How many?

[nyantler]

Just curious how many of you have never shot a traditional or even what some of us might call "old school" weapon?... longbow, recurve, flintlock, side hammer muzzleloader. I even wonder if there are some that have never shot an unscoped rifle or shotgun. I'm sure most of the old timers here probably have at least experienced the shotgun with a poly-choke and a bead, but I bet there are some young fellas that have never experienced an old school hunt with a traditional weapon... and unless your crossbow is made of wood with a hemp string it is not considered traditional.

 

For those that use to shoot trad equipment... why did you switch to modern weaponry? Please, this is not a trad vs. modern thread. Just curious about the thought process of other hunters and why they choose one over the other.

[genesee_mohican]

My cap lock 54 cal w iron sights is one of my favorite guns to hunt with during the reg and late season. I've shot long bows and hunting with one has a great appeal to me, something I'd like to do some day.

[Doewhacker]

I have never shot recurve, (other then when I was a kid) I did start out shooting fingers and switched at age 13 or so to a release to help me improve accuracy.

 

I still use open sights on my side lock ML and shotguns. Its just how we hunt, simpler is better for me. I do have a couple scoped rifles and enjoy thme too.

 

I'm 34 and grew up with no scopes until I bought my rifle in about 2006, still a few of us around I imagine.

[maytom]

I use to shoot a recurve bow many years ago. My main thoughts on this style of bowhunting is that while being fun, the bow length is an issue up in a treestand. Not as maneuverable as a short compound bow.

Also, you have to practice much more with this style of bow just to stay proficient. I switched to a heavier draw weight (45 to a 65) and ended up hurting my shoulder. Took some time off and went back to a compound bow.

[Doc]

I was introduced to archery with a very well made carved hickory longbow that I made with my own hands at the age of 11. It downed it's first game up in the loft of our barn with the harvest of 4 pigeons (which I cleaned and ate).....lol. Then came the 50# fiberglass Ben Pearson recurve that shot the arrow off my knuckle (Fred Bear style). Spent a lot of time picking pieces of feather out of my knuckle .... ha-ha. From there it was a parade of bows from Ben Pearson, Bear, Wing, and Hoyt. I actually got quite good and took several deer when that was really still a fairly rare event.

 

But then I started to get into competition, and tight consistent accuracy became the goal. Unlike hunting where good shooting was being able to hit the "heart lung area", the only acceptable results became target spots. Of course I quickly got sucked into compounds. The cedar arrows were sent to the corner and were replaced by some of the best aluminum arrows that Easton produced. The shop drawers stared filling up with gadget after gizmo that would each improve accuracy. Money flowed like water when it came to archery equipment and accessories. Today I have a wall full of compounds to go with all those recurves (looks like an archery pro-shop), All wrapped up in plastic except for the Mathews that I use currently.

 

Gun-wise, my first deer hunting gun was an old bent-barreled 20 gauge bolt action. I even took a deer with that thing after I learned where I had to aim in order to get a slug where I wanted it to go. Then came the brand new Ithaca Deer-slayer. Just the name alone told me this was the deer getting gun that I needed. And that old 12 gauge certainly lived up to it's name. Yes there were other guns bought for small game but that old Ithaca has been the go-to deer gun for many decades. Last season, when Ontario County opened up for rifles I finally got a rifle to do the job. By the way, I never did get into muzzleloaders.

[ants]

I shot iron sights, on my shotguns, for years. I didn't go to a scope until 1995. My first few muzzle loader deer were taken with a 50cal. side hammer loaded with patch and ball. They worked.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I started shooting Archery as a kid and into my teens with a long bow but never hunted with one. I shot quite often. When I got into bow hunting there was no one that I hunted with that did it. The first bow I bought was a compound. (bear whitetail) I have been compounds ever since.

For ML I borrowed an old percussion from a buddy for two seasons. shot deer both seasons but the first ML I bought was an inline.

 

In both cases I guess I figured if I was buying I was looking for the newest technology.

 

Gun hunting was a different process. At 16 I was given my Grandfathers old single shot full choked 36" barreled single shot. no vented rib and just a bead up front. Kicked like a mule. My Father told me that I could have a different gun until I scored with that one. Doe permits were not that common then and it was 2-3 people on a party permit. It was two years before I got that first deer. Then I was given a used Eastfield pump made by Smith and Wesson and sold through Montgomery Wards. Again. not rib and just a bead. That was my gun until I was 20 and could afford to buy my own. Then it was an 1100 with a scope. I have been scoped ever since on all my Deer guns. With the current shape of my eyes it is about impossible for me to focus on the back and front site and the target without one of them being very blurry. A peep would be about my only option for irons, but the scopes seem to be working just fine.

 

(Note: I did use an 1148 16ga with a polychoke for two hunts. You couldn't hit the side of the barn with it if you were standing in the barn..lol)

[phade]

I learned on a recurve. I wasn't allowed to shoot a compound until I could hit a 2 liter soda bottle 4 of 5 times from 10-20 yards from a treestand time after time.

 

I moved to compounds just because of ease/modern availability and the fact I could practice less (not because I want to, but because life is too busy).

 

I could see myself going back to recurve at some point, but likely after I've gotten much older and just want to walk out back to enjoy the woods and poke a hole in any deer, let alone a trophy.

 

Never had interest in the older smoke poles. The current season structure in NY doesn't make it enjoyable for me. When I lived in VA the season was before regular firearms and just about the time I was going to buy one, I ended up relocating back north.

[Meat First]

Like most of us from the city, our fathers didn't hunt.  Fortunatly we moved out to LI and I had a neighbor who introduced me and a few of us other kids to bow hunting.  My first bow was a Bear recurve but never hunted with it.  First hunting bow was an Allen compound, what a POS but I was glad to have it.  Always gun hunted with a mossberg 500 with iron sights but as I got older and my eyes got worse I eventually went to a scoped rifle.  As for a muzzleloader I never have any vacation time by December and have a 5 hour ride to my property so I'm waiting for retirement to get one...

Edited April 1, 2014 by Meat First

[G-Man]

I use and still shoot side hammer muzzleloaders, although i do also own inline, ease of clean on a modern inline is a big reason for change ,but you cant beat a good kentucky longrifle for accuracy and pure fun!  As for a shot gun with a bead still used on drives cant beat point and shoot, i use a scoped rifle for a sit ting hunt, and opnsights when still hunting(battle peep) I had a recurve when i was much younger and when it broke i bought a coumpound from bowhunters wearhouse. been using them since. I do wish they had a primative season for traditional archery and one for flintlock.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ive shot recurves before, but dont have the time at this point to practice enough to hunt with one. Maybe someday when I have more time. Id like to get a sidelock Muzzleloader one of these days to mess with, but for now Ill stick with my inline.

[phade]

Ive shot recurves before, but dont have the time at this point to practice enough to hunt with one. Maybe someday when I have more time. Id like to get a sidelock Muzzleloader one of these days to mess with, but for now Ill stick with my inline.

 

I can't justify using an older style ML for the current NYS season dates. I know most people will say that you can hunt with one in the firearms season, but I'd just assume carry my single shot H&R that is a tack driver. Less to mess with, too.

 

The other thing is I've had to re-assess my wants/needs for a ML. My Vortek UL was $500 bucks and I use it 2-3x in ML season and that's about it. It's fun to shoot in summer, but the value isn't there. With MY UL being rusted to heck due to my flood last year, I'm on the market for a new ML and its probably going to be a stainless CVA Wolf for $200-$225 bucks. I just can't value a ML higher.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I can't justify using an older style ML for the current NYS season dates. I know most people will say that you can hunt with one in the firearms season, but I'd just assume carry my single shot H&R that is a tack driver. Less to mess with, too.

 

The other thing is I've had to re-assess my wants/needs for a ML. My Vortek UL was $500 bucks and I use it 2-3x in ML season and that's about it. It's fun to shoot in summer, but the value isn't there. With MY UL being rusted to heck due to my flood last year, I'm on the market for a new ML and its probably going to be a stainless CVA Wolf for $200-$225 bucks. I just can't value a ML higher.

 

When I get one, it will have nothing to do with value, it will just be another weapon to choose from. Kinda like a crossbow will be to me.

[Doc]

I'll tell you what I always thought would be neat would be to hand build your own longbow and actually take a deer with it. That would be using hand knapped broadheads and homemade arrows. Now that would be going completely back to primitive weaponry. What a challenge, and what an accomplishment that would be. To me, that would be the absolute essence of hunting.

[Hardcore]

I started bow hunting with a bear recurve, muzzleloaders I have used are a far cry from being primitive, my early days of rifle hunting were a Win MDL 94 iron sights.

I appreciate and respect the traditionalists that stay true. But I am staying with my compound bow, modern scoped ML & the scoped .308. I have always invested a lot of time effort & money in hunting so I want to increase my opportunities via my equipment. I

[nyantler]

 

I can't justify using an older style ML for the current NYS season dates. I know most people will say that you can hunt with one in the firearms season, but I'd just assume carry my single shot H&R that is a tack driver. Less to mess with, too.

 

The other thing is I've had to re-assess my wants/needs for a ML. My Vortek UL was $500 bucks and I use it 2-3x in ML season and that's about it. It's fun to shoot in summer, but the value isn't there. With MY UL being rusted to heck due to my flood last year, I'm on the market for a new ML and its probably going to be a stainless CVA Wolf for $200-$225 bucks. I just can't value a ML higher.

I have an open sights single shot H&R 30-.06... it is a tack driver as well and easy to carry while tracking. I like the simplicity too. Occasionally I will carry my Winchester 30-30 just cuz its  a cool gun, and I do occasionally hunt a day or two during the regular season with my Hawken. Late season though it is strictly patch and roundball and the Hawken.

 

I bought a new #47 longbow for next season ( my #60 Martin recurve will be too much in a few years)... I need to finish it though.. I bought it unfinished... my buddy and I are both building laminated longbows this summer.

[Bowtoons]

Recurve was all I shot when I was a kid and shot pretty damn well with one. Still like playing around with them. I just enjoy shooting a compound more. All I ever shot and hunted with was open sights on my shotgun until last year. Bought a single shot 20ga. and mounted a scope on it.

[wooly]

I jumped into bow hunting, blind, and self taught.

My first bow was a PSE Polaris Express and I killed a whole mess of deer with it. I know this will sound crazy, but it was probably the most accurate bow I've ever hunted with, and the one I built the most confidence with. It's also the bow I killed the most deer with.

 A lot of different compound brands passed through my hands in between the time I decided to give a "hand me down" recurve a try a few years ago.

 

I thought I'd prepared enough before my first hunt but apparently not. The first deer I shot at with my Bear Kodiak ran off with the arrow sticking out of her side a little high, and too far back. I never found her, but given the extent of my  post season hiking, I believe she survived that encounter and continued on munching on clover somewhere, or ended up in somebody elses freezer later on that season.

 

I went back to and purchased a new compound a few days later because I was so disgusted with the results of my traditional endeavor there was no way I was about to take another stab at it without sights, speed, and confidence I had built with a compound.

So to answer the question of why I reverted back to compound is simple for me.

My first experience was failure to cleanly kill a deer at a range (7yds) I could have hit her over the head with a stick from the ground.

 

I did however take home with me a new appreciation for how close I was able to allow my quarry too get and try to carry that over the best I can during my compound hunts these days.

 

As far as the "traditional" aspect of my guns over the years. I started scoped, and went back to iron sights, then back to scoped again on my shotty's and ML's.

I've lost a few deer over the years to both methods of aiming, but I've always felt in no way, shape, or form, that I never took my best shot and had any regrets...stuff happens.

Oh and, just for the record..... I'll be waiting for those close encounters as well with my scoped x-bow this year,lol

[Vince1]

Recurve shooter self taught. First deer i shot was low and likly lived. Still kick myself over it. But live and learn. I shoot everyday at at least 10 yards in my house mlre when im at range.

Gettin an xbow for my wife and mmmmmaaaaybe a comp for me only because i realize u gotta be versatile.

[Lawdwaz]

I've used it all.  Killed deer with the following:

Recurve, longbow and compound

Flintlock (patched round balls and real black powder) Inline ML and smokeless ML

Shotgun

Rifle

Pistol (bolt action, scoped)

 

At this point in my life I have zero interest in an crossbow.

 

The only one I don't have pics of is the longbow deer.  Killed her in Amherst on a nuisance tag in '97. (with a big 'ol Snuffer )

[NFA-ADK]

I used a traditional bow but never hunting, I was not comfortable with its accuracy, range and effectiveness. I have used black powder but had issues in damp rainy weather.  I have shot all types of sights including none on guns. 

 

I choose the compound because it works in any weather for the most part and I can be effective out to 50 yards accurately with a pass through.  I can use it in any season or area any other weapon is allowed for deer like shotgun and black powder only areas.  I can use it from Opening day Northern Zone bow September 27  through rifle, black powder and shotgun seasons.  By the end of December I am burned out so late season January is usually recovery time. 

[nyslowhand]

This should pretty much date me back to the ice age, but JFK was president when I began hunting.

 

Dabbled with long & recurve bows, just never got confident enough to ethically hunt with them being self-taught. So, when compound bows came out, I jumped on the bandwagon. Never went the Flintlock route, but have owned and built numerous caplock MLs. All with iron/open sights. Shotguns were always the bead or rifle sights.

 

"...For those that use to shoot trad equipment... why did you switch to modern weaponry? Please, this is not a trad vs. modern thread. Just curious about the thought process of other hunters and why they choose one over the other..."

 

My transition to a modern in-line, scoped ML and soon to be Xbow as weapons of choice was basically dictated by what the old body can still do! Convenience had nothing to do with my transition into modern weaponry, but primarily dictated by fading eyesight and muscle tone. In my mind, I want to be hunting 20 years from now with a Hawken or compound bow, but realistically.............. You know, the Hatchet Jack scenario!

Edited April 2, 2014 by nyslowhand

[UpstateNomad90]

I have never shot a compound bow, it wasn't my cup of tea. I have always had a recurve from the first day I started shooting. I shoot naturally, off the shelf. I started with a 28 pound PSE and my 2nd and 3rd bow are both older than me. I have a 1967.5 Bear Super Kodiak this a Cadillac of all bows and a 1973 Browning wasp that I wanted for a stand but is just too short of a draw for me. I will never upgrade to a modern bow because I like the idea of a primitive weapon. 

 

 

 

My Super K has a beaver tail leather handle and Rattlesnake limb covers. She is a true gem to me.

 

 

[RangerClay]

How old is old school?

 

I've killed deer with my 1866 Winchester.

 

I have a T/C Renegade that is my favorite gun to hunt with.

[Vince1]

I used a traditional bow but never hunting, I was not comfortable with its accuracy, range and effectiveness.

Dont think thats a fair statemnt. All user defined. Putin the time and If u have the space accurcy and range grow alot. Im comfy out to 15 yards cause thats the max i shoot in my home everuyy night. Im just gettin 20 but only hit that at rnge but my group is shrinkin

Effectiveness... ive seen more vids of componds not gettin pass throughs than i have of trad equipmnt. But both take deer quite well