Bow vs Gun
 

Hi everyone i was curious about bow hunting, right now they are about to pass a law allowing people to hunt with bows in sweden where i live. I have seen many angry people complaining about this and saying it will cause undue suffering for animals and other less rational people, since i dont actually know what the stats are and google wasnt being very forthcoming with information on it i figured may as well ask here so.

TL:DR

Does bow hunting result in more injuries for animals and cause higher rate of suffering for them?

Is it ethical to allow hunting with bows if that is the case?

should we care either way since the point is to kill them either way?

I dont have an opinion on it which is why im asking.

Does bow hunting result in more injuries for animals and cause higher rate of suffering for them? Bow hunting does not result in more injuries. Poor shot placement in any form can cause suffering. A well placed arrow terminates the animal within seconds. Generally, they run a short distance (10 to 100 yards) as fast as possible and expire. In a simple sense, a broadhead causes damage via cutting and hemorrhaging. A bullet uses shock and tissue destruction followed by hemorrhaging. Both are extremely lethal. Both can result in crippled and/or lost game.

Is it ethical to allow hunting with bows if that is the case? bow hunting is ethical. Just a tool. It is up to the hunter to use effectively.

should we care either way since the point is to kill them either way? Definitely. Every ethical hunter (or human) should experience no joy to inflict suffering.

I dont have an opinion on it which is why im asking.[/QUOTE]

like all things, how well one weapon does on killing is, ALL in where the bullet/broadhead is placed
and not a (legal to hunt with) gun or bow is made that doesn't take a human behind it
and the fault in that is, humans are well, NOT all created equally
some will practice more and be MUCH better shots than others due to there willingness to practice and ONLY take shots they KNOW they have a highl odds of making a quick clean ethical kill, and they all know what distance they are accurate at and what range there weapon of choice is capable of killing cleanly at!

SO< when you ask what is more ethical, that is and will always be a loaded question that comes down to the HUMAN beind each weapon , there skills and there mind set on what IF they are ethical to start with!

bad shooters of ALL weapons exits and when your trying to kill things that are trying to elude you, THINGS beyond ANYONE"S control can happen and cause a BAD shot and or wounded animal and suffering that comes from it
which brings you back to that HUMAN behind the weapon
SOME will do WAY more than others to try and correct any BAD shot they make, and others will just NOT care and move on to try again and NOT finish what they started
so again, its NOT realy the weapon as it is the human behind it, on how well one can be used over another
a bow and arrow/broadhead places in a vital will kill just as a bullet placed there, minus the shock value a modern weapon has
BUT shoot a animal in a non vital with either and you can and will have a animal that suffers and MIGHT die, or might live

? its NOT a black and white question here! too many variables

A well placed shot through the ribs and sometimes the deer doesn't even know its been shot. That is with smaller broadheads. Reference, I shot a buck last November with a crossbow. The arrow went through both lungs and kept going. The deer jumped scared from the sound of the bow and hopped out on the the access trail we have not knowing what happened. He turn and trotted right up next to me and then coughed up blood, look confused and then collapsed and rolled over dead. Elapsed was time 15 seconds at most.

Only had 2 deer ever get away after being hit. 1 with a bow and 1 w a rifle. The last 5 deer I shot w a bow never had to track I watched them drop. I did shoot a buck last fall w my 243 that barely bleed but I did find it about 75 yards from where I found the first specs of blood. It's more on the hunter than the weapon

I agree with above statements poor marksman skill wound animals not the weapon. I've shot deer with my bow twice that never new they had been hit continued feeding and just fell over. I've had deer run hundreds of yards with both the bow and the rifle. And those have been on me poor shot placement. As a hunter you have to evaluate your skill in that moment. I know many that eat a bull up on the range, but fall apart with a live animal in front of them.

IMO a hunters personal ethics has a lot to do with it. First you have to be competent, which is a lot harder with a bow. Second is you have to be a lot closer, which requires better stalking skills. Thirdly and most important IMO is you have to pick your shot and pass on iffy shots.

An ethical kill, is an ethical kill, no matter what tool you use. I only take the shots I'm sure of, even then Murphy's law ( "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".) sometimes intervenes. An ethical hunter minimizes the risks, knows his tools and his or hers limitations.

IMO getting your thinking right is more important than what tools you are using.