longbowman2

As you can tell by my handle I'm not what you call a "Techy" guy when it comes to bowhunting but I am a member of Team 28 becuase to me a bowhunter is a bowhunter regardless of what equipment he/she carries. Any way on the sites I normally peruse I hear a lot about Tech shooters having 30-40% success rates. Well, according to the contest we're in here we're right at the same average for Trad shooters, 16%. That tells me it's not the equipment but the hunter and the circumstances, just as it should be in the woods. Just a thought....

GMMAT

We'll see, next year. I'm gonna shoot trad a LOT, next year. I'll say it again....location, location, location. I live in a target-rich environment....and I'll get my chances.

Edit: Also....let's not forget the fact that MOST trad shooters (I am the exception.....being a novice to bowhunting, altogether) I know have gone the wheelie bow route and have migrated (for whatever reason) to the trad equipment. In "most" cases....I think (my opinion) you're likely dealing with a different class of hunter (in terms of experience) when you lump the trad guys separately from the compound guys. In MY eyes....it would stand to reason that there wouldn't be much of a gap in their success rates.....EVEN THOUGH....the trad equipment limits one's chances to a (_________) degree.

JUST my opinion.....

Arthur P

You gotta remember that a bunch of these guys are QDM freaks and are passing up a lot of animals.... or so they claim.

I think DNR harvest/hunter success statistics make for more reliable data vs what happens in some forum's contest.

cooter144

Success rates mean little to me.

I have passed on a dozen bucks this Fall since none were what I consider a shooter.

I don't need to kill an animal every year to feel that I have had a successfull season.

GMMAT

How else would you have people determine how a group of hunters is "successful", cooter? I think it's innocent enough.....and although a "kill" is NOT the final determination of whether a particular hunt was "successful", or not......can a man who never kills anything consider himself a "successful" hunter?

Another thread, I suppose....lol

cooter144

i never said anything about never killing anything

I could easily kill a handfull of bucks every year

Instead I choose to shoot what I consider to be a trophy buck what seems to be about every 3-5 years

If being a succesfull hunter is about killing anything that walks in front of you to ensurethe highestsuccess rate then you might as well call me an unsuccessfull hunter as I want no part of it

I guess I do normally take at least one doe every year

Germ

Jeff I think Cooter is saying we put too much weight on the kill. My buddy here in MI just shot a buck under 100'', he shot it to get his kill. He did not want to go club and not have a buck kill. He shot a really small buck for him. I can tell you it was shot under the pressure to have a "buck" kill.

What cooter is saying is correct IMO, having a "buck" kill does not make one a "good hunter".

To me the true test is being able to execpt not getting a "buck", to me that is when one becomes a good mature hunter IMO. We have a lot of great killers in MI, but to me it is way differnet. Just what I think.

To get to the topic of the post, I do agree it is more about the hunter than the equipment.

GMMAT

CooterI have ALWAYS said that hunting is "personal". I also recognize that statistics will ALWAYS be kept......and in some cases are the only way to determine how groups "stack up".

It is what it is. I don't disagree with you in the least.....but it is "A" way to determine how bowhunters view their seasons (kill rates/%-ages). It's just "A" way.....not THE ONLYway. Given.

quiksilver

That estimated 40% success rate for compound bow huntersINCLUDES ANTLERLESS DEER. If you factored in all the doe that were shot over the duration of our contest (0 of which are included in our "success rate")- you'd see a lot higher success rate. Our 16% success rate is for antlered deer only. I'm sure we also have a few guys not reporting, also.

Arthur P

Not to mention that state DNR's don't give a rip about anything other than how many deer were killed per hunter. They usually do keep track of buck vs doe harvest, but they don't concern themselves with how an individual defines 'success' or how many they pass before they find one they want, or any of that other nebulous stuff. Just how many deer are killed and how many hunters it took to do it.