I do not wish to take up bowhunting for several reasons, but I am strongly leaning towards it several other reasons. Namely, I only hunt public land. Muzzleloader season here in VA is great because nobody does man drives and you aren't allowed to run dogs. But since I only hunt public land, I am subjected to these hunting "techniques" on public land during gun season and there's nothing I can do about it. And those techniques cause the deer to stay bedded most times and become completely nocturnal. That is why I am considering taking up the bow.
I do not want to bow hunt for several reasons. First of all, hunting deer with green leaves still on the trees along with the obscenely warm October days that are possible here in Central Virginia just seems, to me, well...wrong (not morally, of course). Unfitting is probably a better word. I have squirrel hunted in early October and even that seems odd to me.
I also don't like the idea of not crushing the deer with loads of hydrostatic shock and turning their insides to mush in an instant. I believe that a well-placed bullet immediately sends the deer into shock and they are dead before they realize what has happened. In fact, if a neck shot is possible, I often choose that, which causes instant death in most cases. I realize that the mantra of a bowhunter is to become one with your weapon and practice, practice practice, but you read posts by bowhunters time and again where the slightest thing went wrong which caused they shot to be imperfect, resulting in a lost deer or long tracking job (read: slow death). And the bowhunter that lost or had to track the deer always says that they practice a ton, etc. I find it hard to believe that even the best bowhunter doesn't fire the occasional imperfect shot during a hunt.
Although I don't claim to be perfect, I have only lost one deer, and that was because I (in my first season of hunting) stupidly used buckshot during a hunt (never again). Every other deer I have shot with my muzzleloader, rifle or slug gun has been recovered quickly and easily, even with slightly imperfect shots (which is why bullet selection is key). The thought of wounding a deer with an arrow doesn't sit well with me.
I borrowed this quote from another recent thread because it's a good starting point for a question I have:
Originally Posted by
BGfisher
Not only all the things you said, but gun hunting in many states is not real hunting. It's gunning. When you pick up a bow you learn to HUNT. After so many years the kill becomes only a secondary part of the experience.
It depends on the mentality of the person behind the trigger. When you are talking about some of those I described above...the dog hunters, the man drivers, agreed. Of the last four deer I have killed, three have been less than 15 yards away from me (one from a tree, two from the ground), and one 20 yards away from the ground. I let two bucks go the other morning from my stand, both on the same trail 10 yards from my stand.
So my question is this: what is going to be different for me if I take up the bow? I understand the movement involved in drawing a bow, but I honestly feel I could have drawn a bow on any of those deer I mentioned.