Trad Gang

How many here would still shoot their bows just because it is so darn fun, even if hunting was al of the sudden made illegal?

I would for sure!!

Sure I would. There are European countries where hunting is not allowed yet archery is quite popular.

I would.

I could honestly say YES !! .  Heck - right now I do not have the opportunity to hunt -however - enjoyed archery so much - I decided to take up the Trad side of it. I tell you - the hour a day (when I get it) is the most pieceful part of my day... Getting addicting though... hmmmm

I am an archer, bowyer and hunter...in that order.     Pat

Yes, I shoot year round, I only hunt for a little in the fall.

While I won't break hunting laws and indeed report those who do (have turned in several poachers as a matter of fact), if hunting were outlawed, I'd probably become an outlaw.

Me, I'm a bowhunter first, archer second, and not a bowyer at all (I greatly admire those of you who are).

I would.  I love to shoot.  I love to hunt.  And while I would never accept a scenario where hunting were outlawed, in theory it would not diminish the pleasure of shooting.

I think the act itself is the reward.

I agree with all of you above.  I would definitely still shoot--every day.

There's a zen in it for me that I have not found in many things in my life.  I get such inexplicable pleasure from the flight of an arrow.

I hunt year round, guess I'll have to move to Canada

there is nothing like watching a well shot arrow fly.

Joe

I guess I will be the first "No".  I love to hunt, though not as passionate as many of you.  My practice in the back yard, and trips to events is just keeping my (still somewhat developing) skills viable for hunting.  Though such gatherings are extremely fun, and I cherish the opportunities when we meet and share our interest, I likely would be doing something else to manage my skills in other activities if a bow was no longer a legal hunting implement.

Okay, it took me longer than Biggie to type....  :banghead:

I have to agree with Wary Buck.  Hunting is a big part of what I am.  Be tough to just shut it down.

Id just start wearing a burglar mask into the woods and save up enough for bail before each hunt.

I would continue to hunt, but would move my new personal deer season up two months so it wouldn't be so dang hot.    :p

The question implys that hunting is something we do. I don't thinks that's right. It's who we are. We were created as hunters with eyes in the front of our head [prey animals] and canine teeth[meat eaters]. If laws were passed to stifle that instinct, it would be hard for me to conform to obey such a law.

I'd try to hitch a ride with Biggie.

Well said Camocowboy.  keep em' coming guys, like to hear all the opinions.

Yep, start learning the new song....

Official Lyrics

(English)

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

(French)
O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

you just ain't right Bob......

I love to hunt, besides my family it is the thing that is on this earth I live for most. I still would shoot but I would be creeping around the woods hunting anyhow, the way I feel about it is that if I cant hunt I might as well be dead.

there is two words i got my mouth washed out with soap for saying they are f*%^#@#*&& and the last one no hunting  :biglaugh:  man it would be a sad world if ya could not put meat on the table.

I might move across the street from Biggie and Bob W., if it ever gets that bad.

I just gotta pull anchor and drift a bit....

I would change my Trad Gang Handle to "Poacher"

Sure I would still shoot for fun, and hunt at least for deer. I would try to kill at least one deer a year, in the "old" season time frame.

Too big a part of my life to give it up.

Would I be a lawbreaker? Yes

ill never stop hunting !

sure I'd shoot....and hunt

QuoteOriginally posted by John Nail:
sure I'd shoot....and hunt

LOL  :clapper:

I guess we would have to open up a season for politicians that would allow something like that to happen.  
I love to shoot but it is generally for maintenance and preparation.  I would need hunting or 3-D to justify the time and money.  I think I would need to have competition to keep shooting like I do.
oxnam

Used to hunt on a very regular basis but work, kids and loss of areas has kept me shooting only. Nothing relaxes me more than shooting arrows. Hopefully I'll get a chance to chase some deer this fall during a late season hunt. It's been more than a few years I've put meat in the freezer.

I will always shoot my bows,but if hunting was no more i'll become  a totally different person,as for hunting is the very thing that kept me walking the straight path! hunting kept me from the things all my friends in school ruined there lives,drugs drinking ect... hunting gave me a my religion!!!   :archer:    :archer:    :archer:

QuoteOriginally posted by Wary Buck:
While I won't break hunting laws and indeed report those who do (have turned in several poachers as a matter of fact), if hunting were outlawed, I'd probably become an outlaw.

Me, I'm a bowhunter first, archer second, and not a bowyer at all (I greatly admire those of you who are).

D I T T O !!

Me, I'd hunt anyway!

DITTO Ron

I'd become an outlaw if hunting were banned.  Bows don't make much noise.

I'd still shoot but some laws are so stupid they are just begging to be broken.

Wasn't Robin hood an outlaw, I'd be a merry man and join the rest of the outlaws.

When they make stump hunting illegal I'll probably quit.

Hunting is a very big part of my life I most definitley could not just give it up!

what scares me is that some of you would actually go along with such a law...

I am an archer so I can be a hunter.  Never shot in a league or anything like that, dont frequent the range or pro shop and don't shoot for fun.  I shoot to maintain my skills.  I do enjoy shooting to maintain my skills so its hard to say if I would quit or not.  I might take up photography or do more fishing, can't say until presented with the issue.  I would still keep the horses and pack into the back country to fish and and take pictures.   I might not have time to shoot with my new hobbies.

I am descended from those Nottingham Archers....the guv'ment should eat cake !!!
Oh wait, it hasn't happened yet.....
YEP. I'd still shoot.

I would still shoot and hunt just incase one of those new radical lawmakers showed up, I could'nt take a human life but they do sell those big rubber blunts. I really cant remember clearly a time I didnt hunt. I started at a very early age.
One of my biggest goals is to get to teach my 3 year old son to hunt. I hope a law like that never happens.
            Billy

I would still shoot and hunt with all you other outlaws because hunting to me is as natural as breathing. Scott

I would still shoot.I shoot the whole year long.It is kind of like therapy for me,keeps me away from counselors and stuff like that.I love to hunt,totally enjoy venison,and I would truly miss it if I couldn't,but I have to be honest,I would miss shooting my bow more.

                     Good Shooting,
                                Craig

I think the shooting time would severley suffer after a while(= I'd have nothing to look foward too.

I'd still shoot.. probably still hunt(even though was hypothetically illegal) Then I'd hypothetically choose civil disobedience...

I was an outlaw when I was a kid and I'd probably end up in jail.  I wouldn't want to be an enforcement officer in some parts of the country.  I think they would be just as popular as the old revenue enforcers were during prohibition.  No I wasn't hunting then.

I honestly don't know what I would do.  I don't want to think that I would be an outlaw as I despise them with a passion right now.  But, I don't believe I could ever give up bowhunting.  Hopefully if we all vote for politicians that hunt we won't have to worry about it.  Maybe if the ones currently running that don't believe in our rights to own a gun will hand us a hunk of tofu to go along with the Kool Aid they're peddling.

I'd still hunt with my own rules. I used to fish places I wasn't supposed to when I was a kid, and fishing was always more fun if I was sneaking.

Yeah, I'd still shoot if I didn't hunt, but shooting has more meaning if there is a real goal involved.

i honestly dont know how id handle not being allowed to hunt but i know id still shoot

hunt til ya drop   :D

This question sorta hits home for me; not because hunting is illegal in my part of the world but because I have been a "bowhunter" for three years now and have not bagged a single thing in all of that time. In fairness to me, I live in a treeless land where sneaking up on game can only be accomplished with the right terrain.

Only had one chance with small game but blew it because the birds saw me before I saw them. Oh yes, late one afternoon, as I was coming home -- empty-handed as usual -- I came upon a fox with a fresh-caught ptarmigan in his chops. I could have easily gotten him as he was not aware of my presence, however, I declined because it would have been illegal and because I did not have the heart to shoot him anyway. He looked so pleased with his dinner.

So I guess the answer for me is "yes" I would still roam with my bow. I really enjoy the experience and exercise and there is just something about shooting arrows that is almost religious in nature.

Still. I get frustrated at not bagging any game. Wish me luck this year would ya folks?

Robert

Yes, I would continue in some fashion, either as a outlaw or hunting mice and crickets

Great stuff guys, although I should have re-phrased my question to if there was no hunting, whould you still shoot.

The question was geared more towards how much we enjoy the sport, hunting aside, even though that may seem hard to think about as they seem to be a kin to one another.  

Yes it would be hard to give up hunting, but that was not really the question, it was more is shooting so linked to hunting that you would give it up too, or do you enjoy just shooting that you would continue shooting itself.

thanks for all the thoughts guys

jake

I find the responses interesting, esp given the reaction people here have when someone even hints at doing something questionable in their hunting practice.

Sorry not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers, just an observation.

MI_Bowhunter:

You mean like people riding ATVs where they aren't "suppossed to" LOL.

i'd take up hunting lawyers and politicians! LOL

Hunting already is illegal most of the year , and the meagre acres available for hunting are being eyed greedilly by developers, so the real question is:

Will the real estate developers quietly eradicate nature while we worry about a ban on hunting?

Hunting will be banned in the neighborhoods that are already laid out and waiting on their blueprints - so the real effort should be spent on protecting wilderness. All of this "drill baby drill" nonsense  will result in new roads, new parking lots, new malls, new schools, new housing developments, and new "no hunting" areas in the places we hike today.

Hunt down the politicians - just be sure to hunt down the right ones. A gun in one hand and a bulldozer behind your back doesn't work for me.

Well, I love shooting my bow.  But for me hunting is the end to the means.  Looking at the world politics as they are, I see them stopping hunting as the means to stop the guns.  Then the next step would be bow, knife yada-yada.  I see hunting as an primitive as well as legal right.  It is in our instinct's, or else we would not be where we are.  I know there are many who don't and would be glad to debate it, bring them on.  We are predators, and regulating hunting to me is fine, as long as it is benifical to the game.  Where I live the squirrels are getting kinda out of control, for not many people hunt them anymore, I do my part, but there should be a more open season, granted the state last year did extend the season, but likely will have to do it some more.  We as hunters know better than anyone that the game has to be managed or will either get out of control and/or dwindle away as in the past.

To answer your question. I would still shoot.  I love it.  God forbid they took away our hunting.  :scared:

Shooting is my stress buster so yes I would still shoot. But God help those who would mess with my hunting.