Bows and Big Game

[greensteelforge]

I recently got back into archery hunting for whitetails, and was amazed at what is available in a bow these days. I bought a clearance PSE bow online while I was in Iraq, and came home to find A bow that could out-shoot a few .22's I've owned. I went heavy on the draw weight, thinking of the bows I used to shoot. In retrospect, 90 lbs was a bit more than I needed, but it sure shoots flat. Am I wrong in thinking that between peep-sights, releases, 80% let-off, and arrows that weigh less than their attachments, what we've got here makes bow hunting a real possibility for almost anyone? I hear allot of talk about anything over 55 lbs being "too much bow". I'm not sure how that could be the case, unless the shooter couldn't comfortably handle the draw. My feeling has always been that one should use as much weapon as can comfortably be handled when hunting big game (short of anti-equipment weapons). I don't see it as a contest either to use as small, or as large a weapon as possible, but to hunt within the limitations of your weapon and your abilities. Just wondering what other people think on the topic, and what their philosophy around it is. How far from the primitive weapon should we go before we just pick up a rifle instead?

[Archer]

If you're comfortable pulling it, and you prefer it over a rifle, go ahead and use it, is my vote. I like the feel of a bow better than that of a rifle, and I have no plan on complaining about increased accuracy and power in bows available to me.

[dinosaur]

Just picking up a rifle, as you know, doesn't make you a marksman. I have been a bowman for a very long time. I watched a girl who was 5 feet tall and weighed 98 lbs hole a deer at thirty yards with a 35lb. bow.

Personally, I can still draw a 70lb. bow. Pushed I might manage 90 but it would take too bloody long. I have dropped my compound down to fifty because I realized accuracy is much more important. I ususally hunt with a recurve or a long bow. My recurve is a 55. My longbow is a 50. The great thing about them is I don't have to take them to full draw. It's my choice and my target. I've taken frogs at twenty yards. I've shot squirrels at thirty. I miss sometimes, but I'm close. I've never missed a deer. It's a big target.

You can take a running rabbit. Vector is accomplished by not getting excited, paying attention, concentrating, relaxing, and loosing the arrow. Loosing an arrow is very much like squeezing a trigger. Pull the trigger, you pull the shot. Loosing an arrow is an art. I use a three fingered Apache grip and have never used a mechanical release. That's just me though. And I'm a dinosaur.

[AK Hunter]

I learned to shoot a bow when I was younger, worked my way up to a Bear 45# full recurve. Yes I could shoot it but I wasn't very good with it (no sight, not much of a rest, & old wood arrows didn't help) not good enough to hunt with. But I liked the looks of the new compound bows with peep sights, pin sights, whisker biscuits rests, vibe. dampening, and the accuracy that I was seeing on the hunting videos was the straw that broke me down.
I had to try it out so I got online and bought a on sale PSL Stinger & had it shipped to the local Gander Mtn. When I picked it up I bought all the extras to go on the bow & drove home thinking I could do it myself. Got it all mounted on the bow took it out to the back yard and tried to dial it in.
NO, SUCH, LUCK, the first arrow went right through my Styrofoam target & disappeared behind the firewood pile. So turned the target to a side that was less shot up, and my second arrow went through the target bounced off the firewood pile & stuck in the neighbors privacy fence. OK before I injure someone I took the bow back to Gander Mtn. for them to help me set it up. The guy there took a look at what I was doing wrong, and told me my peep sight was too low, so he reset the peep sight and took me to the in store range to help me set the 20yd pin. (1st pin) He had me shooting a 3" spot from 20yds in no time. Then I went to a local outdoor range to set the rest of the pins the way the G.M. guy told me to, it wasn't long before I was hitting paper plate size targets at 50yds with no problem.
No I don't think a bow is better than a gun but there is a local hunting spot that only allows bow hunting, the deer there are so tame that you have to stop to let them cross the road when I drive through the park. If I can get close to a deer outside of the car shooting shouldn't be a problem.
The new type bows are nothing like the old bows.