything else.


What would the brain trust do in my shoes?

When you feel good, take the stick. If not, compound. I am not taking the stick back out unless I either already have a couple deer on the ground, or if I come in real late from the road and get a late start.

I am gonna sleep in if I drag in from the road at 4AM, and on those days I’ll probably take the stick and make s leisurely walk out of it, maybe with some stump shooting. Keep a broadhead nocked most of the time in case i get lucky.

But when i have time to get up early with adequate rest, i will take the compound, wear camo, scent control, 0-dark-thirty in the tree stand perfectly still perfectly quiet.

To me archery is hard enough without finding ways to make it harder. Be glad you missed 6 deer and didn't wound all of them. I've never been lucky enough to have clean missed any deer but wounded a few. Stick to your compound for deer hunting.

^^^Pretty much my thoughts. If you missed 6 or 7 deer with a rifle would you keep shooting it at deer without changing something and testing before doing it again?
I’ll give you points for admitting your failures and asking for advice.

Good point, and no, if I missed 6 deer with a rifle I would be finding out why.

I have about 50 to 60% confidence in the recurve. I have 110% confidence With a compound

I'll would go with a 110% confidence

Yup

Yup x 2. I have a traditional that I have been practicing with too. I'd love to shoot a deer with the traditional...but I am in the same boat as you. I'm just not accurate enough. Not even close. Now, with the compound, I'm 100% confident. I haven't even taken the traditional in the field yet. Maybe I should take it pig hunting. I had not thought about that, but thanks for the idea Txtrophy.

breaking my heart that i'm struggling with this as i love the trad bows, they are beautiful, slim and light.

just went and shot 9 arrows and shot like azz.


Wanting to put a deer or two on the ground opening weekend for dried sausage, so looks like the compound it is.

Do what feeds your soul. For me, I know that I am satisfied to take the trad route.. I like to fill my freezer. I am not against taking the Remington if the situation and time frame leave me no choice but that or tag soup.
But, if my single string ability is compromised, due to physical, mental or situational circumstances, the right choice is always the one that is what is fairest to the animal in terms of quick, clean kills and recovery.

What would I do? With season so close I would take a break from the trad and go with the compound. Then after season start over with the trad with a fresh start to work on the problem well before next season.
Back in the 80s when I strictly bow hunted and did not own a deer rifle I developed a target panic issue. I tried shooting very short sessions at close range for a while and it helped, but ultimately what fixed it was walking away from the bow for a few months, then starting over with new gear. The problem never returned.

While i agree with what jas been said above, why is the right eye causing trouble woth the recurve that doesnt cause trouble with the compound? If the peep helps that much, may e you just need your vision checked and wear a contact.

Having said that and from what i remember from shooting trad bow, there are a lot of factors thay can play a role here that have nothing to do with vision….consistency with draw length, release, rest, follow thru, strings, maybe the bow is faulty…so many things that could be affecting your shot with the recurve. I know you know all these things, just trying to figure out if the eye thing is the sole culprit and if so, why not just fix that?

I've already decided to shelve the recurve for the season, maybe shoot it some recreationally but not consider it for hunting this season. My set ups as they are, would only work in 2 of the 5 stands I've got set anyway.

Same here. Been shooting recurve for 10 years but switched back to compound the other year because of the speed. I was tired of the deer moving and getting bad hits on good shots. I've been thinking of taking a doe this year and been shooting my recurve again but I'm high. Good groups but 4" high for some reason. I don't feel comfortable taking it to the woods yet. Last thing I want to do it injure a deer from a bad shot.


But like you every day I change my decision. Keep practicing. keep your range close = that's the fun part of archery.

My first thought after reading what you wrote above, was definitely move to the compound for this season.

But I would take it one step further and book some lessons with a good trad bow instructor. There may be small tweaks that can get you to feeling 80-90% with a trad bow.

I shot traditional with a recurve for a while. It was fun and cool, but I didn't have any consistency in accuracy once I got beyond about 20 yards. I put on a single pin sight on my recurve, and shot much better. It was still "traditional", but with an old single pin sight. I killed many pigs and a few deer with that set up. I tried 3 fingers with a leather shooting glove and also used a release. It was fun. I shot, what my buddy called, "Tree Trunk Arrows" (they were huge heavy arrows). But I knew my range was limited with it and passed on a lot of shots, and wanted to go back to my compound bow. I went back to compound, and won't go back to traditional. It's hard enough with a bow. I wanted longer range with better accuracy, so compound bow it is, for me. (and no, I won't go cross bow! I think it's kind of cheating!!)

after about 3 weeks of not shooting it at all, broke down and shot a few arrows at about 15 yards. Shot fair, not great.

Realistically my range is probably 12-15 yards. Still planning on hunting only with the compound this year, my property isn’t nearly as conducive to a recurve as it is to a compound, a 20 yard shot is very doable, 12 yards not as much….even with feed I spent hours trying to get bucks in close only to get busted on the draw for trivial issues. Did miss my share though.

I’m not giving up on it entirely as I do enjoy shooting it, but it’s not gonna be my main hunting weapon any more.

I do appreciate and admire those that are “trad only” but I also have to realize many of those guys are hunting timber with lock ons and saddles over trails where you can easily set up for a 8-15 yard shot at an unaware deer. I don’t care what people say, a deer eating over a corn feeder is a jumpy critter, they are not relaxed.

Chad, are you saying a crossbow is cheating but not a rifle? Are was that 100% joke?

The reference is that using a crossbow is not really bowhunting.

What about a crossbow in rifle season?

^^ That is correct!! We poke fun at the guys on our lease who cross bow hunt. A bolt at 400+ fps and good out to 80-100 yards is crazy!

It’s the optics that are the rub for me. A crossbow with pin sights is still not a bow, but it’s a lot more difficult to shoot at distance than one with a 4x scope on it.

Feel the same way about muzzle loaders….a bolt action inline shooting a sabot bullet with a 4x12 leupold on top isn’t the intent of the season. Use the inline but lose the scope.

There are a whole lot of folks that can’t shoot well enough to tune their bow, that can’t hit a softball 2 out of 3 past 15 yards on the very best day, that can hit at 40 yards with a $200 crossbow and scope on clearance. I have seen it.

Personally, I don’t give anything up to a crossbow with my compound. If anything, my compound is way better than my crossbow. It is like it was made for me.

Trad gear, I am no good past 15 yards.

I just read an article in Bowhunter magazine about tuning your trad bow. I felt kinda dumb that this never occurred to me. I’ve got a buddy who’s a bit of a trad expert that I’m gonna hit up after season to help me get tuned so that hopefully I can try hunting with my recurve next season.