So what do you call?
General Topic
Been following the "can crossbows save hunting" thread a bit. In the thread folks mention that many crossbow users are "opportunists". I, with few exceptions agree. They certainly can't say they pursue the discipline of archery. I am curios. How do you view the vertical bow user who gets his bow out two weeks before the season and after throwing a few arrows down range pronounces themselves ready for the season? You have to think that some who posted in the other thread do just that. Opportunists?
I have a neighbor who shot 2 arrows At 20 yards and said I'm good. Has wounded 2 so far. Hes not much better with a gun
Yup. Those guys exist as crossbow hunters too.
Less you practice with any weapon the more you will wound, I get nervous if I haven't shot my bow in 3 days during the season, that said the bows get put away in the off season, no need to shoot them, it only wears on shoulders, I practice rotator cuff preservation!
I have also seen...the more they practice the MORE they wound. They poke holes in paper out to 60yrds then get in the deer woods and think a 50 yarder is a chip shot. I have seen better restraint on poor shooters as they KNOW they can`t make that shot...so they don`t. You would be shocked the # of deer not recovered. Then you get the world famous..."ah it happens to everyone...that deer will probably make it".
there is a stigma in our local group of using crossbow... out of 5 local archers that i know of 2 lost deer, 2 missed deer of shots over 40 yds. same dudes season after season flinging arrows just to get their pic in a local"Big Buck contest" pitiful situation, don't point fingers when you have some trouble in your own house.
I have never shot a compound bow as I have been a longbowman since I was 10 and I am 71 now. Over the years I have lost two deer and have come to some conclusions regarding bowhunting. First, keep all shots within 15 yards. That reduces the time for a deer to react to the shot and increases accuracy. I never take a shot in heavy rain on bare ground. No blood trail. Also, I like to wait for snow as I have never lost a deer on snow. Finally, as I found out two nights ago, if I think I made a solid hit, don't leave the deer overnight up here. Yesterday morning all I found was a head and backbone. The coyotes had a feast on my deer.
I was in Cabela's one time and I TOUCHED a crossbow......it made me want to rape and kill! TOOLS OF THE DEVIL!
I just call myself a hunter but then again I went and shot my evil .270 yesterday in preparation for bear season. I dust my compound off about a month before the season. I'm sure I'd do fine with two weeks. I'll practice a lot more for long shots if I am going out West, but 25 yards in the whitetail woods is pretty straightforward. I've shot crossbows, they are kind of fun to play with but awfully heavy to lug around the woods. If I ever need to use one due to physical limitations I wouldn't hesitate to. I have nothing against them. I know 3 guys my age that started with crossbows and moved onto a compound within 5 years.
There are plenty of "bowhunters" out there who only bowhunt to take advantage of longer seasons, enhanced bag limits, more favorable weather, etc. How many bowhunt because of their love for archery and the challenge of doing something that is difficult to accomplish?
The neighbor came over a few years ago in August and I was shooting my bow. He asked me if I was practicing already for hunting season. I had to explain to him that I actually like to shoot my bows and shoot all year, compounds and trad bows. Another guy was telling me he missed a buck at 15 yards. He was shocked. I asked him if he'd been practicing much, he said no. He had not shot his bow in years.
If you can be proficient with your bow in the two weeks prior to the season, what's the difference? Why do you need to be a year round shooter to not be considered an "opportunist"?
While I do like to shoot my bow, and will get it out a few times during the summer, I have other hobbies that take up my free time in the offseason.
“If you can be proficient with your bow in the two weeks prior to the season, what's the difference?”
Define “Proficient”.
I dabbled with a compound for a couple years. At one point I took over a year and a half off from it, pulled it out and stacked my first three shots onto a quarter at pretty close to 20 yards.
Which is great if you only hunt where all of your shots are going to be obviously inside of 20 yards; for me.... once I got to where I had to pick the right pin, I was kind of a wreck on the 3D course. Figured as long as I was going to have to limit my shots to the same ranges that I like with a recurve, I might as well shoot the recurve, since I enjoy it more. Getting more into longbows lately, but same applies... and I’m actually more accurate because I just hit where I’m looking and don’t have to worry about the 3” or float built in to the trajectory at 15 yards or so. Matter o’ fact, I realized that I can comfortably take LONGER shots with the Trad gear just because I don’t have to guess about pins.
So JMO, the whole trajectory thing is kind of a deal-breaker if you don’t practice enough under realistic (for you, personally) Hunting Conditions, complete with tree stands, weird angles, poor light conditions and - most importantly - UNMARKED RANGES.
Yeah, I know - rangefinders. If you have time to use one, more power to ya; just don’t skip that step and then come back here looking for consolation or advice when you screw up.
And what gets overlooked is that crossbows don’t shoot appreciably faster than compounds, do they? So IMO their chief advantages are more perceived than real. Not that that will keep a lid on the sales of ‘em, and not that people won’t wound and lose just about as many of them as they would with a compound - and probably MORE because of a misplaced confidence in their capabilities with them.
But, uhhhh.... JMO, it’s a little self congratulatory to call yourself a Bowhunting Purist and hate on crossbows if you’re shooting a tricked-out Compound.
When Pope & Young reintroduced Bowhunting to their generation, they were deliberately embracing technology that was centuries old - and where Ishi was involved, the tech was truly prehistoric.
Just sayin’...
And of course it’s a little self- congratulatory to call yourself a Bowhunting Purist even if you knap your own heads and hunt in a loincloth if you’re up to date on all of your shots, so I try not to get too caught up in such foolishness. Logs and Cinders, you know?
I don't shoot my compound year round anymore. I shoot my recurve year round - because it's fun. A month before season, I take my compound out and I drill bull's eyes within 2 days because I've shot 15000 arrows with my current hunting compound and I keep my muscles/form up with recurve shooting. Not everyone needs to shoot year round to be proficient.
I agree with Iawdy though on the close shots. Close shots are money - no matter the weapon, if you are a proficient archer. Animals move and a deer is a small target at 45+ yards. I can drill 45 yard shots all day with my compound, but the shot I want is 25 and under. I can go a few months without shooting my bow and kill a deer first shot at 15 yards with my compound - and I bet I could with my recurve too.
Ike - that’s what got me sucked in on the Contraption: unlike you, I never shot it enough to dope the trajectory.
That’s probably why so many people think they can practice for two weeks and end up wounding animals; some underlying grasp of reality reminds them that they don’t KNOW what the range is and that thought can cause a total meltdown..
There are 'bow hunters' ..... then there are those 'that shoot a bow' !! ... 2 very different accurate definitions!
This is like the whitetail shaming thread. We are picking hunters as a group to make ourselves feel superior in some way.
Blacktail Bob was not technically wrong his approach except for making it the absolute standard. Crossbow guys are no different. We need hunters period. We as a group are dwindling in numbers and are continuing to lose our collective voice.
I’m our own arrogance it would be easy to pick away certain aspects of these comments. We just had three experienced Bowhunters lose three deer in a week of hunting. We bitch moan and pontificate and try and figure out who is most lethal, who is technically savvy, and the overall greatest yoda of all.
Recently, we figured out scrapes are of no use to hunters. Really, I would say no shot at an animal is a give me. To many variables and success equates to recovery and all those troublesome high lung shots are all typically at close ranges. Bowsite is best when it communicates the positive. Believe me I fall victim to the self righteous thought process too. Believe me, not all bowhunters are proficient and not all crossbow hunters are slobs.
Nothing can be known about a persons moral character when judged simply by the weapon in his hand.
Sure it can! If the taint of crossgun is on him, then he's inherently evil, and probably runs stop lights too, tears the "DO NOT REMOVE" tags from pillows, and parks in handicapped spots after selling drugs to kids in school yards!
