Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Traditional or Compound, and why

When I am out for meat, I take the compound. It gets the job done better. For fun, the recurve. I have found I can miss with both! Moving targets are pretty iffy with a bow. A lot can happen during flight time. Fortunately, where I hunt, there are enough opportunities, that I don't have to take a crap shot.

i got bored with a compound, and picked up a Predator recurve. I enjoy shooting the recurve much more than I ever enjoyed the compound. too many doodads on compounds and for me simpler is better...

i have always been interested in finger shooting a Reflex caribou, setting it up with a single pin and perhaps a whisker biscuit... but it appears that Reflex is being discontinued, and the only compound i would have an interest in would be a finger shooter.

it never fails to amaze me when i pick up a magazine and read the latest bow reviews,,, if you are a compound shooter they make your bow seem inadequate as soon as the new models are released. not so the traditional bow. slower pace. works for me.

I hunt mostly with a compound, mainly due to its exceptional accuracy with a minimum amount of practice. Just being honest.
I own Osage self bows, that I made and laminate recurves. The true joy of shooting is with the recurve. I am always battling between the two.
If you have ever questioned the recurve or long bow, read Saxton Pope, Maurice and Will Compton's books. It is amazing what those guys have done. I must not leave out two other greats, Howard Hill and Fred Bear....enough said by me!

I love watching Howard Hill videos, though they are about x10 more corny than Andy of Mayberry (a very cool show btw,
Howard was said to have used a 110 lb bow on dangerous african game, I'm still working on #70
I hear Fred was also a champion shooter, though I have never seen a good video of his shooting prowess

OPPS..I forgot Art Young, one of the Masters.

The Bowyer's Bible, volume 1,2 & 3 are worth reading if your into Traditional styles.

i've hunted with recurves and longbows since 1970. tried a compound for 2 years but just couldn't get used to it so went back to trad. my elk hunting partner shoots wheels and we have hunted together for 12 years. he does his thing and i do mine. we both kill elk. personally, i don't care what someone is shooting, as long as he practices as required for the weapon he uses. i'm just glad to see people buying a hunting license each year. as a group, we hunters need to accept our equipment differences and stick together.

After reading Fred Bear's Field notes, I'm convinced he would be shooting a compound if he were hunting today. Why, well each time they made a trip to Alaska or where ever, he brought a load of the latest and greatest gear and gadgets. Fancy new recurves, fiberglass arrows, steel broadheads, etc. I see guys reference Fred and his compadre's all the time and I just think he was a bowhunter and wanted to use what gave him the best chance to harvest an animal. You don't have to read very far into that book to learn that they were not afraid to fling arrows either. 70yard shots were not uncommon - unethical maybe.

i agree that you should choose what works for you, and be considerate of the choices of others. you should experience joy when shooting a bow, and you must also have the skill to make a clean, ethical kill. for me with a recurve, that means keeping the shot on a whitetail to within 20 yards. with my compound, i was confident out to 30 yards, but there was no joy in shooting it. i opine that a recurve is a much better choice in low-light conditions, as i can still shoot my recurve in light conditions where i could not see my pins on a compound. simpler is better for me.

My heart is with my long bow, a joy to shoot.
But I can't shoot it often enough (with cranky elbows and shoulders) to be good enough to shoot at game.
Just me I hope.
The compound it a machine I am glad to have that keeps me up close to the game .

I shoot recurves because I enjoy them. I started with a Bear Alaskan that was my Dad's first bow. I like the simplicity of it, I don't have to worry about this or that getting loose or falling off, I only carry an extra string that has been shot in. To do a stick bow right you have to be dedicated to practice and to me the practice is fun.

Fred Bear played with the compound and had promo pics taken with them but stilled used the Kodiak takedown for hunting.

Use what you like they both work in capable hands.

Just started practising with my 70 lb Damon Howatt Hunter (took me 7 yrs to find another one), suprising how much difference 10 lbs pull makes, definitely something to be worked up to gradually, esp. on the fingers and forearm

I started with a Recurve and took my first bucks with it. Like most, I switched to a compund because I believe it gave me an advantage.

At this stage of my life, I would love to get another recurve but I just don't have the time to put in getting good with one all over again plus, my shoulder has seen better days...

Jeez Ollie... I didn't know you were a recurve shooter too?

To the rest of the group, I've never felt handicapped shooting a recurve. I'm a Bowhunter, not an Archer. And I used to shoot compound too, with a tab and no sight-pins.

I guess if you had to categorize me, you'd call me a "Barebow shooter"

I'm a Bowhunter, not an Archer.........what does that mean?

Recurve for me. I started in my early teens with a brand spanking new Golden Eagle compound and used it for years. In my early twenties a buddy handed me a 70# Brackenbury and I never looked back. For me I appreciate the light weight, simplicity and instinctive shooting. If that bull is at 40 yds. I do my best to close the distance. If I can't I bid him good day and move on. No regrets. Speaking of regrets...I wish I still had that Brackenbury.

This is my choice and if someone else chooses different equipment or technique then more power to them. My way is my way and your way is yours and to me neither is better or worse than the other.

I love the hunt too much to concern myself with the goings on of another camp.

I grew up shooting a bear deerslayer since 1965, but for the last 25 years or so have been shooting long bows.
Tried the cmpound tournament thing, hated it - kept screwing with my instinctive shooting.
I consider mys4lf a traditional archer.
haven't shot a tournament in years, doesn't crank my tractor, but what I do like is roving , and hunting with the bow.
Cat

My preferences:
recurves: Beautiful and effective, but not for me.
compounds: I prefer these from stands and on evening hunts in decent weather.
crossbow: I like mine on morning hunts and when hunting from the ground. Also love them in bad/cold weather and late season.