A gun or a bow Wait before You say anything you must have killed a deer with both gun and bow with a good shot from a bow the deer run less than 10 yards and dont even think about the lb. per FT.

Well the term "killing power" is pretty subjective. you are comparing apples to oranges with a bow and a gun, they both kill in totally different ways. You aren't going to put an animal down in its tracks with a bow unless you spine it, where as "bang-flops" with a gun are fairly common.A well placed, razor sharp arrow in the vitals is a very efficient killer though. If you define "killing power" as the ability to kill at different angles and distances a gun wins hands down. With a bow you have to wait for a fairly close broadside or quartering away shot. With a gun you can take ethical shots at much longer ranges, and you can also take them with the animal straight on, quartering towards you, and even in the neck.

If youKILL 1 deer with a gun and 1 with a bow, that equates to; dead=gun, and dead=bow. So killing power should be as follows: (gun x dead)x (bow x dead) = killing power

Please correct me if I am wrong, it has been several years since I have used this formula.

If the definition of a good bow kill is less than 10 yards, then there is no doubt that a gun, or firearm is superior to a bow.

The first deer I ever killed with a bow was at 7 yards. Beng new to the archery game, nobody told me about bending at the waist, I dropped my bow arm and shot over the deer. Not knowing what had happened, the deer stood still and acctually sniffed the nock of the arrow sticking out of the ground. I re-nocked, re-drew, aimed lower, and spined her. Fairly terrible thing to see... though I had seen it before, I never care too. Spent my last arrow sinking another into her ribs to hurry the process along... that did the job nicely.

I cannot recall a deer that I have shot with a firearm in the last five years (which totals well over 100 deer including culls) that has gone more than 5 yards.... and that mostly from thrashing...in one case it was a cartwheel as the deer I shot (30 yards using buckshot this past season... headshot... comes from being a bird hunter I suppose... I impressed myself with that one) did a roll and a powerslide of sorts. I did shoot one with a muzzleloader this year at about 15 steps that I beleive it or not missed the scapula on. Broke the onside shoulder (quartering too) right at the joint. 300gr softpoint lodged about 1in right of her anus and broke the skin but somehow did not exit. I found one drop of blood 5 feet from the deer. She went about 40 yards in the open bottom and I heard her crash. I was in a ground tent... took me 30 minutes to find her . Should have known better than to take a quartering too shot... even if it was close enough to smell the acorns on her breath.

I've shot nearly 50 deer with the bow, and only had two not go at least 10 yards. Both of those were spined. The shortest I can recall that was not is probably in the neighborhood of 40 to 60 yards... but 70 to 80 is more the average. Have had a few that went closer to 200. But have NEVER (touch wood) had an arrow enter the body cavity of a deer and not recovered it.

There is simply no question that a high powered centerfire rifle is the more effecient weapon. Even when compared to a slug gun or inline muzzle loader let alone a bow.

And I have hunted with all of them.

Paul

thats a different question

I think you also must divide by caliber and brand of bow

broadheads do lots of damage, bullets go right through and get the job done.

I would say it depends on the shot placement. A good shot in the vitals from either will the job quickly, but I would also say you have more room for mistake with a gun. So, if that is what you are talking about, I would say a gun. But, the deer I have killed with a bow have covered a short distance after the shot on average than the deer I have shot with a gun. I don't think you can really compare the two. Now ask, which has more killing power, a .308 or 30/06 and you will havea real discussion.

I watched "Smarter than a fifth grader" last night. The formula is as follows:

[Gun weight/bow weight (caliber - shaft length)* (distance to deer)] / [deer weight* bullet grain/(deer age + length of tail - ATA of bow)]
Recalculate number at different levels of humidity and you have your answer