RTA47

An animal being a trophy is a trophy in itself? whether it is taken by Gun, Compoundbow or traditional method. "Or even hit by a car? But the question is does a bowhunter deserve more credit or respect for taking a muture buck than a gun hunter because of the dedication that it takes to shoot a bow and the challenge that it takes to get close enuff for a clean and ethical shot to take his game? YES! Should a traditional archer receive more credit or respect than a compound archer for the same reason? (IMO)YES!

MikeE51848

B! And it may even be harder depending on the state hunted and public vs private land.

NJ/PAbwhunter

Before I had a bow, I hunted with a rifle, before I got a tree stand, I hunted from the ground.
At each step of my 25 years of hunting experience, I thought everything that our sport stands for is worthy of admiration. There were times I recall even with a rifle not being able to take a doe on a particular 3 day PA doe season.
I feel any hunter who legally takes a deer has accomplished something that should not be looked down upon by any other hunter.
I look back at my days of rifle hunting or at the mounts on the wall with just as much a feeling of acomplishment as all the deer I have taken with the bow.

Huntnsinme

LOL you were right it heated it up all right!!! LOL

Huntnsinme

I say bahhumbug to you..LOL......... I also say that if an animal is killed by a skilled hunter, no matter what the animal, or how he hunted the animal, if it was done legally, then he has done what any hunter has done, or hopes to do. Which is abide by the law and most importantly of all.. Something he or she loves to do

vc1111

Excellent and thought-provoking thread, silentassassin.

In the mind of any thinking person, the bow kill is more difficult than the shotgun or rifle kill. (And yes, for the board hair-splitters, the longbow is more difficult than the compound)

Also the idea that if you gun hunt you are somehow no longer entitled to a "lesser" opinion of gun hunting is nonsense.

I gun hunt for whitetails, but very little. It is almost strictly a social thing. I go because about 16 or 18 of my friends go and we have a ball. Does that somehow mean that I cannot hold bow hunting (for whitetails) in higher esteem?

I dream of drawing the bow on a fine whitetail. I do not dream about firing a volley of three slugs at an animal that some other hunter has spooked my way. It is hunting, yes, but to me it is somehow less "pure."

Thank God this is America and we can do both if we wish. Both are fun, both are fine.

(But real men bow hunt)

MississippiBoy

Of course the hunter's personal accomplishment of taking a deer with a primitive weapon is greater than taking one with the most rigged out rifle at 200 yds. But to say that you don't value the animal itself is disgusting and if you don't respect the animal you shouldn't be hunting with a bow or a rifle.

Your opinion of choosing a bow over a rifle is great and is obviously going to be supported in this forum, but when you don't honor the animal you hunt, you become part of a bigger problem.

rybohunter

C Taking a deer with a bow is always higher/more respectable, however you want to put it. BUT I do suppose in some areas it can be a task in itself just getting one with a gun, so that means something, but not as much if they took it with a bow in that same area.

Now here in PA gun season natural deer movement pretty much goes out the door. I will never shoot another buck with a gun again. I still gun hunt some for does, cause its fun, this year I tried using a 357 mag revolver. Let me tell you that is quite difficult waiting for an open 40 yd or less shot at deer when they are zooming past.

c j

IMO, there's a hunting hierarchy of sorts, based on the difficulty or skill level needed in the hunt. Deer hunting is harder than pheasant hunting, so I tend to respect or admire a deer taken more than a pheasant. Bighorn Sheep are harder to take than deer, so I admire that more, etc.

Same goes for the method used to take the animals. Bowhunting is more difficult, so I respect and admire successful bowhunts more than I do animals taken by a firearm. Ditto for animals taken by recurve vs a compound.

I don't begrudge anyone for their chosen method of hunting - so long as it's legal - but my respect and admiration increases as the skill of the game in question and the level of difficulty to take it increase.

bscofield

Why do so many bowhunters have a stick up their a$$ about rifle hunters...? Sort of in line with what Roost em said. Some bowhunters just think they are "hot stuff" cause they choose the "higher road." Well if you would choose the higher road in reality than you should only shoot a long bow, that you made, with arrows that you made and broadheads that you carved from stone. This holier than thow attitude really sucks.