Originally Posted by
Gunplummer
You are absolutely correct in thinking that bow hunters have an advantage. I am the "Real Deal". I started with a recurve and still shoot either recurve or long bow. My hand is starting to go so I may not do it much longer, but I rifle hunt anyway. Here in the great state of Pennsylvania, you can actually see the way things changed over the years. Back in the early 80's, when I came back to the states, I can remember only running into one other hunter with a recurve bow. The woods was crowded but not really bad yet. Pa. used to have a 1 month season that ended right about when the rut started. Then one year they extended the season for a week for doe only. The hunting pressure increased. After that the season was extended 2 weeks and buck and doe were legal. Everybody and his brother ran out and bought a bow. I hunt from the ground and move around a lot. I started to find dead arrow hit deer all over the place. I know guys that almost never get a deer with a rifle start to kill wopper bucks in their backyards. You always hear them say " I want to challenge myself". What a bunch of crap! If you want to challenge yourself use a stick bow. All they did was find an easy way to kill a deer. The same thing applies to guys that ran out and bought in-line muzzle loaders. If you want to "Challenge yourself" use a flint lock, Pa. has had a special season for that for a long time. Pa. has gotten so ridicules with their seasons and weapons laws that the only "Challenge" left is high power rifle hunting.
most bowhunters 40 years and older DID start with a recurve, then they moved to compounds. it like when 200 years ago all there was is muskets, then they moved to centerfire rifle. so both have gotten easier and bowhunting is still harder than rifle because you have to close the distance. idc if people say " i can hit an apple at 60 yards" you know how many chances they will get to shoot that far in the woods? with the wind and trees, a deer can jump an arrow going 300 fps at 30 yards. You think compound bow hunting is easy? i shoot recurve too and they both take PRACTICE! no novice bow hunter can walk out in the woods and first time shooting a compound and kill a deer, there are just different standards basically for groupings and ranges. Most comp. bow hunters wont shoot over 30, most recurve bow hunters wont shoot over 20. While recurve bow hunters are try to get there grouping down to a softball size circle, comp. hunters are trying to reduce it to an inche. All it is, is a more efficient way to hunt deer, and kill them ethically while still having a challenging hunt.