Breechplug

I also would get a Bow, I was a bowhunter way befor I got into MLing. Now Im not going to get into the crossbow debate, but to me this is'nt a bow. Archery takes much practice to master, it's more than cocking a crossbow and putting a bolt or arrown in it and aiming and shooting.
Archery season here starts befor gun season and if you want to see deer or take the buck of a lifetime during the rut and catch him off guard while he's after a hot doe then get a bow and bowhunt.
I see a ton of good bucks during archery season but hold out for a good 140" or better or I wont take one. I'd rather watch and see all the deer at close range and enjoy the fall. It's the time to really get to know deer and how they act befor gun season starts and send most of the deer nocturnal....get a bow you wont regret it.
(BP)

HDMontana

There are a couple of recent posts in the archery forum here that has some good responses to other people wanting to get into archery hunting. You might want to check those out. Where I work part time we have 4 bow outfits that sell for 499.00 each. A diamond, PSE, bear and G5. They come with everything to get started shooting except arrows and a release if you chose to use one. Targets also extra.

mountaineer magic

deleted : no longer want to be on the forum

MountainDevil54

bows are expensive to shoot. My brother in law spent $16 x3 on his first bow hunt by missing many deer. If you think your $2 a shot muzzy is expensive, bow hunting really has hunters by their manhood.

mountaineer magic

deleted : no longer want to be on the forum

falcon

i own several bows and crossbows, including a custom left hand recurve bow. Most have not been fired in years.

MD 54 is right: The bolts, arrows and broadheads get expensive fast. i'll never get over the loss of that $14 crossbow bolt that went all the way through a hog and landed way out in the pond.



Its a lot easier to zap the suckers with a muzzleloader in deer M/L and gun season.

HDMontana

Ya but you shoot the same arrow over and over again when practicing. Still good unless it gets damaged. Hard to get those bullets back in the barrel after shooting them.

onetohunt

Hey Super, get the bow. But be ready to do a little homework before you buy it. The bow is a great little weapon that has came a long way the past few years. You will be looking at different risers, cams, grips, brace height, draw length, draw weights, and a few other things. The point of this is to say, get a few different brands, models in your hands and see what fits you the best. I will say this, there are a lot of good bows out there and they all can be shot very well, but ultimately it is going to come down to what fits you the best. Bowhunting is a great way to extend your season and the end result can be very rewarding!! It will take time and a lot of practice but it is really a lot of fun. Good luck in your search!!

SuperKirby

Thanks for all the responses. I'm leaning towards a bow, but at the same time I'm not quite as excited about it as I could be. I think that's only because I have shot a bow exactly 5 times. I was at Scheels one day last fall when the idea first crossed my mind. The salesman was nice enough to not try to sell me a bow, but took me into their little test range and let me try it. The one that I shot was about 3 inches too long on the draw, but I was still able to get 5 arrows under 2" at 15 yards, with 3 touching. I thought that was good?
Anyway, that was way off topic, but here's my point. When I started muzzleloading, my father in law took me out, let me shoot his Knight Wolverine several times to see if I wanted to try taking it out for the upcoming season. Well, with the smoke and all I was hooked right away. He then gave me that same Knight to keep. I was into muzzleloading for nothing, and was able to try it out for awhile before deciding that I wanted to drop money on it.
Bowhunting is going to be different it looks like. I know a few people that bow hunt, and they talk about it a lot but that's about it. So if I want to start bowhunting, it's going to be $600 blind investment. It just makes me a little nervous is all. But the ability to hunt almost 4 months and shoot with almost no set up or clean up would make practicing a lot easier.
As for a crossbow, I can't hunt with one during bow season without a special disability permit.
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll let you know what happens.



(Moderators, I know this probably isn't the place for this post, but I trust these guys and their advice. You can move it if you need to)

ModernPrimitive

If you enjoy hunting and like muzzleloading, you'll love bow hunting! True, there is no BANG! & no smoke, but you are in very close range and your skills, like your broadheads, will be sharp. The adrenaline rush of a bowhunt, even if you didn't shoot, is great!