I'm gonna be the odd one out here and probably take a lashing for it. I starting hunting deer about five years ago, the first two years bow only. I took a nice seven point the first time I ever got in a stand with a bow. It was pretty darn exciting for sure. For the past few years I have been hunting with two other friends on 40 acres during the first week of gun season with either muzzle loaders or a slug gun out of an elevated blind. We have walki talki's and take a short break for lunch and meet up in the barn for few minutes if things are slow, and we meet up again in the evening to shoot the crap about what we saw, or didn't see.
I think I may give up the bow hunting in favor of the gun hunting simply because it's more enjoyable to me. I really like archery, and here it is so nice during bow season. I have a hard time sitting in the tree looking at my bow just hanging there, knowing I could actually be at home shooting it. I love to release arrows! My bow is not just another tool to me, or a means to an end. It is a hobby that I really enjoy. I shoot pretty much every day, sometimes for hours at a time.
Also I have a fear of heights and have pretty bad allergies that time of the year, so sitting in a tree stand isn't real fun for me. And the biggest reason right now is I don't have a place to hunt and I don't feel like paying someone to hunt deer. I'm really not that passionate about it. If you are that is great, more power to you. My hunting buddy is. He rarely misses a day of the season until he tags out. And he pays hundreds of dollars to lease a 250 acre field with five other guys. Bow, gun and late muzzle loader, he lives for it. It even ruined his marriage. For me it gets to be more like a second job at times. If I owned a lot of land and could just go out back and hunt at will it would be different. But for me there is this whole logistics thing to consider, especially if I get a deer. I am pretty small and don't even own a truck. If I make a kill I have to coordinate someone to help me drag it out and haul it home or to a processor.
I tend to use the most effecient weapon I can for the season as well. I'm a bit of a techno geek. Maybe when I'm better at it I will try to make it harder, but not now. And to be honest, I'm not a real outdoorsy type of a person. I'm in it to harvest the deer, not sit and watch nature for days on end. If that were the case I would just take my digital camera and save the money I spend on deer tags.
Here is my new toy for this season:
It's a H&R Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe 12 guage heavy barrel. I got sick of messing with the Remington 700 ML inline. Even though the ML is a bit more accurate right now. It's just a pain to shoot and clean.
If centerfires were legal in lower MI I would own the same rifle in .243 by the end of the month.
That's just me though. I have nothing against those that bow hunt the whole season. To each his own. Besides I just like weapons. I have always owned them, even before I hunted. I had no intention of hunting when I bought my bow either. I just wanted to learn archery and while doing that met some hunters that got me into it.
Paul