indianahunter83

I give all the credit in the world to someone that can down a deer from 900+ yards away. I don't have to worry about rifle hunting in Indiana because it is illegal. (only shotguns here) I also can't say I have never dropped a deer at 200+ yards with my rifle (obviously not in Indiana) It just didn't feel as gratifying to me than downing a deer with my bow. As usual this is only my personal opinion but when I see a gut all decked out on a bench and chair taking snipe shots at deer it just feels wrong. Then again I don't I could come within 25 yards of a deer shooting from 900 yards away. To each their own!

flyfishpj

The thing that bothers me is that they are not hunting to kill the animal, they are hunting to see if they can hit an animal at that distance. If they really wanted to kill the animal for the HUNT, they would be out there at close distance using normal tactics, not shooting from a bench with sandbags and laser range finders.

idahoelkinstructor

I disagree.In addition to archery I do rifle hunt, though its not my main passion I do enjoy it as well. Given a choice Itoo prefer the closeness of bowhunting along with mypassion ofelk calling. I am a competion elk caller and always have a diaphram in my mouth. I admit that my biggest hunting rush each and every year is to call in and listen to real elk. Right now I work construction full time (self employed contractor)and work in a archery pro shop part time. But my back is bad and at age 32 I am looking to get away from most of the construction. I will be going to a top noch gunsmithing school in dever colorado later this year. In getting ready to know as much asI can about guns and accuraterifles, I have been hanging out in other forums devoted to big game hunting with a rifle, such as longrangehunting and accurate reloading. I admit at first I thought thatmost of these people (true blue rifle hunters)were crazy and unethical for taking such long range shots andhad no business in doing so. Boy was I wrong, most of the serious long range hunters devote themself and practice a lot with top of the line equipment sotheyare able to hit little targes at long long ranges,time and time again with little to no error. It is much inthe same way we archers devoteare selfs tohit ourtarges with our bows at normal bowhunting ranges. They know and have confidence they can hit a target/live gameat long rangethe same as we have confidence that wecan hit our targets/gamewith our bows atbowhunting/close range.For those who say well its still not fair because thegame animal whatever it may bedoesn't have a chance with a rifle. Well Iask then its it fair for us bowhunters to hide ourselfs with the best camo, be in hidden ground blinds, or better yet be above them and there eye sightin tree stands? In addition to trying to fool their eyes we also go to greater lengths to fool their nose with cover sents and all kinds of other methods.Weshoot ultra quiet fastbows in attempt to not spook the game during the shot, weuselurers, baits, calls and even decoys all in attempt to fool them into thinking they are save to come close to us. They think they are comming to get some food,drinkwater,find a mate, or chase a challenger off, some might just be in there daily travel route that has been very safe for the last year, and little do they know that some hidden dude is about to punch a sharp stick through them. That sounds not to fair to the animal either when you sit back and realy think about it? Sounds harsh but I am just trying to make a point, I know that to be successful in archey it does take a lot of skill and devotion to be successful each and every year. But on the other hand its dang hard and takes a lot of skill to shoot and be accurate at long ranges on a regular basis. I know I sure can't do it yet, nor do I have the equipment. Rifle hunters still have to find and game amimals, so to say they are not hunters and just shooters is notcorrect IMO. Our skills involve getting close, there skills are spent on be very very accurate at long ranges. Which skill is better? Well I have learned it just depends on who you ask! Nothing wrong with learning both IMO. As a side note if we ever did get invaded in a war, I know it would be bonus to be frieds with these type of rifle hunters, they just might help you stay alive a bit longer lol. Back on trackI also believe their are about a equal amount of slob hunters in both archery and rifle.Be it rifle or archery they (slob hunters)don't devote themself to their sport, don't practice and don't care if they wound/hurt game. The bottom line is we are all hunters and we need to stand upand supporteach other in our passions.We need not devide ourself, or group ourselves out of hunting all together. The saying it true together were strong, devided we fall. Just my 2 cents.

PABuck_HNTR

I understand what your saying, but this isn't HUNTING to some of us. I have shot high power matches and smallbore matches as well, so I know how difficult those shots were to make on the video. What I didn't like was the attitudes or way they acted while do so. That is what makes us look like Slobs to the non-huntinng community.

Fieldmouse

Does it really matter? In the end it's still a dead deer. It's not my cup of tea, but for those who worry about someone taking a 40yd shot with a bow, what do you think the allowable error at 900yd and still drop the deer.

PreacherTony

idaho ..... I totally agree with what you said

TRK ..... The guys attitude is what bothered me also [:@]

PABuck_HNTR

Something else we could be overlooking is that how many deer didn't they drop in their tracks? They most likely only showed the dropped deer and how many others were shot at? Kinda like a fishing or hunting show on tv. Hours of tapes equal 10 minutes of airable footage.

springcaller

couldn't agree more

indianahunter83

Just feels like Archery is more of a sport. The whole we hide ourselves and use sent blocker and the such isn't a very good argument. IMO

_Dan

Whenever threads like this come up, you hear phrases like, " feels like" "In my opinion" "that's not hunting" etc. etc. etc.....

Those are all opinions.....

There is one fact though, its legal.

Don't you think we have bigger fish to fry, rather than knock someone elses way of hunting?