DaveH

From the far greater range, the point and shoot weapon, the follow-up shots, the greater possibility of shooting at and killing a running deer, etc., etc., etc. . . . a gun killed deer is not as much of an accomplishment -- in my book -- as is a bow kill. I don't even hunt as much during the firearms seasons as I used to . . . and I carry my bow when I do go.

This year, half of the 6 deer I've taken were killed during guns seasons using my bow. I have recently heard of a giant buck living nearby that I possibly could kill with my shotgun. I'll pass and wait for the bow season to reopen and hopefully, he'll still be alive and give me an opportunity to harvest him. Getting him with a gun would feel almost like "cheating" to me.

wihunter32

gun hunters face challenges that many bow hunters do not. here in wisconsin, after the first few hours of gun season the deer drastically change their patterns, they dont move during the day, bucks arent running blindly around chasing dows. it is as the first poster put it "easier" to see and get close to deer during the bow hunting season. many of the deer i saw during the past gun season merely stood up and looked around for a minute to never move again for the rest of the day. for example on the 500 acres i hunt, numerous large bucks were seen during bow season but no available shots. these bucks were never even seen during the gun season by the same hunters that patterned and scouted them all year

Charlie P

You can't be serious.That's exactly what many of those posts are doing.

Queer Eye

DaveH please tell my 12 year old cousin that his first buck ever that was killed with a rifle is not much of an accomplishment. Can you do that ?

gutshot

I swear you people kill me with the post after post of why the way that I do it is SSSOOO much better then the way that you do it. I personally choose to bowhunt only but my best friend hunt deer with everything that is legal. Do I think that I'm so much better just because I stick and string it only, NO. Does he, who has 5-6 bucks that score over 140 on his walls,think that he's a better hunter than I do because he's killed better bucks, NO. Yaw need to quit bitching and bickering about it and just be glad that we live in a country where you are able to hunt with almost any weapon that you choose to.

RTA47

I guess there is no doubt that i fall into the elitism catagory as well? Sence i have been strickly a bowhunter for over 23yrs now! But dougboy don`t forget there was a time in my early hunting carrer that i hunted with a gun and enjoyed gun hunting very much. I am sure that thats the story with a lot of bowhunters. But when i was introduced to archey i really did not think at that time that i could get good enuff to actually take a big game animal with a bow? But whith enuff practice i started to believe that i could do it! I rember the first deer i ever got a shot at with a bow i rember how i had to wait untill the deer got to within range for the shot but buy that time i was a shaking mess! this happened to me to three different times before i could calm down enuff to make a clean and ethical shot. I never had that kind of problem with a gun and i really don`t think to many other hunters have ether? I could be wrong but i don`t think so. for this reason and "many other reasons" as well is why i think bowhunting is more of a challenge. But thats the same reason i love it so much! I have also read statement that some gunhunters believe that bowhunting is easyer do to the lack of hunting pressure and maby the game is less spooked from being shot at or something of that nature. But let my just ask you a question dougboysigep? If you were to take two idital peaces of land say around 100acers a peace? With only one deer on each peace of land. Which do you think would have the better chance at taking that deer? the gunhunter or bowhunter? I will put this way. The bowhunter could see this deer many time without ever getting a shot and has two wait for the deer to get within the hunters effective range and in the the open for a shot! But the gunhunter just needs an open shot. Lets also look at the nurve factor? A gunhunter propped up and looking through a scope at 80yrds at a muture trophy buck is a far cry from a bowhunter that is drawn back on a muture trophy buck at 10-20yrds. The challenge of bowhunting for a muture trophy animal is buy far greater for me than using a gun. And that is why my achievement of success is so much greater with a bow than a gun. But i never sead that gunhunting for a muture animal was easy. I sead it is easyer than taking that same animal with a bow! Just for the record my 9yr old son killed his first deer this yr. And he did it with a gun at arange of 40yrds and he only shot the gun twice i really don`t` think he could have done that with bow? but it was a day i will never forget. At this time in his life a gun is all the challenge he needed to be successfull. But in the upcoming yrs we will be moving to a bigger challenge a bow!

nubo

This could go on and on and on guy's ,We as hunter's should all be acting as hunter's do ,it doesn't matter what choice of weapon we choose to use. It all boil's down to the fact is that we're all hunter's like brother's and sister's .I know that my choice is to use the bow 90% of the time and I'll use my rifle for 1 week every season .I think that there's a very different feeling when you harvest a deer with a bow,I think it's a feeling of being able to fool the deer in order to get him closer, and this is what draw's us to this fabulous sport .But by no mean's should we be thinking that we're any better than the other's . I love hunting just like the rest of us here ,and this is what it should all boil down to.
We all need to stand together as hunter's instead of bickering about who's better than the other.
Just one more thing ,I hunted for year's strictly with a firearm and have taken many deer with it ,but i needed to challenge myself and this is one reason that i hunt with my bow. sure I do get a little more satisfaction ,but I don't think that I'm any better than those who choose other option's to hunt.

nubo

Queer Eye

gutshot are you suggesting that shooting a deer at 250 yards with a rifle is just as easy as getting 15 yards from one and shooting it with a self bow ?

The more technology that is used by a hunter the "easier" the kill becomes as a general rule. Hunters who use four wheelers and scent lock and high tech rifle with laser scopers that hunt high fence ranches in Texas and see hundreds of deer every season are hunting easier than a poor guy from rural America using a hand me down recurve from 1970 and old wood shafts with Bear heads hunting on public land that has high hunting pressure and low deer densitites.

It doesn't get any clearer than those examples of how far apart the challenges can be when its all about weapons and gear choice, and yet both hunters can be equally proud of their deer killed for vastly different reasons

If you are a legal hunter, you should not make any apologies for hunting with gun, a crossbow, a shotgun or a pistol to anyone. Recognizing that there are people who practice hunting that creates more of a challenge is not a bad thing, not does it reflect on your choices, but it is reality and is true, like it or not.

Pa Trophy Man

I am mostly a bowhunter, as i spend 75% of my time bowhunting. However, in the past 8 seasons i have taken 6 deer with a rifle. I personally don't find rifle hunting as much fun, shooting a deer at 200 yards isn't that thrilling. I hunt deer with a rifle the exact same way i do with a bow, i set up on trails, feeding, bedding areas etc. I'm not just sitting in an area where i can see 300 yards waiting to paste anything that gets pushed my way. All 6 deer where shot inside of 40 yards with a rifle; which is about equal to my effective bow range. Does that make it any less of an accomplishment just because i used a gun? I would have to agree that bowhunting seems to be far more difficult as a whole than rifle hunting, but it is still a challenge no less. If rifle hunting was no challenge- everyone who picked up a rifle in any state should fill there tag every year... Just doesn't work like that. There are still a variety of things that go wrong, just the same as when you have a bow in your hands. We are hunters first and foremost, whatever weapon we choose to hunt with is still the mean to the same end. This elitest bs is pointless and it will probably never end.

m.t.hands

i agree totally, i hunt with a bow, a muzzle loader, a pistol, and a high powered rifle. bow hunting is the most gratifying, but i hunt for my own pleasure, i enjoy them in the order listed, and killing a good buck with a rifle is not a problem for me, i mean how many times does the average hunter have a 150" b/c deer around him anyway, so when gun season or muzzle loader season is on i'm putting the odd's in my favor..i'm mean you could watch him from afar for years only to have him run over in the highway next week[:@]

good hunting to all