silentassassin

Oops I missed that. Arthur isn't there a case for advancements in tree stands and scent control and growing deer populations and lengthened seasons to have a played as much of a role in those numbers as the advancements in archery equipment. I would think those success ratios have been influendced as much from the climbing stand and scent control as they have by archery equipment. Then you add the whitetail population explosion that has taken place over the last 30 years coupled with longer hunting seasons and people are naturally going to be more successful. JMO

Arthur P

Oh, puh-leeze! Rack, we had bow seasons a good long while before the compound was invented. Listen: I'll type it real slow for you.

Bow seasons were established to be a recreational, low or no herd impact form of hunting. Bow season was never meant to be a game management tool. That was and is the purpose of GUN season. Hunter success rates have increased over the years so that NOW bow season has become part of the overall game management program.

In MY state, Texas, the one month bow season has not changed and the only change it will likely ever make is to be cut. The reason is, bowhunter success has the gun hunters pissed. Their reason for being angry? They claim bowhunters take too many of the big boys in early season, before the gun hunters get a crack at them.

You go telling these gun hunters around here that they should be thanking you for killing so many deer and you're liable to get the seat of your pants loaded with buckshot.

Quit acting like a moron because I know you're not one! They are all parts of the whole picture, AS I SEE IT.

buckshot47

Here you go again. You talk about not getting respect and getting your hand bitten when you reach it out,but I don't see others useing words like moron or little insinuations of ignorance like "I'll type it out real slow for you".You do a lot of name calling when someone disagrees with you. Everyone has a right to their opinion without being disrespected

silentassassin

How does that song go?


I see your true colors shining through[:-]

I want to thank you for exemplifying the attitude that I have been referring to.

aeroslinger

That's an interesting post Arthur put up and one I never considered before. However, I wonder what the gun harvest numbers look like and if they are similar. I would also think the increase in bowhunters would make it difficult for the seasons to be shortened, unless of course we just rolled over and let them do it. It would make more sense to adjust the bag limits, especially for the gun hunters. I took a hunters safety course last year and the guys giving it worked for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. They said there had been conversation for some time of lifting the bag limits and letting each county set there own due to the abundance of deer. Now that certainly wouldn't be the case in some states. It would also seem to me that if the tech advancement in archery was a reason more people were getting into the sport, that would seem like a very good thing as it would give us a larger, more formidable group that could stand up for our hunting rights and not let the gun hunters push us around because we were taking "their" deer.

Straightarrow

Of course. I was exaggerating the analogy so people might realize there should be a limit to the technilogical advancement. Like I said, I don't think we've reached it yet, but I think we may be getting close in some areas. Things like 99% let offs and draw-loc devices are bordering the line where I wouldn't consider the weapon a bow. I'm simply hoping that hunters realize there should be a limit, and once that limit is exceeded the hunting becomes some other type of hunting.


quote:

I think that enabling one to reliably shoot a deer at a very far distance will take away from the bowhunting experience.

I can guarantee you two things. One, Fred Bear shot lots of animals up close and personal. He didn't miss out on anything. He accomplished these feats with skill, not technology. And two, Fred would have had a far more intense experience shooting that tiger at 6 yards, then he had by shooting it at 100 yards.

silentassassin

Exactly and just because you shoot a bow capable of killing deer at 80 yards doesn't mean you no longer try to get them close or that you automatically shoot at them when they get inside 80 yards. I don't know about the places that you hunt but most of the places that I hunt, I couldn't kill a deer at 40 yards with a gun much less a bow. In fact I was shooting baseball size groups at 50 yards this year and my farthest shot at a deer was about 18 yards. Oh wait a minute I think I see what you are talking about. I am perverting the sport with my high tech equipment and new fangled gizmos that are allowing me to kill deer out to 54..................feet[:-]

Yea, I know it's not hunting and no one gets enjoyment out of it unless it's traditional equipment and inside of 6 yards, I think I got it