Quote[ I do not shoot my compound all year - I pack it in the day after the last hunt and get it back out the week before season to shoot it a few times just to make sure it's still on. I do not need to shoot all year to maintain precision shooting. The pins are on or they are off. I can drag the bow out after not touching it for 9 months and group 6 arrows inside a 6" circle. Does this mean I'm a bad or irresponsible hunter? ]

eth-ic /the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. : the principles of conduct governing an individual or group.

eth-i-cal/conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct.

This sport has changed over the years. Some good some bad. At one time bowhunters where thought of as "a cut above". Not elitest. Just hunters who thought that the preperation was the most inportant part of our sport. The scouting, the set-up and the approach,including the equipment and shooting preperation. Not a week before the season. That was the standard the gun hunters where use to. Do bowhunters need to shoot all year? It wouldn't hurt ,but no. A week you ask? Not hardly. Your ego may tell you that but you will not shoot with any consistency with only a weeks practice. The bows not even settled-in yet. A six in group at twenty yds. even with broad heads is not even par. Take that group to the woods and double it and thats probably your group when shooting at live game. Thats the standard we use to use. It dosen't matter what bow equipment you shot. A three in group with broad heads is what distance was standard. What ever distance you shot a three in. group at was your limit. If it was 10 yds or 30 so be it. We tuned our own equipment and knew every scratch on that bow. We seem to have more respect for the game we hunted and wouldn't think of walking into the woods not prepared. I taught that same ethics to my sons and still live it today. We called it hunting ethics then why would it change today. There was a time when I didn't have the time to practice or prepare for the season so I didn't bowhunt for almost 10 years. I hunted but did it with a rifle. When I got back into bowhunting my standard of preparation didn't change and found like minded bowhunters who live by those stanard to hunt with. So is poor preparation bad ethics?(pulling out your bow a week before the season) Personally I'd say "without a doubt". It's not golf or baseball it's killing live game. I'm not saying your not a good hunter. I'm just saying you might try a crossbow or rifle till you find the time to make the necessary preparations to bowhunt. I'm sorry if I have offended anyone but after reading some of the messages in this thread I thought it had to be said. Jerry