I agree....rifle...compound at 20 yards....its the same.......

its the entire picture that matters....the reality of riifle vs. bow depends on the distance and the capability of the equipment....

For the love of god everyone (and I believe in god)......throwing wood off your knuckle with a stone on the end of anarrow held on with dried deer tendons is harder......unless you shave everyday...and then toss cedar in a target every morning...... you are going to work to kill like an indian....its like studying for a test in school.....unless you're doogy Hoser...you're gonna work at it....we work every day....so grab that darn stick and dump one in 2008....only if you want it in your heart....I always go back to that statement.....

Let's define a couple things.

1. Hard hunt--

2. Easy hunt--

I don't know about ya'll, but I've had some incredibly difficult hunts while carrying a rifle. I don't think it can be broken down as simply as "who's hunt was harder" because by doing that, we're also asking who's hunt was easier....There's SO much more that goes into a hunt than range.

Does the deer have to be closer to kill w/ a bow? Yep. Does that make it"harder?" Yeah, ok I guess you could say it does. But if rifle hunting were so "easy" how come there are soooo many unfilled tags year in and year out?? Is it because every unfilled tag just wasn't used on a deer the hunter wanted to shoot? I HIGHLY doubt it.

I agree....rifle...compound at 20 yards....its the same.......

its the entire picture that matters....the reality of riifle vs. bow depends on the distance and the capability of the equipment....

For the love of god everyone (and I believe in god)......throwing wood off your knuckle with a stone on the end of anarrow held on with dried deer tendons is harder......unless you shave everyday...and then toss cedar in a target every morning...... you are going to work to kill like an indian....its like studying for a test in school.....unless you're doogy Hoser...you're gonna work at it....we work every day....so grab that darn stick and dump one in 2008....only if you want it in your heart....I always go back to that statement.....

Concur DC but many don't use it as that stance AND, see my post above, same practice regimate, same limitations, I don't see where the difficulty of the hunt differs?

Regardless of weapon, how many of us are really "hunting the hard way"? I mean seriously, I think most of us are talking about deer hunting, isn't 99% of the "hunt" sitting in a tree/ground blind waiting??[&:]

I absolutely love to deer hunt. The scouting, the plotting of stand locations, etc, love it. The actual hunting part of it.....its pretty much me sitting on my ass till something comes by.

I think mostly that is b/c people like to feed their egos....

I've been trad for 3 seasons now and my hunting has not changed one bit... My shooting sure has though!

Sure, when I see a trad bow kill, I give that a little more respect b/c I know the dedication to shooting it takes... Sames as gun vs compound in my eyes.... Maybe its elitist, but I give much more respect to a bow kill vs gun... Distance of shot is not considered.

Okay, let's use a conversation I had with Matt about his trophy buck this year. It's a damn good thing he had his traditional gear with him. The way the shot played out and I hope you remember, we talked that it was a damn good thing he didn't carry his compound because he feels he would have NEVER got a shot off. He was all but laying on the ground, blindly grabbing an arrow and knocking it, drawing and shooting instinctively with his bow just inches off the ground and almost parallel to it. He mentioned that buck would have never stood there for him to draw, anchor, set his pin and release. SO having his traditional gear made that hunt easier? Could that be said? It would have been harder to get a shot off with a compound so a compound hunt could be harder?

I'll ask you the same thing I asked the rifle guys then, Rob.

If God called down and told you you had to kill a deer, tomorrow (the stakes being your life).....fair chase hunting.....and he gave you the choice of a compound or a trad bow......

Which one would you take?

Even if the big man promised you he'd send you one by at 10yds......I'm betting guys who are proficient with both would rather take their chances with the wheelie bows.

You have three days left in your archery season you going to grab your compound or a stickbow to improve your chances of getting a deer?

Easier? No. POSSIBLE? Yes. That was certainly no easy shot...But easy and possible aren't the same thing. If he were carrying the bowtech, it would not have even been POSSIBLE. That was a hard shot....did that make the hunt hard, in and of itself though?