I mostly bow hunt all season but I will grab my gun on opening day of gun season,and because of that I got one of my biggest bucks so far. This year Im thinking of taking both because Ide like to take a large or record buck with my bow but hate to let it walk if it was out of range. I just hope its not to much of a hassle to take both. Do any of you take both or just lay the bow down when gun season kicks in?

I never take both, the set up and mind set is to different. Not to mention your focus is not where it needs to be for either.

Decision is up to you but are you going to let that bruiser come in to 30 yards when you have that rifle and he is standing at 50 broadside??? Tough question to answer, but if you say no then just take the rifle, if you say yes then take the bow...see what i mean about focus!!!

Good Luck!!!!

Nope! That would be illegal here.

it' s illeagel here and beside who want to carry all that extra weight

I mostly bowhunt but i do like to gun hunt when gun season is in mostly because my son and daughter want to go and it' s hard to put them in a bow stand with me. I never take both gun and bow with me at the same time though because like already mentioned i think your focus would be lost. I don' t have to worry about seeing a big buck thats out of range while bowhunting because i hunt thick woods and my bow stands are set up so that my longest shot is 30yds tops. My rifle stands are totally different and are set up over fields and cutovers.

Take one or the other . Everyone is right ........you' ll lose your focus . If you think about it ........how long do you usually have to make a decision about shooting and a shooting lane. Compound that with trying to make a decision between a gun or a bow and then try to shoot a rifle with a release on............not for me !!

I would take the bow ........the gun is just an easy way to be successful !!

That is a major part of bowhunting - if you bring a rifle to eleminate that happening than you are not really bowhunting at all

If you want the deer that bad for your wall bring the rifle

If you want to bowhunt - bring the bow

I' m with the others here too! You can' t do both well at the same time. I love to bow hunt, but when gun season starts I' ll be hunting with my rifle. My stands are totally different from gun to bow! As some have also said, what if you see a brute at 50- 60 yards? Are you going to have the patience to wait for him to come into bow range or tag ' em with your gun? If you' ve got that patience, you might as well stick with bow hunting and leave the gun home. If you are holding the gun and have to switch to the bow, there is a good chance you will be busted and lose either shot anyway!

Well first of all it is illegal to have a firearm while bow hunting in Va., but as others have said it is very difficult to do both, totally different set ups and mindsets. I have bow hunted during gun and never thought about bringing a gun.

Since I started bowhunting my desire to hunt with a gun has diminished a little more each year.