Or should I say as accurate as possible ? Talking bowhunting only here ..... if I cannot shoot my longbow as well as a compound, do I have any "right" to be in the woods hunting with a bow that I'm less accurate with ?

What do ya'll think ?

Less accurate is a relative term. How much "less" are we talking about. It could be that your groups are 1" larger or the only way you could hit the barn is if you were inside of it.

No, we don't owe anybody or anything any particular degree of accuracy. However, we should always strive to shoot only within our own range of being relatively certain of making the kill quickly. For one person, with a recurve, this might be 5 yards. For another with a compound, it might be 30 yards. It's not important to be extremely accurate, but it is important to not shoot beyond your range of effectiveness for that particular weapon.

This sounds like the argument I made to you back when we were discussing the differences between compounds and crossbows. The argument always was that since both were relatively easy to shoot in comparison to a longbow and both are capable of higher levels of accuracy with less practice then is either really a "primitive weapon". At the time I made the theoretical argument that along that same line of thinking then couldn't someone make the argument that a traditional bow was not ethical because it required so much practice and was not as accurate or effective for the average shooter.

Nice idea to bring it back up for discussion.

We owe it to ourselves, our fellow hunters and most importantly our game that we are hunting, to become profficient with the weapon of our choice. I follow the theory of know your weapon, know your distances and know your limitations.

As long as "less accurate" is still capable of putting it in the vitals when you need to, then there is no problem. Now if one bow you can drill them in, and the other you just hope you can hit something now and then, that's a different story.
I know you said bowhunting only but I really think you can apply it to guns as well. I choose to rifle hunt with a little 44 mag cowboy gun. Is it as accurate as my 243.....not even close, but it still kills deer when I shoot at them.

Edited to add this:
I just find it very odd that someone would put the time and effort into gear, scouting, license, etc only to have it come time for the moment of truth and not be confident in finishing the job. Many guys do it, I just don't understand it.

Stealthy, define less accurate.

Having said that, I have seen guys flinging arrows out of trad gear that had/have no business hunting with said trad gear, myself included. That is one of the reasons I do not hunt with my recurve.

jimpok61

I ditto everything you said!!! YES WE DO OWE IT!!! Hunting is a privlege, not a right!

Yes you absolutely have the right IMO. I don't think it matters what the piece of equipment is, so long as you limit yourself to a distance that you are proficient at. Stuff can and will happen no matter what the equipment is that you are shooting. However, a long bow can be a very effective tool for those who are competent enough to shoot enough and limit themselves to shots that are within their range. The same is true of compounds. You can take your long boe that you are extremely proficient with at 15 yards and be much more ethical than some guy with a compound that isn't very proficient and shoots at every thing they see.

One shot... one kill is as accurate as you need. Beyond that you're splitting hairs.[8D] You owe it to yourself and mental wellness to achieve that accuracy as a minimum. If you want to say you owe it to the animal, or the sport, your drycleaner or whatever that's OK.... Just as long as you work to the goal, One Shot....One Kill!