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How many trad guys are on here?

I've always bowhunted with a compound, but hoping to hunt with a recurve this fall. Currently practicing and feel pretty good inside 20 yards, but need to to get lot more hours in and arrows down range before I officially make the switch.

Would definitely be interested in meeting other trad archers/hunters in the Knoxville area.
 
Lost Lake said:
Robertson Stykbow Fatal Styk, Bodnik Quick Stick. I have a bunch of others too, but these two see the most hunting time.

Mostly, I prefer my selfbows that I make, but I just haven't been as motivated to use them in the last few years.
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I'm thinking of making a bow off the instructions by Saxton Pope in his book about bowhunting. I'll use cedar backed by bamboo or hickory I guess if I can get started.
 
Iglow said:
I'm thinking of making a bow off the instructions by Saxton Pope in his book about bowhunting. I'll use cedar backed by bamboo or hickory I guess if I can get started.
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Be very careful with cedar. It's a very brash and brittle wood when dry. While it'll make the fastest wooden bow you've ever seen, it'll also come apart equally as fast.

If you choose to use it, be sure to use a very thin backing. A thick backing will move the neutral layer very close to the belly, and it'll fail quickly under compression.

I'd try a thin hickory backing, or a thin layer of sinew.

For a first bow, it'd be hard to beat a good old hickory stave.
 
SaltwaterWalt said:
I like 'em. Gets me back to my roots when I'm feeling nostalgic. Started on recurves/longbows in my younger years and saw the birth of compounds within my lifetime (age 69). I've gone full circle - traditional/compound/traditional. They weren't really called traditional way back then, it was just a bow, which everyone had (probably 80% were Bears, and the other 20% the rest ... Browning, Shakespheare, Wing, Pearson, etc. The Allen was the first compound and it was a clunky ugly thing. But when Bear and Jennings got on board building them, the popularity exploded about the time I was in the Army. The Bear Alaskan was their first compound and it sold like hot cakes. I killed a lot of small game with my recurve as a young man but didn't kill my first deer until the 80's when I bought a Bear Brown Bear compound, which had a wood riser and only 35% let off, but I thought it was a laser beam, LOL. I'm glad to see the renewed interest in "traditional gear" but it sure takes a lot of dedication to stay proficient enough to hunt with one. If you can't put the time in for that, I'd rather see you grab a compound and give both the deer and yourself a mental break from failure. ;)
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Who's that young fella in the picture?
 
I do. My current bow us my osage selfbow I made. 55@28. I have 2 sets of arrows, one set wood, other is carbon. I do have a longbow. I'm not very successful but I enjoy it more than the compound. So far a buck, a doe, grouse, armadillo and Rio turkey. Lost my deer pictures. Oh yeah, lost the bear and pigs. Have shot a couple of rabbits
 

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I'm just getting started with self bows. Made some staves from a hickory I cut and have roughed out several bows. Currently waiting for them to adequately dry before tillering.

I had a couple of staves that revealed bark inclusions on the longbows I'd roughed out, so I converted them to smaller kids' bows for practice…

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SaltwaterWalt said:
Twin Oaks Bowmen in Chapmansboro has a big rendevous every May called the Tn Classic. Great place to shoot a traditional only 3D course and see lots of vendors and talk with traditional bowhunters. I've been a couple times, will probably go again next May. There's info at their website.
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I've heard of that…. Missed it this year but I'm planning to go next year. I may actually have a self bow to shoot by then!
 
Iglow said:
I think it's a matter of who can pick a spot and never take their eye/concentration off it till the arrow hits, every time, that separates the great shooters from everybody else.
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I think it's the great hunters that can consistently get them to 12-15 yards that separates them from everyone else. Those dudes are the killers.
 

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