Home › Forums › Bows and Equipment › Question of Traditional or Primitive Bowhunting
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This may be a controversal topic but I had not seen it addressed before here on the forum.
I understand most if not all of us use a stick bow here whether it be a Recurve, Self or Long Bow. With that being said, I also have been reading a number of forums on this board that talk about using aluminum and graphite arrows, mechanical broadheads, instead of fixed blade, and some even use a release. My question is this and, please do not take it wrong I am not judgeing anyone. The question is how can you call yourself traditional or primitive when a majority of you use mass produced bows and arrows and shooting accessories instead of making your own
I do use my own self made bows and arrows as well as quivers and broad heads when legal. This is my definition of a true Traditional bow hunter. Now I am not perfect I do not limit myself to tradional or Primitive equipment only. I also shoot compund bows competively, but I only hunt with a stick bow and handmade arrows and have for some years now.
DaveP. You and I have had a private discussion on this, so don’t chastise me ok. I am just curious as to what people consider Tradional of Primitive bow hunting. By the way Dave I read your interview in TBM and I enjoyed learning more about you and what brought you into the sport, but hey Motorcycle Writer I would of never thought.
Keep your shafts straight and feathers dry and may you always shoot true.
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Would you not consider the bowhunters of the 1950’s and 60’s to be “traditional” bowhunters just because they used bows and arrows by Bear or Pearson? Archery has never required an individual to make their own eauipment. About as far back in history as you want to look, there have been those in every tribe or village that made much of the equipment for others, just like not everyone hunted their own meat or grew their own crops.
The fact that you make and use all of your own gear puts you in a rather exclusive group and the personal satisfaction you receive is all yours. It does not however, make someone less of a traditional bowhunter because they happened to get their bow from the village bowyer.
I have made enough bows, arrows, strings and other equipment to know what I should make for myself and what to defer to others with more knowledge and experience.
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“It does not however, make someone less of a traditional bowhunter because they happened to get their bow from the village bowyer.”
Fletcher I never really thought about it that way, But I can surely see your point, It just seems strange that people use a stick bow and then shoot graphite arrows out of it that have a wood simulation pattern. and then use a release to send the arrow on it’s way…
Let’s coin a new phrasw “Modern Tradionalist”
I am not sure I agree with you on the early Fred Bear and others like Art Young and Howard Hill, They did make their own equipment from scratch as there was no such thing as mass produced bows and arrows. So in effect they were true Tradional bow hunters would you not agree.
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Our pioneers were real bowhunters who chose and made their tackle from a true love of archery. However, even Fred and Howard often had others build their bows and arrows.
“Traditional” bowhunters didn’t even exist until around 1970 and the popularity of compounds. Ever since the term was first coined, “Traditional” has meant conventional, non-compound archery equipment. Commercially made fiberglass laminated bows, aluminum and fiberglass arrows, sights, elevated rests, stabilizers, simple hook releases and a bunch or other accessories were all being used well before Allen started playing with his contraption. Traditional quickly came to define longbows, recurves, composite and self bows, generally shot barebow.
What is or isn’t traditional has been hashed out over many campfires and websites over the years and has continued to be as stated above. If you need an opinion other than mine, go to the Compton website or read an issue of Traditional Bowhunter Magazine. You can choose redefine traditional for yourself if you wish, but you aren’t going to find many takers. And no, we don’t need another classification. What someone else chooses to shoot really isn’t important.
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What is or isn’t traditional has been hashed out over many campfires and websites over the years…
I was just kidding about coining a new phrase. I see your point and it is well taken. This is surely a subject that will discussed and debated for some time to come.
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ToddRvs wrote:
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Fletcher I never really thought about it that way, But I can surely see your point, It just seems strange that people use a stick bow and then shoot graphite arrows out of it that have a wood simulation pattern. and then use a release to send the arrow on it’s way…
i totaly agree with if u need all that stuff why dont u just shoot a compound bow, i use cedar arrows and always will, i think there more traditional
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If it has wheels, it’s not traditional. If it has a synthetic component such as carbon, fiberglass, or even aluminum, it’s traditional. If it’s made from natural materials, it’s primitive archery.
Even those lines can be muddled. Frankly, I muddle around the boundary of “traditional” since I use mostly selfbows (occasionally sinew backed bows) but with carbon arrows.
The Thompson brother’s were more or elss the first to bring bowhunting to the white American public. For the most part, they prefered ELB’s they oredered from England. They paid others to make their hickory hunitng arrows for them. Pope and Young built their own bows because it was easier to do so than trying to find bows for hunting. Even then, Young later prefered to buy Osage staves from which to make his gear. Even Hill ordered bamboo from China to build his longbows, and he did that because he was such a crank about his gear (his words from Hunting the Hard Way).
Though the number of archers using weapons without wheels is growing, it still seems that we’re a small enough group that if one fellow is using an ash bow with obsidian tipped dogwood arrows and another is using a double carbon recurve and Axis arrows with nanotechnology with a stabilizer, relevated rest, and sight, as long as no one is trying to snub anyone else we might as well shoot together in my opinion.
I know I’m happy with what I like to shoot. I’ve no problems with anyone shooting something different. Besides, categorizing has been tried before… alot. Never really works. In the end, the best we can come away with is “no wheels”:lol:
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