I was reading the traditional bowyers bible last night and it says that a fiberglass bow is not a traditional bow. That got me thinking on what is a "traditional bow" and what is not. Could a compound become traditional in 60 yers? Any way just curious about your opinion. what is traditional to you? Where do draw the line between traditional and modern?
Scotty your asking for a can of worms to open up.I don't have the right answer. :banghead: :banghead:
It's in the eye of the beer holder. Shoot what makes you happy and do not worry what other folks say, You only have to please #1.
The bow I like the best is the one I am holding, that goes for self, BBO or glass longbows and recurves, all traditional to me...
does it matter? to me a traditional bow is a selfbow or a composite made from natural material "bone, horn".
i began with a fiberglass bow then my dad built me an osage selfbow and i have returned to fiberglass. i like shooting my fiberglass recurve because it has the look " wood grain" of a traditional bow but still is modern in design, speed, and grip.
i am not bashing fiberglass bows, but they are not traditional.
For me,anything without the wheels is traditional,longbow and recurve.Just my opinion.
Serge
I'm with Kevin and Drifter2. Hap
Here we go :scared: :scared: :scared: ..at least :bigsmyl:
No wheels.
Metal has been used at least as long as glass.
Steve
I don't draw lines.I could care less what someone else considers traditional.I shoot bows that I like and don't worry about putting labels on them. :archer:
Trad yells at Compounds-Compounds yell ay Crossbows- They both yell at rifles-
Why can't we all just get along? J.Michael
:bigsmyl:
To me traditional is in the persons attitude not the equipment they carry.
Traditional is what I pass down to my children and/or grandchildren. :thumbsup: I have a couple of recurves and three all natural longbows, but 50 years from now when I'm gone to the happy hunting grounds if anyone in my family is shooting one of my bows that will be traditional. :campfire:
I'm with JD for the most part. I think the spirit of traditional archery defines it as much as the equipment. Relative to the bow itself,however,I think that if it doesn't have wheels it's traditional enough for me.
Claudia
No wheels and no cables...not a compound bow in any way.
I also feel that fiberglass bows definitely ARE traditional since they were way pre-compound. I don't consider them 'privative', but certainly traditional.
Also, carbon lams don't make a bow non trad, nor does metal risers, they used modern materials and metal pre compound, and that's the same thing some guys are still doing today.
That's where Trad Gang draws the line anyway.
Yup.. just what everyone else has said. I started with a Pearson Fiberglass Bow in the 60's BC (Before Compound). I also remember the Bear 76er! Somewhere.. I have to look it up... in one of my Trad Archery books was a picture of a Recurve Bow with limbs plated with Silver... the bow was 5000 years old.
For me traditional is a one piece bow made of wood or combination of wood and fiberglass. It doesn't have wheels, plunger, stabilizer, sights, clicker, mirrors, umbrella, tracers, expandable blades, or cables.
Large feathers, racoon tails, and beaverballs are acceptable along with fur quivers and caps.
This is what I want, but I will not try to put this off on someone else. We can talk about what we think, but we have no right to expect everyone else to think the same way. That is what makes life interesting.
2fletch
It's simply defining terms. You have compounds, and you have traditional bows (which don't have wheels) and can further be broken down in to modern and primitive. "Modern" bows use modern materials (e.g. fiberglass, carbon laminates, etc...), primitive bows are made from wood, sinew, horn etc...
I don't really define 'traditional' as an attitude. You can be a good hunter with a great attitude and shoot game at 1000 yards with a 'beanfield' rifle. I wouldn't call that person traditional. Conversely, you could carry a selfbow and be a total hunting slob.
So, you're either a 'hunter' or a 'slob'. The equipment you use is up to you.
No wheels...that's it. My $.o2
IMO a compound bow is always going to be a compound bow. a traditional bow will always be a traditional bow. the words compound & traditional are used to describe a certain type of bow and that will not change. i don't think in 100 years we will call a compound bow a traditional bow, it will still be a compound. that's what it is. maybe this isn't the right analogy but a ford truck will always be a ford truck and a car will always be a car. on the other hand i do think the word traditional can describe a value or values, but i don't think we will ever say we have compound values. 2 cent's added where's my :coffee:
Terminology changes with the times. Not to long ago, glass backed bows and (later) compounds both were referred to as Modern Archery. Everything else was just Archery.
Today, Modern Archery is a compound, Traditional Archery is longbows and recurves, and Primitive Archery is traditional bows made from all natural materials.
At least that's my take on the subject. ;)
Traditional is a word. What's hi tech today will be traditional 40 years from now.
I'm not really interested in traditional. What I am interested in is simplicity. That means a stick with a single string throwing another stick with a nice, pointy end on it. As few moving parts as possible.
The only time I have a concern about someone else's definition of "traditional", "longbow", etc. is when I shoot in a tournament (and I've seen those rules change quite a bit over the years). Then I have a choice--follow their rules, or don't compete. Otherwise it's just another opinion that won't affect me one way or the other.
Chad
" a fiberglass bow is not a traditional bow"
I hope the guy writing that wears a loincloth when he goes hunting! As many have already said traditional is a state of mind/attitude. Most traditional hunters live for the challenge. Is that challenge any greater with a selfbow? Sure it is but were splittin hairs at this point. In my case, I don't have the time or the desire to go the selfbow route. My time off and hunting $$$$ are too valuable to have it all go snap at the crucial moment. I envy those that go the selfbow route and take game with their bows. This is indeed the ultimate traditionalist achievment. I don't knock their choice, if they start knocking my glass bow with this old argument they better be wearing loincloths or buckskins when there out hunting! Did any of you see the two traditionalist at Compton this past weekend wearing nothin but loincloths??? It was NOT PRETTY let me tell you!!!! Good luck sneakin up on anything this side of dead looking like those guys!
No wheels and no cables.
I
Is a crossbow traditional??
It's more like a watermark than a line....
A crossbow might be a traditional crossbow, but it's not a bow.
If the bows Ben Pearson and Fred Bear shot are not Traditional what is!?
I get tired of these whats traditional and whats not. :rolleyes: :knothead: Its redundant.
Just have fun.
quote:
Originally posted by James Wrenn:
I could care less what someone else considers traditional.I shoot bows that I like and don't worry about putting labels on them. :thumbsup:
For me there is no line. There is just hunting. Taking an animal with an arrow be from a compound or a traditional bow is exciting. In my pursuit of bow hunting in years past I chose to us a compound. This year I will still bow hunt but with a stick bow. There is too much of an us against them (compound) shooters for it to do any bow hunter any good. Funny thing is it doesn't matter whether its a compound or a stick bow when it is us (bow hunters) against gun hunters. There is just too much effort required for me to try to impose my views of bow hunting on anyone. I just like and want to hunt and I'll be happy to share the woods with another bow hunter whether he is shooting stick bows or not. Just my .02.
I have NOTHING against compound shooters at all.
I'll be real pleased if a 100 years from now guys like me can still hunt.
Yup. Whatever rows your boat. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/SteveMcD/ani_smiley_fishing.gif)
Gee, I never really considered myself traditional... I am a bowhunter, first and foremost. However, I found that with dropaway rests, fiber optic pin sights, mech release, and a peep sight; the challenge/fun quotient gave me a dismal return on my time and efforts...
I needed to put the fun back into bowhunting... There is something about getting close and seeing the arrow into the target...
Since, I use a wooden/glass bow, with synthetic strings, carbon arrows, and production line broadheads... Traditional and primitive are justs labels and classifications ... to the animals it doesn't really matter. Its the time spent out there in the woods admiring His creation and the challenge of the hunt, albeit with self imposed limitations helps me to disconnect from the high paced worId that I deal with day-to-day... To become just a fellow out having fun like I was 15 years old again... Thats why I use the tools that I do...
Like alot of posts in this thread I will say that I am a bowhunter,,,first. Most important to me is that I am a traditional bowhunter, an archer. I want simple and challenge. Practice is good. When I do things right it is because I practiced hard, not because I have a sight or a release or even a "let off" draw weight bow. In my opinion a wood bow is traditional. Modern inlays, glass ect. is fine. I still see the wood. Metal risers with ugly limb pockets, bolts, machined cut outs for weight savings are not a bit traditional. There is no warmth, nor beauty in a machined riser. Way too ugly.
Shoot whatever you shoot well. Not everyone will hold the same opinions.
The traditional bow is the one that carries like a breath of wind, snakes through the brush like a timber rattler and makes time stand still just before the release!
Dan
The way I look at this is. My recurve bow is TRAD
gear, long bows are trad gear. Arrows shot from
recurves and longbows made from carbon or aluminium in my opinion is still Traditional Archery.
If it's not we need to change the name of this website to nontradgang.com.
If you pull a trigger is it a bow? Frank
No wheels, no cables
No wheels, cams, cables, or sights; broadheads that can be re-sharpened (nothing expandable). I prefer wood and glass bows, but I really don't care what anybody shoots, as long as they are participating in archery and enjoying it.
Traditional to me means no modern materials. Just say like whatever the indians or any other pre industrial revolution group used. But hey like its been said before just have fun and do what ever makes you happy.
I usually find myself agreeing with James, and so it is again.
After reading all the responses I agree with those who said traditional archery has nothing to do with equipment but the spirit of traditional archery. You know roving through the woods with a bow that's light as a feather and a quiver full of arrows. I can smell the POC. Any way i realy didn't want to start a debate but it was interesting to see what everybody thought. It's an interesting topic.-Scott