Zak - I didn't bring it up.

thesource - then you should be 100% in favor of crossbows, right ? They are MORE ACCURATE to use, right ?

Agreed, though you cannot regulate it. Not only that, top target shooters often choke on game - explain that ?

You threw this in my face, now step up to the plate and explain yourself. I DO know this stuff, at 35 years old I've hunted more states, more animals and killed more than many guys have at 60 years old. I'm not a rookie at bowhunting. I AM somewhat a rookie at trad archery still, and theres a huge learning curve that you cannot "get" if you haven't been there and done that.

I don't like my shooting stats, they're tougher for me than they ever will be for you I can assure you. My first shot at an elk with my longbow clipped a branch - missed bull. My second shot I drew, my upper limbs hit a branch, I let down and drew a second time and at that point my concentration was gone. Second miss. 30 mintues after that miss I killed a dandy 11 pointer. This past fall, I clean shot right under a buck at 20 yards. Why ? I was overbowed, and I short drew, thats all I can figure because I almost never shoot under. Trad shooters tend to shoot OVER, not under, because its easier to focus on the line of the back of the deer than a spot. Anyway, same deer, 20 second later, i shot at very close range and just didn't make the shot. Wasn't the best shot in the world, wasn't the worst, I didn't make it. Got to Kansas, my shooting still sucked ........... I picked up a compound, 30 practice shots and I was on my way to a one shot, one kill trophy non-typical.

So I got enough personal ethics for myself to know when to use easy bows when my shooting sucks. My shooting however rarely sucks, but Trad archery is a whole 'nother ballgame entirely.

I use to be something like you , wondering how anyone missed 3-4 deer with a bow and if their shooting was that bad why they didn't just shoot a compound or crossbow. Its called ARCHERY, and BOWHUNTING and if you've never done it I can't explain it to you on a message board. And no, compound don't compare, its a whole 'nother ballgame.

Whoa - easy dude.

You asked for the definition of accuracy, then picked it apart so you could get your cheap shot in. I merely redirected the working definition of accuracy to one that was more appropriate to bowhunting.

I am not blasting you for hunting with a recurve, or for missing deer. I hope you learned something with every miss. It usually works that way for every bowhunter, traditional or compound. Like I said in a previous post, the only person you need to answer to is yourself.

I could tell from your previous posts that you are an experienced hunter. You DO know this stuff. You are picking the bits and pieces of the whole to defend your position....I think its a cheap trick, and called you on it.

Sorry if I offended you - there's no need to get personal, I guess.

thesource - Personal ........... not really. This is internet message boards, nothing can really be personal, can it ?

MasterBlaster said

My response was to him, not you though, my apologies for the confusion on that.

However, this is actually a very good thing to discuss. Why ? The results of my last 3 years of hunting has really changed my outlook on bowhunting and archery. Trad is radically different than compounds. And I'm not throwing that in their to bash compounders, its just what my experience has been. Theres a aura around trad hunters that we miss/wound a lot. Is it true ? For newbies yeah, I think it is. The more experienced Trad hunters less so. Its a whole different ballgame

What is accuracy ? Should we ......... or do we, really want archery based on a shooting test or something like that ? Theres so many variables that it would be disasterous for bowhunting.

But yet on the other hand, how good is the type of shooting I've had for archery ? Do I reflect negatively on the sport ? If so, why ?

Want a deeper question to answer ? If its true that shooting trad = greater numbers of miss/wounds, and if thats bad, then we NEED compounds becauase they're inherently more accurate in the hands of a bowhunter. Right ? We're essentially saying that the easier bowhunting weapons is MORE desireable because it reduced misses and wounds and thats GOOD for archery. So what about the crossbow ? If its as easy as ya'll make it out to be, why wouldn't we WANT that in archery season too based on the same reasons ?

There are no easy answers and yes, I can line item away your post to make my shooting results look bad for me. They ARE bad, each miss could have been a wound, and no one is responsible for that but me, and no one knows it or understands it more. But what would you have me do thesource ? Practice more ? I practice almost daily through the summer, vastly more than the average archer. CHoose my shots better ? Each shot I took would have been 100% kills with a compound - they were good shots that went wrong because I was shooting a more difficult weapon. So what would you have me do, go back to a compound for good ? If so why and based on what (you can see where that could go, can't you ?)

Not easy questions to find answers for ............ yet I encourage every bowhunter to try because in the end, pondering those questions and heck, even use my shooting stats for an example if ya'll want to, those WILL MAKE everyone who has to think WHY on it all better off in the long run.