How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

After posting my percentage rifle percentage bow question I started thinking about the saying of "once you make a bow kill on an animal you won't want to kill that same animal with a rifle". I know this is all personal opinion but I would still like to know how this crowd feels about something I hear muttered all the time.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

It's only "that way" to the person saying it.

Means NOTHING to anyone else.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

All the preparation that goes into bowhunting makes the shot very memorable/exciting to me. Add the proximity of the animal to you and it makes it so much more exciting than when I used to gun hunt.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

It is hard for me to say that a bow kill or a gun kill is better than the other. I love bowhunting, I could not imagine myself never bowhunting. I grew up bowhunting and gun hunting, but then did not gun hunt for about 8 years. I started gun hunting again with a group of friends and I really enjoy it more. I guess the difference is, I enjoy hunting with a bow, but I enjoy the good times we have in deer camp with the guys during gun season. It is all different, IMO one is not better than the other, just different.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I enjoy bowhunting more...plain and simple. I spend about 10X the number of days bowhunting each year than gunhunting.

But they're altogether different...at least where I hunt. The animals in bow season are undisturbed and fairly calm when in the woods. After the first couple of hours of gun season the animals are on the go and they are alert as hell. Rare is the shot with a gun on the calm unsuspecting deer where I hunt. Even on my own land, which is a fairly large area with a small number of hunters...the deer know when the gunshots start.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Purely a personal preference. I gew up gun hunting and got into bowhunting about 3-4 years ago. I now only bow hunt unless its getting close to the end of season and I still have no meat in the freezer (then out come the rifle).

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

My personal opinion is that I just do not find gun hunting as challenging or rewarding as bowhunting. But everyone is different. I don't have anything against gun hunting it's just not my thing.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I think it is a personal choice, I have taken 3 times the deer with a bow than I have a rifle - I go to pieces after taking a deer with bow, it just isn't there with a rifle -

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

perfectly said .... I still LOVE killing deer with guns ...and this may be hard for some of you to believe, I like it just as much as bowhunting.. as far as the kill goes ..... each type of huinting has it's own attraction to me ...

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I like hunting period. Any means available.
Heck - If I could get close enough, I'd choke them to death!

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I killed my first deer with a bow and went through a phase where I rifle and bowhunted both and kill a lot of deer with rifles and shot guns w/ slugs but I just prefer to kill deer with a bow now. The experience means more to me personally when I kill a deer with my bow.Now I have a hunting partner that is exactly the opposite. He truely derives no more pleasure or since sense of satisfaction from killing a deer with his bow than he does with his rifle. To each his own. If it's legal and it makes you happy then that's all that matters.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

+1

I still get just as much of a thrill using my slug gun or pistol as I do my bow.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

thats exactly how i feel except i probobly took 10 times the deer with a bowthen any gun

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I'd give up my bow a hell of a lot sooner than any of my guns.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Its never meant that to me. Its not how you kill it, its the hunt and the people you hunt with that make it important. not so much the kill, i can care less if i got anything, as long as im doing what I love with the people I love.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I do love bow hunting and prefer to hunt with a bow over with a gun, but when it comes to the kill it's all about the animal. I feel the same gratification sitting over an animal shot with a gun as I do one shot with a bow.

To me, if the animal is worth killing, it doesn't matter which tool you use to do it as long as it's done cleanly and ethically.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I don't know how anyone could argue the point that sitting in a box blind killing an animal at 200 yards is as exciting as killing one from a treestand with a bow at 20 yards!

Kind-of like the arguement I hear from guys who say things like "I'm as happy killing a young buck as a mature buck" - my response, how many mature bucks have you killed?

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

It’s all a matter of relativity.
For me to whack a doe with my bow in some of the places I hunt means relatively little in the grand scheme of pride and accomplishment.

Hand me a rifle and set me in the middle of 10’s of thousands of acres of no man’s land and I drill a basket rack buck and it would be 10x the accomplishment.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I have only killed one animal with a gun and it was an old Hawkin stylemuzzle loader. I haven't hunted with it since. It just wasn't quite the same for me. I just love bowhunting and I am alright with coming home empty handed if that is what the end result is.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Todd .. I love ya man, but just read the responses ..... it's not all about "PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT" with everyone ...... and that's ok!!! You roll how you want to and allow others to roll how they like to ....

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Noteveryone sits in a ground blind and shoots deer at 200yds with a rifle.......Don't assume things. Try picking up an iron sightedshort barreled pistol and tell me how "easy" and "un-challenging" or "exciting" it is.:eek:

I'm also very happy to kill a young buck as I am an older buck....and I'vekilled PLENTY of mature whitetail deer in my life....plenty.

You like to bow hunt for mature deer and that's fine but don't "lump" everyone else who doesn't only do that into the "they don't know what their missing" or "they've never killed a mature deer" category.This may come as a surprise but their ARE folks who just love to hunt.;)

To each their own....what is "fun and exciting" to one guy might not do it for the next.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Bow or Rifle both should be satisfying to the hunter! Different variables involved in each endeavor.I enjoy both immensely and appreciate their differences.
I think the satisfaction is directly related to the effort put in and I have had many rifle kills that I have worked my butt off for,and some bow kills that have come very easily.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Well here in the South often we hunt with dogs and shotguns, buck shot that is!! It's a tradition and I still do it every year, it's been going on here in VA since 1600's , but I will be the first to say it does not compare to killing a deer with the bow, FOR ME....hunting with hounds and beagles is very exciting, you have to hear them run a deer before you can understand what it's all about. But, for me, I would gladly put the gun down to kill deer with the bow, only thing is, everywhere in South east Va dog hunting is allowed, and it pretty much kills the still hunting thing for the rest of the season unless you have property that never gets touched by dogs.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

After 22 bowkilled deer, I'm not interested in hunting with a gun anymore. I've been bow only for several years.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Well I'm seem to remember the bowkills more than the gunkills--I guess it that up close an personal thing.
But I just love to hunt an its kinda like Ben Lee Rodgers(started tinks 69) said when askedwhat was his favorite way to hunt---He said "All of the above,,And if they come out with A rockchunking season, I will be chunking Rocks"

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I hunt the same way no matter the weapon in my hands, they are all trophies in my eyes! I could honestly care less what weapon anyone else hunts with!

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I started Bowhunting when I was in grade school, and after killing my 1st Deer with a Bow I never saw the need to join the orange Army. Bowhunting gives me liberal seasons and tags so I have all the opportunity to hunt I need. Someday I may Gun hunt to be able to hunt, but that day isn't here yet!;)

I always get a kick out of guys who will never take a Bow on an out of state hunt. There are plenty of them around here.

Is it they have no confidence? Or they just feel if they are hunting they must kill something?

Dan

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Dan,we are ordinarily on the same page with most things but in this instance I don't understand your comments.
Why do you get a kick out of someone who hunts with both bow and rifle going on out of state hunts with a rifle?
Why also is it an indication of a lack of confidence on the part of the traveling hunter?
I hunt in Idaho every year unguided with a rifle,I cover a lot of ground every day in a fairly low density deer herd.(it is not uncommon to go a day or two without seeing a deer)
Why should anyone here have to feel as if they havn't met your standards if they choose to hunt with a rifle?
To respond to the lack of confidence thing,I have shot many deer with a bow,I have shot a non baited bear with a bow,I have shot deer with a bow from the ground.I have nothing to prove to any one with a bow in my hands.
How myself or any one chooses to hunt provided it is legal is none of any one else's business.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I don't have any problem with how anybody hunts either as long as it's legal. :D

Dan

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

realize compounds are NOT bows, they're modern archery weapons - killing deer with compounds are vastly different than killing them with bows.

I know I know, that isn't a popular view, however, archery and bowhunting existed for thousands of years before wheels and pulleys and letoffs .... THAT was bowhunting and archery. Compounds were allowed and now, it seems like people think "bowhunting" and automatically envision a Mathews or Bowtech. There has been a turning point, that now bowhunting IS compounds, and recurve/longbows has been assigned "traditional archery"

Sorry, archery IS recurves and longbows. And there is an incredible difference in taking an animal with one of them vs taking one with a compound, not unlike taking a deer with compounds is a whole lot tougher than taking one with a rifle.

Acknowledgingdifficulty in differnt types of weapons isn't difficult, and its not bad, and its not divisive ......

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Quite the perspective....and I'm not versed enough in "archery" history to disagree or agree with you. I hunt with both traditional "Archery" and compounds....and while I gree with you on the "difficulty" factor....I won't go so far as to say compounds aren't "archery tackle". They're as much archery tackle as a modern day alloy head is a "3 wood". It's just a product of the times (IMO).

Agreed.....if done "tactfully".;)

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Well put!

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Acknowledging difficutly differences is not bad or divisive, but saying something like this is...

I could not think of many other statements that would be more divisive than that.:eek:

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Give me a freaking break, by definition it is a bow like it or not. Go out and whittle one out of a stick elitist.
You know that it like me saying that if you are bowhunting deer in an area that has a very dense population where you have your pick of the animals you are not REALLY deer hunting. To be real deer hunting you need to hunt in Eastern CO (my home) where we are lucky to see a buck in 2-3 seasons let alone be in the right spot at the right time. "If it's not tough then you are not hunting". I really don't like this type of attitude and mentality. Compound bows are bow's and they are hunting. And another thing "thousands of years ago" they did not have near the amount of modern day restrictions that we do now. Try not and compare things that cannot be.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

yeap
i think bow hunters think there so much better just because they shoot a deer with a bow
i think it is harder to bow hunt closer but not better

for me hunting is hunting

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

Not a good comparison - a persimmon wood and an allow wood are the same woods just make of different stuff.Still the same club, same degree, same face etc. Acompound is wheels, pulley, cables, sights, letoff, triggers, drop away rests ... compounds don't even categorize as a bow by definition.

I gave up tact for a more direct approach :)

I welcome compounds, they are not a negative to archery/bowhunting so far as I can tell. They are a high tech weapon, they are the majority choice for bowhunters. I shoot one sometimes.

They are not bows by definition. They're high tech archery weapons. I know thats against the grain, i also know its the truth.

you're calling me an elitist ? why ? I welcome compounds and crossbows alike. do you ?

www.m-w.com

2:a weapon that is made of a strip of flexible material (as wood) with a cord connecting the two ends and holding the strip bent and that is used to propel an arrow

Thats NOT what a compound is - the latest compounds the limbs are really nothing more than holders for the cams/wheels that generate all the energy.

Sorry TG78its the truth



there has been a redefinition of what archery is - archery seasons and bowhunting were longbows and recurves, they forged they way, they WERE bowhunting and archery.

compounds got in, and when the technology got good, all of a sudden recurves and longbows became "traditional archery"

hmmmm why the renaming ? They never QUIT being bowhunting and archery !


Thats what happened, like it or not. I've hunted with compounds for over a decade and a half and will continue to. I'm elk hunting with a muzzleloader this fall. I'll hunt with my Zipper recurve a lot too. And I'll recognize the huge differences in each one.


Thats just recognizing that one is much more more challenging and rewarding and deserving of Kudo's than the others.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I may be ignorant to archery history.....but if you'll check the modern "3-wood" average yardages against their "old" persimmon counterparts......you'll find that the "same" designation don't fit. You can attribute a lot of that to the ball, but.....the numbers don't lie.

Saying a modern compound isn't"archery" is......well....it's just a matter of how deep your head's in the sand....and not whether it it's there, or not.

Is the modern assault rifle a "gun"?

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

You obviously do not have any idea how a modern compound works given that according to you compound limbs do nothing more that hold the cams/wheels.

I'm done with you. I'm not going to feed into your hijacking another thread with your elitist traditional archer mindset.

I don't care how anyone kills a deer, bow, gun, spear, as long as it is legal and they take pride in the hunt and respect the animal I am good.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

I know Duane I looked up the definition of bow as well, what you failed to do is add compound to it. It is a bow only it uses a compound action.
It does not matter if it is "vastly" different as you propose, they are both bows and they are both equal hunting. And to your question, I do welcome both compounds and crossbows just like I welcome the guy in rifle season who has a high power custom cartridge magnum that has 200 yards on my .308. But then again I am using the gun and he is using a modern advanced high speed projectile launching game getter.

RE: How true is the saying "a bow kill is soo much...)
 

GMMAT no doubt an Adcock ACS CX built without fiberglass lams and the concave limb design etc etc will outshoot a 1950's Bear Kodiak .... but each bow is shot almost in an identical way. So too is that persimmon driver used in almost the same was as the New Nike wood though the Nike will outdrive that old one.

A compound .... vastly different in every way that it works to the way its shot to the performace.



http://www.hunting.net/articles/article_detail.aspx?articles_id=539

you telling me, SERIOUSLY trying to tell me, that the limbs on the above bow is what generates the energy to propel the arrow?

c'mon .... aint nobody going to say that, its the cams and wheels and design that generates the energy, the limbs actually do very little on today's bows.



HuntingBry of course you're done, you can't refute what I'm saying.

If you're not elitist, you're FOR crossbows in archery season aren't you ?

I'm not elitist at all, are you?

I don't really "care" either, but I will tell you killing a spike buck with a self bow and arrows is MUCH MORE an accomplishment than killing a 140" B&C with a rifle 300 yards out.

Sorry, it is, and calling it what it is aint elitist at all


TG78 it matters, it matters in the record books, and it matters to G&F and the laws they set and it matters most to how other hunters percieve, admire, talk about etc.

Nobody can argue taking game with "traditional" archery tackleis by far the harder way to hunt. Hell its OBVIOUS because we make up such a small small percentage of bowhunters !

There is a REASON most use compounds and crossbows. And overall, bowhunters arethe minority compared to rifle hunters ... .why is that ? ITS HARDER thats why

Just calling it like it is