Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I just need to vent. Went out last Friday for, more then likely, my last hunt of the season . Ran into 3 gun hunters. They where end stuffers. The property is side by side. Their side is being developed. That's why I think they are allowed to hunt there this year. Well I adjusted and went farther into my property then normal, to a new spot. I saw a ton of deer but I picked the wrong tree. I had deer all morning 50 yrds from me walking on trails. I saw two very nice 8 pointers and the rest were Does and bambies. I had full intentions on killing everything that came with in range since it would be my last hunt. Nothing did get close since I seemed to perfectly split the trails and decided to move spots a litlle late.

My other friend was on the same page of shoot what you want. He unfortunately didn't have much luck. He saw one deer a nice 8 pointer before legal shooting hours. He was kicked to him by the end stuffer who was making all kinds of racket getting to and climbing a tree 100 yrds away. That guy clanked all the way up the tree. His buddies came into that section of woods around 8 am, walked 20 yrds and left. Then the noisy end stuffer leaves at 8:30.

This is a place that last year the deer where very thick and never changed their patterns. This year they have changed so much it's unbelievable. I just don't understand people clanking all the way into the woods and up a tree. As if the fact they can shoot 100 yrds should over come their stupidaty. They where certainly able to screw up an awesome hunting spot. I can only hope they won't be back next year.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

What if it was a bowhunter? Would you still have these same feelings? Or is it just because he uses a gun? Whats with all this bow hunters bigotry?

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Being one who hunts both with a gun and bow I would not be so fast to say who is better. You obviously have come across hunters that in your opinion were not too skillfull in hunting. That being said I know of many gun hunters that are just as aware of their sent, the wind and the quary they are stalking as bow hunters are.

I started out as (and still am) a gun hunter. I only took up bow hunting as sort of a challange to all of my bow hunting buddies who insisted that they were better because they had to have their deer much closer than us "mouth breathing" gun hunters to get a kill shot. I told them that I did not think there was any difference and that most of my shots were further away because there was no need to have the deer come any closer for a good clean kill shot, and not because the deer would not come any closer if given the chance to do so.

So I took up bow hunting and guess what? nothing changed in my hunting techniques and I still killed deer. You see it's not the mode of hunting that makes any one hunter "better" than any other, it's the hunter. I still hunt with both the bow and gun and have no preference between the two I enjoy both very much and do well with both. As for my methods of hunting, nothing has changed and I don't think they will.

BTW, sometimes I like it when others are making noise and moving about. I have killed plenty of deer when most of the "hunters" are moving in and out of there stands. Making lots of noise thinking that deer don't move during the day and it was time for them to go back to their trucks for lunch and wait for the afternoon to get back into their stands.

It's not the method it's the hunter.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

No I'm afraid it wouldn't matter whether it was a bowhunter or a rifle hunter ,but you are right they're obviously very unskilled and unfortunately they were in the same bush as fieldmouse or at least close enough to to pi$$ him off .I can't say that I could blame him .

nubo

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

The way I understood it was that he meant all gun hunters are unskilled. I, for one, don't use a gun to kill deer, but that doesn't mean they are all unskilled hunters.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I believe bowhunters learn to hunt more cautious and quieter, and on a slower pace thaan a rifle hunter, as we have to get close!

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I disagree

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I hunt with both bow and gun and I know of no difference in skill level of hunters based on weapon choice. This is like me saying why do bowhunters have to get so close to game? Can't they shoot a rifle? This too, is absurd.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Being new to bowhunting but having hunted with a gun for many years i can say that now matter the insturment be a gun or bow there are hunters and people who try to hunt.Some of those that try to hunt dont know any better and some just dont care,and some i would think are just having a bad day, bummer you ran into one the last day though.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

If you hunt with both gun and bow i think you know the difference in skill level, c'mon now wake up and smell the roses here!!! bowhunter within 30 yards, rifle hunter 300 yards!!!

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Having done both I will tell you now that it is just as difficult to shoot a kill shot at 300yds with a rifle as it is for a bow at 30yds I don't care what scope you have there is no room for error at 300yds....none!!

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Well said BigJ.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

And don't forget that at 300yds you have to take very much into consideration the wind. even a slight wind can blow a bullet off course 10-15 inches or more and if you are shooting anything but a magnum big bore you have a bullet drop of even more than that to think about. Put this all together with the fact that you just had to stalk this animal and you are out of breath because of the two big hills you had to go over and have no real rest to use and have only seconds to take the shot............or you can be in your stand nice and calm in trees to break the wind, with shooting lanes alread picked out and have a deer walk right under you and into one of your lanes right by one of your yardage markers you put down for distance.

Two sides to every coin.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Factor in the reality the bowhunters wound more animals, one may argue that they are less skilled then rifleman. In fact, if you ask people out west here, it is much easier to kill an elk with a bow then a gun. During early season bowhunters have the benefit of the rut, and calling. During general season elk get much more scarce and much more diificult to find. Bowhunters rarily have to deal with hunting pressure in the early seasons.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

well you know and i know animals are going to get wounded, as to say who does the most wounding i don't know, but i do know that a broadhead will leave a flesh wound and is more likely to heal up then say a bullet wound.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Muley69

I hear ya! When I was in college (in Utah) it was not easy hunting with a rifle. I know you are full aware of the "Hills" I was talking about in my other post. If you don't get out of the midwest you don't know hills. Kinda glad I'm back in Illinois but I sure do miss the Rockies.

No matter what form of hunting you do it is the skill of the hunter (and some times pure luck) that makes the hunt successfull and not what is in his or her hands.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

BigJ, what part of Illinois are you in?

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Wulgeur, you and I both know bowhunters wound more animals the gun hunters. Listen, my argument is that weapon of choice does not a skill level make. I'm a bowhunter, so I'm not slammin bowhunters, but the lead post was a bit much. In a lot of ways bowhunters have it made, especially in the early season. A more accurate statement would have been. "How come elk hunters are so much better then deer hunters". Now at least there is some truth to that.;)

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

You might think so, but i don't. There are alot more bullets flying around out there then there are arrows. more gun hunters then archers fella!!!;)

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I think you folks are over analyzing the situation here... Fieldmouse said he nedded to vent, I doubt he was trying to make a stab at rifle hunters. I don't know why everyone is so prone to argue about which sport is better, but it's getting ridiculous.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Muley,

I live in Mokena, IL.

I hunt all over the state though, upland birds in the middle to south, ducks in the west near the mississippi, deer both way south in the Shawknee Natl. Forrest (private land) and in will and cook counties and coyote all over the state.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Amen Washington Hunter Amen brother ya said a mouthfull.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

A mouth full said .

I guess were just so used to fighting everything else in life it just carries over.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I would have been PO'd too. But I wouldn't want to blame it on gun hunters in general. I do agree that bowhunters have more of a challenge. I hunt with a gun and bow and like to think that bowhunting has made me a better hunter all around. Keep your head up and look towards next year. Sounds like you found a good spot farther in as a result.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I did just need to vent and it went to who has a more difficult shot. My complaint isn't that I had to share the area with an end stuffer but that he was noisey as all get out. I'm surprised he didn't ride up the hill on a four wheeler. I just think it takes bowhunting expirience to be able to creap in, climb a tree without chasing all the deer away. We won't even go into changing the patterns of 4 dozen+ deer.

I also don't mean to lump all gun hunters with these idiots. It's just funny as heck.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I don't think you should rule out all gun hunters here... ;)You might want to watch your opinions on here...;)

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I just thought I would jump in here. I think it takes both equal amounts of skill. I have in fact been up on many more elk during the bow season then the rifle season. But that being said in someplace like Colorado where I grew up all the gun really does is saves some time and some walking. I think it is hunting skill not gun or bow hunting skill. That being said, I like to get out and just enjoy the wilderness, so hunting whitetails I like to move around, hunt from the ground, and still hunt. People around where I hunt sometimes say that is stupid that I don't use a tree stand. It is just my choice on how I want to do it. Don't think it makes me any less or more of a good hunter. But I am sure since it is on public land someone in a tree stand would be super pissed at me since I am not staying in one place and say that I am not doing it right. Sorry just thought I would play a little devils advocate.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

yet more material for my "examples of elitism" post!!

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

doughboysigep,

being superior = elitism

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I hunt both rifle and bow, but 90 - 95% of the time with the bow, not because it's better, but because rifle hunting is too easy, almost anybody can do it. It doesn't required the degree of skill like bowhunting does. Just my 2 cents.

In the past couple of years, I've been hearing it going both ways. Everybody hears of bowhunter gripping about the rifle hunters and their ways. Rifle hunters do it because they can and still be successful, where as bowhunters do it and they're SOL.

In the past couple of years here in Kansas, there have been a descent amount of rifle hunters have been complaining because bowhunters have longer season, and better season(which they do). It's a lot easier for a rifle hunter to screw up a hunting spot for a bowhunter, than a bowhunter to screw a hunting spot up for a rifle hunter. You can find hunters on both sides with the "elitest" attitudes. You don't have to go far to find one.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Muley69:.

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. 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.

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.

Both the gun and the bow take skill. With the bow, the animal is usually much closer and it could be argued that the chances of being winded are usually somewhat greater depending on the circumstances. But things happen that are unfortunate for both types of hunting.

I've hunted with bowhunters that make enough noise with their outdated climbers to wake up bucks that died years ago.[8D]

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

You all know where I stand but......

for one more deer per hunter maybe wounded by bowhunters but the actual number of deer wounded is far far greater by gun hunters. Just look at the discrepancies in the number of deer killed in your state by gun hunters verses bow hunters.

for two having come through the ranks of rifle hunting, I would much rather take a 300 yard shot with a rifle that a 30 yard shot with a bow. Everything that can go wrong with a gun can go wrong with a bow plus several others. When I was gun hunting it didn't matter how much the blood was pumping or how fast and furious it got, all I had to do was get the crosshairs in the right spot and squeeze and that was a dead deer. Bowhuting, even if I get the pin in the right spot, I am going to miss if I didn't anchor right, or if I gripped too tight, or if I hit my sleeve with my string etc. At 300 yards I don't have to be worried about the deer seeing or smelling me so I am in no hurry there. I am not even thinking about shooting without a good rest (which I don't have bowhunting) and I am not thinking about shooting unless the deer is just standing there so again no real hurry. Not to mention I have had big deer at 30 yards and at 300 yards and there's as much difference in the adrenaline rush as there is between ice cream and poop that you also have to contend with while bowhunting. I have been there and done both and I will take the 300 yarder everday and twice on Sunday from a "sure kill" stand point.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

My nomination for 2005 poet of the year lol. :D:D:D


The only people that argue for the gun hunters are those that don't bowhunt and therfore have nothing to argue, and those that do bowhunt - thereby qualifying them as bowhunting type hunters and nullifying their entire argument.

Conversely I know bowhunters that the 2 end stuffers Fieldmouse was referring to would ask to keep the noise down.

Just yesterday I was bowhunting with a friend that was so noisy and rude I thought I was going to have to double lung him to save my hunt. He understood that he was ruining my hunt because he mentioned it several times yet he could care less.

So I guess they come in all shapes sizes and specialties. If you're a gun hunter that treats his gun hunt like a bow hunt then more power to you - you are definately one of the few ( I fall in to that category myself as I like to hunt with every available legal weapon.)

Even though I gun hunt I am a bowhunter at heart and can honestly say that bowhunters take hunting to a higher level. If you don't agree then you obviously haven't achieved that level yet.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Ok silentassassin just for sake of arguement you guys talk elitism and ethics.
Humm lets take you . You are a acomplished hunter from what I get from you you have walked a lot of ground been around awhile .

You know when you shoot a bow lots of things are against you maybe a loose knock you know equipment failures ( we all have had them ) wind, distance, weather , some times just the slightist thing means bad shot .

Some of that stuff goes for gun too but not so much. Guns are alot more forgiving and reliable so a deer at 30 yards with gun or bow the possibility of a clean kill with a gun is a lot more probable than with a bow most rational pepole will agree with me that thats the case ( RATIONAL).

So if you are proficient with a bow and take the same effort with a gun the probaility of a humane kill is in the use of a gun in your hands .

So this Elitism with a bow has some Q:

SO are you ethically obligated to hunt deer with gun instesd of a bow?

So with ethics throws this elitism out the window.

Elitism = SNOBBERY

Iam a life long bow hunter live for it I'm not on either side yes it does mean more to take game with a bow because of its primitive challenges but that goes against ethics. (this ot to get you guys going)

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

OK so we all agree it is the individual not the weapon he/she so desires to cary that makes them the "hunter or nonhunter"agreed pefect!

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I think every hunter is ethically obligated to take shots that they are 100% confident in their ability to make. So that's what I do. The fact remains that mistakes do still happen. I try to put myself in situations where even if I make mistakes it will still result in a clean, quick, and ethical kill. I think that is as high of an ethical standard as anyone can be expected to be held to. That being said, I have more confidence in the 300 yard shot with a rifle than I do in the 30 yard shot with a gun. With the Rem. 700 you don't even think real seriously about killing something around it because it might just take matters into it's own hands............ I swear that thing had auto pilot back in the day;)

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

I Understand Your Frustration! However, It's The Individual Not The Weapon Of Choice That Differentiates A Good Hunter From A Bad Hunter. At Least They Were Hunting From A Stand. Here, They Drive The Deer From Their Bedding Areas And Have Blockers On The End To Make The Shot. It Not Only Changes Their Pattern But Many Go Nocturnal.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

for bowhunters

< gun hunters

and i will take a 30 yard shot on a buck then a 300 yard shot ANYDAY.

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

Wulgeur,

first of i see your a new member, welcome to the forum, second, thats really not the nicest way to start your reputation off! :D everybody has thier own opinion and here on huntingnet, i think i speak for everyone when i say this, but all different views and opinons on things are welcome, we are all here to help.


archer

RE: Why are bowhunters so much better?
 

okee dokee when i need help i will ask!!!