Shnf 15-16

[huntinfool]

Tod and I are making a serious effort to get all my gear tuned so that I can practice more, with some more consistency. Then I just need to figure out if I can shoot a recurve good enough to hunt with.

[BowOnly81]

Y'all two need to get a room! (AJ and SR).

[AJMag]

Y'all two need to get a room! (AJ and SR).

Someone is jealous of some trad talk.

Get you a bow and you can join the conversation young, grasshoppa

[AJMag]

Tod and I are making a serious effort to get all my gear tuned so that I can practice more, with some more consistency. Then I just need to figure out if I can shoot a recurve good enough to hunt with.

I was thinking about that last night as i was playing with the arrow calculator program we mentioned.

[wanderin39]

Am heading to bow shop this morning. New string for recurve, a few arrows and look at a new target. Then going to catch some kind of fish, not sure if salt or fresh. Yall have a great good Friday.

[SwampRabbit]

I learned something early on that really helped me gain confidence with trad. It seemed I only started worrying about form when I started shooting trad. Pretty much because my groups stunk and I wanted to know why. The reality is accuracy comes with consistency and practice. You cannot sustain it if you don't have fun. So I mix up my shooting often. I try not to sweat the bad days. I shoot with others.

There are major form flaws, but some of the little ones shouldn't keep you from going out into the field.

[AJMag]

Am heading to bow shop this morning. New string for recurve, a few arrows and look at a new target. Then going to catch some kind of fish, not sure if salt or fresh. Yall have a great good Friday.

We need to talk some. Kevin mentioned the trad unit in Oklahoma and im kind of interested.

[SwampRabbit]

Heck, 4 years or so I've been shooting trad and i still don't have anything figured out. As soon as i do, i end up going a month without shooting and then have to relearn. Things always change. Right now im struggling hard! Have had shoulder issues and didnt shoot since last September.

You have been shooting trad longer than I have a bow. I learn a little from everybody. If you want to hunt with it, then it is time in the field with it that will make all those things start to come together. You will at some point have to learn from experience. Some of those lessons can be hard.

[huntinfool]

I learned something early on that really helped me gain confidence with trad. It seemed I only started worrying about form when I started shooting trad. Pretty much because my groups stunk and I wanted to know why. The reality is accuracy comes with consistency and practice. You cannot sustain it if you don't have fun. So I mix up my shooting often. I try not to sweat the bad days. I shoot with others.

There are major form flaws, but some of the little ones shouldn't keep you from going out into the field.

I hear ya, but if the bow and arrow combination aren't even hitting consistently, then there will never be a good day. I can shoot fairly good with tuned equipment. But since mine isn't, well then the shooting isn't that good.

[SwampRabbit]

I hear ya, but if the bow and arrow combination aren't even hitting consistently, then there will never be a good day. I can shoot fairly good with tuned equipment. But since mine isn't, well then the shooting isn't that good.

You are absolutely correct, you need to be tuned for best flight before heading out. When starting off though, inconsistencies in form can look like bad tune. That is why it is not as important to tune until after your form becomes a little more consistent, whatever form that may be. I am certain Tod will get you there quickly on the tune.

BTW, all my kills have been with a 48# draw weight. Shoot at heavy as you can accurately. If you struggle with good form at 60... find something lighter, etc.

[SwampRabbit]

And here is the kicker. At the end of the day, hunt with what you enjoy hunting with. But if you get the itch to try something different, you should scratch it. If scratching it makes matters worse, stop scratching

[AJMag]

But if you get the itch to try something different, you should scratch it. If scratching it makes matters worse, stop scratching

Sounds like you've met Lee. He's the scratch master

[BowOnly81]

Sounds like you've met Lee. He's the scratch master

WTH bro?! No more protein shakes for you!

[TMiddleton]

Man, look at yall! Actually a couple of pages of bow and arrow stuff!

Lots of good advice back there!

I will be honest, for hunting the Sam, I'm probably going to stick with the compound. Some years, I get only 1 opportunity at a whitetail within bow range. I need to put meat in the freezer, so the compound is the best tool for the job.

Now, if I want to just go stalk pigs, I will pick up the stickbow. I enjoy shooting everything

[SwampRabbit]

Man, look at yall! Actually a couple of pages of bow and arrow stuff!

Lots of good advice back there!

I will be honest, for hunting the Sam, I'm probably going to stick with the compound. Some years, I get only 1 opportunity at a whitetail within bow range. I need to put meat in the freezer, so the compound is the best tool for the job.

Now, if I want to just go stalk pigs, I will pick up the stickbow. I enjoy shooting everything

Yep, I am in awe of the guys that pull out deer out of the Sam with a trad bow. Can it be done... absolutely! But I think hunting public land with no baiting is hard enough as it is.

Tod, here are two examples of a javi stalk situation I mentioned in our PM.

These are actual google images from sanderos/roads I put a stalk on.

The narrow sandero, you can get within 35-40 yards of the lone Javi that is watching the downwind area while the rest feed upwind. That is fine and good for a compound bow shot, but can be outside of your confidence range with a recurve. In that picture, if it were possible, it would have been ideal to just get ahead of them off that southern clearing there and wait for them to cross... if they ever did.

The wider or more open the sides of the sandero the better. That last one where you see I dip well off the road and work my way in broadside was ideal. There was about half a dozen deer long that road that I bumped on my way in. I closed that distance in about 3 minutes. I could move quickly because I was behind cover the entire time.

Of course, nature needs to cooperate. You need to find them where they are in areas like these so you can maximize your chances. My buddy who got one with a compound, still only had to take a 20ish yard shot because the sandero was wide with a lot of tall reeds of some kind that he could move slowly through... out of sight.