So I guess you get a deer every time you go out with a gun, or you only go out with a gun when you can't get one with a bow.
jerseyhunter
No, actually both times were when I went on trips to places where there were stands set up already and I was going to be the odd man and cause the people on the trip more trouble. (having to carry stands in and out etc)
NJ/PAbwhunter
I feel any hunter who legally takes a deer has accomplished something that should not be looked down upon by any other hunter.
So if a guy kills a 200 class buck in a 40 acre enclosure and it's legal, then we should all be obligated to admire his "accomplishment"?
MississippiBoy
Your opinion of choosing a bow over a rifle is great and is obviously going to be supported in this forum, but when you don't honor the animal you hunt, you become part of a bigger problem.
I have a great deal of reveraence for whitetail deer. So much so that I think it degrades the animal to chase them with a gun. Could you point out where I have lead you to believe otherwise?
Just for clarification, it's not a matter of not respecting or admiring the animal it's a matter of not respecting or admiring the accomplishment or lack there of.
bscofield
Why do so many bowhunters have a stick up their a$$ about rifle hunters...? Sort of in line with what Roost em said. Some bowhunters just think they are "hot stuff" cause they choose the "higher road."
I guess we just look at things in different ways. I just think it is too easy to hunt whitetails with a rifle and I wonder why people don't challenge themselves a little more and give the deer a chance.
Why does that put a gun hunter in a bad light?
I didn't say I saw gun hunters in a bad light but rather that I didn't have the same admiration for their accomplishment. There is a tremendous difference between the two. However, there is a stigma that is associated with gun hunting and therefore gun hunters in some areas of the country. Primarily IMO becasue it is so much more "visible". More people are out walking the woods and doing drives and riding the roads, and shooting across roads and more deer are wounded (probably not percentage wise but rahter due to the sheer volume of hunters in the woods). I think all of these things contribute to the phenomenon that you are describing.
If doing something the hard way is so dang noble (and not just a preference) than how come the people who look down their noses at gun hunters aren't doing everything the hard way? I just don't see how you can take this train of thought to it's logical conclusion and not end up looking down your nose at yourself anytime you do something in an easier way than what is available.
It's just a matter of opinion, values, and personal preference. It's nothing personal, just some of our opinions.
Some of you guys say that I shouldn't have the opinion that I will give the accomplishment of killing a 150 class buck with a gun less admiration than I would a 150 class buck that was killed with a bow. However, how many of you that have that opinion think that a 150 class buck shot off of a high fence ranch over a corn pile would be less of an accomplishment than that a buck that was killed say in the "big woods" that was scouted for etc. It's the same thing.