Are you a better Bowhunter or better archer ?

[TnRidge]

What's your strength ? Do you consider yourself an average shot , but able to get within your effective range of deer by using your hunting skills ?

Or do you think your an average hunter ,but able to use your archery skills to extend your effective range if your stand setup is a little off ?

[Kelly Johnson]

I'm by far a better archer/bowyer than I am a hunter.

I started archery/deer hunting late at age 30. There's only so much time you can "practice hunting" if you can at all...but archery for archery sake?? I can shoot anytime day or night, inside or out, all year long and get better (or at least try to) every time.

My hunting skills are my weak point but I'm blessed and lucky to have
A. Plenty of good productive property
B. Knowledgable HUNTERS that are friends...some bowhunt and some don't
C. Very good equipment.

I still wrestle with stand placement....I can get on deer and follow sign but don't really have the patience to search out "the big boy"...I shot 9 deer last year and only one had horns and was just a cull that I didn't want breeding due to knappy an undersized headgear.

I'll still never take an initial shot past 35-40 yards and only than of the conditions are perfect even though I practice regularly out to 80-100 yards.

BUT...should I ever feel the need to make a follow up shot at 50 on an already wounded animal?? ;)

[nky_bowhunter]

I'm a hunter, pure and simple. I practice as much as I can with my bow so that I can feel confident about making ethical shots. A bow is simply a tool that allows me to spend more quality time in the woods. I practice out to 40 yards, but never shoot at deer past 30, usually only 25. To me, that's the fun of bowhunting, getting 'em close! The day I don't feel like a little kid when I get a deer within 25 yards is the day I'm gonna hang it up!

[Gobblerman]

I would have to say I'm a better hunter than archerer. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to stand placement, however I feel confident that I can get in the neiborhood of deer. Then it's scent control, stealth, calling and patience. That I can do well, I'm confident enough to take a buck within 30 yards with my bow.

This is only my 7th year bow hunting and I feel very blessed to be able to take some quality bucks. The challenge is having the property to be able to scout the herd year round. I have to knock on doors every year to gain permission.

The entire sport of Archery Hunting is Awesome.

[GVDocHoliday]

It's a tossup. I consider myself a pretty darn good archer, but the farthest shot I've ever had to take on a deer has been 18 yards. But I'll drill the 11ring 20 times on a 30 target 3d course with unmarked yardage out to 45 yards. But I've only been shooting a bow for 4 years...and 2 commitedly.

I've spent my whole life of 22 years in the woods. I know the property I hunt better than any deer and I feel that gives me an advantage. I know the topography, the ditches, travel corridors, feeding routes, and escape routes, as well as their bedding areas(with have never seemed to change at all). I observe deer year round and have charts that follow their main movement times throughout the year as to pattern their travel cycles to know when will be the best time during the day to hunt on a certain day. This year has been the best for this. Usually we never see deer in our back field during the middle summer months of June and July. We've been seeing deer all summer mostly during the middle of the day, which I do consider odd seeing as how we are currently having some of our hottest weather this year...but they are following my charts. This observation tells me that temperature really doesn't play much in their travel. I always thought it did, mainly that they would bed down during hot spells. I'm still working on implementing moon cycles into this. I've got several megs of excel worksheets that I then transfer over to pivot tables and then to graphs to see different patterns. This has really helped me the last couple of years. I'm really considering writing an access query and marketing what I've been doing but until I have some more guaranteed results then I'll just tweek it more.

[davidshane]

Better hunter; no question about it!

I sure wish I would find a way to put more time into shooting so that I could say it was close. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to start shooting a little earlier and more often, but it never happens. I missed a real good buck two years ago; that in itself should have been enough to get me shooting more.

[TnRidge]

I consider myself a better hunter . I consider my effective range to be out to 35 yards ,yet I practice out to 50 yards .
Bowhunting is still a 25 yard game to me ,and I try to find those perfect bottlenecks or funnels that will bring them closer for that slam dunk .Scouting is half the fun ,and I spend a lot of time in the offseason in the woods scouting ,trimming shooting lanes, planning entry/ exit routes to and from my stands , etc.

[Tim Baker]

Better Hunter by far.

I've missed at least 6 Pope and Young bucks, including 2 in the 150 class last year. Of course shooting a deer is a lot different than shooting a target in the backyard or on a 3D course. Last year I moved my stand on the 3rd day of a one week hunt so I didn't have a lot of time to trim the shooting lanes properly. If I had cleared my shooting lanes better maybe the shots wouldn't have been so tough and I would have made both shots. We'll find out this year after I break out the chainsaw! ;)

Tim

[ArrowFlinger]

I would have to say Archer. When tuned I can shoot some pretty tight groups. Last year was tough(all new arrows), got it tuned good, but not perfect.

Hunting -- I do struggle with stand placement and I am realizing that I overhunt my areas. I'll be posting in a few weeks after I draw up a diagram of an area I hunted last year for placement suggestions. I am going to make a more of an effort to not overhunt a spot (I am not even going back to my U.P. area for the next 3 seasons).

[NorthJeff]

Toss up....

In the past (still on the retirement staff) I've been a factory sponsored pro with Mathews Archery and have won 3 national championships in open to semi-pro classes in national 3D tournaments, and numerous top 10's in open, semi-pro, and pro over the course of 9 years, as well as numerous top 3 finishes in State of MI NFAA target events as a pro. I feel very confident still with my shot and wouldn't hesitate with the right conditions out to at least 60 yards and feel I could still pull off a 60 spot indoor game within a few practice rounds.

But, this should be my 4th year hunting 4 states for whitetail, 6th year for hunting at least 3 states, and 14 year hunting at least 2 states and have been able to harvest many mature bucks over the past 12 years....not all with a bow, but my largest have come with a bow. I take pride in hunting without guides and figuring things out on my own.

Either way, a lot of hours, a lot of years, and a lot of fun and anyone who is fortunate to spend as much time at it as I have with either I'm sure would experience the same results..or better, but I'd like to say I do O.K. at either and greatly enjoy both aspects-although hunting is my first love.

[victor mi pro bowhunter]

better hunter but can still get it right in the middle at 50 yards. but would never take a shot over 20 yards in the woods. to many things can go wrong

[mich buckmaster]

No doubt a better hunter. I am the small ring in a paper plate shooter out to about 25 yards, but after that I am about a paper plate at 40. BUT, when the time comes to pull that bow back!!!!!!

MONEY!!!! I have killed many mature deer with bow and every time you kill an animal with bow, the easier it is to be successful.

Its amazing how many people I meet that are great shooters on the range, but when there is a live deer in front of them, well lets say they SUCK!!

[NorthJeff]

"MONEY!!!! I have killed many mature deer with bow and every time you kill an animal with bow, the easier it is to be successful."

A great aspect that trully seperates many "shooters" from "hunters".

[fulldraw]

I am a better hunter than archer don't get me wrong I love shooting my bow when ever I can. But time spent in the woods know matter what I am hunting is cherished. Most of the time I hunt on weekends and the property I hunt on is 2.5 hrs away so I have to scout in the summer on the fly. But I get alot of deer in with proper stand placement but yes, like alot of you I miss. Like some of you have said it is different shooting deer with a bow than a 3D target.

By the way how can you legally shoot more than 3 deer a yr.
(2 bucks, 1 doe) just asking. :rolleyes:

fulldraw

[Swamp Monster]

By the way how can you legally shoot more than 3 deer a yr.
(2 bucks, 1 doe) just asking. :rolleyes:

fulldraw


Ummm, their called doe permits. Or other states.

[Kelly Johnson]

Originally Posted by fulldraw
By the way how can you legally shoot more than 3 deer a yr.
(2 bucks, 1 doe) just asking.

fulldraw




Ummm, their called doe permits. Or other states.

Or both ;)

Don't much like the implication Fulldraw, but I'll forgive you and explain.

Nearly all the areas I hunt are over run with does... One of which is a 350 acre Nursery (trees and bushes) that takes losses in the thousands of dollars every year from deer damage. They asked me to help....it's the least I can do as they supply a large quanity of herbs to my restaurant.

I also hunted in Ohio last year in a 3 deer county.

And for the record...you can buy a doe tag a day, every day for the entire season....that works out to be just over 90 deer you can legally take in this state.
I'm less than 1/10th if what the DNR would allow. :evil:

[GVDocHoliday]

I usually get my combo license and three doe tags. Usually two for Manistee Co and one for an alternate Co. Like Dickinson up in the UP or Ottawa. For my alternate, buddies and I look for areas of public land where we can hunt for a weekend campout or for access to public land. Last year we spent two weekends up in Dickinson Co. The year before that we hunted on a small tract in Ottawa. I could have gotten 10 tags for Manistee Co. They lasted a long time.

[Lil' Tanker]

I'm a better hunter because i am a darn good archer! ;)

[TnRidge]

I shoot what I can eat for a family of 3 plus a few non-hunter friends who like venison jerky .That amounts to about 4 deer a year for me .
We can kill several does a day here in Tn. ,depending on what segment of the season it is . We also have a 3 buck limit . I bowhunt during the rifle and Mz. seasons too .
I'm going out tomorrow to scout out a few more areas on a new hunting lease I'm on this year . Our bowseason starts the last Saturday in Sept.:cool:

[safetreehunt]

Definetly a better archer. I can't seem to find nearly as much time to hunt as I do practice. Love to shoot as much as I can. 3D and Broadhead leagues all summmer at OCSC.

For me, the woods are a place to just relax. If I can get a nice shot off at a good buck or fat doe, great, if not that's ok too.

[Bowhunter30]

I would say a little of both. I shoot my brains out leading up to the season, practicing almost everyday. Just making sure I have the best shot possible when entering the woods the morning of October 1st. But after that I still shoot, but not as much - just don't have the time between work and hunting to set up the target as much.

I don't shoot all year, but as soon as the weather permits, I am out there in a second. I always strive for perfection, one thing I will never reach, but will always try.

So, I would say to be a good hunter, you have to be equally as good of an archer - if that makes any sense?