RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

I sold off my deer rifles after getting into bowhunting hard and heavy... I just don't think I could (well, think is the wrong word here; I KNOW I can't...) derive the same enjoyment from a gun kill as opposed to a bow kill.

It's very simplistic, but for me it comes down to the difference between hunting and shooting. I grew up with a gun in my hand, qualified expert with the M-16 while in the service (meaning I never missed a target out to 300 meters) and basically got to the point -- like tons of other people -- that if I could see it with a gun in my hand it was dead. It was that simple.

I've said it before, but when you see an animal with a gun, the hunt's over. When you see it with a bow, it's just starting.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

Another one here. I won't say I won't ever and I have been out in rifle season with my bow. I haven't carried a gun for deer since the late 90's. I have shot my recent turkeys with my shotgun, love it but I'm going bow oriented that way too...at least that's my goal. I suddenly remember I did flintlock a doe in 2002.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

My first passion is archery hunting,but I would never give up the diversity of rifle hunting and muzzleloader hunting.With a firearm I feel like I can "take it to them",cover ground etc.,itis not nearly as passive as bowhunting is for most of us.There are very few people that can stalk and kill big whitetails with a bow,consistently.
So firearms hunting fulfills the desire in me to roam.I think still hunting and stalking are a blast! If that doesn't stir some adrenaline or sense of challenge in a hunter than I am not sure what will!

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

Greg, I don't think I could have summed it up any better than you did right there.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

I totally agree. I've had some greatgun huntssneaking along the Hatchie river bottom in Tennessee. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

Where did you get that? :) That is the exact statement that was told to me on my elk hunt in 97.

I was in town after shooting my bull. A guy approached me and said are up bowhunting elk? I thought, oh here we go....I said yes, prepared and he said, I envy you guys. I asked why. He said and I quote, "I'm a rifle hunter, when I see an animal, I shoot, the hunts over, when you see an animal, your hunt begins." end quote.....

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

I am going on a managed deer hunt with a slug gun this december and did so last year as well. Last year I took my first deer with a rifle and it was just as exciting as my first with a bow. I don't own a rifle of my own though so I stick to bowhunting only.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

I have always and will always hunt with a gun. I should clarify that 200-300 yard "shooting" type of hunting doesn't interest me at all. I think every deer but 1 or 2 I have gotten with my gun were within bow range. My longest kill was 65 yards. I shoot a smooth bore short barrel Rem870 with Breneke MP slugs. DEFINATELY not the most accurate thing out there........so it is still a respectable chalenge IMO. Most of my early kills were off the ground with open sights...........maybe harder then killing a deer from a stand with a bow IMO.

Gun season has a TOTALLY different feel to it.........and I love that too.

Perhaps most importantly is the fact that my father gave up archery after a few years of recurves and then one of the first BEAR compounds. Gun season is all he has hunted for years now and there is no way on earth I am gonna miss a chance to go hunt with my dad.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

When I killed my first deer with a bow it was the most fullfilling thing I ever did as a hunter. I wanted to give up gun hunting but never did. I enjoy both types of hunting. I guess it's the thrill of out smarting nature or maybe being on an evenkiel with nature.

RE: Do you still hunt with guns
 

No matter how it's odne, it's great. Bow Hunting is awesome, but muzzle loading is a blast too, so "Whatever trips your trigger!" Right on.