Sometimes I wonder....

hubba_3 · Oct 4, 2013

The other day I was up hunting on the Wasatch Extending archery deer hunt and I got within 70 yards of a nice 170" 4x4 and I didn't really have a good shot with my bow so I didn't take it and the buck got my scent after about 10 min and ran off... So I just started wondering, "Why do I even archery hunt? I coulda shot that buck 20 times with a rifle or muzzy...."

Do you guys ever feel the same way? haha

But for whatever reason, I keep picking up my bow and hunting with it haha.... Call me crazy I guess lol

nfh · Oct 5, 2013

It can be frustrating but if it was super easy then everyone would be doing it. Some people go years without getting an animal with a rifle.

dang302 · Oct 7, 2013

It is getting to where everyone does it (I feel). I do it because it is the only way to draw a tag anymore. I think this is why most people are bowhunting nowadays, and also why every "bowhunter" that I know has hit and lost more animals than they have hit and recovered.

Finn · Oct 9, 2013

>"Why do
>I even archery hunt? I
>coulda shot that buck 20
>times with a rifle or
>muzzy...."

...and your hunt would be done for this year. So I think you answered your own question. Just one of the many advantages of bowhunting is that it offers me a lot more time to hunt.

Somebody smarter than me once said, "With a rifle, the hunt ends when you find the right animal; with a bow, that's when the hunt begins."

shedcrazy · Oct 10, 2013

LOL, I feel ya, man.

Cutbow · Oct 10, 2013

I hear ya. I thought the same thing when I saw bull after bull this season but couldn't quite seal the deal but when it all comes together nothing beats it.

Cutbow

hubba_3 · Oct 10, 2013

Ha yep. It sucks a lot of the time, but when you actually kill something, its 10x cooler than if you did it with a rifle... so It's worth all the blown stalks and frustration I guess ha

BigPig · Oct 10, 2013

>It is getting to where everyone
>does it (I feel).
>I do it because it
>is the only way to
>draw a tag anymore.
>I think this is why
>most people are bowhunting nowadays,
>and also why every "bowhunter"
>that I know has hit
>and lost more animals than
>they have hit and recovered.
>

You must know some lousy bow hunters!

Just when you think bowhunting with a compound is hard, pick up a traditional bow if you really want to know hard!

smitty · Oct 10, 2013

I was thinking the same damn thing when I had a 5 pt bull come into my treestand..........long story short, my bow was hanging up on the tree and I was playing tetris..........still was able to get to full draw, but the bull had turned and was facing straight away at 25 yards, no ethical angle to get an arrow in him, chirped hoping he'd turn one way or the other, no luck...........with a muzzle loader or rifle he'd have been toast.

3blade · Oct 11, 2013

>>
>
>You must know some lousy bow
>hunters!
>
>Just when you think bowhunting with
>a compound is hard, pick
>up a traditional bow if
>you really want to know
>hard!

+1

dang302 · Oct 15, 2013

LAST EDITED ON Oct-15-13 AT 01:33PM (MST)[p]>
>>>
>>
>>You must know some lousy bow
>>hunters!
>>
>>Just when you think bowhunting with
>>a compound is hard, pick
>>up a traditional bow if
>>you really want to know
>>hard!
>
>+1

Agreed

BigPig, I have no plans to ever pick up traditional equipment...that is way over my head. I did shoot a bunch of fish once with my recurve and that was a blast though!

jodog · Oct 16, 2013

You probably could have shot him 20 times with a rifle but the thing is if you were hunting with a rifle you probably would never have seen him. With a bow we are hunting different times of the season in most places and at least for me I'm hunting smarter and quieter, longer with a bow. Of all the good elk bow tags I have drawn over the years I could have killed a monster every time with a rifle but you don't get to hunt elk in the rut in most states with a rifle.

Last year I drew a good WY elk tag with a rifle and it will be my last ! I'm not interested in hunting with a rifle anymore. Maybe some of you fellas just aren't cut out to be a bow hunter. To me, it is something I love and think about 12 months a year.

Getting ready to get back to Kansas next month and try for another big archery Kansas whitetail....Gotta love it !!!!!

hubba_3 · Oct 16, 2013

Oh trust me bowhunting is my life... I love it and always will. I archery hunt every tag that I can but that doesnt mean i hunt ONLY archery... I'm going on a rifle deer hunt tomorrow and I'm going to enjoy it just as much... but I much prefer hunting with a bow. Lots harder, but greater rewards when you are successful...

jodog · Oct 16, 2013

Good luck tomorrow !!!

fly4fish · Oct 17, 2013

If archery is the only thing that is legal, then there is no reason to even think about it. If you were strictly a rifle hunter, then you would never had gotten that close as you would not have had the opportunity because you would most likely no be there. So what, you could have gotten him with a rifle; you could say this every time you get within 1000 yards.

I commend you for not taking a shot anyway. Seems like most these days would take that shot as long as the wind is blowing under 20 mph.

swbuckmaster · Oct 22, 2013

I would rather hunt an area like the front with a bow then any other general area in the state with a rifle. The quality is ten times better and you can go home happy actually hunting big deer. Cant say that on many rifle hunts in general areas.

Can you imagine what the deer quality wold look like if the rest of the state was archery only? You could give out 150,000 tags hunt for 5 months and there would still be huge deer running around.

who farted?

Founder · Jan 8, 2014

I've been there many times......wondering if I'm wasting my time hunting with a bow. I've killed a few deer, and a couple big bucks with a bow, but it's not a regular occurrence. But like others have said, the archery hunts are usually easier to get tags for and/or the competition on the mountain is far less.
It's definitely a challenging sport......mentally and physically.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

outdoorsdude · Jan 10, 2014

"Somebody smarter than me once said, "With a rifle, the hunt ends when you find the right animal; with a bow, that's when the hunt begins.""
+1

The last/first time I hunted elk with a rifle, it was so, anticlimactic........

trophyhunter · Jan 10, 2014

I hear what your saying hubba, been their a few times out of frustration. For me archery hunting is a passion and not about the kill. Sure like everyone we all want to get our game. I rifle hunted many years prior to taking up archery. They are so very different. For me I get a rush out of being all camo'd up as scent free as possible then becoming the Predator and stalking my game. Win or lose getting up close and personal may the best one win. That's the rush, disappointment more times than not but that is archery hunting. Ethical shots within your effective range and you don't wound and lose very many animals. That is also archery hunting. If I don't have a kill shot I don't take the shot..and hope most don't press and try a shot and wound animals because that what is such a waste of game.
We are suppose to leave those shots for the rifle hunters

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