The passion for hunting is what brought everyone to this site. It's a common link between all of us. There are many different variations in hunting, and that is what the different forums are for. Those are to help guide topics and thread into an organized system where people can read, learn, and experience certain aspects of their passion. It has been said many times over that we are family on here. Some closer than other, but we are all connected by a bond...the passion, love, and joy for hunting. That bond is greater than any system of organizational forums.

When a person kills a deer, they want to share it with those who are closest to them. If we (the Bowhunting Forum) begin to start shunning those family members to another forum, simply because they killed their deer a different way, I think that is sending the wrong message. The link between all of us shouldn't be broken, simply because some of us choose different weapons at times.

There are lots a people on here who solely bowhunt, but I'd bet there are many times more who pick up a gun from time to time. If we begin shunning those (family) members and their accomplishements, I believe we will have forgotten the common link between us. Sure there are differences between a bow-deer and a gun-deer, but its not (at least in my opinion) so much about the deer, but more about the person, the hunt, the accomplishment, and the feelings they have.

It is for that reason that I don't have a problem with gun-deer in this forum....its not so much about the gun, but about the hunt and the bond. As for any gun pics that show up in here simply to get more 'hits', I'd say move them in a heart beat, but in general that's not the ones being posted. They are being posted to share with their close friends.

As some of you know, I wasn't able to bowhunt this year because I'm away at college and I miss it very much...I've written a few thread on it here. I do get to hunt for about 6 hours with my rifle on Monday before I have to go back to school. If I do get a deer then (with my rifle), you can be sure I will post the pic and story in the Bowhunting Forum. Not because I think it will get more hits, but because this is where I normally visit, this is where my 'closest friends' are. This is where I feel the strongest bond. I would feel horrible if my deer was shunned, simply because I killed it with a gun.