Agreed. When muskets became common, I’m sure people were stoked about having them and weren’t too concerned about it not being done the way it was done previously (recurve, spear, loincloth, whatever). I think it is cool if that is the reason you bow or ML hunt, it’s just not my reason for doing it. I guess I’m just an opportunistic SOB; I am hunting with a ML this season to get in on the pre-rut action. Not that I don’t enjoy shooting the ML. Though it has given me frustrations…as with just about EVERY firearm I have owned…it has been thoroughly enjoyable. But it really gets expensive when searching for that magic load. I wish there was a gun shop that just had bins of bullets and sabots you could buy individually. That way you could buy 4 bullets of this, 4 bullets of that, etc.

Even though a centerfire rifle has a longer range than a muzzy, it doesn’t mean you have to use it to out to its farthest range (though I will say that shooting a deer at 500 yards is no easy task, just not something I’m interested in). For me, it’s about firepower (capacity) and the ability to reload quickly (even in the case of a single shot, compared to a ML). I would be pissed if I shot a doe with my muzzy and for some reason it didn’t spook ol’ mossy horns and he came down the trail next. Oh, and it’s about knowing without a doubt that my next shot will fly within an inch of where I put it (i.e. not having to worry about the many variables that can affect accuracy with a ML). But anyway, regardless of your weapon of choice, YOU decide how challenging to make your hunt with the restrictions you put on yourself. Though I will fully concede that there probably isn’t anything in hunting as hard as having to draw a bow at close range to your target, especially on the ground.

As for shotgun hunting, lots of people use slugs, so it doesn’t necessarily equate to just blasting away with buckshot. Although, if I am still-hunting, I am torn between using slugs or buckshot in case I jump something within 30 yards. Don’t get the impression that I crash through the forest hoping to jump something and just blast away at it. I slink very carefully, but you don’t always see deer before they see you, and, to me, it’s very exciting to jump one at close range. Tightly patterned buckshot gives you just a little more margin for error, in that circumstance, than a slug does. And I still believe in one shot, one kill.

I have been thinking about getting a bow, but for some reason, hunting deer in warm weather is totally unappealing to me. In fact, on Virginia’s opening day for ML, it’s supposed to reach 64 degrees. Yuck. At least there will be a low of 37 the night before.