Your Favorite Method of Hunting? (Poll)

Your Favorite Method of Hunting?

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Founder

Founder

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Simple question, what is your favorite method of hunting? Rifle, Archery, Muzzleloader?
Expand on the reason. More opportunity? More effective with one versus the other? etc?
 
if i ever had to pick it would be archery. it's just always my favorite hunts. i've killed big game with all three listed , there is nothing i hate more than hunting with a muzzle loader so that didn't last long. and ive never killed a bull with anything but an arrow. that wasn't my intention when i started out but now that it's been so long i just have no interest in hunting elk with a rifle. might make me a bit of a snob but i'm also a fly fisherman so that ships already sailed i suppose
 
I like archery hunting as long as I am hunting in a state that doesn't allow crossbow hunting. Thankfully a few western states still don't allow crossbow hunting. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the eastern states allow it.

Muzzleloader season is my second favorite season.

Basically, it's anything that keep me away from the crowds and the gun hunters. Not that I don't like gun hunting, it's just that gun hunting brings out a potpourri of hunters....
 
I grew up with a rifle in my hands. Simply totally comfortable with one and don’t want to spend the time to become and stay proficient with a bow. I also just enjoy shooting.
 
Definitely archery for me:
- Longer seasons to be in the field.
- More time to be selective.
- Less pressure in the field.
- More of a challenge.
- "Archery tag soup" tastes better - lol

However, 80% of my "bigger" trophies have been via rifle.
 
I get most enjoyment out of archery hunts, but I love them all and will take a tag for any of the three any chance I get!
 
Love Archery Hunting, Bugling Bulls! Late season Archery Colorado Eastern Plains Deer. I like to hunt with a Muzzy, but Colorado thinks that putting at the same time as Archery Elk is a good idea?
 
Rifle for me..I feel a rifle is alot more efficient if used at proper distance.. And I'm more comfortable using them on big game.. To each his own
 
Muzzleloader is my choose. Hunted rifle for so many years early on when learning to hunt and building my skills. With the archery and muzzleloader hunts it brought more of a challenge for me and I really enjoy that time of the year for the full 9-day hunts on the mountain. I was successful a few times with archery, but the muzzleloader hunt was more successful once I started locating bigger bucks and spending the time on the mountain. Been doing the muzzy now for 20 plus years for both deer and elk. All my son's have all left the rifle hunting and joined me on the muzzy hunts.
 
I think archery hunting is more fun, more opportunities, bucks are grouped up and more vissable, bulls are bugging. I enjoy hunting in the colder weather better, have killed the same number of deer with both bow and rifle and a couple with muzzy, elk and antelope with both, but as I am getting older it's nice to be able to get back into rifle hunting a bit more.
 
Rifle for me. I get the same excitement when I lay down to kill an animal with a rifle, as I do when I draw back to kill an animal with a bow. And I like actually killing the animals when I finally find them 🤣🤣.
 
Archery is by far my favorite but I have come to really love rifle hunting more since I have been mentoring kids the last 15 years.
 
Muzzle load hunting the elk rut. Nothing like being surrounded by screaming bulls. Rifle hunting the Colorado 1st rifle elk season second choice.
 
Never killed an animal with my bow but it’s a great experience. I am terrible at it so I vote rifle. Since last year I had bought a new rifle I’d planned to stick with that but 2025 maybe I’ll be ready to apply for archery again.
 
ML for me. Mine is a tack driver. Season opens sooner. Can use ML during gun season. And some of the local draw hunts are shotgun/ML only.

Might have a different opinion if I lived in a western state where tags were not as available as my home state whitetail tags.
 
Obviously archery vote for me. Although it is nice to extend every fall with whatever tags I can get. Rifle and ML is where I started and still enjoy it.
 
For me, my preferred weapon is whatever I can get a tag for. And it also depends on the species. General elk, it’s archery. General deer, muzzleloader.
 
Longer seasons, More time to be selective, Less pressure in the field, Challenge to get close, Comfortable camping temps. I gun hunt also, but 90% of my hunting & trophies are via archery.
 
I enjoy both rifle and bow, never been into ML's but have thought about it until NM recently went iron's only. My eye's limit me in that area.

I'm a rifle nut and love all things guns from loading to shooting to the hunt. I really love the aspects of long range glassing which I feel lends itself better to the rifle.

I bow hunt at home in Texas due to the increased opportunity and to beat the masses to the field. I really grow tired of 85 deg evening sits though. But let's be honest, that can happen in the early part of rifle season as well.
 
I love elk in sept. This happens to be bow season, the interaction and close distances involved with rutting elk is second to none. I do wish more states would offer Nov mule deer archery seasons. More opportunities could be made with a lower success rate. Modern rifles ( Iam as guilty as anyone usually shooting a 7ultra mag 195 Berger at 3100 ) have made November mule deer success rates a matter of how long can you keep your finger off the trigger. I hunt with all three like most on here do to opportunity and season choices. Now you have to have three or four muzzleloaders to cover the different requirements from state to state as it has been changing.
 
Rifle for me. Longer shots; shorter stalks ;)

It is a long drive for me to get out West. If I’m traveling out there to hunt, I want to take the weapon I’m most effective with.

It is a goal of mine to hunt rutting bulls with archery gear one of these days. I think that would be awesome.

Here at home, I enjoy using all three for whitetail hunting.
 
Rifle.....because I lack the patience for archery hunting. I don't think I could handle a long stalk on a nice bull or buck, only to step on a twig 40 yards from my target. :rolleyes:
 
SlinginLead said:
Rifle.....because I lack the patience for archery hunting. I don't think I could handle a long stalk on a nice bull or buck, only to step on a twig 40 yards from my target. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
There is always some epic frustrations with archery like a 330 bull hanging up at 80 yards or having a little twig bust your shot but it makes it pretty sweet when you do connect!
 
Founder said:
Simple question, what is your favorite method of hunting? Rifle, Archery, Muzzleloader?
Expand on the reason. More opportunity? More effective with one versus the other? etc?
Click to expand...
rifle for me I'm too old to pull back one of those new fangled bows, Hell they look complicated but try pulling back one with a 60# draw
Rifles are easier to draw and shoot and go further. Nothing worse than seeing the deer of your life at 120 yards and you have a bow.
 
DeerHunter53 said:
Nothing worse than seeing the deer of your life at 120 yards and you have a bow.
Click to expand...
that's actually been some of my best memories hunting. comes down to what your trying to get out of the experience i suppose. biggest deer i've ever stalked in my life was 60 yards at full draw when the wind betrayed me. that stalk was one of the most intense things i've ever done hunting. wasn't even a moment i was upset watching him bounce away. i was just happy to be there
 
Done all 3. Muzzleloading (without a scope) is the best compromise for me:

Hunt during the rut, still have to “hunt”and get close, but actually get to shoot at an animal much more often than with a bow.

Anyone that shoots at animals at 400 yrds with a scoped muzzy who put their answer as muzzy on the poll is not really answering correctly. You are shooting a rifle.

That said, seriously considering going back to the bow in 2025. Will be fully retired then, so triples my hunting time and get to hunt all phases of the rut.
 
Archery. Nothing I've experienced in hunting is as exciting as a big bull elk coming into your calls bugling, raking trees, and pissing all over himself while drooling with a look in his eyes that makes you wonder if you should draw back or run!

September is a wonderful time to be out hunting, before the weather gets cold. Leaves are changing colors, elk are bugling, muleys are still in velvet, and antelope are also rutting. Fantastic time of the year!
 
The reality is I love all 3 weapon types, and typically use at least bow and rifle each year. The problem with picking one weapon type is you limit your season.

I can archery hunt from mid August until early October, depending on the state, and rifle hunt from mid September through Late November. By changing weapons when I change states, I can hunt elk in 5-6 states each year, with appropriate luck in the draws.

My favorite weapon is the one I am holding in my hand when the season is open.
Bill
 
I couldn't answer. It's always "Best legal weapon." Rifle is best, but only if it's a good area with trophy potential. If the quality of the hunt is better, I"ll go with muzz or archery. In Wyoming, we don't have many muzz choices, so it is usually either rifle or archery.

I'll hunt with any weapon as long as it provides a quality opportunity.
 
JPickett said:
that's actually been some of my best memories hunting. comes down to what your trying to get out of the experience i suppose. biggest deer i've ever stalked in my life was 60 yards at full draw when the wind betrayed me. that stalk was one of the most intense things i've ever done hunting. wasn't even a moment i was upset watching him bounce away. i was just happy to be there
Click to expand...
It happened to me in Nevada when I was younger I was hunting with a bow and had a giant of a deer walk out and stand broadside at 100 yards I couldn't get any closer to him so I shot three arrows at him anyway, never recovered any of them. That's when I gave up bow hunting Lol
 
I would say rifle but after Killin a buck last year in Kansas on black powder I'd almost say that. The ticks on the deer though....
 
Archery hunting is more exciting in my opinion. But because of my job it's very hard to get away that time of year, so rifle it is.
 

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