Is a rifle cheating? Good question. Would you concider a bow to be cheating compaired to a spear or a spear to a rock? Its all hunting. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages. Can't we all just get along? Next year maybe I should leave my bow at home and go out with a knife.

Very good point bulletbob. You could also say using a combound bow is cheating compared to using a tradional bow. Hunting is hunting. As long as you are doing it in a legal manner, I don't care what you use.

Well PA, it's been a pretty tame response. I wonder if I went to a Spear Hunting forum if they would be so understanding towards us bowhunters.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

all these response with all different answers
and here I was on the understanding that guns where invented for people who cant use a bow <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

i dont think its cheating,but id rather enjoy the feeling of 20 yrd shots as compared to 100 yrd shots

Not cheating at all. If you can cleanly harvest the deer at 300 yards than more power to ya. I love all my rifles too.

Brian

There is a lot of egos blowing up here! i hunt with whatever gives me an advantage. i am out there to enjoy and put venison in my freezer. and yes , a set of hardened bone on my wall. and to the &quot;shotgun only&quot; proposal ,well like c. heston says it &quot; from my cold dead hands&quot;!

Its all hunting, each offers it own challenge, each offers its own level of risk for injury or death. I cannot believe this is even being debated. I feel a &quot;holier than thou&quot; attitude from &quot;some&quot; people who &quot;exclusively&quot; bow hunt. Just like the some &quot;trophy&quot; hunters who look down on the average joe killing a spike buck or doe.
If its within the law....by all means do it. If its within the law and you dont do it, that is fine also, just dont put people down who do it.
De. doesnt have a rifle season (state is too flat). But if it did, Id do it cause that would give me another shot at putting some venison in my freezer.



AllenC

I think everybody would agree that its easier to kill a deer with a rifle than with a bow, but I dont see that &quot;fairness&quot; has any place in a discussion of hunting by legal methods. If you introduce that concept, then is it fair to use a climbing treestand? or steel broadheads, or a compound bow, or any device made by modern technology. Maybe it would be more fair to say that as hunters we should go out butt naked and make our own equipment without any tools other than what we can fabricate with our own hands. It still wouldnt be fair though, we have more brain power than a deer.

The iron sight rifle shooters think a scope sighted rifle is cheating

The shotgun hunters think all the rifle hunters are cheating

The compound bow hunters think the shotgun hunters are cheating

The traditional bow hunters think the compound bow hunters are cheating

The spear chuckers think all the bowhunters are cheating

The deer wrestlers think.... well, OK, now I'm getting a little carried away...