rybohunter

How dare we speak badly about new hunters wanting to join our ranks....We should be out there recruiting at walmarts all over the country!

130woodman

Just because the season starts in 40 days doesn't mean they will be shooting at an animal in 40 days.These outdoor companies are in business to sell equipment. Most of them don't care what the person does with it after they leave the store. I remember a tread some guy was in line at a check out with a bow in hand and was leaving to go hunting right then. Now that is stupid but 40 days not so bad.

Edcyclopedia

We all turned 16 once and got our license.
Yeah... I remember the good old days of 8 weeks of bookwork and a couple dozen hours of practice driving with the instructor and my parents....
Poof! You had a vehicle license and were hand a potentially deadly vehicle to finish learning the art of driving???

Now that's crazy!

My take is simple...
Practicing is essential, but to be honest, I have been bow hunting for 14 years and I don't hit a target any better than I did in my 1st year!!!
2" groups out to 20 yards and under 4" groups to 40 yards.[&:] Although I only shoot to 30 yards while hunting.

What I believe would help these new bow hunters from my experience, is teaching them to take the "proper / high percentage shots" (like broadside, etc.),
clearing shooting lanes, and probably the best advice is "it's an arrow and not a bullet".
Example - I have a friend who has hunted for 45 years and I still have to help him track a deer because he thinks his arrows can go through brush better than mine.
God does that piss me off!
A lot happens in the moment of truth that you can't teach people.[>:]

JoeRE

Yea, everybody knows that wearing camo is absolutely critical to a quick clean kill.[8D] j/k Sorry, I know what you are getting at. I know a bowhunter who only shoots one or two arrows before a hunt - the only practice he does all year, and not with BHs! The worst part of it is, he does pretty good (a gagger almost every year) but still wounds way too many[:'(]. I wonder why...

Lanse couche couche

Damn, I thought only crossbow hunters bought their gear and then went charging off to the woods with little or no practice[8D]

kickin_buck

I am not speaking badly about new hunters. I am speaking about hunters (new or old) who take their gear out days before the seaon opens and then head out to the woods without being able to hit the broadside of a barn. We owe it to the deer the practice in order to be able to make a clean ethical kill. If you can do that with one or two days of practice great, but the guys I see at the pro shop cannot and that is a shame.