When I first read this my post, my initial reaction was "oh great, another archery elitist thread". However, I do agree with what I believe was Quick's intention, somewhat. I'm a gun hunter myself, as well as archery. I started out with firearms and grew up with the two week PA season being a family holiday as much as Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will always consider myself a gun hunter, because of the enjoyment I find in spending the two weeks with my dad, the members of my cabin, and simply being in the woods at that time of year. It's a pastime that's engraved into my being...it's simply a part of life for me, and the hunt iitself is such a small (if insignificant) part of it. I do enjoy bowhunting much more for various reasons (which I won't dwelve into as they've been discussed on here many times), however, like many of the posters on here I support all ETHICAL and MORAL hunters. I find myself often stereotyping many of the PA gun hunters (hey I'm one as well
) as "weekend warrirors", a bit "sloppy", and even "reckless." Is this a fair stereotype? Of course not, and I don't truly feel that way about the MAJORITY of gun hunters. However, their are the "slobs" and unethical sorts in ALL aspects of hunting, not just gun hunting. Those are the people for whom I root against. This idea that many people seem to hint at (although many don't openly express it) that bowhunters are the upmost ethical and moral elite of all hunting "classes" is foolish. Do I believe more bowhunters as a whole are more serious about the sport than the same given number of gun hunters? Sure. More ethical...ehhh...that's a fine line. I know of MANY bowhunters in my area that have made very unethical shots, stuck deer often, hit deer and lost them, etc.
I agree with many of the people here that we as hunters are the "group" not different groups according to our choice of weapon. If anything we should have two groups "ethical" and "unethical", because EVERY "group" of hunters be it gun, bow, muzzleloader, etc, have their fair share of each.
Now as far as quick is concerned, I found myself initially wanting to "attack" your comments when I realized I often find myself thinking along those lines, but under certain circumstances. During gun season, my neighbors pack the woods (all private land) and just murder does left and right (one season they took 9 in one day off a ~100 acre tract). They also have shot numerous deer that then run onto our property only for us to find them days later because they never bothered to track them. These our the "sloppy" hunters, and I do find myself rooting for them not to get any deer. I even go as far as to "count" shots from their property during the season to make guestimates on how many deer they may have downed.
Just my opinion on the subject.