swampdonkey
Well-Known Member
I agree with almost all of what you said, but noticed you are in Wisconsin (have hunted there too), and your observation about bow vs gun success is definitely a regional thing. Our gun and muzzleloader seasons are as long or longer than bow and we do not have an orange army that only invades the woods for just a week, like up there. Ours is more of a steady flow of orange and the deer adjust enough that it doesn't ruin the entire rest of the season. That is what @dalton916 is getting at.
At the end of the day, more new hunters should stay and learn at ground level anyway. Stands and saddles are not necessities, just additional tools.
Oh dont get me wrong i agree most new hunters would be best served hunting from the ground, thats how i started gun hunting 3 decades ago.
Then one year decided to nail a pallet into a tree and my elevated hunting began. That led to 35 pound steel stands being hauled many many many miles when i was in my teens and early 20s all over public land, then came my first truly mobile treestand the LW Assault, next a LW hand climber, fast forward and im now onto these saddles and such. That is my evolution of the use of the additional tools ive used to get the job done. The young guys starting out now have a plethora of MUCH lighter options for mobile hunting than what we had back then. My point I guess is the weapon of choice is really irrelevant for the most part with regards to which tool you want to use be it saddle, treestand, climber, ground blind, bucket to sit on, etc.
Ill admit my observation of gun vs bow success is definitely based in my experience hunting both gun and bow seasons in WI where the massive influx of orange clad hunters completely alters the way the deer move and act for the rest of the season for the most part. After opening weekend of gun season youll have a tough time finding a mature buck moving naturally and during daylight within 2 miles of the parking on most public lands.
Im always dumbfounded by the states that have extremely long rifle seasons being from WI. In the last 20 years Gun Hunters in WI have killed anywhere from 222,000 deer to as high as 528,000 deer in that short 9 day season. Its estimated there are around 1.4 million deer in WI so I cant imagine how there would be any left, on public land at least, if the gun deer season were 4 months long like archery is. Those state must either have a TON of deer or much lower hunter numbers than states like WI.