I have a set number of days I can take off also just like any gun hunter. I choose to take them off during the first week of November when I feel the deer move the most and the woods are still at peace.
Almost anyone can shoot a deer at 150 yards, but it takes skill and hard cold nerves to let one get inside 30 yards and still have what it takes to draw a bow, settle in and make a smooth release.....it is sooooo addictive once you do it
Has nothing to do with trophies. 95% of my die hard "bowhunting" friends are meat hunters.
I hate infighting, I'm trying to be a bowhunter, but...
The deer seasons have been published and they've pushed out firearms season a week.
So they've succeeded in claiming the rut all to themselves.
If someone is upset with the time of bow season maybe they should take the"If you can't beat them join them" approach and take up the sport.
I think anyone that is capable of getting close enough to a deer to take them with a bow will be a far better hunter if/when they pick up the gun again.
I still take the muzzleloader out from time to time if I need to get an"easy" deer in an area that I haven't been able to properly scout, but I far prefer bow season... It’s quiet, peaceful, and there are no slug-slingers that haven't shot their gun for a year in the woods with you.
Ah the old classic if you can get close enough to kill them with a bow your a better hunter I shoot 98% of the deer I shoot in gun season within bow range. The two biggest deer Ive killed one was at 25 yards the other was at 10 yards and most under 50. So that doesnt really hold up as a theory to many variables.
If you are saying that being close to deer doesn't make you a better hunter then why even mention that you kill the majority of your deer at close range? Are you saying that you are a bad deer hunter and just so happen to kill deer at close range? If so… Congratulations. The post was saying that most people (maybe you included) would benefit from having the ability to kill deer in close range such as bow hunters do. If someone has to take long distance shots at deer (in Indiana) every time, they would most likely be a more efficient hunter if they had the ability to get close enough to deer to take a close (bow range) shot.
Gettin "close" to deer could be from ones skill or maybe a guy around the ridge bumped it to you and thus it was just a matter of right place right time. So it wouldnt mean you were any better in the form of the latter. Now one thing that could be said for certain if you shot all your deer at long range is that you are a good shot.
As to whether or not I feel like im a better hunter because I shoot alot of deer inside 50 yards.....Well who knows really if it was skill or luck but I think its probably a bit of both.
so if a guy gets `lucky` evey year there still couldn`t be skill involved?
i can`t belive this thread is still going..
Fight back....start bowhunting!
are we still talking about this silly non-sense?
Been bow hunting for years I just dont get all "jacked" up by it. Ive been sucessful and have taken many with my bow. I just use a bow because thats the law during the early archery season. Then when gun season starts I use a gun. Your not gonna find me sitting in a tree on opening day of gun season with anything other than a firearm. I love hunting period so I bow hunt just because I have too. One of my favorite days of hunting is the last day of early archery because then I know that its time for the boomsticks.
I feel guns are more ethical you dont have to worry about a twig deflecting your arrow and causing a less than disireable hit. You also wont have to worry about a NICE 10pt buck getting away from you because you couldnt get a shot at him because of some scrub brush in the way all the while watching him eat acorns at 20 yards for 10 minutes(If that story sounds personal it is) would it have been nice to kill the deer with a bow sure but he would have been in the back of the truck if it were gun season.
Then use a traditional bow.
Man, some people just like to WHINE AND COMPLAIN! This thread was a dead end from the first post about selfish bowhunters getting the firearms season moved back. Well, that was quickly shown to be untrue, but lets all still p1ss and moan about it. Geez.
The OP may have been wrong about bowhunters gettin the season pushed back. However the Indiana Bowhunters Association is always pushing for longer bow seasons and less gun season. They are against crossbows and see them as something someone with a dissability should use rather than a useful hunting device. Some of their tactics are borderline anti-hunting. Showing up in large numbers to DNR rule change proposal meetings and pushing for more bowhunting and the list goes on. We shouldnt push aside a group of hunters to further agendas because in the end we just lose another potential hunter and thats not good.