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Archery Only?

When I am deer hunting, I am archery only. My 11 year old son just switched from his 22-250 to a crossbow this year. I only bring out the thunderstick during the summer for hog hunting. When the hogs are thick, I bow hunt, but if I am hunting smaller packs of pics or big lone boars, I use a rifle, the big boars will come down wind every time and bust you. For me hunting with a bow is so much more exciting.
 
Well... Not sure if I can call myself a hunter yet but I do only own a bow, so that's what I have with me when I'm either bumping deer out of bow range or not seeing anything in the woods . I'd love to own a few guns, all in time...
 
In southern MN, you cant us a rifle. When i moved to Rochester 2 years ago it was either buy a bow or a muzzleloader... I had 2 kids at the time, 3 now, and so A) shooting and learning about a bow just seemed like more fun and B) archery season is from mid September through the end of the year. With the kids Id rather have a long flexible season instead of a week or two during the rut when the woods are slammed... super happy with my choice to go with a bow as ive harvested meat both years and ive had a blast. Still love my .270 bit thatll only get used if i hunt out of state in ND or something.
 
TooheyBirdie said:
In southern MN, you cant us a rifle. When i moved to Rochester 2 years ago it was either buy a bow or a muzzleloader... I had 2 kids at the time, 3 now, and so A) shooting and learning about a bow just seemed like more fun and B) archery season is from mid September through the end of the year. With the kids Id rather have a long flexible season instead of a week or two during the rut when the woods are slammed... super happy with my choice to go with a bow as ive harvested meat both years and ive had a blast. Still love my .270 bit thatll only get used if i hunt out of state in ND or something.
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The LONG MN bow season is gorgeous, you can go from when its still green out, to the leaves falling and continue into the freezing snow. so many opportunities to get out and sit in the woods. i have to admit, quite often im guilty of using the excuse of hunting just to spend some time outdoors and to myself.
 
thedutchtouch said:
Well... Not sure if I can call myself a hunter yet but I do only own a bow, so that's what I have with me when I'm either bumping deer out of bow range or not seeing anything in the woods . I'd love to own a few guns, all in time...
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Are you me?

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The 2020 season was the first time I've hunted bow ONLY and I really enjoyed it. I hunt public 95% of the time and its usually not possible to even get a shot outside of bow range.

In the past I would start out strong on the bow and would get the pipe out eventually. I just got to thinking...the last 5 deer I killed with a gun were inside my comfortable bow range so what was the challenge in that.
 
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Texar said:
The 2020 season was the first time I've hunted bow ONLY and I really enjoyed it. I hunt public 95% of the time and its usually not possible to even get a shot outside of bow range.

In the past I would start out strong on the bow and would get the pipe out eventually. I just got to thinking...the last 5 deer I killed with a gun were inside my comfortable bow range so what was the challenge in that.
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That’s pretty funny. I came to the same conclusion hunting wild hogs in CA. The last ?? Pigs I shot were under 40 yards so....

In February 2006 I shot a big boar twice at 17 yards in his bed with a 270WSM, he never stood up. I bought a bow a few weeks later and haven’t rifle hunted since.


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I have been exclusively a bow hunter since I took up hunting about five years ago. I think this next year I am going to do some gun hunting though, mainly for hogs. This is only so that I can do a different style of hunting - stalking. I really enjoy being able to walk through the woods with little to no gear on my back and still have the possibility of killing something.

I know you can stalk with a bow, but I have tried it for a couple of years now and it is very difficult. Almost impossible to do with deer where I hunt and pretty much the same with pigs.

I will always be an archer first as I love shooting and learning about bows and how to be a better shooter.
 
weekender21 said:
That’s pretty funny. I came to the same conclusion hunting wild hogs in CA. The last ?? Pigs I shot were under 40 yards so....

In February 2006 I shot a big boar twice at 17 yards in his bed with a 270WSM, he never stood up. I bought a bow a few weeks later and haven’t rifle hunted since.


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My son is 19 and has shot 3D with me since he was little and he's never killed a deer with a gun. Well 2019 season outa the blue he says..."I want to gun hunt in the morning." So we go hunt on COE land and he goes in with my AR10, that I thought he was efficient with, and I go to a place 200 yards from him with my bow. I see a string of doe headed straight for him so I text him to get ready. Sure enough he shoots and this herd of deer could've run anywhere in the woods but I see them running straight to me. It's obvious the lead doe is hit as they come and stop 15 yards from me. I can see pretty quickly that the doe is not hit fatally and that one of her front legs is just hanging on by a thread. So I put a Slicktrick where it counts and finished his dirty work.
After we meet up he is still all jinked up and I notice a mark above his eye where the scope hit him. He said he was sitting in the climber chilling thinking he had the deer in the bag so to speak, and he got caught off guard when they came through on him.(even though I text him,,SMH) He let the deer get past him by the time he stopped them and was off hand and forgot to pull the stock out on the rifle so he was all humped up on the rifle and made a horribly low shot on the poor deer.

Moral of this story.......Stick to the weapon you are most confident in and don't assume your man child knows what he's doing..:tearsofjoy:

BTW he is a stone cold killer with his bow and hasn't asked about rifle hunting since.
 
I love bowhunting & prefer to shoot them with a bow, however in Illinois gun season is only 7 days, one 3 day & one 4 day period. And you can only use a shotgun, muzzleloader or handgun. Where I'm from it is a big tradition for many people to get together for gun season. It's an exciting time & a lot of people get in the woods. I always hunt the first season in late November but a lot of the time start duck hunting by the time second season comes in in December. For me, both are fun & there is no shame in shooting one with a gun. Not sure that I'd like using a rifle though, unless strictly meat hunting.
 
Bow and muzzle loader only for me up here in the lovely state of massachusetts and I only hunt muzzle loader the last few days if I’m still empty handed. I love the challenge of hunting with a bow I feel like it’s a much more respectable way to harvest the game as well. Any trigger happy “hunter” can grab a gun and be in the right spot at the right time. It takes dedication practice and patience to harvest them with a bow. We have a shotgun season too and I will not go into any patch of woods if the orange army is in it
 
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