The title of a previous “Letter From the Editor” for Bowhunting World magazine (Oct/Nov 2023 issue) was “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” If you missed it and would like to read what I had to say, then click here. As I explained in that column, I enjoy hunting with compounds, crossbows and traditional bows. And I certainly don’t look down on anyone’s choice of archery gear.

I’ll quickly summarize my history with archery gear: I started with a Browning recurve at age 12, switched to a Browning compound in my teens, switched back to a recurve in college (custom-made Robertson Stykbow), later added various compounds and crossbows to the mix, and then more recently added another recurve to my collection (Bear Archery takedown recurve with Mag Riser). I enjoy shooting all bow types, but only the recurves light a fire in me.

For me, shooting a modern compound or a scoped crossbow is a mechanical process — minimize the human error and let the technology do its job for the best results. The goal is to get your body to perform as close as possible to a shooting machine.

What I’ve just described is exactly the opposite of shooting a traditional bow with no sights. And let me be clear: I’m not talking about what you see when watching barebow competitions on YouTube where archers are holding their recurve or longbow vertically, and gripping the string a couple inches below the nock point (called stringwalking) and then aiming with the tip of their arrow; the distance is typically 20 yards.

Demonstrated here by well-known bowhunter Fred Eichler, shooting a traditional bow instinctively in the classic form of Howard Hill or Fred Bear means tilting (canting) the bow as you draw and focusing 100 percent on the spot you want to hit.

Instead, I’m talking about shooting a traditional bow in the classic form of legendary archers such as Howard Hill and Fred Bear. I first learned how to shoot this way by reading a book by Fred Asbell. The bow is tilted (canted) as you draw, your bow arm swings up as your draw hand nears your face, you concentrate on the spot you want to hit, then you release the arrow.

How long you anchor can vary. Fred Bear was a snap-shooter, Howard Hill anchored for a split-second, maybe up to 1 second. While I started as a snap-shooter — because I made the foolish mistake of using a recurve with too heavy of a draw weight — I’m now trying to anchor longer, aim longer, basically slow the whole shot process down, and so far my results have been encouraging. Trust me on this one: If you’re thinking of trying a traditional bow, be smart and order a 40-pound-draw model, not 55 or 60.

Using his Bear Mag Riser takedown recurve (no sights), the author shoots at least four arrows almost every day in his basement. Multiple bull’s-eyes on a large Morrell Mod Pro target prevent damaged arrows. As shown, more work needs to be done — on this day, he was hitting a bit high and left from 15 yards.

Shooting a traditional bow instinctively in the method of Howard Hill and Fred Bear is tremendously fun — and difficult when it comes to accuracy. It is NOTHING like shooting a modern compound bow with a release and bowsight.

The next time you’re at your local bow shop, I challenge you to give a traditional bow (no sights) a try. Shoot 10 arrows and I’ll bet you can’t keep them all in a 3-foot-diameter circle at 20 yards. Yes, for a new trad shooter, it’s that hard. But with diligent practice, you can quickly improve. Embrace the grind!

P.S. If you want to learn more about the legendary Fred Bear, and see his snap-shooting technique, check out the 8-minute YouTube video below.