More educated bowhunters

[Tank]

Looking back at my years of bow hunting. It's become pretty clear from what I know now, that it was a small miracle that anything died from my arrow. Had I known then, what I know now, I can think of a couple really nice bulls would have been dead. But I am still glad I didn't pull the trigger.
My point is, archers have become much more educated about their equipment the past 10yrs. Even though the distance of "ethical shots" hasn't increased much. I believe our lethality has. There is a lot of good info on YouTube, and anyone has access to it. What information is considered quality, is debatable. But overall, it has helped most of us tune our equipment, better our form, and made us think about what it takes for a person to ethically harvest an animal. I hope there are a lot fewer people screwing on broadheads on the way up the mtn these days. What do you think are the biggest advances in archery? What has changed the most in your game?

 

[sticksender]

What do you think are the biggest advances in archery?

Three significant game-changers that come to mind for compounds would be centershot risers, no-stretch string & cable materials, and drop-away rests. We take these for granted now of course. But in earlier days a lot of people struggled to shoot even a compound bow well, esp with broadheads. There are lots of other small tweaks and advancements in bows and arrows and broadheads, and those add up as well. The internet, placing vast information at everyone's fingertips, provided a big shift too.

 

[c3]

I'll contest that the biggest difference is single weapon type hunts being the major game changer. Back in the day everyone toted a bow around in aug and sept just to be out in the field. Maybe 5% of the guys were serious bowhunters and really practiced their craft.

Now-a-days, it's at least 25% of the tags generally speaking that go to archery only hunts if you average most western states. This had boosted the number of serious bow hunters during the current archery only seasons from 5% being serious to 85% being serious about their preparation.

I could wack a paper plate at 50 yard nearly every time with a compound and fingers in 1983. At 62 this year I'm only about that good at 70 yards with the latest and greatest everything money can buy and I still shoot year round alot.

Don't get me wrong equipment is awesome these days, but it's us the archers who are getting way better more so than the equipment. I think it all started around 88 or so here in Utah when we went to choose your weapon. Before then I had 8 years of never seeing any serious guys hardly to now nearly everyone who archery hunts is properly into it.

Montana and Wyoming still have general seasons where you can hunt both seasons, but the guys and gals getting after it in the archery season are conditioned by still having to choose their weapon for the premium hunts, even in those states and it's upped the game everywhere.

Just my $0.02

Cheers, Pete

 

[Tank]

Three significant game-changers that come to mind for compounds would be centershot risers, no-stretch string & cable materials, and drop-away rests. We take these for granted now of course. But in earlier days a lot of people struggled to shoot even a compound bow well, esp with broadheads. There are lots of other small tweaks and advancements in bows and arrows and broadheads, and those add up as well. The internet, placing vast information at everyone's fingertips, provided a big shift too.

100% agree with the string material improvements make a huge difference. You get your bow tuned and 2 weeks later the d loop is 1/4" lower and your arrows are flying everywhere. 95% of archers couldn't tie in a new D loop 10yrs ago. YouTube has been a great education tool for those who are really serious. Now more people have broadheads flying true to the target.

 

[JPickett]

I think it’s just the fact that a guy who’s truly dedicated to just archery or primarily archery is just going to be more serious about focusing on every aspect of hunting with a bow. You really have no other choice if you’re going to be successful and you won’t stay focused if you have no success. So it’s kind of circular. I know guys that have a bow. Shoot them about 2nd week of august to make sure they’re “dialed”, never kill a thing and maybe pick it up again about every few years. Those aren’t archers

 

[Nockbuster98]

If any of you ever get the chance, sign up for the Total Archery Challenge. You’ll see just how many people are seriously into bowhunting and archery in general. The sport has grown tremendously. I think there are definitely people who own a bow, shoot it a few days before the archery opener, call it good, and hunt with it. They could probably care less about archery outside of that. On the flip side, there is a large and growing number of people who eat, sleep, and breathe bowhunting and archery who take it extremely serious. It’s actually pretty cool to see.

 

[Tank]

TAC is fun to get out with friends, and you get to feel the pressure every shot. Shooting up/down hill and judging distance is invaluable. I agree that TAC attracts more of the really committed archers. It helps me judge my preparation. I shoot my hunting arrows, so that I can work out problems there, before I'm shooting at fur.

 

[fullthrottle]

Equipment has changed the game completely. Archery has grown tremendously, but equipment has a ton to do with it.
Shooting high let off bows, release not fingers, arrows, sights, stabilizers, rests, rangefinders, etc. It's really not hard to be acceptably effective with archery equipment. Could be cause I've been in the game over 40 years, but I don't need to shoot X amount of arrows daily to be very efficient with a bow.
Same goes for rifles, technology and equipment have completely changed the game. With the right setup, virgin men, woman, children to the sport can be deadly at extended ranges very quickly.