I agree with several of you all about there NOT being education courses for bowhunters. Even though there are a few "Idiots" out there, not all beginners are idiots. Lack of knowledge about something does not make one an idiot. These type of posts makes all of the new guys/gals afraid of posting. This applies to all of the forums here. Seems to me that there has been way too many "cut-downs" of people. I know for a fact that just about all of us knew nadda, zilch, nothing about bowhunting the first time we picked up a bow. Did that make us idiots? I don't think so. Trial and error, trial and error and trial and error is the main teaching tool. Just as the aniimals we hunt, they make a mistake the first time, they may get away with it. The second time, they learn and remember. I am sure that any one of us could take another from this forum to his/her work, and have that person try to perform the same job duties that are done. 99% would be so called "idiots" when put into an unfamilar enviornment, and the table would switch when done vice-versa. When does it stop.

As far as bowhunting safety courses, I don't think so. Do we really want more regulation? I don't.
Where would the age limit begin? Here in Missouri, there is an age limit on the mandatory hunter's safety courses. If you are younger than a certain age, then you have to take it.

I have been hunting since I was 5. My grandfather, father, and uncles taught me right from wrong, and I live by it. But, since I was born after a certain date, I had to take a hunter's safety course, but, my mother, who has never shot a gun or even been hunting just to ride along, can LEGALLY go to Wal-Mart, buy a gun, some ammo, and a license, and go out in the timber. I think that education of hunters is a good thing, but should be for everybody, if not, voluntary.

Hunter's safety courses cover a broad range of what to do/not to do situations and ethics. We don't need more regulation.

Most of us had made a shot on an animal, and the unthinkable happens due to an unforeseen limb, yardage miscalculation, ect., and prolonged death is unevidable. Do we want our fellow hunters hollering about how much of an idiot we are? What if they don't believe the story you tell of the invisible limb, bad yardage judgement, and call for us to hang it up and take a course? We wouldn't like it at all. We have all made bad mistakes, and whether the others think it is so basically obvious that they would never make the same mistake, we all need to get a grip, step back for a minute, and think that maybe, just maybe, the one that made it really doesn't understand it, and needs to be taught without being made to feel like an ass.

I am just starting out and my dad is showing me everything and its hard
Jeff

I can not agree with you more on this one. It really disgust me every year to see these A holes come into my local shop in September, buy a bow and all the accesories, get it shot in with field points that day and go hunting. These are the types the ruin the sport and make a bad name for bowhunters. These are the people who usually end up wounding deer that end up being found, or shot during gun season.

I'm not saying that you have to eat, sleep and breath bowhunting to do it right, but I think people should have a little more common sense and respect for the animals we pursue and make a commitment to learning and tuning their equipment well before season so they don't wind up wounding everything.

Just my thoughts

So that's about 27 for competency field testing and around 7 or so against...that is encouraging! Thanks for all the posts!

WELL, well wolfen you have done it again!!! LOL

First of all I think all of you who are POed or felt offense at wolfen for calling Idiots, Idiots need to take a moment and reread his original post, he was not calling all newbies idiots at all, he said "It never ceases to amaze me how many idiots think that there is nothing at all to bowhunting but to get a bow, get some arrows, walk in the woods, and then kill a deer"

I agree with him 100% they are idiots! Some of them will remain idiots, others will get out there and realize they have their head up their fanny and do one of 2 things, either quit bow hunting or learn how to bow hunt. These are the same folks who think, that flying a plane is easy and anyone can do it.

Then you have the type of newbie we have on this board, they realize that there is more to bow hunting than buying a bow and arrows and hitting the woods. These newbies are the future of hunting those of us with hunting experience owe it to all the newbies to help them in every way we can.

The newbies here on this board are here to learn how to become bow hunters and better hunters. They have respect for their quarry and understand that it takes work, knowledge and patience to humanely harvest a deer.

Although I have never taken a bow safety course I had enough sense when I bought my first bow to practice the entire summer before I went out the first time, of course I had 20 years of gun hunting under my belt before I got my first bow and I had safety and hunting taught to me by 2 of the best hunters I have ever known, may God rest their souls, I owe them alot. There should be a overall hunters safety course and then a bow and gun course for anyone getting a license for the first time and also a proficiency test for the weapon/weapons they want a license for.

I must say I find it amusing when I hear "We do not need more regs". Would you feel safer if there were no regs?

wolfen we have a lot of newer folks here that are not familiar with your style and as a result I think you were misunderstood and some folks felt their toes were stepped on.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

Bowfanatic,I have no confidence in allowing the Dept. of Whoever determine whether you, I or my neighbor is competent.Just look at the people that drive around the highways.

What would determine competent?I hardly think that a pie plate at 20 yards is competent.Where does that put you at 30 or 35 yds?Does everyone take a test or just newbies?I have watched veteran Trad and compound guys challenged by a pie plate at 20 yards and I have seen rookies knock the nocs off.How do you determine hunting competency?Are you willing to pay the added expense of implementing these tests?Maybe you are, but I would much rather take the responsibilities that are required of me as a hunter, be it bow or rifle, to be my responsibilities,and I don't what to have to measure up to anyone because anyway you slice it the bar is never level.

Taz-I reread the original post and it sure sounds to me like idiot was used pretty freely and it came across to me as whining about first timers trying bowhunting without a proficiency test of some sort. I have only been posting here for a few months but see a lot of judgement being passed without any facts. How did wolf boy know all those guys he was seeing buy gear weren't planning on practicing or for that matter upgrading gear? My point on regs and laws is that our opponents are pushing plenty hard to regulate what we do and we don't need to be pushing for more restricions.Good hunting.

Nmaineron wolfen is not saying every new person to bow hunting is an idiot he is saying that if you don't do your part to learn and practice and then you go into the woods and wound an animal or do varius other dumb stuff THEN COME HERE AND ASK QUESTION'S after the fact you have failed to do your part and then being you are an idiot. He is also saying that there are lots of new people who DO take the inititive to learn and practice BEFORE entering the woods and there for they ARE NOT IDIOTS. I read his post's and I was able to desifer this message why is it that some of you still after 3 pages of post's still have your heads to far up your rear end's to read. Also the pie plate test is good and bad I like the idea of the test no doubt but myself I think it should be smaller than a pie plate. For the one's of you who STILL don't understand how this would help is......... by making people take a test is so that people must practice and be good with their bow thus reducing the number of wounded and cripped deer. The only people I could possibly see not wanting this would be the people who would have trouble passing this test. Every one has taken a hunters saftey coarse and it didn't kill you and this course would be no differnt. How in the world would some thing that would help make people better hunter's be bad? Another way to regulate hunter's? How is that I don't feel that we over regulated I know it is another topic so I will start another thread.

Reaper,I fail to see the wisdom after my 40 years in the woods that taking a competency test to see if I can hit a pie plate at 20 yds is going to make me a better hunter.How do you suggest we stop the fella that took his hunter ed course last week and stopped into the shop this week to pick out his gear and tommorrow he is hitting the big woods for the first time.Maybe we should have legislation drawn up to stop these people.Seems you must have forgot that you started once but of course with my head up my ass I couldn't have seen that you were born with a bow in your hand.God forbid you wound an animal with all your experience,they would just have to pull the plug on all of us.

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