It all depends on the situation. You fail to mention some very important details that need to be discussed. How far is the rifle shot? How far is the bow shot? For example I much rather take, and consider a 20 yard bow shot WAY easier than a 350 yard rifle shot...hands down. A 40 yard bow shot vs a 40 yard rifle, I take the rifle any day.....you see what I mean? Are you talking about rifles only or any firearm? A 50 yard shot with a scoped rifle (or slug gun) is one thing, a 30 yard shot with an iron sighted revolver is quite another.

By just putting up a simple, vanilla flavored, run of the millquestion like you did, all you're going to do is incite an argument and continue to stoke the festering problem of elitism that's already running rampant in the bow hunting community.[:'(]

In different circumstances either can be way more difficult than the other.

[blockquote]quote:

ORIGINAL: ABarOfSoap

How can you even compare the 2, gun hunting is a million times more easy,(and i do both) you have asight on a gun( zooms in), you can be perfectly steady,you can shoot alot alot further with it, they cant jump the string, you can use the wrong pin with a bow, with a bow they can see you pull it back and get scared, you flinch slightly with a bow, you miss alot more than with a gun, if its to windy its hard to shot with a bow, You usally have to stand to shoot with a bow, the deer has to be alot closer so the deer can smell you.
Just to name a few.
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ABarOfSoap,

If you really hunted with both, there is NO WAY you would have posted what you did. Just need to "tidy up" a few things here.

1st. If you "flinch slightly" with a rifle...say you move the muzzle 1/4 inch.....at 250-300yds (effective range) you've just successfully shot about FIVE FEET over the deer!. If you "flinch slightly" with a bow again 1/4 inch at say 25-30yds (effective range) you'd miss your mark by a few inches....you'd still hit the deer.

Why do you thinklong range rifle shooters try to control both their breathing AND heart rate? I'll tell ya, because even something as slight as the shooters HEARTBEAT can cause a complete miss at extended ranges.

2nd. If it's windy it's also extremely difficult to shoot long ranges with a rifle, the bullet will drift obviously a lot further than you think (or even knew) it would.

3rd. You don't have to "usually stand" to shoot your bow, I've killed plenty of deer over the years sitting down.

This is what I'm talking about people...Blanket statements that folks just absorb like some kinda sponge only to spew it themselves for others to absorb at a later date,never taking the time to research whether or not it's even true. It's that, or some are so hell bent on pounding their chests and showing the world in some sort of elitist right of passage that bow hunting is the pinnacle of hunting and that all other forms pale and should just get down on bended knee and tip their hat to the all mighty bow hunter who saunters into the room, that they are willing to say anything true or not in order tofortify their position.

The question posted was "What do you think is more challenging" the operative word being THINK. So the next time someone asks a question like this please put SOME THOUGHT to it before typing.

It's threads like this that absolutely without a doubt show just how elitist bow hunters are. They are so blinded by their lust to show the world just how great of hunters they are and how hard their form of hunting is, that they don't realize they are only hurting hunting as a whole withtheir elitist propaganda.

I'm at a loss.....[:'(]

Look guys NOBODY is saying bow hunting is not challenging, it is. It has it's own set of challenges and hurdles that the hunter needs to jump in order to bag their quarry. But so does gun hunting. I'm a realist, I'm not jumping on any bandwagon here, not gun or bow.

The problem I think is when someone mentions "gun" hunting folks automatically assume it's a 50 yard broadside shot with a scoped firearm shooting off of a rest. In that scenario, yep that's about as easy a slam dunk shot as your going to find. I (nor anyone else) have never said anything to the contrary.

But those of you who seem to arbitrarily choosebow hunting as being more difficult without taking the time to realize that there are some forms of gun hunting thatare truly just as challenging if not more difficult. That's the reason why I asked the original poster what he meant when hesaid "Rifle". If you want to challenge yourself....truely challenge yourself , try picking up a muzzle loader....NO not the "in-line muzzle loading rifles" that are on the market today but a TRUE muzzle loader. One with a smooth bore, (no rifling to stabilize the projectile) and either a percussion cap or powder pan to ignite the gun powder inthe breach, yep that's the one I'm talking about, something that would have been in most peoples homes........in 1775!

With thisprimitive firearm you will need to make sure your quarry is within the same distance as a bow because the accuracy past 50 yards with a round ball smooth bore is laughable at best. Plus with a powder pan(flint lock)ignition system there is a slight delay from when the pan ignites to when the gun goes off. Not only do you need to hold steady as a billow of white smoke erupts in your face, the deeralso have that split second to react. Second/followup shots? they don't exist, this is a one chance deal.Good luck being able to see where you hit the deer too, you'd be lucky to even SEE what direction the deer ran by the time all the smoke clears........

Seems pretty difficult doesn't it? AndI haven't even started talking about the weather limitations to the weapon either...FORGET about hunting inany wind to speak of and certainly not the rain. You'd be lucky to get the thing to fire in high humidity much less a drizzle. Even on perfect days there are times when the thing just won't fire, perhaps the priming hole is clogged.

Now I want to make this VERY CLEAR....I don't hunt with that type of GUN.....but there are a few on this site that do, I don't.....it's too difficult.

Lets all be good stewards to this sport and not let our lust for recognition and elitism cloud our judgment and thus cast a disparaging shadow on the light this sport isseen in.


Am I getting through?

ORIGINAL: mikemac10

I think a deer has a better chance survivingif someone has a bow in their hand instead of a gun, if a deer is 200 yards away it wont get killed with a bow, but could be killed with a gun very easily. You hear people say quite often, if I hadmy gun that deer would have been dead, you never hear the opposite, if I hadmy bow....