I know hunting shows are not all that popular here, and I seldom watch them. The whooping, high fives, and hard rock music ruin any possible redemptive qualities. Having said that, what’s with all the archery hunting shows? Is bow hunting really that popular compared to rifles?
I started out bow hunting and kept it up until my shoulder went bad in 2007. I live outside Cincinnati, and if you look on a map, we're a just a few miles from Kentucky and Indiana. Bow hunting is different in all 3 states. When I got into bow hunting in the early 80's, I was the only person I knew doing it.
Ohio was much more of an archery-oriented state. At the time I got started, it was still shotgun only, and the modern weapons season started after the rut. Kentucky was and is much more oriented to rifle hunters. Indiana was kind of in the middle. The firearms season was shotgun only in my day, but it started in mid-November, during the rut. Indiana also had a lot more hassles for non-residents compared to the other two.
As far as popularity, (I'm hunting in Kentucky exclusively these days) KY takes 72% of its deer harvest with a rifle. Archery and crossbow account for most of the rest and are evenly split.
Both IN and OH have liberalized their modern weapons seasons to include centerfire rifles of various ilk. The main reason I see is that deer populations were exploding and there weren't enough deer being taken. You're starting to see complaints in all 3 states that the deer populations may have been over-corrected. Overall, I'd say the archers get the worst of it.
Where I am in KY is in Zone 1, which means unlimited antlerless harvest. I can take up 4 deer on the regular tags and then keep going at $15 per 2 tags after that. I normally kill 1 or 2 per year; that fills my freezer. However, the archery guys can start in September and keep on hunting until January and take as many as they want.
Honestly, I thought I'd miss bow hunting when my shoulder went. In truth, it was the best thing. I was having to devote a heck of a lot of time practicing, preparing and hunting. Once archery was no longer an issue, I recovered all that time and found I could enjoy other fall activities like squirrel hunting and such. However, I can be more laid-back about it.
