HMMMMM

Why use a bow ? Seriously. Hobbes, Lilhunter, Mike ??

I went to a compound because of the challenge and I found it. If I wanted to fill tags I would rifle hunt. About 3 years ago I got interested in trad archery. I had started to prepare for archery season and realized my shooting (with a compound) was very good with little or no practice all year. And it wasn't fun either. So I jumped into longbows. I am cross dominant, which might make it harder for me to become proficient with a longbow, but I found THE challenge for me, right now, in trying to take a deer/elk with a longbow.

Now, that said, I still gotta have some success in filling tags when I hunt. I love deer meat, and theres got to be some tag filling for me to keep hunting with a longbow. I can't go 0 for 120 in the next 10 years and be happy - honestly I just cannot do that. Am I missing the point of hunting then ?

My most successful hunt ever was with my Dad in 1996. We backpacked into a wilderness are on our backs, camped through snow, rain and hail, I was sick as a dog for two days and we had a fantastic time of it. VERY challenging physically and mentally - ask Arnie how my elk hunts go. Anyway, we did kill a fine bull each, but even without the kills tat hunt would remain tops in my book because of the way the hunt went. So no, I don't think I am missing the point of hunting, however I AM being honest in that I gotta fill a tag sometimes.

Wahya - I actually hunted with a compound for a couple of days in KS and came away even more determined to master hunting with a longbow. I passed several bucks, VERY close range bucks, that I would have tried to take with my longbow. The challenge of shooting them with a compound just wasn't there - not unlike carrying a rifle IMO.
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