Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Starting Traditional

First you will need a bow and a set of arrows. IMO Dan Toelke makes the best long bows check his website out or even better give him a call.

Second you need to shoot a LOT of arrows, not all at once. Start off shooting 25 to 30 arrows a day every day if you can. Build up from there. Reading is good, lessons are better.

I assume you have your bow hunting safety certificate, if not you will most likely need to get it. That will get you started.

Archery-How far you can be from your target and still hit it.
Bowhunting-How close you can be before you shoot.

I wasn't a very successful bowhunter until my hunting ability caught up with my shooting ability.

Traditional archery isn't a distance game.

Bottom line is you are not going to become proficient if you don't shoot regularly.

Compound archery sure you can get by without much practice. You have sights, most shoot a release, and a peep doesn't hurt either. Totally different game.

They needn't be mutually exclusive. Both Fred Bear and Howard Hill, two of the greatest bow hunters to ever pull a string, were both top contenders in target archery. Both regularly killed deer at ranges that today we would consider unethical. Both would laugh at our self imposed limits today. The truth is more likely that so few hunters today can actually shoot that we have to be close.

It's a bad attitude to have that says, I'm a hunter, not a target archer, so there's no need for me to learn anything from them. Many a hunter could learn to be a better shot by coaching from a top target archer and diligently employing that advice. Just shooting a lot is no answer. Many times all it will accomplish is to ingrain bad habits that are a detriment to good shooting.

R H Clark correct.

I also agree with your last statement, "just shooting a lot is no answer". Lessons and coaching are mandatory if you want to reach your full potential.

However a lot of archer's hunters or target shooters become "good enough" with just shooting a lot of arrows. What "good enough" is will vary depending on who you ask.

There is a guy on one of my target leagues that is averaging high 290's out of 300. He punches his release, he knows when that arrow is release every time. But he built on the bad habit and made it work for him. Has he reached his potential, no but he is happy with his scores.

Viper 'might' have tried to hunt deer a couple times in the early 70s. Might.

I think he knows alot about bare bow target archery. He's an indoor 20 yard 300 NFAA type archer. Nothing wrong with that, except that it's a very different sport for all practical purposes.

His idea of instinctive shooting is completely wrong. He thinks it's just 'not using a sight'. He advocates target weight bows and holding at draw for up to 10 seconds, which is impractical for the hunting archer. He's a gapper using light bows, inside, on a 20 yard line or an Olympic fully decked out fita rig type coach. Nothing wrong with that either. He knows aluminum arrows and tuning, yep.

Give me Asbell any day.

When Field Rounds were popular, pre compound there were a lot more good shooters. Back then when you killed a deer at 60yds or running it was a good shot.

I went to compounds for many yrs and one day went to a 3D shoot with my compound. First shoot I'd been to of any kind in many yrs. It was around the time when the Traditional term for shooting stick bows just started and people who had been weened on compounds were taking up long, longbows and recurves to join up with the trad crowd. There were quiet a few of them shooting in this shoot.

I never heard so much clanging and banging as the shafts bounced off the trees. It surprised me because I'd shot a lot of Field Round yrs before and believe me back before compounds there were a lot of very good shooters...that's all we had were stickbows and you got everything you could out of them.

I'm not putting anybody down, but I think many today just don't have high expectations with stick bows and kinda use that as an excuse to not be embarrassed for shooting bad like most would be pre compounds. Therefore don't push themselves to be a really good shot at farther than 20yds or so.

Not hard to look good teaching a class when all the shooting demonstrations you do are inside a tent at about 12 feet.

I don't think Fred has all of the answers either, but he sure resonates with me.

Viper never won a single thing in archery....Fred has a warehouse full of trophy heads.

Fred is surly a great hunter or is able to hunt some great places, or possibly a little of both. Don't know a thing about Viper except a good friend of mine can't stand him. Fred probably has a lot of good information, but everyone that I've ever personally seen who tried to emulate him couldn't shoot and looked like they were about to take a crap trying. I never subscribed to, and find some humor in his squat and twist stance.

My best advice is to find people who can shoot. Watch them shoot to make sure. Listen to their advice. Then be smart enough to eat the hay and spit out the sticks.

I agree.

No, they are not mutually exclusive, but very different mentalities.

The ethics have changed quite a bit from the old field archery/hunting mentality. But some of the compound boys have picked up on it quite successfully lately (up to 100 yards). In the old days they were just trying to prove the equipment could kill animals. Howard Hill and Fred Bear were exceptional, and each had their own style. Subsequently, should not be compared to John Q Public.

Learn the mechanics of shooting a bow, have fun and take it to whatever level you want. If your concerned about bowhunting success, becoming a better bowhunter will help you, not striving to be the best target archer. I know guys that consistently place in top five at state and couldn't find themselves out of wet paperbag when bowhunting. Likewise I know some guys that are consistently successful in the field and can't hit the broad side of barn. I know some who are good at both, exceptions to norm for sure.

I am not an exceptional in any way. I simply love to bowhunt and shoot bows. I practice my shooting from all sorts of hunting positions. My style of hunting does not always allow for perfect target archery stance. I bowhunt to get close, that is the thrill/challenge for me.

CRS: "Howard Hill and Fred Bear were exceptional, and each had their own style. Subsequently, should not be compared to John Q Public."

But John Q Public could learn something from both. Both Fred & Howard were very good target archers also. The challenge that I see so much these days are the trad archers trying only to be one or the other. And really looking at target archery more than the hunter aspect...ie. low poundage's. I had the fortunate opportunity to shoot with Fred Bear in Upstate New York around '84 maybe '85. He was well into his late 60's early 70's. Even shooting a field match he shot a 60# bow. He was about as big around as a fence post couldn't walk very fast but made some very nice shots & told some wonderful stories.

But these men were the excepts, able to make long shoots on game when needed, and both were exceptional hunters. Something most folks can't do today is hunt and hunt a lot. In order to hone their hunting skills. So for most they work at becoming a good target archer. Can't stalk or still hunt worth a crap but they can shoot their 40# bows pretty good.

I started sneaking up on animals at a very young age & learning from my mistakes. Most folks don't sneak up on anything these days except for their tree stands. Most bowhunters today have become ambushers and not hunters. Back in the days of the long gone greats they never got in a tree stand. They hunted on the ground, stalking/still hunting. Hunting small game first, like rabbits, grouse, and squirrels. Honing theirs skills that also helped them with target shooting later. I think it wasn't until I was in the Marine Corps that I shot my first arrow into a target. All of my shooting up until then was roaming in the woods & fields. This is how most of the successful traditional gear hunters I knew and have known all started as well. None of us started shooting foam or targets. Heck, I didn't even own a field/target point until I was in the military '80 and went to the on base archery range. Which there was a sign, "No Broadheads Allowed". I thought that was crazy but was not allowed to shoot their targets until I came back with field points. When I did finally get the field points I went back...that day they were having a tournament. They asked me if I wanted to join them as a guest. I said sure why not I'm here to shoot anyway. I never shot a tournament ever in my life. I shot with the president of the club as his guest, I was shooting a 65# Wing Gull with fiberglass arrows, and tied for high score with the president of the club. He was shooting some fancy compound with a long stabilizer and he had sights. The tournament was un-marked yardage field course. Not bad for a guy that never shot at paper before. My advantage was it was unknown distances. I just shot the targets as if they were small game in the woods. Where the guy shooting his compound with sights had to guess what the yardage was and frequently stated he miss judged that one.

To start off get a bow that you have to work at to pull and a lot of arrows. Find some woods and start sneaking and shooting there. Then if you want to learn target archery go for it.

Things certainly have changed over the years and I'm not so sure it's for the better.

You said a mouthful there. I have dabbled in target archery, but I do not like what it does for my hunting. It is what works for me. I have room to improve as both a bowhunter and target archer. But I do this for fun, and to challenge myself. I could care less about competing against other archers.

What are the three conflicts;
man vs man
man vs nature
man vs self
You can have the first one, I embrace the last two.

The OP should grab a bow and start the journey, his own journey. It is fascinating, challenging, & rewarding.

There were plenty of resources posted to get him well on his way.
Maybe he will be the next Howard Hill/Fred Bear?

I've coached a lot of new traditional hunters. They all had the same concern. "I can't shoot far enough.". My response has always been the same. Sure you can...you just can't GET close enough.

That's funny. I've done the same and have never heard that. But in my training sessions with new archers, I start them very close to the butt to work on lines and release. As soon as we have that figured out. Our next step is to figure out two things. Which we move back to find "point on", normally about 45-55 yards, to start working on what they should see as a so called "sight picture". This normally takes the fear of not being able to shoot far enough out of the equation. At "point on" shooting distance we can also see if we need to do some tuning. At distance you can learn much faster than at close range. Because every thing that you do wrong is magnified the farther out you go. Also the new archer learns then the importance of doing the same thing every time when they go to loose an arrow. Solid bow arm and a pull thru release. These are the two most important things an archer needs to learn. Everything else is free form and doesn't matter as long as it is done the same every time.

After establishing "point on" and fine tuning. Then the archer is allowed to move to an intermediate range to learn the "sight picture" at that range. At this point the new archer usual has figured out his arrow flight and can then just work on solid bow arm and pull thru release at what ever distance.

So once you have worked on your basic shooting form up close, move back find "point on". Go half way in between those two distances. You just basically learned instinctive shooting very quickly. It is that simple.

Now get off the target and get in the woods & fields. Shoot at everything that catches your eye. Learn how to concentrate on picking a spot and shooting to that spot. With no fear of missing. Praise your self for close missing and party when you hit what you were aiming to hit!

-draw
-solid anchor
-pick a spot, concentrate, sight picture, whatever you want to call it
-release
-follow through

solid bow arm throughout

No substitute for stump shooting, roving etc. I love to do the close up form work too. Close your eyes and feel the process.

I think you and I would have a lot of fun if we would get together!

So the title of this thread is "Starting Traditional". Seem to me that learning to shoot a Trad bow accurately would be a good place to start. Viper's book is the best thing I have found. There are no coaches around here so I use "Shooting the Stickbow" as a resource. I have read G. Fred's books and have sent them down the road. Vipers book I still have and reference often. What I have found is a TREMENDOUS amount of jealousy over this book. Sure the author has opinions, so do you, and I - so what. Learn to shoot - learn to bowhunt, put them together and be successful.

What? Certainly no Jealousy here! LOL That was funny! It's not a bad book to use as a guide. There's some pretty good stuff covered in there. But most guys/gals don't/won't have/take the time to read a book, let alone a 370 page book, to get started in shooting a stick bow.

No jealousy here either. Never read the book. Just trying to help.

The issue I had when starting was the fact I did not have much help. It's simple right? Grab a bow and some arrows.

Let's see, a 69# longbow, mismatched arrows, no instruction. Do you think I struggled? It makes each success that much sweeter.

Just trying to save the OP a lot of struggling. Get him on the road in the right direction. Basics are there to learn, but everyone has to develop their own style.

Every professional athlete has their own style.