Back in the 1970's Fred Bear and Bear Archery ran a series of advertisments to promote Bowhunting by "extending" your hunting season. Now I know that all of us here consider ourselves "Traditional Bowhunters" first and foremost,or we wouldn't be here on TradGang!!!!!

As much as I love traditional bowhunting,I still have a passion for "old" firearms,and enjoy hunting with them. No High Power Scopes,Stainless Steel and Composite Stocks for me.....Give me Iron Sights,Blued Steel and Walnut!!!!!

The only hunt I'm using a firearm for this year is a November solo mountain goat hunt. My wife insisted that I hunt with my encore do to the extreme conditions at altitude this time of year.

ON my way out now to hunt the northern tier new york where rifle season is on, with my long bow!!I bowhunt only now!!

It's all good!

Steve

haven't hunted with a rifle in 15+ yrs

I haven't gun hunted for big game for more than a quarter of a century; but I cannot say I do not hunt with a gun; because I raise bird dogs; and I hunt with a shotgun for chuckars and hungarian partridge and pheasant.

For big game though; I only hunt with a bow; a traditional bow.

And I want to know anyone that has limited out on chuckars and huns with a bow ! Let alone hit ~one~...

Stalking and still hunting on the ground with trad gear is the way I like to do it. Had many close calls but no tags filled yet. During firearms season I dig using an old Winchester '92 with a pounded and sanded penny for a front sight. Think me and Chuck are kinda on the same page here.

... mike ...

* Forgot to add I use a T/C Hawkin during the ML season also. Guess I'm a three season hunter. *

I will still pick up a rifle occasionally, but bows are so much more fun that there is really no contest as to what I prefer. If I do hunt with a gun, it is either with a semi primitive weapon (45-70 or 45 Colt) or maybe a 44 mag revolver. I still want them up close and personal.

Nope no fireamrs for me.Bowhunting only.........bowdoc

i LOVE smoke poles, i hunt a lot with my flintlock and my 56. smooth bore. also MANY of my family that have passed away willled all their guns to me, i feel it is only right to take them out and honor them even though i rarly hunt like that any more. i killed a B&C buck (1711/8) with a model 94 Winchester 30-30 that my GREAT, GREAT grandmother left me. it has a dozen notches in it from when she carried it. as my grandfather got to old to hunt he called me up one day and told me to come see him. he handed me his Winchester .32 special carbine. grampa lost a leg in the war and this rifle was his crutch for a LONG while. i killed a nice 5 point with his rifle wheile he was still alive to enjoy it. that was my most special deer i have ever killed! that rifles name is "Yer Ass" which was Grapas favorite saying. i would say "Gramp i saw a nice buck", and he would respond "Yer ass!!!"

Bow only here.

Quotethat rifles name is "Yer Ass" which was Grapas favorite saying. i would say "Gramp i saw a nice buck", and he would respond "Yer ass!!!" [/QB]

 

I use a bow throughout rifle season. However,  I pick up and use a rifle for a sort time, especially when we have been seeing a lot of coyotes on our place.

I really am trying to get away from my firearm, just that trade muzzleloader are way to cool. also really admire trade hunters wearing blaze orange w/bow during gun season and are successful.

Been over 40 years since I hunted with a rifle. Just love my bowhunting more. Nothing against firearms to each his own.

Dave

Being a new bow hunter, I'm still not extremely "efficient" as far as getting the meat in the freezer. So I'll be taking out the rifle to get a few does this year, take some stress off my needing to get something with the bow. That way I can go back out there and enjoy it.

Its kind of hard to consider gun hunting hunting after going with a bow. I guess rifle hunting is where you start to harvest deer. haha

Single shot shotgun and .22 come out now and then for birds, rabbits, squirels and such.  Could use the 20ga for deer but haven't.  I think if I did use firearms for big game it would be old leverguns, blackpowder, single shot rifles or shotguns, revolvers.  Bowhunting for me is the way to go, gives me more time in the woods.

I use all, rifle,black powder,pistol,bow if there was a season for rocks I'd most likely do that to!

Nothing anymore traditional than an iron-sighted, lever action, 30:30 on the
"first day-o-buck" in Pennsylvania.  
I don't use a rifle much, but I do love the first day with the old lever.

.06 for deer every year.

I still save a deer tag most years for our late ML season, walnut and curly maple stocks, sidehammers, blackpowder, big tradition with me and my hunting compadres. I still do a lot of varmint hunting with custom bolt actions that I built, I still build them to help pay for my bow habit. I have only taken one buck in the past 16 years with a firearm. I have been drawn this year for a firearms WMA hunt at Dale Hollow state park, 2 tags, 2 does or a buck and a doe and will hunt with my old 6.5 swede I built 20+years ago, as an added bonus the 5 of us hunting will all be using rifles that I built. Its all good, and if we decide to limit ourselves to one method, might miss out on some pretty rewarding experiences in the field with other people. This being said, deer hunting to me is bowhunting, and after the last 3 years of trad, and having just as much succes, and a lot more fun, 98% of my deer hunting will be trad.