Why are bowhunters so much better?
#41
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,395

Must suck to only have access to small pieces of land? I am glad I have plenty of elbow room.
P. S. I bow hunter & rifle hunter. Bow hunters are NOT any better than gun hunters.
P. S. I bow hunter & rifle hunter. Bow hunters are NOT any better than gun hunters.
#42
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 4,668

ORIGINAL: vc1111
You know no such thing. There is no empirical evidence one way or the other. It is pure conjecture to make such a statement, not fact..............My point is that a statement like muley69's cannot be proven and most certainly should not be accepted as fact. That argument can go both ways and anecdotal evidence is all you've got.
You know no such thing. There is no empirical evidence one way or the other. It is pure conjecture to make such a statement, not fact..............My point is that a statement like muley69's cannot be proven and most certainly should not be accepted as fact. That argument can go both ways and anecdotal evidence is all you've got.
For example: Bowhunters as a rule, do not shoot at running deer or other big game. In fact, I've never heard of or seen a bowhunter shoot at a running deer. Gun hunters are known to do this quite regularly. The difference is gun hunters don't know whether they've wounded the animal or not, it usually running so fast and it just keeps running. I've seen "results" during deer gun season that I don't even want to post on a hunting message board.
And many, many gun hunters have next to zero practice before the season. They sight their gun in at 100 yards; a few rounds to get her "sighted in" and thats it. They never practice at 300 yards (and if they do is usually from a bench, almost certainly not under field conditions), but some will take a shot at up to 300 yards, and as you've accurately described there is no margin for error.
Hmmm no practice and no margin for error? Field conditions, no bench rest and add perhaps wind, rain, fatique, nerves, glare, elevation, limited time to get off a shot, what have you...all factors further reducing accuracy. Wonder what happens with regularity in those situations? Some gun hunters tend to overestimate their personal effective range under hunting conditions because of scopes and a cartridge's supposed ballistics.
And many, many gun hunters have next to zero practice before the season. They sight their gun in at 100 yards; a few rounds to get her "sighted in" and thats it. They never practice at 300 yards (and if they do is usually from a bench, almost certainly not under field conditions), but some will take a shot at up to 300 yards, and as you've accurately described there is no margin for error.
Hmmm no practice and no margin for error? Field conditions, no bench rest and add perhaps wind, rain, fatique, nerves, glare, elevation, limited time to get off a shot, what have you...all factors further reducing accuracy. Wonder what happens with regularity in those situations? Some gun hunters tend to overestimate their personal effective range under hunting conditions because of scopes and a cartridge's supposed ballistics.
#43

ORIGINAL: Wolf killer
Must suck to only have access to small pieces of land? I am glad I have plenty of elbow room.
P. S. I bow hunter & rifle hunter. Bow hunters are NOT any better than gun hunters.
Must suck to only have access to small pieces of land? I am glad I have plenty of elbow room.
P. S. I bow hunter & rifle hunter. Bow hunters are NOT any better than gun hunters.
I just believe it takes someone to expirience bowhunting to learn how to be quiet. It was more comical then anything else. I bet those guys were wondering why they were skunked that day.
#44

I am glad to see that we are all on the same team now guys. As far as bowhunters wounding more game I think not. It happens both ways and there are careless hunters on both sides of the fence. I have not lost an elk yet. Perfect shots are all I will take. I can show you a bullet retreived from an elk shoulder. The bull was killed by a bow and wounded with a rifle earlier in his life. Go figure. Lets all make sure that our shots are good and lets stop arguing over who is better.
#45

Fieldmouse even though we have went the rounds before, I lean towards your side on parts off this issue. Most of the people who know me know that I hunt with both weapons as well. I prefer a bow for elk any day of the week. I don't think that bowhunters are better, but I do think that they have learned to pay more attention to all the little, but very inportant details. For some personal reasons but no wanting to go into the lengthy discussion, I didn't bow hunt elk at all this past year. [:@] It almost killed me during september, but I did rifle hunt them in the middle of Oct. Thats something I haven't done in the past 12 years. After seeing how many rifle hunters there were on this general rifle hunt and we were camped 4 miles in on horse back. I was amazed that all the elk wern't shot, they seem to be able to dissapear very well. . Anyway I used elk calls and bow tatics to call in a 5x5 bull elk, to an easy 70 yard chip shot, in the evening of opening day. That bull was the second and biggest bull that I called into me that day. Most hunters had seen a few elk here and there on the run or way off in the distance, and not many elk were shot. I even had a few hunters that I meet on the trail make jokes about my bugle tube and elk calls saying "boy don't you know that the rut is over". When I told them that I had allready called in a spike bull and passed, they said yea right if its true you were stupid for passing up any bull. I just told them that if I wanted to kill a spike I would pack my bow around to make it sporting! Anyway I did learn that rifle hunting elk in a general rifle hunt is a lot more diffucult for the average rifle hunter vs a bowhunter hunting in the rut. And there are a lot more hunters and pressure on the animals during rifle season than bow season. But if the majority off hunters in the area had learned to call in elk, or use bowhunting tactics then I believe there would have been a lot more elk killed. Just my 2cents.
#46

I don't come to the bowhunting forum too often, because when I do i can usually read about how gun hunters are somehow inferior to bow hunters. I hunt with a gun more than I bow hunt due to the busy season of my job happens to be when the rut is in full swing and bowhunting is what is in season. I think it is in the best interest of all hunters bow and gun to quit bickering on a public forum about petty issues. We have other problems to focus on. We face constant attacks from heavily funded animal rights groups and environmental groups. We should save our energy for those idiots, not each other. If we don't stand together as hunters it won't matter what method you prefer, it'll all be history because we wanted to fight each other instead of paying attention to the bigger issues. Both of us gun and bow hunters alike can find some bad apples out there in the woods, but to lump one group as better skilled or qualified is ridiculous.
#47

atlasman:
Point taken. And I agree. Thats why I included this:
In all fairness........the same can be said for everything you say in the following quote.
That argument can go both ways and anecdotal evidence is all you've got.
#48
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: BIRMINGHAM,ALABAMA
Posts: 46

Im a rookie on here so im prob gonna catch some flak for posting so thats fine. i dont understand what the big flap is. The original start of this thread was merely venting. I was taught hunting was to enjoy nature, help manage the wildlife, and to have something good to eat in your freezer. Now most likely im one of the young guys on here and i respect people older than me and thats no offense intended TO ANYONE. But i think we should hold up and look at what were doing. Its turning into a competition or see who is better the bowhunter or the gunhunter. Just let people decide whichever they want to use. Bowhunting is fun i do like it better than gun, but i enjoy both and yes bowunting takes more skill and thats why some people stay to the gun because they dont want to learn the concept and skills for bowhunting. I think in the end we better realize, way things are going in this country and the way people in high authority are wanting hunting banned and done away with, you may not have the choice to use either. So lets look at it that way.
Whats really annoying is those kids on jet ski's when you trying to fish a tournament!!!!
Whats really annoying is those kids on jet ski's when you trying to fish a tournament!!!!
#49
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: FT Benning
Posts: 116

This is one of the most ubserd post's I've read yet. Ok you had a bad day in the woods because some not so cautious hunters were in your neck of the woods. So now Gun hunters are unskillfull. GROW UP. As hunters we need to stick together, not argue amongst ourselves. Did you ever think about talking to those "unskillfull hunters" and ask them to be more respectfull. I've been hunting for 19 years with both Bow and gun, I use the same set of skills regardless of the weapon. I would maybe think next time you write a post. saying your better than some one else solves nothing, in reality you are stiring a hornets nest with-in the hunting community!!
#50
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Laurel MD USA
Posts: 127

to those of you that say a 300 yard shoot with a rifle is an easy thing. Should spend some time at the range that i belong to. I can shoot a better pattern at 30 yards with my bow than most can at 200 free hand.Some guys that practice alot can shoot 5" groups at 300 but not very many add in any wind and that group shrinks even more .