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What is Bowhunting

From the WBH Website / WBH President - " Membership is the key to almost everything we do to promote, preserve and protect bowhunting. First and foremost, it provides the credibility and leverage we need when dealing with the DNR and legislators. " After I read that I was thinking -- When will it be the right time to clearly define what bowhunting is and is not ? Put it down on paper or chisel it on a piece of stone if need be . . How can you preserve and protect something if you don't know / more importantly actually say exactly what it is ?

The definition of bowhunting certainly has changed over the years.

In Wisconsin when the Native Americans used bows & arrows to assist in food gathering it was survivalist in nature, they needed it to help insure their future. In the 21st. century when we bowhunt it is recreational in nature. The motivation for bowhunting in Wisconsin has evolved over time, as has the practice itself.

I do not believe there is any single definition to bowhunting, it means something slightly, or for that matter greatly, different to each of us. For the newcomer to the sport it is one thing but for the veteran it is entirely something else. The rewards derived by each vary also. And all of this is multiplied by the many different facets of bowhunting,...the different types of tackle, the different types of game sought, the challenges of competitive shooting, the reward of making your own tackle and learning how to do it, and the satisfaction of learning about and studying the history of our great sport.

Is bowhunting defined by the type of tackle you shoot? Stick bow? Recurve? Compound? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Again, it varies with the individual, where we are in the sport and what each of us is seeking.

I am not sure I know the full answer to this question, and I do not know that anyone does. I don't think we can define bowhunting for the next guy, we can only define it for ourselves. Maybe it's sort of like someone trying to define or describe the difference between art and pornography, it is difficult to nail down with a concise statement, but you know it when you see it.

And most of us do know true bowhunting when we see it!

Casekiska said it as well as can be stated.

Bowhunting to me is a personal search, and has been for a very long time. I know I have evolved into a better hunter, because of it. Success to me is measured in the experience, and the wanderlust, and the adventure. I have learned more about animals from my failures, than my success.

I am now 68, tomorrow, and have been very blessed. I killed and ate 5 bears before I ever killed a whitetail deer. I have hunted elk and western bears,, and mule deer and sheep, in the days I could really get at it. With the equipment I had, I scored some and lost some, but it was well worth the journey.

Today bowhunting is a hot cup of tea, on my lunch fire, in the western UP. I love to fondle my long bow, and admire its beauty, and drink in the colors and smells of the fall. It is such a special time, it is hard to explain.................

I can not hunt out of condos, or really for that matter commercial blinds. I need to be in a blind I built of natural material, and if I need some warmth, I have a small fire. If it spooks a deer, so be it. I love the woods, I want to be a part of it, no matter how short of a time, I have to spend with it.

Nothing wrong with the latest clothing, but I favor, wool radar caps, and plaid shirts and wool pants. I do not wear or care about the latest camo, and my hunting shirt is brown and white plaid. I believe that movement is the issue, not the camo pattern I wear.

I hate scoring of deer. I think it is demeaning, and did not last long in the scoring group, but they are a great bunch of people. I look at a deer, as a challenge, and a 7 point western UP deer, may mean more, than my larger deer, from other areas, because I know how hard it was to take that buck..... All bucks should be respected, and I could not kill a deer, that I truly did not want.

I love to bow hunt... bowhunters are roamers, at least they should be. I like to think, that most bowhunters are a cut above. I am always willing to help out the next guy, to help him track, or drag, or whatever is needed, if that hunter asks.

I love to bowhunt, and respect the other hunters spot, public land or not, always give another hunter, who was ahead of you, a wide berth......

Bowhunting to me is simplicity, and I love solitude. I like to share camps, but I want to hunt, on my own, it is that personal to me.........

I hope to bowhunt, till I drop and God willing, it will be in the fall, in the woods, where I am always at peace

God Bless

Well said GH!

Well I have to type one more time. That was perfectly said Ground Hunter, Perfectly said.

GH, you said it well. I couldn't add more

Never met you GH, but you understand what this is all about! It would be a honor to share a fire with you.

Excellent post GH.

GH...Great read, You paint a vivid picture of a man with a passion second to none. I can picture you in your plaids, sitting by a fire in the middle of nowhere and right in your element. "You" are the definition of bow hunting. I tip my plaid hat to you sir.

I know what it is to me. Time spent in quiet solitude with my longbow. While I have no angst about firearm hunting, watching the forrest greet a new day without the report of a rifle nearby is my only way of hunting today.

They "magic hour" of dwindling daylight and stillness of dying winds puts one on edge with the sense of, "any time, now".

The long prep times of marksmanship practice, tuning arrows, and honing broadheads.

The opportunity to hunt with my now grown son, as my dad did with me.

Maybe I'll put some venison in the freezer...then again, maybe not. While that is the end goal, it's no longer my primary concern.

Well stated GH! Although I shoot a compound and am therefore not really a bowhunter, I concur with the journey and solitude at what compound hunting brings to me and my son. I personally could care less if I ever kill another deer as long as my son has some success.

Pretty awesome and deep words GH.

A rapidly declining hunting technique and culture.

Share that technique and culture with someone who may be interested to learn archery the way it was meant to be. I'm encouraging a young lady that's shooting lights out with a longbow she just picked up this spring. Plus two grandchildren before I leave for another journey. The old ripple effect on the pond as they say.

SeveD.....classy,,,, I would like to share a camp fire........ although we never met, our phone conversations have been great

Likewise ground hunter. Maybe someday soon, who knows?

GH and Case, very well put. It's a lifestyle, it's what we do, who we are and there are no words that can really put it into perspective. You need to experience it. Spend time in the woods, spend time sharing it, passing it on. Learning why it puts a smile on our face and settles our hearts and minds. It's not the harvest, it's the experiences that we share. All of the harvests are trophies that we are thankful for. GH, I hope we can again share some time in the woods and some stories. I am looking forward to our adventure with our friend Mike in the fall of 2019.

With less and less of us it has become more about the kill and much less about the hunt. Up and comers want everything gift wrapped and NOW! The sooner they can get in and get out and post pics on Facebook the happier they are. Personally, I like the game of cat and mouse and figuring out the quarry...and if I score early I feel somewhat sad to end the season so soon. The woods has a lot more to offer than 50# of venison, cut, wrapped, and frozen..

For me it’s an escape. It’s that simple. When I head to the woods it’s like I leave one world and enter another where things slow down and allows one to decompress.

Of course things can ramp up and escalate quickly when a target animal comes into view. It’s that charge we all strive for.

Well said Ground Hunter.

For me, bowhunting is one of the major things I live for. There is family and god that are first, but bowhunting is next. Some say work should be in there, work is a means to an end for me. Thoughts of bowhunting are what help get me through the tough times, whether at work or personal. I can honestly say there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about bowhunting. Probably rarely an hour. The only "hobby" that took priority over bowhunting for 5 or 6 years was chasing another type of tail and partying;)

Although I love the solitary aspect of bowhunting. I am more excited about getting my 16 year old daughter in the woods than anything. My son gun hunts but didn't like bowhunting. My daughter wants the challenge, and this is the first year she can draw our self imposed limit of 40lbs.

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