Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Bowhunters....what's the deal?

I agree

I guess it’s whatever excites you, and gets you out of bed in the morning

sadly, bowhunting is the majority of what I think about, but I would rather sleep in than rifle hunt.

Not saying it isn’t great for those who do. I have buddies who get fired up about it and that’s great, I just don’t any more

I personally really like and agree fully with your post.

I have hunted with a spear...challenge level is out the roof. Prolly 50X harder than bowhunting with a longbow.

A LOT of hunters don't see 5 year old bucks as THE BAR, gun or bow. I think you are way off the point....

Troy, I will take that one. I said an easier hunt ( inference more relaxing with bow ) not easier as far as ease. Its semantics but what I was saying is when I bow hunt I only control the 30 yards around me. Where I hunt it is nasty. I'm desperately trying to identify an ethical 2 inch path maybe a couple hundred yards out with rifle. I have to hunt HARDER with rifle to stay sharp...

Not off point at all since one of the original questions was about bow hunters killing so many with a gun its no longer a challenge. Hunters usually progress through stages as has been discussed on here. Kill any buck, then become selective, then even more selective. Then some quit, some go to bow hunting, some just concentrate on others hunting. But for someone to go to bow hunting and say gun hunting is no challenge has not progressed to the point of only hunting older aged bucks. And to the original question, the challenge of gun hunting is still there if the hunter chooses that route. If not, the hunter just chose a way he enjoys more...which is just fine.

my point was that some folks NEVER go to the point of only hunting older aged bucks.

I bow hunted before I ever gun hunted, started in 1964? at Oak Mountain Park hunt. Bowhunted only till 1967. Gun and bow from then on. I've always hunted with both, sometimes depending on the terrain hunted, but I have bow hunted way more than gun hunted over the years. My goal with a bow is the same as with a gun..mature bucks or a doe.

I just started bow hunting in 2015, I did so just for the challenge. Trying to position yourself and draw a bow back without getting busted by a deer at 10yds is a challenge to say the least. I have faced the situation that canvasback mentioned twice on the same deer at 73yds and it is very frustrating, but there has been a huge benefit from only bow hunting our property that many people disregard. I hunt 15-20 acres and every year that one of killed a deer early in the season with a rifle we saw few to no deer the rest of the year. After going bow only, we are seeing deer the entire season regardless of when we kill a deer. The neighbors on both sides use rifles which helps no doubt, but based on my observation over the years the deer are less skittish now.

when gun hunting, as soon as I see a deer I think, "you poor bastard." at that point, they dont have much of a chance... as soon as you lay eyes on em, their life is in your hands.

with bowhunting, everything has to line up perfectly

We didn't have a lot of money when I was young and I couldn't afford a hunting club. Alabama WMA's will allow you to hunt any day of the season with a bow but only scheduled days with a gun. I used Barbour County WMA like a private hunting club my whole life. If I saw a nice buck bowhunting that I didn't get a shot at. I would take a rifle back in on a gun day and hunt him. The times that suck are when someone weighs a deer that you have been hunting hard.

Some people can’t! Nothing annoys me more than people who can’t shoot and make clean kills, rediculous. Have ya noticed all the track jobs done every year with dogs? Amazing! I try to stress to people that the animal is deserving of a quick, clean kill and we all owe that to the game we hunt. Make ethical decisions and when in doubt don’t shoot because tomorrow is another day!