Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting question for you bow hunters

It seems that a lot of the archery hunters I've spoken to are seriously into archery hunting, so much so that they don't hunt with a rifle any more. They'll hunt just about anything they can with a bow, even turkey hunt as an example.

So I'm curious to hear your opinion. Do you also hunt with a rifle when firearm season rolls around or are you purely an archery hunter?

I hunt with all, Bow, Handgun, Rifle, Muzzleloader.

Bowhunting has been my passion for 35 years. I would be okay hunting only with a bow only if I lived in an area where hunting big game was "easy", but here it's not. I like to kill stuff too.

All but there is a certain adrenalin factor that makes hunting with a bow worth its while......

Only hunted with a compound so far, looking to get into recurve or long bow hunting just so I can say that I could.....

You probably didn't see my Tennessee hog...

I hunt with bow muzzleloader and rifle. If there was a season for Atlatl that gave me more days to hunt I would do that to. I just like to hunt.

ltppowell,

nice hog!

Yes sticker of the pig....I did see your hog and the nice bow you were sporting also.....

You my friend are the one that has gave me the fever.....

Why are there no arrows in your quiver????

another reason i'm looking into archery is that i'm in slug gun area and hate getting the snot kick out of me, lol!

Also the season runs longer as well.

Still not sure if archery/bow hunting is cheaper overall than rifle hunting?

I bowhunt simply for the extra time in the woods. One more week and then i can take the rifle

Archery is a return on investment, same as gun hunting. You don't need a $1K bow, but it will most likely be of better quality than a $300 starter. You don't need a $1K Zeiss, but it's probably going to last longer than a $100 Tasco. Bows do not hold the long term resale that firearms do. Ask any of these guys that have traded up bows in the last couple of years!

Arrows last longer now, but need replaced as they break, wear out, lost in the woods. Quality arrows cost money same as premium ammo.

I wouldn't consider archery cheaper, just different way of staying in the woods longer.

I like the rush I get from bow hunting. It's all different when you have a deer 20 yards or less and you have to get drawn and make a shot. I will prolly hunt more with my bow this year than my rifle. That being said the farmers that allow me to hunt just want deer killed so Ill have to take rifle to help thin the herd some aswell.
A doe with my bow is more satisfying than a decent buck with my rifle

After shooting a few with a bow, rifle and muzzleloader don't get the adrenalin rushing any more. Shooting a deer with them is like shooting a paper target for me.

Now give me a bow and let one get inside 20 yards and I turn into a wreck.

I still hunt with them, because I like to eat venison and my odds of killing one with a bow aren't as good.

But bowhunting is where the adrenalin is at...

I rather have my bow in my hand than a firearm...

October 15th I am taking bow and rifle for deer hunting. If I get the chance I rather arrow my buck, but will use the rifle towards the end of the week.

In November I am taking the girlfriend turkey hunting, I will be using my bow and she a shotgun.

She does have a bow but does not have the passion for it like I do... That being said she did buy me this for my birthday

I started bowhunting in my early teens to get the extra 6 weeks at the start of the season. Now I mostly bowhunt, especially if I'm tagged out buck wise and need to shoot does. There's not much to shooting does with a rifle and I really burned out on it trying to tag out all my management plan tags a few years in a row and having had a collection permit at one time.

Most places I hunt you can't see past 40 yards anyway. Favorite technique of mine is to get into the really thick stuff that you really can't even walk thru with kevlar chaps on and cut a tunnel in it with loping shears about 30 yards long paralell to an edge you know deer are using and sit at one end and wait for the deer to cross thru it. Often times I have found thru direct observation and camera use that deer will stack up in that lane no wider than a deer a good half an hour before going out to feed in a more open area before dark. It has been deadly effective about 10 yards inside of clearcuts that are getting head high adjacent to white oak flats when the acorns start dropping. Guy taught it to me about 25 years ago but I never really used it much until about 10 years ago.

^ This ^. + more time in the outdoors

The quiver has a cover on it!

Archery hunting is the best. Up close & very personal. Last year I killed two deer with the bow, then killed with the rifle, ML & handgun.

I enjoy all my days in the woods, regardless of the firearm in my hands.

I do both and I have the legal requirement to have a firearm in Africa with clients. However I don't mistake the term hunting for shooting.

Until your hunting involves actually hunting and being within the distances true archery hunting involves, it's mostly shooting by todays standards with the technology available.

I have some amazing firearms with reticles that let me shoot without holdover. Combined with a rangefinder,....it's much more shooting then hunting for me. I suppose if it's all you have ever done it seems like hunting but when you can see the eyelashes and smell the animal you see the difference in a 100-300-500 yard shot compared to a 10-25-35 yard shot.

My hunts with archery are my proudest hunts which required the greatest skill and the least margin of error.

Rifle in rifle. ALWAYS!
I inherited most of my guns from my uncles who passed away or who don't hunt anymore and when I use their guns, that's my link to them and their memories.