For a while Ive been considering hanging up my guns and going bow only with the exception of some bird hunting. Reading the book "Longbow" made me want to do it. How many guys have for the most part hung up your guns? What made you do it?
I may shoot less animals now that I gave up my Remington, but the satisfaction that comes with the time I spend in the woods is far greater. It is the close interaction, and the skill involved.....not to mention the shot, while so much closer is still always never a "sure thing". Just about the time that I take anything out that goes boom is my yearly run with my buddy, where all we take is our .50 cal. Hawkins out.
My daughter won't gun hunt; she has been that way from the start.
Your pretty much where I'm at. I'll still go bird hunting with the family and maybe a pilgrimage back to the motherland for slug season but my heart just isn't in gun hunting anymore.
I'm probably 90% trad only. The only time I carry a rifle is late season with family for deer.
As others have said... just much more rewarding.
I cannot remember the last critter I have shot with a gun! I recently lost my hunting ground that I have had for the last 15yrs (too much oilfield traffic) and I took my shotgun with me on one of my last turkey hunts. The shotgun sat in the camper the entire trip while I hunted with my longbow.
Hunting with the longbow is just more fun and rewarding to me!
Bisch
Three years ago I told myself I was puttin the guns down, but I have had a couple moments of weakness now an then but they all have ended up as misses
Feel similar.
Rifle deer season is more about tradition with family hence I'm spending more time with them in camp than in a tree. Also, now that my daughter has been eligible to hunt I'm her "mentor" requiring that I not carry a gun, only her. It wasn't a hard thing for me to do.
I havent hunted with a gun for 30 yrs. Except the trip out west with my brother and buddys for coyotes. Even carried a bow on a snowshoe hare trip to AK. My brother carried his .22 but quit and switched to his bow when he saw how much fun I was having. Guns are too easy for the most part.
With a gun, when u spot the game, its over. With a bow the hunt is just beginning.
Last year was my first year hunting with a bow and arrow, and even though I didn't harvest a deer with my bow, I had a great time hunting... haven't had that much fun since I was a kid!
My plan for the 2014/15 hunting season, is to go traditional only... recurve and flintlock!
Been at least 25 years since I have shot anything except targets with a gun, as a Federal LEO I have to shoot and qualify every quarter, other than that I shoot my bows only.
Over 30 years ago was the last time I hunted big game with a gun.
I haven't really shot a gun (minus some bird hunting) in years, but im actually leaning the other way. got a hawken styly muzzleloader and am dying to do some hunting with it.
I hung mine up for the most part. Occasionally if really want to put some meat in the freezer I'll do a doe or cow rifle hunt and when I do that it's not about the hunt it's about the success, but it's still hunting and I enjoy it, it's just not as much of a feeling of great accomplishment as taking an animal with a bow.. If I was a more successful archer, the guns would never come out except for wing shooting.
I usually do buy a deer license to use with a rifle, but only to use when hunting with a young man with special needs.
Most of the time even when hunting with gun toting family members, I use my bow.
I just get more enjoyment out of hunting with my bow, and in MN and ND, the earlier bow hunting seasons is just a more enjoyable temperature to be out in the woods.
I hung up the rifle 30+ years ago... Now I only hung up the compound a couple years ago. :bigsmyl:
Primarily, I only bowhunt, but there's a time and place for everything. Gun hunt with the Grandkids and will shoot a hog with whatever's available. Never pass a chance to kill a hog!
LD
I guess I should get my guns out of their cases and see if they need oiling; I haven't looked at one (long guns) in several years. I think I killed a deer with a rifle in the 80s, but that is the last one I remember.
Handguns still see some use, but after 28 years in law enforcement, I kinda feel naked without one of them around.
Hunting has been and will be with traditional bows; no interest in hunting with a rifle.
Selling guns is a great way to fund bow purchases.
I still own a handgun but sold the rifle and shotgun many years ago. I don't ever miss them.
There is something so much more satisfying to me when Im bow hunting but I still aint too proud to tote my Beretta 686 shotgun for grouse and waterfowl or my old Model 70 out now and again on a deer hunt with my sons. Bunnies with a .22 pistol still makes me giddy too.
The crazy thing is, every time I have a rifle across my lap I wind up killing a deer at spitting distance. :dunno: Maybe they're attracted to the smell of walnut and Hoppes.
I made that decision back in 1998. I've been blessed to harvest 6 deer with a firearm & 13 with a bow. I'm not as successful but I'm having more fun !
For a long time I was bow only but I still hunt squirrels with a .22 rifle. I reflect on the days when my dad and I would bow hunt in the a.m. and squirrel hunt in the afternoon while scouting for deer on an indian summer day. A few times in the winter I haul out my .410 winchester 101 and go for rabbits. The smell of shotgun powder reminds me of my youth. And yes, during the gun season it's about tradition. But I'm still 90% archery.
I grew up bow hunting, I got a rifle when I was old enough to go to work and buy my own. I killed one deer with the rifle and sold it, seamed to easy.
But the last few years ive bow hunted and hunted with a flintlock rifle, the flintlock is a challenge. Ive missed a couple with the flintlock that I wish id had my bow with me instead.
"Today there is no need to battle with the beasts of prey and little necessity to kill wild animals for food; but still the hunting instinct persists. The love of the chase still thrills us and all the misty past echoes with the hunter's call.
In the joy of hunting is intimately woven the love of the great outdoors. The beauty of woods, valleys, mountains, and skies feeds the soul of the sportsman where the quest of game only whets his appetite.
After all, it is not the killing that brings satisfaction, it is the contest of skill and cunning. The true hunter counts his achievement in proportion to the effort involved and the fairness of the sport.
With the rapid development of firearms, hunting tends to lose its sporting quality. The killing of game is becoming too easy; there is little triumph and less glory than in the days of yore. Game preservation demands a limitation of armament. We should do well to abandon the more powerful and accurate implements of destruction, and revert to the bow."
Hunting with the Bow and Arrow
By Saxton Pope, 1923.
good post dragonheart
I've been a gun nut all my life, both pistols and rifles. No reason to really hang them up per se, just a matter of choice as to use what when.
I've taken two coyote at over 600 yards, neither of which was as rewarding as the grey fox at 15.
600 yards with a bow is a long shot. LOL
Pretty much bow only but do sometimes hunt with my handgun.
I consider myself a bowhunter, but before I retired from agriculture, a .22 LR was kept handy for nuisance animals around the barn, like skunks, feral cats, and an occasional raccoon. I made and sold good bit of hay and my primary interest was sellings lambs.
A very accurate .270, (my former deer rifle), was pretty much reserved for woodchucks that were attempting to den, out in my fields, (equipment hazard), and eastern coyotes, who were engaged at every opportunity, in defense of my flock and border collie.
I should have added that I was also pretty tough on pigeons attempting to nest in my barn. (They could ruin a lot of stacked hay with "droppings", if you didn't stay on top of them.) For that, particular, animal control issue, a Howard Hill longbow, and an ash arrow, tipped with an Ace Hex Head blunt, was my weapon of choice. (The Judos tended to stick in the ceiling!)
I'm close...
Bow and flintlock/cap and ball for me..
..oh..and some .22 for squirrels with the kiddos...
I'll take the place of the exception of this post. I am PROUD to hunt with a rifle if I have a tag during rifle season. I don't hunt with a rifle only if (insert justification/excuse/rationalization). I just love to hunt. I see far fewer animals when rifle hunting than when archery hunting, but I have more shot opportunities with a gun. It really evens out my chances at filling my tag. I don't see rifle hunting as the lowly method of the inexperienced, lazy hunter. Which ever I carry in the woods I am thankful to be outside doing what I love. With that being said, my longbow weights 1/4 as much as my rifle and the CO archery season is a month long with usually more pleasant weather.
I love my guns and love hunting with them.
Towards the end of May, I'll hit the Mulberry patches and take a couple limits of young gray squirrels with a trusted .22 rifle that I've packed around for 20+ years.
Early September will find me in a sunflower patch hunting migrating mourning doves with my 3 daughters having an absolute blast with shotguns in hand.
Later in September, Teal will push Southward on the shoulders of the first cold fronts of the Fall. I'll be there with my Labrador and my favorite Barretta 12 ga.
Around the first of October I'll spend a couple days stumbling around in the thickest cover I can find in search of migrating Timberdoodles (woodcock).
Mid November will find me perched in my favorite treestands or huddled up in a warm box blind with one of my girls. With me, will be a pre-64 Model 70 my father gave me for my 16th birthday.
When I bowhunt, for frogs, fish, turkeys, deer or small game I choose a recurve, but first and foremost, I'm a hunter, a trapper and a fisherman and I'm damn proud of it. To limit myself to just a bow would prevent me from doing a great deal of things I truly love, not to mention make my Labrador retriever very grumpy.
To all things a season
I found I get less meat but the experience fills the gap, being closer to the animals in a more natural state and less competition for peace in the woods.
I don't mind hunting with a gun, it's all the other people hunting with guns that annoy me. It's just more peaceful in the woods with a bow.
About six years ago for sport hunting. Might take a gun in the general deer season. For the coyotes its now bow only got too easy with a rifle they show up and you shoot them. Still use the rifles for problem animals and when I need to clean the orchards out of ground squirrels.
QuoteOriginally posted by TRAP:
I love my guns and love hunting with them.
Towards the end of May, I'll hit the Mulberry patches and take a couple limits of young gray squirrels with a trusted .22 rifle that I've packed around for 20+ years.
Early September will find me in a sunflower patch hunting migrating mourning doves with my 3 daughters having an absolute blast with shotguns in hand.
Later in September, Teal will push Southward on the shoulders of the first cold fronts of the Fall. I'll be there with my Labrador and my favorite Barretta 12 ga.
Around the first of October I'll spend a couple days stumbling around in the thickest cover I can find in search of migrating Timberdoodles (woodcock).
Mid November will find me perched in my favorite treestands or huddled up in a warm box blind with one of my girls. With me, will be a pre-64 Model 70 my father gave me for my 16th birthday.
When I bowhunt, for frogs, fish, turkeys, deer or small game I choose a recurve, but first and foremost, I'm a hunter, a trapper and a fisherman and I'm damn proud of it. To limit myself to just a bow would prevent me from doing a great deal of things I truly love, not to mention make my Labrador retriever very grumpy.
To all things a season
I'm kind of like you TRAP!
I love the long bow & recurve, I love it I can shoot a bow in the backyard. : :campfire:
I won't give up the guns anytime soon. I shoot my great grandpa's old rifle, and it has never yet failed to make meat in a hunting season while in my possession. Western hunting is a whole lot different anyways. I couldn't begin to count how many animals I've seen at 700-1500 yards. It takes a lot of effort to get in range, even with a rifle. In that respect, it is just as much of a hunt as it is with a bow.
That said, it is pretty hard to top an elk hunt in September with the longbow.
Its tuff hunting doves with a bow.............
90% of my hunting is with a bow but I still enjoy taking out a shotgun/pistol/sidelock every once in a while...............
I go hunting w/ my rifles but never can bring myself to pull the trigger no matter what. I own some very fine firearms and love looking at their engraving, checkering, and exhibition woods they sport but just can't bring myself to kill w/ one. I haven't killed anything w/ any of them and some I've owned for years.
Ive always considered bowhunting...hunting
Ive always thoughtof gun hunting as ...killing
I still hunt with my 44 mag revolver for deer.
But I have to tell you that in Ohio you cant throw a dead cat wo hitting another hunter that week of gun season.
Nothing brings out more idiots than that week.
With that said Ive always had a passion for firearms.
But I dont feel like a hunter unless I have a bow...and no orange on.
I have a favorite way of fishing, but I haven't given up all other ways in favor of it.
There are so many ways to have fun afield with rod, gun and bow. I have never understood the idea of making a conscious decision to eliminate any of them.
I still hunt squirrels with a .22 rimfire and PCP air rifle. I also take the .308 single shot out every few years and kill a doe. Nothing wrong with the firearm I just have an overwhelming preference for hunting big game (for 45 years)with my bows.
This past season was the 17th consecutive year that I did not take the rifle to the woods. I have a scope that I put on one of my rifles over 10 years ago, and it is still not sighted in.
QuoteOriginally posted by hvyhitter:
Its tuff hunting doves with a bow.............
90% of my hunting is with a bow but I still enjoy taking out a shotgun/pistol/sidelock every once in a while...............
:archer:
my wife made a deal with me 20+ years ago....put two deer in freezer with firearm and then I can "play" with my bow and arrows all I want. So I hunt the buck only portion with bow...then doe season I take two does with lever gun, revolver or other....then bow rest of year. I bowhunt for deer, hogs, bear, turkey, squirrel, rabbit and have done it for pheasant when I was in Maryland. Dove, quail...sorry but my side by sides get used for them...I am doing exceptional to limit with a side by side much less a bow on the birds. Well any game animal for that matter...haha
QuoteOriginally posted by Brock:
my wife made a deal with me 20+ years ago....put two deer in freezer with firearm and then I can "play" with my bow and arrows all I want.
That's a sweet deal right there! I'll count myself lucky if I marry a girl with priorities like that. :biglaugh:
I gave up gun hunting years ago. Trad only for me! 2 years ago I took my two best bucks with a recurve; both of them 9 pointers. One of them was from the ground! Talk about a rush!
I can't really ever hang up my other hunting tools. Work dictates my hunting season.
My sons and I still get together for Michigan's firearm opener. I will carry a rifle/shotgun/flintlock/handgun depending on where we are at.
I also still hunt rabbits about 1/2 the time with a firearm.
That said....hunting with a longbow is "it" for me. Anytime I am using a firearm it is more about putting meat in the freezer than hunting.
Bow for me the last few years, but that dont mean I wont take a gun hunting. For me it is opportunity. If I get an invite to gun hunt some where I will but most of my spots are bow only.
Im so OCD you never know what I'm going to be doing next year.
I last carried a firearm into the woods in 1988 and it has been a trad bow and nothing short of heaven since then. If you are doing it for all the right reasons you will never regret the journey.
I love it all. Bows, nice rifles, muzzleloaders. I'd throw a spear at deer if they allowed it in Michigan. Shooting stuff with centerfire rifles is one of the great joys in life.
Been a bowhunter my entire life. Finally killed my first deer with a rifle last November. Aside from a couple primo muzzleloader tags in the last few years, I've been a die hard bowhunter. I don't think I will ever completely hang up my guns. I have a really nice Shiloh Sharps that I reload and cast my own bullets for that is begging to get an antelope and hopefully someday a buffalo.
I have some guns that I still keep for hunting, but it seems like I'm always more interested in taking my bow when hunting opportunities arise.
I started bow hunting at 14 and shot numerous deer with a a traditional bow seversl years before shooting my first deer with a rifle. This was largely because NJ was buckshot only back then and it was unappealing To me. i did take up rifle hunting when i lived down south for some years but found it lacking. For the last 15 years I have rifle hunted big game out west at long range, 500-1000+ yards. I find this and trad bow hunting very challenging sports that are two very different dimensions of hunting. I am also an avid bird hunter with shotgun//bird dog. Still hunting/stalking whitetails is and will always be my favorite form of hunting.
I have hunted with many weapons over the years, but for about the last 8 or so I have settled on my two favorites. I either hunt with my traditional archery gear or iron sighted revolvers. I find them very similar in that both take quite a bit of practice to be efficent with.
Toby
''''''''''Strictly sticks for over 13=14 years.
Last gun I hunted with was ...Mmmm probably 20 years ago .
Still carry my 22 Marlin years I run a line....Other than that , I'm going out like I came of age hunting...Stick and string ;) (http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p106/riverwolf01/PhotobucketPics1334.jpg) (http://s126.photobucket.com/user/riverwolf01/media/PhotobucketPics1334.jpg.html)
Hunting @ its purist form of Lethal simplicity .
I did!! Ive had bows since i was a kid more comfortable with bows then guns
Larry
Almost all bow except for meat if need be.
have not gun hunted deer in20 years, and don't regret it. went to texas back in march with some guys that gun hunted. I took my bow most of the times out, but wound up killing a hog with the rifle one day when it was extra windy, thinking I could not get close enough. Turns out the hog was killed at 20 yeards, and it was a big let down knowing I could have done this with the bow.
I haven't hung my guns up, I just don't use them very much any more.
QuoteOriginally posted by Kevin Dill:
I have a favorite way of fishing, but I haven't given up all other ways in favor of it.
There are so many ways to have fun afield with rod, gun and bow. I have never understood the idea of making a conscious decision to eliminate any of them.
X2 For me there is far too much tradition in firearms hunting and a different type of challenge altogether.In retrospect, with a good set up, I don't find ( where I hunt ) bow hunting any more challenging than gun hunting when it comes to Deer hunting.
I have however gone completely longbow only for my Stretchneck hunting. Turkey hunting with a gun is just not very challenging to me.
Not ready to give the gunpowder up but mostly use them for targets and occasionally for hunts with family. Solo is always with the bow, simple pleasure in the fall woods.
I still gun hunt a little. I go on one 2-day permit gun hunt for deer each year. I also take out my custom air-rifle for small game sometimes, but that is far more challenging than with a rimfire and I like that challenge and intimacy with the weapon that it requires. A couple times a year, I'll take out my youth .22 or my dad's .22 small game hunting as well, just for the nostalgia.
However, I am for the most part just a bowhunter who happens to grab a gun on occasion.
I, for the most part, quit gun hunting for deer about ten years ago. I finally sold my last compound last year. I get a lot more satisfaction with my recurves.
Gave mine up in 1977 ... never looked back although I do shoot my shotgun now and then.
I bird hunt with shotgun. The overwhelming majority of my big-game hunting is done with recurve bow and carbon arrows. I love to shoot guns and am looking forward to doing more handgun hunting in the future. Best, MT
I use all my tools....... I have guns for most hunting/self defense applications but also have many bows for my moods in Archery too! I shoot right and left to enjoy more bows.