This is the best video I’ve ever seen about traditional bow hunting

This is a really important video - so many things to unpack here. I'm going to have to re-watch it and take notes! Whitetails seem to be really good at not dying and you have to stack all of the odds in your favour or don't even bother pulling back the string. For me, the most important time I spent out in the woods this year was getting out scouting early and understanding how/when/where/why critters were using the landscape. This year I started that process in January and studying winter tracks and mapping areas out. Get the hard work in now so I can focus on high probability areas for a tree stand or prep for a ground blind. What I didn't realize 3 years ago when I took up trad archery was that I wasn't taking up a sport, I took up a lifestyle. It's really changed my whole life. I wish I discovered it earlier but at 55 I hope to have a good stretch ahead, eh.

Hello Jason. I hope that is your name. My ears aren’t what they used to be and it sounded to me like you said your name is Jason. If not I apologize for that. I just wanted to say that I just finished watching this video, and I think it is one of the best you have made. I really, really, really appreciate your strong view of ethical shooting. This needs to reinforced in all forms of archery bowhunting. I don’t deer hunt. I elk hunt here in Oregon where I live. I have shot bows for a little over sixty years. I started out in the early 70’s shooting a Wing 70” bow in competition. About that time Compound bows were just coming onto the scene. Over the years I ended up with my first compound and competed with it. I eventually won a some of tournaments and competitions. I was also hunting at the time with my compound. I had an interesting thing happen to me a few years ago and it goes like this. I ran into a guy and his son while elk hunting. We talked for about half and hour and as it turned out they had heard of me. They knew a mutual friend and he had told them about me. When they asked my name I told them and the son said, OH man your Jim Scott the champion archer. I replied that I didn’t consider myself a champion of anything. They some time later noticed my sight on my bow, and asked why I only had one pin in it. I told them that I only use on pin sighted in at 20 yards. They then asked why I only had one pin. I responded by telling them this: When I got to these tournaments I can walk up to that stake, clear a spot to stand with my feet, take all the time I want, draw my bow back, and if something doesn’t feel right I can let down, step back, think about it and do it all over again until I make that shot. You CANNOT do that hunting. Another factor that figures in is your heart rate increasing when that animal stands withing shooting distance, the adrenilin is flowing and you really don’t ever know where he is coming from. Is it to my weak left side, behind me, etc., etc. And anyone who says that doeosn’t get to them is not telling the truth. I got into instinctive shooting this year. I had Jeff and Ty Phillips of Instinctive Addiction Archery make me a 62” long, 45 lbs@28” draw longbow, and I haven’t had this much fun shooting archery in my 63 years of shooting bows. But the main reason that I switched to instinctive was I guess for a challenge, but mostly because I got sick and tired of staying on top of compound bows. They have moving parts that wear out. Cam axle bushings, cams coming out of time, a rest with a dozen different screws that can come loose, the same thing with the sights. I Just got fed up with mechanicing on those things costantly. My longbow is just that an nothing more. Just a stick of wood and a few arrows. No maintenance every other day. Sure there are things you need to keep up on, nocking point, arrow tuning brace height etc. , but nothing like a compound. Anyhow I just wanted to respond to this video of yours and tell you it is one of the most interesting, and most IMPORTANT ones you have done. My next door neighbor is a bowhunter. He tells me how is sighting in his bow for eighty yards out at the gun club here in town. I just shake my head in disgust when he talks about that. I watch him shoot in his back yard and he can’t, in my opinion shoot a decent group at 40 yards. But he knows more that I do so there is no reasoning with someone like that. He is into bowhunting for the wrong reasons. Thanks again for the video, it is the best and I wish more people would watch it and take to heart what you are saying in this one. Keep em’ coming buddy, and wish you the best.

I agree, shooting a target is different then shooting a live animal. Nothing like up close. Had a buck a few years ago 5 metres away. I could hear the dripping of water from his nose hitting the leaves where he was standing below. I am compound bow hunter, but live in a large urban centre (concrete jungle). Would like to take up recurve but as you said need to practice a few times a week will be difficult. So I will hold off for now on recurve. But I like the idea of shrinking the shooting zone to 20 metres. My zone use to be up to 30 metres.

If Using a Recurve bow that is not a fiberglass limb bow you can shoot a little further then 12 yards at about 14--15 yards for Ideal especially if having a bow that can take the fast flight strings on the bow with 22--23 yards being max for ideal. Not much more but about 2--3 yards more from the shelf types of Flatbow Longbows.

After 25 years of pretty successful compound bow hunting I probably shot 3 deer over 20 yards , just bought my first trad bow and shooting constantly and I totally agree 15 for me at this point is pushing it . Thank you for all the great content you provide I'm learning alot 👍

Brother l feel you on the mental overload but that's part of the traditional experience

I totally agree , you definitely have to up your game , Practice shooting , micro scouting, improving your woodsmen ship skills , this is why I got into traditional bow hunting , there are so many things that you learn as you get into it. I've always loved to go scouting , and see what I can pick up along the way , It's just awesome , a way of life if you will , it's in my soul.

I'm not an archery hunter (yet) but I'm learning a lot from your videos not just about archery. As a rifle and muzzleloader hunter I never really thought about shrinking my world. Always had the mentality I need to see because if I see it I can shoot it. I've done well doing that but I've always felt like i was limiting myself by hunting only open woods or field edges. thanksgiving morning I did shrink it and played the wind correctly and was able to get my closest kill ever at 28 yards. It was definitely one of my most satifying hunts even though it was a doe. I felt like I had to pay more attention to more details than I ever had to before. Very exciting and gratifying when it all went right. Now I want to shrink it more and apply all the knowledge I've gained over the years and just be a better hunter.

Jason, i'm last of the traditional hunters in my group. I shoot a 49lb Predator recurve. All the guys i hunt with bought crossbows and trying to convince me that's Archery. I enjoy your videos and learning something new on most of them. Thanks!. I only shot one deer since i been hunting with my traditional bow but i think it's the challenge that keep me trying to gather more information so i could have a successful hunt.

I will say though you do not need a stand hunting as there are no trees that you are really able to climb or get up into in South Dakota outside the Black Hills and even then they are limited. Thing I do instead is to find a bush or smaller tree to sit near/stand near and if worst, I get to hunt in a lower spot walking that area. The other way if the Deer are not actively moving is to hunt stalking the Deer and walking up to them. That is how I go about the methods of hunting in South Dakota.

Getting ready for my second deer season. Never hunted with anything other than a longbow. Taken lots of small game but no deer yet. This helps a lot thank you.

The shots that I've made with my recurve have been from 18 to 30 yards. We don't have thick Woods that you apparently need for that close of a shot. I shoot 3D competition all the time and we shoot up to 40 yards with recurves. I encourage anyone is going to be hunting with a recurve to get into 3D competition it will greatly improve your skill set. ASA is maximum 25 yards, our club shoots are out to 40 on a couple targets. And of course it's all unknown yardage. Great Channel, and you do have to shrink down from compound distances definitely

Shrinking my hunting world has been the hardest thing for me. To overcome. Thanks for sharing.

Of all archery hunting videos on KZfaq this should be mandatory for all hunters,finally someone with real sense

Hell, I shoot a compound and I stick with 20 yards as a goal, 25 MAX.

One way to be the better hunter is to look at how some of the Native tribes around the world do the bowhunting some of the things they do as they need it to survive. In that case some Native people like in the USA and Canada think when they hunted deer or similar sized animals like puma/mountain lions or Turkey, how they shot these animals they had to stalk up to the animal and shoot and those bows were not as far as even a modern flatbow or modern made self bow. Another that is closer to what we see now is the Mongolian non horseback hunting like getting off the horse, how they do it even now hunting with those bows not too un-similar in FPS or distance to a modern recurve since those bows have an older recurve design that helps and materials to help shoot as far as a modern recurve one piece bow sans sights, same for the Turkish bows, and the later Hungarian bows that were less longbow flat bow design.

Good video Jason

Awsome video jason .i live and breath sleep hunt exactly the way you describe this passion again very well spoken and examples and most of all its fun an puts a smile on my face even the bad days thanks again jason !

I study and hunt hard. This content is my favorite. Same type of big woods/swamps where I live and hunt. Im hoping one day I can get close to your level. Won't be long and we'll have the lone wolfs on our backs!

Thanks for sharing really great video and very informative. I started out shooting compound and switched to a traditional bow and am glad I made the switch. It's a very different skill set. I harvested my first whitetail a few weeks ago with my recurve a 1971 Bear Grizzly. I've always been within 20 yards of the animal I hunt even with a compound. I'm still learning and going through the learning curve on making the right movement. Thanks again for sharing

Very well said. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

Hey does this mean I will have to move my corn pile closer lol that’s what most people would say I don’t use bait and I wish people would actually start hunting instead of just killing especially for our young ones we are not teaching anyone hunting skills sitting on a corn pile I been through it all I grew up with long bows and recurve bows and that is a learning process .For Most people they want instant that’s the problem with the world today to many hunting shows on tv that are teaching our youth and most grown ups nothing about real hunting.Keep the videos coming great info and over the years I’ve meet Barry ,Gene , Fred Bear ,all great teachers and hunters .

Awesome video. Very well spoken. Please keep them coming.

Right

I regularly practice out to 70-80 yards ( and have relatively decent accuracy at those distances), I live in mule deer country and I shot my last deer at 4 yards. Trad hunting is about the stalk and about getting close...if you're wanting to shoot distance...pick a different hunting method.

Great video and information!! I killed my first several deer with a Bear recurve when I was a teenager. I was not poor but did not have a lot of money, I didn't know exactly how far some of my shots were because I didn't have a range finder. I paced things off for reference. I am now 33 and have a range finder and I now know that was farthest kill shot was 35 yards! I am going back to the recurve or long bow this year after many years of shooting a compound. Sweet spot is 20 yards for me. I can't wait for fall already!!

What about hunting traditional from the ground any thoughts on that ?

nice

I got into archery as a natural progression in my survival and self reliance skillset. I shot hundrrds of arrows every week for almost 2 years straight. I spent countless hours stumping and eventually was able to semi consistently nock squirrels out of trees within 15 yards with flu flus. I have taken a doe with a self bow at 9 yards- let me tell you this man speaks the truth! These things have no range! I had no idea when i started that these were such low success rate weapons, i always figured that it was just a skill deficits and if i just practiced enough i could ween myself completely off bullets. Let me tell you- these weapons have limits.. respect them! Hunting with a bow is more about the "hunting" then the shooting. Its a skill i understand, but over the last few years i find the best way to shoot primitive ammunition accurately at game is with a recurve crossbow, the accuracy and range puts more food on the fire then a trad bow ever will... that being said, i will always have a soft spot for traditional archery. There is a spirit to it that i think everyone connects with on a deep level. At the end of the day though, as a survivalist there is no better tool then a crossbow (non compound) if you dont want ever want to run out of ammo.

great vide!!! i shoot a 70lbs 450grn arrow on compound , my last 2 pins are for 30/40 meters , first for 5 meters , i would never ever shoot a animal at more than 20 meters ,for simple reason the few times i had a animal on my pin , i was shakking so much if it was 30 meters away the arrow would end up in australia loool thanks mister Sam 😁🏹🇵🇹

Is it possible to have a traditional bow that you can shoot with either hand?

do u think the pse coyote 2 would be good for me to start out ive killed deer with rifles muzzleloader compound bows and crossbows i want to try trad

Fred Bear and his friends have broken all of your rules and I don't think I would have called them unethical. They did hunt from the ground though for the most part. Of course you'd prefer to be as close as possible, but unethical for more than 20 yards is pushing it. I'd venture to say that compound guys and rifle users make the most stupid and unethical shots, many of them feel invincible with their shot making. We hunt on the ground for whitetail deer so that angle in a tree is gone and your shooting at a target just like you practice with at home, big difference. With all that being said of course it's always better to be closer and I can see where you're coming from, new hunters especially should listen to your advice. If you suspect the deer is going to jump the string due to a longer shot then you have the option of aiming lower, aim small. If the deer drops you'll still make a lung shot provided you're shooting a bow with a sizeable draw weight. There are so many variables with distance, is the deer by itself with no wind or sounds to cover up the sound of the bow. Are there a group of deer, are they on edge and jumpy or relaxed. There are so many things you learn after years of hunting.

In the firearms world, tons of guys over estimate their capabilities. I wish i had a dollar for every guy ive talked to that was " confident" that he could take a 500 yard shot. These guys go site their rifles in off a bench with sand bags under ideal conditions, get a MOA group and extrapolate that out to the vital size on the animal they intend to kill. Its laughable. It dosnt suprize me that archers would do the same thing. Im not a bow hunter, i just like (LOVE) to shoot, but if i were to hunt with my bow i would want to keep my range as short as possible.

30 yds and under boys. You just need more practice and a faster trad now! Last kill double lung 30 yds went 20 yds

“You’re a Traditional Bowhunter now...get used to it.” That’s a sobering fact that is hard to cope with coming from a compound world but I wouldn’t go back to it.

shrink your world, dude, wait until you get older....everything shrinks LOL. Actually, I am looking at shorter tree stand, like 4 to 6 feet high. I have done this but by really brushing in the tree and stand with cedars. I leave windows to shoot thru but also have tall enough cedars (cut) to hide me and my movements. Result, some shots as close as 3 yards while scrape hunting. This is because of drop in poundage due to health issues so I know what my limitations are now and try to work within them. A ground blind is good for some cases but I prefer to be at least 4 feet off the ground with great cover. you have to be very wind conscious but oh well.