What does "Traditional" mean to you ?

[Dan-o]

To me it means some folks doing the best they could with what they had.

I hunt muzzleloader... for over 30 years now.    The first 20+ with a traditional Hawkins replica.    The last 10 with a modern in-line with a composite thumb hole grip stock and nickel plated barrel using musket caps while I peep thru my ultra modern Williams peep sight.

I figure Daniel Boone used the best he had, and if he could have, he'd swap for my modern in line in a heart beat.......   He'd probably insit on me throwing my speed loaders in on the deal! 

[pianoman9701]

What was traditional back when we got our archery seasons?  It wasn't a new laminated recurve, fast flight string, replaceable razor heads, and carbon shafts.  To me, if you truly want traditional then make your bow, make your string, find your feathers, make your glue and attach it to your wood shaft you made.  Oh, and chip your head from rock or forge your own steel head.  That's how it was done for thousands of years and anyone that feels good about themselves because their bow doesn't have a wheel is fooling themselves.  If you look at archery equipment from the time it was invented to now, the equipment considered "traditional" by many are all recent advancements in equipment in the last 50 or so years.  This is a small amount of time in technology compared to the thousands of years of how it was traditionally done.

Are you possibly confusing "traditional" with "primitive"?

No.  All archery hunting is primitive according to WDFW and most archery groups.

The question wasn't what the WDFW defined, it was what we thought it meant. What you described was traditional goes way beyond what others describe as traditional - making your own string from gut, finding feathers, making glue for the shaft, etc. I'm just saying that the word primitive is about as open to interpretation as the word traditional. Many people would consider making your own string primitive. Many would not consider a modern compound primitive or traditional. A recurve with synthetic string and steel weighted target tips is far from primitive, and by your original description, isn't even traditional. That's why I asked if you meant primitive instead of traditional. I don't care what the WDFW does or doesn't call primitive.

[seth30]

I think going traditional is more than just using a long bow or recurve, it would also mean ruffing it.  Not using a tree stand, GPS system, bino's, cellphone, range finder, and flashlights.  I dont personally go tradional since I hunt with a compound bow but if your going to preach about only hunting traditional it should apply to more than just your bow

[DoubleJ]

Recurve crossbows have been in existance since 600 B.C.

[cryfowl]

Archery:  Longbow or recurve, finger release and wooden arrows with feather vanes and Magnus broadheads. 

Muzzleloaders that are not inline with iron sights,  Percusion or flintlock shooting roundballs.

Rifle:  old Winchester lever action with iron sights

Or whatever the Tribes use since they are all about traditions.   

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Using the best available hunting weapon to successfully kill wild game. Can you say "evolve"??

[netcoyote]

Hunting with lever action rifle shooting .45-70 with iron sights.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I started this thread out of curiosity, one of the reasons was I call myself a "Traditional Archer", but a couple years ago I was given some flack from a guy who shoots a "modern" longbow (new , made from ironwood) because I have a stabilizer on my early 70's Damon Howatt Recurve.
He thought that wasn't "traditional...
I told him about my 1965 Tamerlane that came with an aluminum stabilizer.
My mid 30's Nels Grumley Take-down that I used to own, had a laminated face, with linen backing.
My 1952 Bear Grizzly is laminated fiberglass and maple.
"Traditions" are something in my opinion that are began with the thought of continuing them for generations, I just wonder why whenever someone argues about what is "Traditional" there is always someone who equates it with "primitive"
My whole though process here is about the trend to "evolve" I understand it is inevitable, but when we throw around words like "Traditional", "heritage" and "primitive", do we really care what they mean, or are we just posers ?
I hunt with a recurve, because I feel that it gives me an advantage, and a handicap, my shot distance is no different than it ever was, I just have fewer excuses for my own shortcomings, my equipment is lethal, provided I understand my own limitations, the capability to put an arrow where I want to is dependent solely on my own ability, not dependent on sights,.. but they have been putting sights on bows for generations.
My father hunted with whatever weapon he had at the time, grew up during the depression, killed a deer whenever he needed meat (Canada homestead) but when it came to teaching me, it was about ethics, and personal responsibility.
"Traditional" has little to do with the weapon, but about the attitude, it does not matter projectile.. bullet, or arrow. 

[huntnphool]

What does "traditional" really mean?

 In the end it matters not what it means to you or anyone else on here, its how its defined by WDFW and their lobby.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

What does "traditional" really mean?

 In the end it matters not what it means to you or anyone else on here, its how its defined by WDFW and their lobby.

But why ?? The WDFW has no special interest in "Traditional", they set seasons based upon user numbers, and relatively the "Traditional" hunters, be they modern, muzzleloader, or archery , have no meaning to them, only to us.
It is our own petty disagreements that will cost us in the end, when we all get to hunt deer in September, and Elk in November...

[NWWABOWHNTR]

Not sure about anyones definition nor do I care, I just like hunting with my recurves and longbows, and don't care what anyone else wants to categorize it as.  However, according to one disgruntled person on here, Howard Hill and Fred Bear were not traditiobnal hunters by his definition

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

 

[popeshawnpaul]

The first bows were invented 64,000 years ago.  The first bows with heads attached to arrows with sinew was 16,000 years ago.  To claim that a bow outfit designed and invented 20-40 years ago is ridiculous.  It's not even close to what has been considered primitive or traditional to the invention of a bow over time.  Go ahead and feel good about yourself as you use your recurve, but your synthetic string, modern broadhead, Ford F250, Garmin GPS, and Kenetrek boots are all rather hypocritical.  In the end, it depends on the person you ask to what is traditional.  But to claim that a brief time in recent advancements is somehow traditional is crazy.  People just 500 years ago would think the equipment Howard Hill and Fred Bear used was modern.  How are they the standard at which we should set for traditional?  Who says you get to decide?  You (or Fred Bear or Howard Hill) get to decide a point in the 99.8% history at which there have been bows to decide to draw the "traditional" line?  This is fun stuff!  Can we argue anymore about nothing?

[NWWABOWHNTR]

  Really, you say you want to not argue, all I said was I like my longbow and recurves... don't care what they are categorized... hell call them Star Trek weapons I don't care. 

[huntnphool]

hell call them Star Trek weapons I don't care.

 Hey, no electronics now.