Traditional vs Compound

[PacificNWhunter]

Ok I know I am going to be opening a can of worms here. I'm wanting to get into bow hunting (yes I'm aware of the proposed regulation changes) and can't decide between getting a traditional bow or a compound. I've hunted for over 10 years and have had pretty good success. I'm confident in my skills to get close and take high percentage shots too. Even though I have been a rifle hunter I have never shot at a deer more then a 100 yards out. Usually I close the distance, or postions myself that allows me to be presented with a close shot.  Granted I have been hunting in the brush on the west side. Having never really spent a significant amount of time around bow hunters or time shooting a bow, I'm wondering what is going to be easiest to pick up. The few bowhunters I do know, they say to start with a compound, and eventually move to a trad. Personally I don't have a preference, I have never really had the opportunity to shoot a trad. I know peoples opinions are going to be 6 one way half dozen the other, but I just want opinions on what is going is to be the best jump off point. Compound or Traditional?

[luvtohnt]

They are both fun. I think that compounds have a little father effective range so this would mean a slight advantage to being successful. Although traditional gear is quite a bit cheaper to get started in, because you don't need all the fancy sights and such.  I personally started with compound, never even started with rifle just went right to archery, and I love it. I have yet to kill anything but when I do I will be switching to traditional gear. I have even thought about learning to make my own arrows.

Brandon

[Intruder]

I deliberated a ton on the same question.  For me it came down to time.  You can become an effective shooter much sooner with a compound.  Traditional shooting, from what I understand, really requires much more religious conviction to shooting often.  That doesn't mean you won't have to practice with a compound.... just that overall learning curve will be much shorter. 

[PacificNWhunter]

Setting aside the time to practice is not a big deal for me. I have a fair amount of free time.

[tonymoe]

I would start with a compound bow and pick up a recurve later, you can always shoot the traditional bow in the mean time. the thing is, if you end up not having time to shoot, the compound is like riding a bike, traditional is opposite. If you really wanna shoot traditional style, than try a bare bones compound then go to full traditional set up. just another Idea. But at the end of the day the form of pulling back a bow and shooting it well is the main focus, so I tend to lean in the direction of full compound set-up

[DOUBLELUNG]

I deliberated a ton on the same question.  For me it came down to time.  You can become an effective shooter much sooner with a compound.  Traditional shooting, from what I understand, really requires much more religious conviction to shooting often.  That doesn't mean you won't have to practice with a compound.... just that overall learning curve will be much shorter. 

Very accurate.  However, if you like to stalk in close in the thick stuff, trad is very attractive, and the ease and quickness of getting an instinctive shot off, may more than compensate for the added range with a compound.  If you have the opportunity and discipline to shoot every day, I would go trad.  I currently hunt with a compound because I can't seem to make the time to shoot every day.  However, I plan to switch when life gets a little simpler.  

Trad is like throwing a ball - no need for sights, you learn instinctively to put the arrow where you want it.  If you can take a shot or two every day, at different ranges (a tossed tennis ball is great), and that sounds better than getting a range with a range finder, clipping on a release, coming to full draw, aligning your eye with the peep sight with the sighting pins (and perhaps leveling the bubble level on your sight), determining the correct pin for the range, and clicking a trigger - trad might be the way to go for you.  An added bonus is the weight saving with trad.

[bowhuntin]

Compound will be more accurate and you can also draw and hold it longer. With traditional you will not be able to shoot as far, nor will it be as accurate as a compound when comparing groups. Traditional bows are really light compared to compounds. If you decide to go the traditional route you will want to decide on arrow choice. Wood v carbon or aluminum.

[runamuk]

I'll toss in my 

I really want to shoot traditional, its what I shot back in high school.  My issue is I am an out of shape middle aged woman 
so with my limited money to spend I am opting for a compound that will allow me to start shooting at a low poundage and work up to legal hunting poundage. 
You probably have plenty of muscle for either type so less of an issue  .  I am going to have my bow set up bare bones and shoot instinctive then buy a traditional once I am in shape and shooting with decent accuracy.  I also don't intend to hunt until I feel confident in my abilities, I want to shoot a bow to shoot a bow its not so much about hunting for me

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

It really varries on what you are looking for, traditional will require tons of practice, IMO so does a compund though.. but your range will be limited to around 30yrds.... with a compound and correct shooting 60 is doable no problem in the hands of the right archer.....both have positives and negatives.... with a compound you have more accuracy, more kinetic energy, let off.. and its takes mere seconds to anchor and get a shot off on game, it will be not much faster with traditional gear.... also you have no let off as stated above so you cant hold anywhere near as long.. it really comes down to what you want... higher chance of success? compound, more purity and sense of the hunt in terms of what you HAVE to do to get within range go traditional..... either way you cant go wrong and Id bet you wont pick up a hunting rifle anytime soon after being in the woods with a stick..

[bow4elk]

I love both sides of the coin and hunt with my compound primarily.  But, for pure enjoyement of shooting arrows, nothing beats time with my homemade takedown recurve.  Hands down more fun and relaxing - for me.  Everyone is differnet but there is no rules so feel free to follow your interests and do both.  Taking that first fork-horn blacktail buck with my homemade bow has not been topped yet in terms of personal satisfaction on a hunt.  But you certainly don't need to make your own bow to enjoy traditional archery.  I'd recommend buying a decent used recurve or longbow off eBay and experiment with shooting styles.  I can help you with some recommendations on bow type, draw weight, bow length, etc. if you want.  Just PM me.

In any case, get some good coaching to develop good shooting form and establish good habits.  Target panic can really hose you up and in my experience doing lots of coaching, I see bad traditional habits creep over time to render the shooter extremely frustrated with ANY bow.  PM me for coaching help, if needed.

[Ray]

There are couple of observations I have made. These are not rules they are opinions.

The compound bow seems to better suit blind and treestand hunting because sometimes you draw on a critter when it is behind an object and wait for it to cooperate. It will inevitably be harder to try and keep the string back on a stick bow for say 10 seconds waiting for an animal to cooperate. The compounds I usually see seem to be cumbersome and bulky for backpacking in style hunts. Of course it would not be impossible but imagine if you hiked in to the wilderness 6 miles with all your overnight gear and then fell down on a slippery brush filled slope and tweaked your compound bow out of tune? That is not likely to happen with a stick bow. There is no tuning there is just a string. Simplicity is value in these situations. A take down stick bow will fit right in most packs.

As stated above the effective ranges will differ. That could be a deciding factor. Also instinctive and quick reactionary shooting is not well suited for compound bows as much as it will be for a stick bow. I disagree with the tought that getting an accurate shot off will not be much faster with a stick bow. This really depends on the person. The long term costs of a stick bow setup will be cheaper.

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

It takes a stick bow guy 2-4 seconds to pull back aim and shoot... a compound can be done in the 4-8 second range, and it always has been my feeling if you need to get a shot off that fast(2-5 with a compound) then its not a shot you should be taking in the first place, a calm animal gives you plenty of time regardless of weapon, also compounds IMO are not bulky or heavy, my bow with everyting weighs just over 5 lbs, also on long pack ins like my backcountry elk hunts in Idaho and Wa it fits on my pack and I never know it there, I have never hunted let alone really shot a recurve/longbow but I can assume taking game with one would feel just a little bit more rewarding

[sisu]

It takes a stick bow guy 2-4 seconds to pull back aim and shoot... a compound can be done in the 4-8 second range, and it always has been my feeling if you need to get a shot off that fast(2-5 with a compound) then its not a shot you should be taking in the first place,

Wow this an arrogant statement if I every heard one. I have a recurve bow, so you telling that if I release my arrow faster than you  shouldn't be taking the shot. That is the biggest pile of bovine scat I've ever heard.

[Pathfinder101]

 
Ill throw mine in too.  I hunt with a compound because it has a longer range, and it takes less practice to be accurate.  I shoot some traditional, but only for fun.  My boy and I are making him a traditional bow right now, and that is a lot of fun too.  If you shoot trad, you should be prepared to shoot a couple of arrows just about every day.  That "instinctive" shooting stuff is cool.  You don't know your mind/muscles/brain can work together like that until you start to do it...

[boneaddict]

Well Pacific.  I'll try to type my version.   It depends on what satisfies you.  Haveing killed a zillion animals withl rifle compound and Trad.  I can testify which is most satisfying.  The Trad bow kills. What drives you.  The kill or the hunt.  Speaking of advantages, you can just about have a guided missle with a compound bow.  I can shoot ONCE per year and put it away, walk out and put 5 arrows in a two inch group out to 50 yards with the compound.  Hit a pie pkate at 75 and so on.  A trad bow is going to take alot more work to be consistent to 30, and hen even 40 yards.  If technology floats your boat you see where I am headed with this.  I don't intend to insult apile of bowman on here, but theres a huge difference in skill, practice, and hunting abilities.  You don't get to stand there at full draw with 50% let off at 80 yards.  You have to sneak,draw and release at 40, 30, or 20.   or you can hunt with a rifle or muzzeloader.   A longbow is lighter than the compound, and is more quiet.  Thats about its only technical advantage.  Then again I hunt for alot of other reas0ons than to just shoot something.  Trad bow is about the most challenging hunt there is unless you go to spear.  Hell I forgot, they tend to be cheaper.  and I think they are prettier.