When I began my trad journey, I had no mentors. I had a desire burning within me, but what I did have was the internet. I learned a lot from people like Jimmy Blackmon, Scott Antczak and other videos as well as the great men and women of TradGang. That said, it was a slow, but steady progress for me. So many of you began before the internet. I'm not excluding those who began during the internet era, please chime in as well. What piece of advice or direction do you wish you had received when you began? Could be anything from shooting to hunting or woodsmanship skills. What are the things that are your nemesis? You know, those things that haunt you today or took you a long time to master? I mean those things that if you had discovered earlier would have helped you more quickly in the beginning.
Take lessons from someone who knows how to shoot a
Bow well so as to avoid bad habits.
Don't get a bow to heavy to start. I'd be a long ways from where I am if I had started with 20#
Start with a very light bow and an instructor. That's what I did after taking Mr. Rod Jenkins class, took a while to break 40 years of bad habits but now 3 years later much improved and continuing to strive to get better.
Still have to think about proper back tension at anchor and good alignment. The old habits of arm draw and poor alignment still creep in.
I can totally relate to all three of you. I think I can completely agree with your insights! Good stuff!
Advice I wish I had:
Sign up on tradgang.
Woulda saved me about 3 years of reading fragmented info.
Always try to shoot with someone better than you. It trains you and humbles you, both of which are quite helpful...
Good stuff, RJ & BAK
I had no computers. I wish I would have had instruction on staying light and perfecting my release.
I started in the early 90's and bought a 70# Black Widow and was shooting 2-300 shots a day. More on weekends. I wish someone would've took that bow and whacked me in he head with it and told me to get a light bow and learn to aim and shot sequence. I was a mid 20's young stout stud straight out of the service and thought I had to have a big powerful bow. I quickly learned bad snap shooting habits. Mostly from aerial targets. Amazingly though I was good. Really good. It eventually ruined my shoulder though. Snap shooting was pretty well all we knew then. Hill, Asbell, Ferguson. I read everything that was available then and that was the common theme. I have slightly slowed down now but still shoot faster than most. Just my experience.
JOHN
carbon arrows are stiffer than you think , this could have saved me years of shooting the wrong arrow
Back in 1967, I watched my Uncle Herb. Then I read everything I could find on the newsstand. Stories of Fred Bear, Jim Dougherty, Howard Hill and a host of others. Would have nice if there was a Trad Gang or something even close, but I did the best I could.
Longbow Fanatic- Like you, I had no traditional archery mentors. I wore out a copy of Masters of Barebow I. The whole crew seemed like regular guests in my house for a few months.
Not to over-bow myself was the best advice I received.
Understanding arrow spine - I started early 70s no mentors looking back those early years were rough!!!
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Back in the mid '60's I wish someone would've taught me about tuning and introduced me to a variety of bow styles.
I started my journey off and on about the same time internet was starting to bloom. I wish someone had told me about Trad Gang instead of having to stumble upon it on my own years down the road. So much knowledge in a single location.
More specifically..... I wish someone had told me sooner to "Focus on the journey, not the outcome."
I was introduced to archery by a friend in 1977 who was and is today a compound shooter. i spent a few evenings shooting with him and I was hooked for life. I went to a local gun/archery shop and bought my first bow, a Browning Explorer compound. No one we knew shot traditional bows, as the compound movement was at its peak. However, there was just something about a Recurve that seemed magical to me. I watched VCR tapes of Fred Bear and John Schultz. I read Mr Asbells books, and any and everything else I could find on trad archery. We had no computers then. I remember my friend thought I had lost my mind when I told him I was buying a Recurve and hanging up my compound.
Now, to your question. I wish someone with knowledge and compassion had been there to steer me away from heavy bows. I spent years shooting foo much weight, practicing poor form and bad habits!
Like others have stated. Lighter bow for sure. And yes carbon arrows are way stiff. Also to slow down. I had no mentor ship. All trial and error.
learn from the past, don't try to reinvent what already works well.
I wish I had known more about tuning and arrow spine while growing up. This was pre-internet and I would just grab some cheap aluminum arrows out of the box at the local sports store and some light field points (cause lighter heads would make them fly further/flatter of course). Then I couldn't figure out why my arrows would always group in the wrong place!! A mentor would have been invaluable!
I'm a late bloomer, if I've actually bloomed!
In the late 90's I took my bow course to get started hunting and the room and instructors were all wheel guys. I was told not to worry about a LH or RH bow as I was "just picking a spot".
Im left eyed and was a long frustrating time shooting RH before I switched to a lefty bow and things improved dramatically. For me, I should have had a LH bow from the start and won't be taking any more advice from a wheel guy.
This place is my info now.
Great stuff, guys! Thx!
Took Rod Jenkins class a few years ago, wish I would have/ could have when I first started. Consistency went way up.
Don't overbow yourself. This has been mentioned before, but I feel it's one of the most important pieces of advice to a new shooter.
I would have made a much easier transition if I had started with a lighter weight bow, and used tuned arrows.
When I dropped from 67# and accidentally stumbled into some arrows that were perfect spine for my set up, it all came together.
To relax
There have been long periods of time that I have not progressed, or even regressed, due to target panic. I think I know how to control my target panic now, and I sure would be a lot further ahead if I had known how to do it then. Target panic is such a funny thing though. I'm not sure that what I think I know about it will work for the rest of my life, and I'm pretty darn sure it won't work for everybody else.
I wish I had learned about bareshaft tuning much earlier. Would have saved me lots of headaches! And that "custom" bows don't necessarily perform any better that production bows. Could have saved lots of $$$.
Longbow Fanatic 1,
I'm like you. When I started I had no mentors. All of my friends and family were compound shooters, as was I. Everyone around me though I was crazy for wanting to go trad. I just had a desire I couldn't shake. I read G Fred Asbell's book right away. It was helpful, but not enough. I developed bad habits that I carry through to today.
I think the best "advice" I got from reading was to go lighter than I was with my compound. That MA I had was 50# and was a sweet shooter. The best advice I gave myself was "stick with it". I sold my compound and decided I was going to be trad only. glad i did.
Don't believe everything you read on the internet
In 1967, no internet, no mentor, and basically no clue. I was a boy with a bow and pretty much felt like I was on an island. Bought the wrong length strings, carried arrows with Bear broadheads exposed in a kwikee quiver, lived through the Baker treestand experience and just had the Archer's Bible as a single resource....which wasn't bad but that was it. Read Outdoor Life monthly which seemed more informative than Field and Stream - but they were both helpful. Stumbled around with a Kodiak Hunter and was way overbowed like everyone else. In comparison to today, archers were a small percentage of the hunting community (less than 5%)- and with deer numbers down - shot opportunities were not very common so the big regret, in retrospect, is living through hard times and never really learning to shoot well on a self taught basis. If you are on this site, you can gain years of experience and knowledge that was just not available in the past. It is just way, way better now.
Like a few above, in the mid 60's there were very few bow hunters period to learn from. But the one i did learn from was a simple man and he taught me "Keep it simple and get close". I wish he would have told me,"Save your money and go west young man"
In 1970 I met a bowhunter that was shooting a Browning Explorer. I had a new to me Super Neceda which was my first nice bow. I had been shooting an old Indian solid fiberglass 45 lb bow that I got when I was like 11 or 12 and could hit anything I wanted to hit with it. Too dumb to know I wasn't supposed to I guess. Probably cause I lived with that old bow though.
Anyway I was missing a major part of my hunting skills and this man that had that Browning gave me a piece of wonderful insight. He said this,. With patience possess ye your soul. It has served me so well for these many years and in many other things than bowhunting.
God bless, Steve
Start with a light weight bow and work tirelessly on a consistent anchor and proper release. Draw with your whole upper body, not just your arms.
Didn't know anyone shooting trad, watched a Barry Wensel VCR tape and saw the Schafer silvertip and thought that was sooooo cool! no internet quite yet or I hadnt messed with it yet???
I wish I had been told not to over bow myself as that is what I did. Course it didnt take a rocket scientist to tell me to back off. I went and got one alot lighter and worked into the heavier bow.
Even now for hunting these little eastern NC whitetails I wonder why I shoot 55 and 60? 45 (legal requirement) would slice through them like butter.
J
Back then there were no computers, few magazines, and not really many mentors around. Yes, there were archers ( no compounds either yet) but as a kid, getting matched together with one was near impossible unless you had an archery family.
Today, the options are unlimited. I think I would try to get them to make it fun. Having fun makes you shoot more. Shooting more at fun targets makes you want to hit it more ( especially when one of the group actually does, showing you it is possible). Hitting more takes a combination of putting together the right gear, the right practice, and the right desire.
Next thing you know, the whole group is hitting and you need to make the shots harder or "stupider".
For newbies to bowhunting.... I think my advice would be to stop watching movies and videos and get out in the woods. Watch and learn where the animals live and where / when / why they move about. Then plan an ambush accordingly that puts you within good striking range for your current skill set.
IF that is only 5 yards then get good at being sneaky till you get better at hitting at 10 yards.
I started with 45#, jumped to 65#, then eventually back to 45#. It took 25 years and a couple thousand dollars to learn my lesson.
Another misconception was to shoot arrow spines way heavier than bow weight. We all used 5.5" fletching to tame those logs down.
When I started shooting Trad there was The Traditional Bowhunter Magazine and a few books to help me along. Between Jay Massey and G.Fred Asbel I learned. One thing I wish I had gotten early on is to learn and adhere to the basics first then do your own thing. I eventually made it but it was a long road. A little help from my friends really made a difference.
Something I just learned in the last year or so is if you don't use it, you loose it.
Ditto much that has been said. . .
If I were just starting I would not worry about the target and any distance at first.
~ Work on form until is is natural and consistent. 20+ practice sessions is not too few. No actual target is necessary (some call this blank bale). Practice DOES NOT make perfect. Practice makes PERMANENT. You would be better off shooting fewer arrows correctly, than a whole bunch wrong. (You can do all of this in your basement, garage or even in a room)
~ Then I would start shooting at a 1-2" actual spot (like one of those orange stick on circles) at about 3 yds. Always use the same "spot" target and stay there until you consistently and confidently can hit that spot 80-90%. You may be at 3 yds for 2 weeks.
~ THEN move back 2 steps. Repeat the above process for how long it takes.
~ Intersperse the sessions at times where you just focus on ONE aspect of your form to reinforce that part of your shot.
~ A MUST is to read Jay Kidwell for training practices you do to keep you from developing Target panic!
~ Continue this process over a few weeks and months. Don't move back until you have mastered that distance. Over time you will see yourself progressing at 15. . .17. . .20, etc.
~The KEY is making this process a deliberate and patient training experience over a few months. Don't expect 18 yds until you mastered 5. Have sessions where the goal is just ONE aspect of your form or one training skill as espoused by Kidwell.
~ In time try some stump shooting, 3Ds, and small game hunting. It will build your confidence transposing all the spots, form, sight picture etc onto real targets
~ By the way- its suppose to be fun, not frustrating.
~ After 35 years exclusively trad I still go back to the above routine periodically to re-establish my confidence.
My thoughts. . .
Dan in KS
When I started 4 years ago, I didn't know anyone who shot a trad bow. My dad and all his hunting buddies all shot compound and told me I was crazy.
I wish that when I started I knew that I didn't have to copy someone's form. Coming from a compound, I figured that my form needed to be the same as everyone else's just like with a compound. I only knew of one trad archer at the time and that was Fred Bear. I set out to copy his style, which never really worked for me. Once I realized there wasn't really a right or wrong way to shoot and that I could shoot whichever way fit me best, my shooting got much better.
Spend more money on hunting experiences/trips and less on fancy equipment.
Holm-Made hit the nail on the head. Also focus as hard on learning to get close as you do learning to shoot and you will do good.RC
I was all alone in that endeavor.... for many years. Learned on the long road of trial and error. Haven't forgotten a day of that journey.
QuoteOriginally posted by Holm-Made:
Spend more money on hunting experiences/trips and less on fancy equipment.
This is so true no matter what you hunt with!! I'm finally starting to learn this at almost 40 years old.
Since my trad journey started in 1955 at the age of 11 all I had to go on were two paperback books on archery. All the way to the late 60s I was a lone wolf in archery with no other friends who shot. Then I did meet some friends who bowhunted and shot field archery and they became mentors.
Start with a bow 20lbs lighter than what you think you can actually handle.
Yup on the bow weight. I started with a 40 at age 13 then a 45 for a few years. Then went the compound route for two years.
When I decided to return to trad, I started with a 38 lb recurve in league shooting. So far so good. But then I ordered a new 60# longbow. Foolishness.
Someone may have already mentioned this but I wish to high heavens that someone would have told me to draw with the hand on my dominant eye side. Being right handed I just figured I would need a right handed bow. That cost me sooooo much frustration until I was told (and this was always Fred Bear's advice as well) to shoot dominant eye side--left eye dominant--left handed bow. Man did that make a huge difference.
"There's no shame in aiming"
-Gene Wensel
There are so many great tips and experiences. Thanks everyone!
Get obsessed with practice and consistent form development before you get obsessed with tuning. If you can't group arrows (even mismatched ones will group off a machine) all the tuning advice in the world will just be an exercise in frustration!
Start with a light weight bow and learn proper form.
When developing and implementing form, shot execution, and follow-through, be positive with yourself. When a shot doesn't feel or look right, contemplate what you will do better next shot instead of what you did wrong that shot.
The arrow's landing destination is dependent upon shot election, (assuming proper tune).
QuoteOriginally posted by olddogrib:
Get obsessed with practice and consistent form development before you get obsessed with tuning. If you can't group arrows (even mismatched ones will group off a machine) all the tuning advice in the world will just be an exercise in frustration!
So true! I never use paper tuning - just Stu's calculator for arrows choice when it appeared - and it is as accurate as I can be.