Contributors to this thread:
What? Nobody's gonna start making a fuss about posting gun shot deer on the bow site this year? I'm appalled and disappointed (tongue in cheek).
That's a nice 8. I like pics and don't care.
we're not making a fuss because we know how easy it is to get a deer with a gun. The deer actually throw themselves on the bullet, SUICIDE!
A good deer is a good deer and clean, ethical kill is good hunting.
Same here. I love seeing my fellow Bowsite members deer no matter the season whether mine or yours who cares. I'm sure somebody will get their panties in a bunch. Ask me if I care?? If Pat doesn't want it up there I'm sure he'll take it down.
At least he's smiling.
Every few years I will pull out a muzzleoader. I have never shot a deer with the smoke-pole. I hunt almost excluisively with the bow for over 30 years. I'm successful, that all I need.
I really want to know what drives the guys who want to kill a deer with a shotgun or rifle....if you hunt with a bow as well.
I draw the line at crossbows.
Blood trail.
I prefer to hunt with a bow but will go with my rifle if I have been skunked all season so far. So yes, I am hunting with mr rifle right now. But if I had meat in the freezer already I would stick with my bow.
show all reports , love seeing and hearing what is going on
I love gun hunting as much as bow hunting for the time I get off to hunt I enjoy it but with hopes of putting some meat in freezer. I've gone years with not taking a deer and this year is shaping up to be just that
Bloodtrail,I'm not trying to start a pissing match but I'm confused by your remarks. If you don't know what drives a hunter to want to kill a deer with a rifle or shotgun then why do you admit to pulling out your muzzle loader every few years? What are you doing? What are your intentions? Are you just taking your RIFLE for a walk? If you don't understand the fundamental core values of hunters, that we are all hunters, regardless of weapon, then you're missing something. What drives us to hunt, regardless of method or weapon, is an inherent part of our DNA and is not what I do but rather is WHO I AM! Gun, or bow we are all brothers and sisters
im rolling some spitballs for tomorrows hunt if I don't take my bow..not sure how they will work in freezing weather
OK. I have been very fortunate and successful with my bow. I have taken 1-3 deer a year for the last 20 years or so. I think it's very easy to kill any deer with a gun...I consider it no challenge at all. I don't target or hold out for big bucks. But I do pass deer almost every season.
I have taken the muzzle loader out on occasion (maybe 4-5 times over 30 years) to hunt with my dad, who recently passed away last year. It was the only way he enjoyed hunting for deer. He never shot a deer in his lifetime. I really wasn't trying to kill a deer with the gun...more of just spending time with him in the woods hoping he would get one. So to Tall 1, I am just going for a walk.
This wasn't a personal attack against anyone who drops the bow and picks up a gun. I just wanted to gain knowledge to understand why someone who hunts with a bow would want to hunt with a gun when they can still hunt with a bow.
My personal belief is that I hunt with a bow and I have a drive within me to be a good bowhunter...that's my DNA. I have never ever sat in my stand while a nice buck/deer walks by out of range saying "I wish I had a gun to kill that deer." I have sat there saying "how can I get closer to that deer and kill it with my bow."
Thanks for the great discussion. Keep it coming.
I am going with the xbox tomorrow morning and the gun sat morning haven't been hunting with the gun in about 15 or 20 years but I got a spot this year not as many deer as my bow spots but I am going to give it a try I will only tell Crow LOL
I love reading all your stories and seeing all your pics- what your hunting implements are I care not-
I think I have been on this site almost 10 years now
Thanks for clarifying Bloodtrail. It's all good in my eyes. I will be in a stand with my Hoyt in hand again in the morning.
I go out with the muzzle loader every year for shotgun and muzzle loader. Its a nice change of pace to sit back against a tree for awhile then creep around slowly and do some scouting at the same time. I usually hunt one spot for bow then during gun I will hunt a bigger area and get far back in. Its nice to get on foot after 4 hrs and follow some tracks in the snow. If I had a nice private spot to myself maybe I would be all bow but on public land if you have guys walking all over you then you cant just get off stand and walk with the bow as easily. These are my reasons for gun hunting. Ive always considered myself a hunter and not a bowhunter. I carry the shotgun during turkey season also. If I had private land with a field I would set up a blind and try bow hunting but I dont therefore I gun hunt them. my 2 cents.
Bowhunting is fine, but not as much fun as gun hunting. I will always be a gun hunter first.
I can only take being confined to a tree stand for so long. A couple of hours is about it and then I get antsy.
With a gun you can move around, still hunt effectively, explore, etc. Also sitting on the ground is way more comfortable than perched in a tree.
Also if I do want to sit all day I can do it easily on the ground gun hunting, I can stretch my legs, read a book, drink a thermos of coffee, etc. Gun hunting is just a more enjoyable relaxing experience all around for me than bow hunting.
The only times I've used a gun for deer is when someone asked me to show them how to find deer, or invited me to go on a deer hunt with them and they didn't do bow.
I agree with Toonces, its much more relaxed type of hunt. You don't have to do much pre-season scouting, you can still hunt and find where they are, and don't have to get as close to the deer as with a bow.
I enjoy being in the woods with either implement, but I find bow hunting more of a challenge, both physically and mentally.
The only times I've used a gun for deer is when someone asked me to show them how to find deer, or invited me to go on a deer hunt with them and they didn't do bow.
I agree with Toonces, its much more relaxed type of hunt. You don't have to do much pre-season scouting, you can still hunt and find where they are, and don't have to get as close to the deer as with a bow.
I enjoy being in the woods with either implement, but I find bow hunting more of a challenge, both physically and mentally.
I started bowhunting in 1971, not because of a love of archery, but to give me more time in the deer woods. When rifle season opens, I am out with my 308 and out with a muzzleloader after that. I still do some bowhunting during that time period on property that I have permission to hunt only with bow. The buck in this photo was a rifle kill in New Brunswick a few years ago. Interestingly, I have taken 5 elk hunts (4 with a bow and 1 with a muzzleloader) and 1 caribou hunt with a bow. It's about hunting with me. Jon - Congrats on your buck taken with that old Savage again!
I started out with the gun, and after getting into the bow last season, I didn't hunt with my gun at all last year. I love hunting with both and if I had a personal preference, I'd choose the gun, due to the fact that I've been around them since I was 8 or 9 years old. Whether you bow hunt, gun hunt, or no matter your choice, as some of the other guys stated, we're all a brotherhood and we should be sticking together.
Gene
where did you go in New Brunswick? I went to Plaster Rock 2 years and got a 6 point the first year and a 220lb 10 point the 2nd year.
That deer you got is a great deer. I saw one at the check in station that was over 300 lbs, it was massive!!
Been bowhunting for 37 years now and I still take the guns out during gun season. I want to use them, that's why i have them. Bowhunting makes me a better gun hunter in my opinion. A whole lot more patient and I always get close to them with the gun as well. The last 4 deer I shot with the gun were close enough to shoot with the bow. The difference, all 4 I shot still hunting. I still hunt with the bow as well but there is something to be said about sneaking along during a fresh snow with the smokepole at the ready. Hunters hunt. I also love how people think it is SO easy to shoot a deer with a gun. If it was that easy the gun harvest numbers would be much higher then they are. Gun or bow still requires me to do my homework, control my scent, stay invisible (to the deer at least) and get in shooting range which is most certainly extended with the gun but I don't hunt open fields. I'm tucked in the thick brush making it up close and personal no matter what hunting implement I use.
BBB I took that deer hunting out of Malarkey Cabins with Ray Dillon. I just realized that was 9 years ago! That deer was a 9 point that dressed at 207. I would like to get up there and roam those woods again before another 9 years go by. Here's another rifle deer taken in Washington CT in 2008.
While we are at in on "Gunsite", here's another rifle deer from Washington CT from 2007. This was also a 9 point that had a dressed weight of 193 3 days after I shot him. Yes, I like to gun hunt and Bowhunt!
Beautiful bucks Gene. I'm sure those were easy to kill...lol
The more nice deer I see, the more Im motivated to hunt. I say post all the CT pics you can. I just wish more people would say the part of the state where they harvested them. I keep thinking some one else is going to get the one Im after.
OK Gene, now you're just showing off :)
Those are some real trophies, love seeing deer like that.
Bob, I couldn't help myself!
