Archery vs. Gun Pressure

I realize if a hunting lease is archery only, with a few exceptions (kids), it with be a lot less pressured. Less pressure is always a good thing, but archery is tricky. There's always going to be that giant buck you've been wanting to get for a long time, just out of range. Is converting to archery only worth it?

Not to me, love bow hunting but can't lay down my smoke pole

Absolutely it's worth it. A Bowhunter will be thinking of how to setup on said buck next hunt before he's out of sight and never give thought to what might have been. A gun hunter will be cussing his luck and wishing he had his rifle in hand. Only a Bowhunter gets it. Not one is more right than the other...all personal preference.

Pressure is pressure is pressure. It don't matter what your weapon of choice is.

Agreed. My response to the question was a personal preference standpoint more than a pressure standpoint. I'd almost venture to say that most bow hunters would actually pressure a place more than rifle, having to fulfill that need for the perfect setup. That doesn't mean bow hunters aren't better at what they do. There, I said it.

Bow hunting you have to get up close and personal and have a better chance of getting busted. Gun hunting you can go AT&T on their arse reach out and touch someone. Both put your scent in the woods the only difference is one bangs the other is quiet. The human exposure is what makes deer nervous and nocturnal.

Yep. Deer aren't all that bothered by gun fire. I have had them stand still while I missed 3 shots in a row. They have no idea what it is. It is the human scent left in the woods that causes deer to modify their behavior. The advantage of bow only is that fewer deer are killed which translates into more bucks reaching maturity.

Depending on how you hunt, you'd probably have less pressure gun hunting... if done right.

Your benefit to bow hunting only would be that many bucks will be saved. You just can't shoot a buck bowhunting unless he's in bow range.

I personally like bowhunting only clubs.

Oh, as someone said.... Pressure is pressure... gun or bow. And, that's true!!!

These 2!

I had this same discussion yesterday, regarding gun vs bow pressure. I stated that IMHO bow hunting on our place all season applies way more pressure than gun hunting.

Yep!

Just from an opinion standpoint, I would fall in the camp that says human presence is bad regardless of what weapon I'm toting. However, I do feel like the loud noise of guns shooting is more detrimental than not.
Case Study: Most of my hunting is done on a military base that has some "bow only" areas. Except for this season that just ended, those areas have been open every day of the season for years and years. And there's not a day goes by that someone isn't bowhunting in them (retired military guys apparently have nothing else to do but hunt, LOL) The gun areas are only open on selected days (normally weekends only), and even then are rotated around for the purpose of limiting pressure. Except for what I've just explained, there's no difference in the terrain, locale, food sources, nothing. But by mid-season those bow areas are absolutely loaded with deer, while all the gun hunters are complaining about not seeing any deer, even though the pressure distribution would seem to be at least equal (if not worse in the bow areas). And the perception is always that the big bucks are "hiding in those bow only areas" (and honestly, they do seem to be). So make your own conclusion from that example, but I think there's something less "pressuring" to deer about a bowhunting only area than a gun area.

If done correctly and with trigger control I guess gun hunting could be less pressuring. But I normally find that gun hunters (around me anyway) seem to put a lot less concern into wind direction and stand setup (exit routes, etc..) then bow hunters. And lots of gun hunters around me hunt greenfields in the afternoons and sit until the last available light is gone, which leads to a lot of bucks shot that looked a lot better thru a scope at 100 years in near pitch black dark.

I have hunted a field within 200 yards of several duck hunters blasting away and the deer never even pick their heads up at the sound of the shot. They are completely used to it as evidenced by my earlier statement that I had a deer stand still for 3 consecutive misses.

The few shots that are fired while deer hunting have no more effect that the occasional clap of thunder. When they hear a shot they aren't sitting there thinking their cousin Sally just became dinner. They just aren't that
smart.

To answer the original question, I guess we'd have to decide if we're willing to only hunt with our bows? I'm not. I love to bow hunt, and I always say my best success with mature bucks is the first week of bow season, but I don't want to bow hunt in the cold winter when the movement is poor. When those bucks have become basically locked in those cutovers in December, I want to have my rifle and shoot as far as I need to.

human pressure is human pressure is human pressure. You smell like a stinkin' human to them in bow season just as much as gun season, with a bow in hand or gun in hand.

X2. Stinking arses affect deer a heck of a lot more than occasional loud bangs.

I would say YES. It is alot more challenging and rewarding to kill one with archery equipment.

I think the weapon of choice has little if any impact. What type hunters you have and how many and what kind of access you have in and out of your hunting areas. Ours has changed a lot over the years. If you have guys walking around green fields checking cameras and tracks, walking thru green fields to get to a climber down in the woods closer to the bedding areas... all this creates pressure and the deer become more nocturnal. For years we had only a couple of guys that hunted in the woods with climbers and they would only hunt a place if the wind was right and they could get in and out without messing anything up. With their success, others started doing it but they don't have a clue. They go easiest way, therefore come back out into a green field right after dark running deer off and once they do that a few times those deer get conditioned to wait longer before they show up so they don't get disturbed during dinner. Then they are walking all over looking for that perfect spot or better spot when in my opinion they should be making sure they give the deer room to do what they want or need to do and hunt them from the outside in making very small adjustments based on observations not just randomly walking around and finding a scrape or some rubs and saying I will put my stand here. Ours do this without a thought of how they are going to get in and out. Most of the time they'll screw up 2 pretty good stands trying to get an edge and that doesn't work for them either. Sorry guys, guess I needed to vent a little. I really wish I had my own place.

Human Pressure is the main factor. But think about this and ask a Farmer. When he is out farming or whatever ask him how many big bucks he sees. It is conditioning also. If you get deer use to you and they think of you as non threatening then they will go about there way. Ever hunted a clear cut right after the guys left from cutting and seen a bunch of deer. When I started my own lodge and also worked at the other lodge. I would make sure to follow the same route and try not to deviate from it to much on the 4 wheeler. Would ride the 4 wheeler everyday I could thru the property and in off season. They got use to hearing it and hearing were it stopped.

This 100%. Ive had deer keep feeding after one fell right next to them. I dont know if they think "Sally" just fell asleep or what but low pressured deer arent that concerned.


The shooting doesnt concern me. Im more worried about once I have one on the ground how I can get it and get out of here as undetected as possible.

To add, the comings and goings of hunters in a hunting area will modify their behavior. Deer become aware of the little things like truck doors shutting, trees being climbed, talking, golf carts or ATV's riding around, ect. I don't think the deer care whether you have a gun, bow, or camera in your hand. If you are consistently in an area, they know it and adapt accordingly.

Dr. B

We tend to hunt plots a lot at one of our places. 2 members bow hunt only and 2 gun hunt only. As one of the gun hunters, my point was that I can sneak in and out of the shooting houses without ever alarming a deer (as long as I hunt proper wind). However, every time the bow hunters hunt those same plots they walk through the plot to climb a tree along the edge of the field and at the end of the hunt they either scare deer out of the plot by making noise climbing down the tree or by walking back through the plot. IMHO this type of consistent pressure is much worse than shooting a gun in a plot 1-2 times per year.

Of course, if I had it my way we would not shoot any does on plots!

Correlation does not equal causation...the reason more deer are in the bow only area could easily be because there are fewer hunter hours over all. Also, think of how much more scent/presence you leave in an area retrieving a dead animal vs just hunting? Surely more deer are killed in the gun hunting areas. There are a lot of variables in any study and without controls on the variables, there is no way to pinpoint the exact cause and effect. Agreeing with other posters, I know I get blown at a lot more bow hunting than I do gun hunting. I think bow only would be fun in that you would likely have a group of hunters that really enjoyed all aspects of "the hunt" I however, still enjoy a cold morning glassing hundreds of acres of cutover, and I like having the option for a quick/easy hunt in a permanent stand or a comfortable hunt with a new hunter.

^^this^^

It is the scent of man that scares the deer. Weapon is not material.

So if Alabama opened the entire archery season to smoothbore/round ball muzzle loaders there would be essentially no hunting pressure change. The Smoothbore frontloaders, the crossbow and the high tech compound bow all have roughly the same functional accuracy range.

Hunters in the woods = pressure, no matter what you're carrying. Most of the clubs in Baldwin county were once $50 permit land. You were allowed to hunt Sat-Wed only. I killed/saw so many more bucks over there when it was permit land than "managed" club land. Transferred to Kodiak and then returned to find out the land was leased to clubs. Joined a club, hunted all the time, barely saw bone... TOO much pressure from the locals. The most enjoyable part was watching the clubs board members break/push the limits on the rules they were supposed to enforce.

I'll add 2 more cents to this topic...there are bow hunters and there are very successful bow hunters, just like you have gun hunters and very successful gun hunters. The continually successful group of both do things smartly to minimize pressure and increase their odds of seeing and taking game. In my opinion though, the bow hunter has to be a little better due to their limited effective range.
The key to any continual individual hunting success by a group will be inversely proportional to the lack of pressure discipline displayed by any member in that group. That's why I prefer large tracts with few hunters who are like minded in their approach to hunting.