ORIGINAL: stealthycat
With the increase ease in shooting them, so too has archery lost what might be more important than anything else - the love for archery that bowhunters is suppose to have.
You can read it right here in this thread ... don't have time to shoot, better things to do, great shot anyway, why practice ? etc etc. Bowhunters and archers aren't suppose to struggle with the thoughts of praciting with their equipment, are they ?
Good points Stealthycat - maybe we are talking about or finding the line of hunter vs. archer? Never really thought of it that way too hard because I've always considered myself both. So can you be both, or one and not the other and still be an effective/ethical deer harvester? I got into bow hunting 24 years ago because I loved the bow. I didn't have the bug for hunting deer yet, but I really liked shooting the bow. I shot hundreds of arrows a day and got very proficient at the bow quickly. That has always stuck with me. 26 years later throw a little life on top of all that experience and what do you have? A guy that is passionate about hunting with bow hunting at the top of the list without too much time to shoot all year. So am I no longer an "archer", and just a hunter because I do not practice all year? Let me say that the desire is there, but the ability to shoot every day is not because of time and no place to shoot. I am going to join a hunt club this year that is 5 minutes from my house - they have indoor 35y range, outdoor to 60 yards, several 3-d courses, sporting clays, 200 yard rifle range, and a brand new pistol range 5 to 50 yards. Yes - it is an awesome place. Having access to this kind of facility would encourage me to shoot all my "toys" more often.
So again I ask, not shooting year round doesn't make me a true "archer" in your eyes, no? Does this make me less of a hunter in your eyes as well? Do I somehow not have the right to bowhunt because I'm not an archer? This is very interesting Stealth.