Was reading Traditional Bowhunter and the editor's note were talking about advancement in archery and how it might affect bow hunting seasons. So say you only had a hunting season what % of bow hunters would put down their bow. I would venture to say at least 60%......stabow
here in Mexico we only have one season and die hard bow hunters will never put the bow down, some would take the rifle only the last weeks of th season if they have not been lucky
Here in Washington it is pick a single season and there are a lot of bowhunters here. You can pick rifle, archery, or muzzloader seasons. You can hunt deer with a rifle and elk with a bow.
I would prefer to only bow hunt but around here, as Im sure it is with most places, once the onslaught of gun season begins with all the other "hunters" literally flooding the woods and walking and whooping across every piece of land they can see whether they are allowed there or not, It's pretty much the only way you'll get a shot after the first bit of daylight on the first day. The gun "hunters" around here "drive" every animal out of every parcell of woods around. But the mad dash that is firearms season in Ohio is such a money machine that these problems will never even be adressed, much less dealt with. Sorry to have gotten off point some what but I would rather that there was only a bow season.
Its not hard to figure out here - we can hunt with bows concurrent with gun season - look for the (few) guys still packing a bow and wearing orange during shotgun season - those are the (few) guys that would still bowhunt.
Did I mention it would only be a (few)? ;)
I think your estimate of 60% would lay down the bow is REAL low - I'd say closer to 90% would never bowhunt if not for the extra season.
Ryan
I am a bowhunter... If forced to pick one season and one weapon it would be my longbow. I would only hunt my private ground and hope for the best and time my hunts. Here in MO we can bowhunt during rifle season on a rifle tag. Even on private ground I don't hunt the first weekend and usually hunt weekday evenings only... Remember what happened to Guru? (he was shot by a kid during rifle season) I think about him every November rifle season esp. when walking in the early gray light to get set up...
John III
i do not own a hunting firearm. for me it's bow or nothing at all.
In Oregon we make a choice. Two seperate seasons and you can only choose one. When it passed a lot of bowhunters became rifle hunters.
We are lucky here, we have very generous bow only seasons and can hunt with our bows during the gun season and most places you can get away from the crowd even during gun season. That said even if we didn't have bow only seasons I would still hunt with my longbow. Bob
I hunt with my bow during gun season as it is.
Bow or nothing, for me.
If forced to choose I would pic the bow over the gun.
I'm a Bowhunter by heart & have pretty much gave up my modern firearms years ago & only once in a great while will I dust off my .50 PRB Hawken for a day in the woods, to me I like getting in close, I like to become part of the woods where I'm limited to my abilities to take game for the table, it makes me that much more sattisfied of the hunt.
In my hunt club I'm known as the Bow Man because 99% of the time when it's Shotgun season & everyone has a 12Ga & Blaze Orange I'm the one with a bow in my hand wearing the Orange too, so if I had to choose it'd be an easy responce.
I'll keep my Recurve & proudly go into the woods.
I would choose the bow over the gun.
Here is Maryland we don't have to choose but I decided to choose anyway.....trusty recurve every single time out last season.
As I write this there is no reason I can see why I would ever choose a gun over my recurve bow.
Hunted from September 15th through end of January through all the other gun seasons that opened and closed and bow only for me. Would not dream of doing it any other way!
If given a choice between good dates and less pressure during a bow only season versus crowded gun hunts I would guess a fair number would stick with the bow. Still probably fewer than 40% though.
But if it were simply one season and you can use whatever weapon you like I would think the vast majority would take the gun. I'd be happy to be a member of the tiny minority.
For years, we in Wash. St. have had to make a choice before purchashing tags... We can only buy 1 tag for deer and 1 for elk.. therefore, I always buy a "Archery Deer tag" and a West Side "Archery Elk" tag. For elk, we must choose between West Side "Roosevelt Elk" and East Side "Rocky Mountain/Yellowstone Elk".
It is possible to mix these a bit.. say archery deer and modern rifle OR muzzle loader elk. However, again East or West side must be stipulated when buying the Elk tag ... Or, perhaps you canchoose Modern Rifle deer and Archery OR Muzzle loader Elk.. We have 3 distinct types of GENERAL HUNTING seasons ie: Archery, Modern Rifle, and Muzzle loader.. in all but very rare instances, do these season's and hunting groups ever overlap [ this being in the later seasons where only specific hunting units are open] However during the statewide seasons for the 3 user groups this will not happen as the season dates do not overlap during the "Primary Season's.
Even with the choice having to be made "Up Front" we seem to have sufficient hunters in all groups.
Gene
I haven't picked up a gun for a couple of years now for hunting period, whether its' deer,turkey, squirrel or rabbit.
I sold my modern deer rifle but I might still have a muzzleloader. I can't swear to that..lol my kid might have it.
I still own a muzzleloading shotgun because it looks cool over the fireplace(one we don't use).
I have too much fun with my bow to turn back!!
God bless,Mudd
Bow only for me here too. My buddys that gun hunt don't even mention it any more when I load up to go with them on a gun hunt with my bow in hand. I would rather watch one walk by out of bow range, than shoot it with a gun. The y still ask what I will do when I see a buck of a lifetime pass at 100 yards. I say, I will enjoy the sight and remember it forever.
They did give me funny looks when I got to the duck blind last year with a dozen flu flus and no shotgun. Still 12 and 0 on ducks. Wonder what they will say at the dove field?
Bow only for me here too. My buddys that gun hunt don't even mention it any more when I load up to go with them on a gun hunt with my bow in hand. I would rather watch one walk by out of bow range, than shoot it with a gun. The y still ask what I will do when I see a buck of a lifetime pass at 100 yards. I say, I will enjoy the sight and remember it forever.
They did give me funny looks when I got to the duck blind last year with a dozen flu flus and no shotgun. Still 12 and 0 on ducks. Wonder what they will say at the dove field?
I love bowhunting it is my passion. I do hunt the other seasons with my kids who are 12 an 7.If I had to choose it would be bow.
I look at it this way....
If someone said I could NEVER gun hunt again, I would be dissappointed but ok.
If someone said I could NEVER bow hunt again, I would be fighting mad. The bow speaks to me and is very different than a gun in the woods.
Guess what I would pick.
Eventually it would get cold enough that even with guns in season you would have the woods to yourself as an archer.
I don't own any firearms so it is bow only. It has been that way for 40+ years now.
There is nothing cooler than driving into a check station with the bigest buck of the day and listen to the gun hunters whisper is shock when they see the bow :D
A single season for all equipment would be political suicide and the agency leaders know it (I'm a retired graduate of 4 of them). It would also spell more trouble for declining shooter and license buyer numbers another slope that has become all too slippery these days.
I would still bowhunt --- but not in my home state if it did this -- I'd boycott the state if it did this. I boycotted hunting in Kansas the last year I lived there because of a management policy I disagreed with.
In such a scenario bowhunting participation would decline a lot -- 70-85% I think. Avidity levels would dictate the course of hunter number erosion -- first the crossbow folks would hang it up, then the compound folks. The percentage of traditional archers among active bowhunters would increase dramatically because our numbers wouldn't change that much.
I'll have to admit though, by the 3rd day of firearms season I've pretty much stopped deer hunting. I move on to squirrels. I didn't used to quit like this. I've closed many a season in multiple states in mid-January or the end of December. That's a really melancholy feeling being in the stand with one of your tags unfilled as that last sun sets on the bow season.
Its been BOW only for me for over 40 years and will be always that way, by choice! Of course, I don't even own a gun of any sorts capable of killing a deer, anyway.
Here in Texas we have a Archery only season but can hunt with bow during rifle season also but then you get the problem stated above with the rifle hunters.
I would chose to bow hunt. I would have no problem deciding.
I very rarely use a rifle now as it is.
I am what I am.
ChuckC
In TX there are a lot of bowhunters who bowhunt just becuase it makes their season one month longer. So yes, I think if they only could choose one for many of them it would be the boomstick.
the orgaized archery clubs got the washington state law changed to eliminate the people that only shot archery as a convenience because they hadn't filled their tags.
there were some publicized disasters in one archery area that sort of made change a good thing.
of course total numbers dropped but numbers of archers has remained pretty steady throughout the process.
it did eliminate the "slob" element.
This raises another point, what about the people who love to bowhunt but are in financial crisis and need to take an animal for the food. maybe this scenario could force a true bowhunter to give up the bow out of the necessity to fill their tags.
Well, it would definately be bow only for me. I have not gun hunted for deer in 10+ years, i guess. I don't need to hunt with them. I enjoy hunting even if deer pass out of range. I just love to bowhunt.
That being said I do have alot of guns because I like to shoot them. I dont hunt with them, but they do have their place.
I take my sons on the youth gun hunts and they have a blast. They both say, "Dad, I would rather kill a deer with a bow like you do." Makes me proud. One shoots a 25# Protogy and the other shoots a 21# Pup. Someday, they will bowhunt with me, I can't wait.
Archery first and foremost, We're lucky in that regard in the Soviet state of NJ. Archery season starts about the middle of Sept. and goes until the end of Oct. then starts again with a bow permit tag until the end of Nov. then winter bow starts again from Jan. into Feb. We can shoot all the does we want, and one buck per season listed above plus one for shotgun, muzzle loader, two for six day firearm.
Yes, they want to get rid of the deer population but they never will because there is so much private land around and backyards that the deer live in. I work for the railroad here and when I am working in some yards the deer will walk right with you through the yard, heck they even walk with people in the street almost like a trained dog would except they keep a little more distance.
Up North the bears are getting like that also, only this year they are in for a little surprise.
Yes again, archery first, and this year it will be Trad. archery first.
Ken
I'll base this answer just on Indiana because I know the statistics. Easily 60% of those who hunt with bows would opt for gun over bow if they had to choose. Almost all bowhunters are 2 season hunters here.
Either/Or seasons are a good exclusionary tactic to ease overcrowding where needed but generally are a bad idea in most places.
As far as technology shortening season... not here. We have way too many deer as it is. We're in the midst of a political shiite storm because of it.
As always though, the shrinking forest of hunters is being hidden by us staring at all these trees from 2 feet away.
I don't think that the technology will ever shorten a season. Here in Ohio crossbows have been legal for as long as I can remember and it hasn't affected our season. In fact, the number of deer we are allowed to take has actually increased as now we are allowed 6 does and 1 buck per year because the deer population keeps growing. As for the size of our deer, do I really need to say anything. If you have any question about the size of our deer in Ohio just take a look at longbowbens avatar.
I don't think it would make much difference to me. I pretty much only bowhunt now so I can't see it being much different if I had to pick one or the other.
Bisch
i would pick my bow.in ohio we can bow hunt all season.this year i have vowed to lay down my guns for good.squirrel season starts sept.1st.i am going to hunt them with my longbow for the first time this year.next i going for pheasnt.i've had alot of time to practice this year being laid off.back to work today.now i need an excuse for time off to hunt.any sugestions?
TJ's scenario in the editorial in TBM was not "either/or" seasons where you choose a bow rather than a gun and still can hunt a longer season but one where all weapons would share one "general hunting season" ie - a 2 week all weapons hunting season - no more special separate season for bowhunters due to higher and higher success rates. Under that scenario the "bowhunters" would flee in droves for the boom sticks. Of course "either/or" seasons are attractive to more folks because of the longer time to hunt.
I prefer bow,I only rifle hunt basically to "roll with the flow".I haven't even seen a legal buck to shoot during rifle season in 14 years.I just rifle hunt because everyone else is.
Tell you Ohio guys this..if I lived in your state I'd be a bowhunter only!Insane long bow season,placed right over the rut with monster bucks all over.Lucky..
I hunted shotgun last year..my first year.. :eek: :scared: :scared: :scared: and last...I wouldn't even bother with it...orange army is right!Dudes right on top of you,shots over top of you..no where to go without 15 trucks in the spots,even had one dude sit down and start hunting 40 yards awayfrom us while we were gutting my buddy's deer out... :saywhat: :thumbsup:
To many drunks and sound shooters from the big city around here for me to ever go back to rifle. They are why I switched in the first place. If I had to hunt a combined season it would be my longbow, just as it is now. I used to let the hunters drive the animals to me during rifle season. I would just do it again. Find the hunters. Get set at a choke point out ahead of them and wait for the right one to come by.
I also hunt with rifles. I love to squirrel hunt with my Coopers and I try to kill one deer a year with my .308. I fill my one buck tag/year with a bow though (and a few does too).
I would still hunt with my bow. I would just drive further north, to a more remote area and walk further into the woods. From what I have seen, most gun hunters don't travel very far from roads or trails. I would just go as far into the back country as I could. Pack up the basics, hike in and solo camp for a few days. I WOULD start wearing blaze orange though!
I'm cool with my state's current set up and like the idea of being able to make my own choices.
I love guns, and make no apology for it.
In fact, if I had a better financial situation I'd have a Ruger #3 in .44 mag rechambered for .445 Supermag and slap #1 wood on it.
I've hunted for turkeys with bow (stick bow) and hunted deer during gun season with same.
My choice, nothing more, nothing less.
Heck, my bud just built a .458 SOCOM AR15 and I'd love to drop a deer with a rig like that :)
Pretty much Trad Archery only for me. Boy do I miss out on a lot of nice bucks since I made this choice, but it makes the occassional harvest all the more rewarding!
Although I do still cheat on longbeards and pull out the shotgun now and again.
FWIW if my kid wants to hunt deer (she's 12) she's gonna run a rifle, not a bow. On private ground of course.
IMHO there are a lot of crazies with bows out there hunting, they're just not as easy to hear ;)
Copy/snip:
even had one dude sit down and start hunting 40 yards awayfrom us while we were gutting my buddy's deer out...
...........
Rude maybe, but not necessarily foolish. Have had nice bucks come in while gutting other deer out (does and bucks).
up here you can use bow all season, icluding the gun season. I choese to hunt all year with the bow, both big and small game.
I do like my guns and DID enjoy my O/U 12 gauge and Ruger 270 but they don't give me the same rush. Bow all the way.
If there was a technological advancement that made it possible for a one eyed, one armed drunk monkey to kill a deer. In Iowa they would give them a season during the regular bow season, just to sell more licenses, so we can have an entirely new army of knuckleheads running over top of us. Bureaucrats rarely, if ever, consider the quality of the adventure, it is too difficult to put a dollar value on that.
I would hunt with both - as I do now.
Enjoy it all.
bow or a camera, don't even have a gun anymore.