Why a bow?

[Doc]

What was it that lured you into bow hunting? What was the attraction?

[DanielT]

What was it that lured you into bow hunting? What was the attraction?

The intimacy and beauty of being that close to wild animals without them knowing....and animal instincts prefer primitive ways...
Chances are ...i will bowhunt only til I can't pull it back anymore...love it that much!!!

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[f3cbboy]

I think i liked the idea of being closer when getting a chance to interact with an animal.  so i guess it was the challenge that it offered.  I also liked the opportunity to hunt in the woods longer - the six weeks before gun season, and take more game.

But i think it was primarily having to be closer when you drilled one.

[NYBowhunter]

More time in the woods, deer not in hide mode, change of seasons (love the fall), more challenging. See a much more natural deer behavior.

[bkln]

Longer season...basically

[uberyan]

Longer season and ability to hunt locally.

Turning out to be a pretty fun and enjoyable hobby as well.

[Buckmaster7600]

Another reason to be in the woods.


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[growalot]

This is too funny...glad I came in for a break....... What was the attraction?

The Great white Hunter and that was the only reason...I then fell in love with it and yes it changed my whole way of life actually.

It was his massive EGO and his illegal ways...his wife's NEVER gotten a deer but bow and gun hunts muzzle loads too! Dang if she doesn't get several deer a year from her living room. kitchen ,laundry room...He would drive around to ALL the neighbors with his big buck( BTW he practiced on the small ones with the wife tags, she had a talkative nature)...Well one year he came up and wanted to video a gun 8 I shot with his big 8...then put  it on the screen...his face fell and he said hhmmm that video certainly doesn't do my buck justice...LOL he NEVER showed up with a buck again. Instead he started with bow hunters are the only "real" hunter every year and he couldn't stop saying it. How takes an average of 6 years to get a buck with a bow...mind you best mathews and sights money could buy and a compound... So I decides to teach him something...I borrowed a 45 # 50 yr old recurve shooting off the shelf and instinctive, second year I shot a 7point. His next thing was to proclaim I was just out there poke and hoping....LOL after a couple of deer a year with the bow and I did switch to low end compounds, still no sights, he went away....So that is why I started bow hunting. I'll give that ego maniac credit for that, for I prefer it to gun.

PS... he was wild when I taught both kids to bow hunt and they got deer before his kid. He was down right nasty and did some nasty things to one of his kids buddies that got a seriously big 8 or 10 before his kid got a deer....Then when one of his buddies shot a "trophy" he sent his kid to their home and told him to set up the garden hose ,as they slept, stick it in the truck window and turn the hose on after rolling the window up...it took years but everyone knew before, for his kid or wife let the cat out of the bag..all true.

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by growalot

[grampy]

The one and only reason I picked up a bow, was I could start deer hunting earlier! Started out with a second hand Bear recurve, that I worked a few hours for in a trade. That was 1975.  Since then bowhunting has grown to be a part of me. After shoulder surgery in May, not sure if I'll be able to participate this year. Will see. I'm not dead yet!

[Jeremy K]

As far back as I can remember ,seeing my dad work on his own bows and building arrows . I was in to everything that my dad did. Now I enjoy chasing that perfect group at 40 yards or so and then trying for 2 perfect groups back to back. It's really addicting. 

[uberyan]

5 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

As far back as I can remember ,seeing my dad work on his own bows and building arrows . I was in to everything that my dad did. Now I enjoy chasing that perfect group at 40 yards or so and then trying for 2 perfect groups back to back. It's really addicting. 

You folks that shoot for groups at the same spot, are you not afraid of damaging your arrows?

I'm sure at longer distances the chances of a robin hood are slimmer but I'd still be afraid of busting up my precious hunting arrows.

[TreeGuy]

More opportunity to be in the woods, the deers attitude and behavior during early season, watching the leaves change, seeing more deer (than gun season), the challenge of getting one close enough, opportunity to track blood, and lastly, more opportunity to be in the woods.... Did I mention i like to be in the woods ???

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[rob-c]

 I could not ever get the first week of firearms off, so I started bow hunting. But now man o man I love archery. I love the warmer weather , the challenge of using a bow, how calm the deer are. Heck my wife my son and I all have gone to hunting with revolvers only for firearms season, it just seemed to easy with a long guns. 

[philoshop]

I've always enjoyed the stealth aspect of hunting, with a secretive mentality. I don't want anything or anybody to know that I'm even out there, and there's nothing that blows your cover quicker than the sound of a gunshot. Archery and canoe access was a natural attraction for me along those lines.

 

22 minutes ago, uberyan said:

You folks that shoot for groups at the same spot, are you not afraid of damaging your arrows?

I'm sure at longer distances the chances of a robin hood are slimmer but I'd still be afraid of busting up my precious hunting arrows.

When you shoot target archery you're not 'shooting at the bulls-eye'. You're shooting at a very specific spot within the bulls-eye so that what you describe doesn't happen. I've never 'shot at a deer' in my life. I've shot at specific hairs on the deer and brought home venison. Pick a very specific spot that needs to be hit and forget about the rest of the target. It's the biggest hurdle I've encountered in coaching people with either archery or firearms. The target is not the deer, it's a very specific spot on the deer.

[Swamp_bucks]

My older cousin whos the big hunter in the family (trophy wise) started me. watched him do everything hunting related tryed to mimick him.  Once i got older i love every part of it. Much like most of you said the deer are calmer, you see so much more deer, get to watch the season change. My wife and kids shoot so it gives us something to do as a family.  I mainly gun hunt to fill freezer and hang out with friends.  I bow hunt because its an addiction.

[Nomad]

I started the year after marring Mrs .302, draw your own conclusions .

Turns out I liked it ( bow hunting ) .

[dbHunterNY]

i used to scout the farm leading up to regular gun season as hardly anyone bowhunted it.  this one field every year would have bucks sparring in hard antler.  it was as if it was the areas proving grounds for the deer.  a curious kid i'd ditch everything but binos and belly crawl in the open field to get closer.  then i'd lay there and watch it all unfold. there so long at times i'd have my back soaking wet from dew.  close encounters kept happening to the point i started thinking it was funny that i didn't have a bow in my hand through part of the season and only gun hunted.  

i did know some bowhunters with limited success.  bowhunting successfully always seemed to be a commendable achievement. still i thought it seemed like a tall order to take close encounters further and actually "seal the deal".  i had it in the back of my mind that it could break me of my success with a gun that i'd grown used to at the time.  after i got into bowhunting it seemed i always had encounters that left me saying "if i only had a gun...".  i figured it was at least making me a better gun hunter though so i kept at it and evolved my skills. fast foward to now and i say i enjoy bowhunting more than i do gun hunting.

 
there's what they call a bowhunter's bubble.  when you're that close to game you feel accomplishment and appreciate the experience whether or not a deer hits the dirt. you're taking it all in with senses pinned into overdrive.  yet everything else outside the bubble fades away.  i've had the same thing happen on occasion with a gun but it often happens with a bow due to necessity of being that close.  when i hunt with a trad bow versus a compound it just amplifies it even more so.  Then 40 yards away seems like a mile.  i was always meant to be a bowhunter.

[moog5050]

It started for more time in the woods.  Now I just appreciate a really good shot with the bow.  Watching a well tuned arrow in flight is flat out cool.  Its like watching that perfect drive on a golf course.  I will admit its addicting as is the effort it takes to improve.  Plus, as far as hunting goes, closer to deer in a natural less pressured setting is more exciting to me.  All of my most exciting moments hunting have been with a bow in hand.

[NFA-ADK]

Because scouting during bow season is much more fun with a weapon in my hand and I was able to use last years unused tags the first 4 days.  Not able to do that anymore.  Simply put it was another good excuse to get into the woods. 

[uberyan]

3 minutes ago, NFA-ADK said:

Because scouting during bow season is much more fun with a weapon in my hand and I was able to use last years unused tags the first 4 days.  Not able to do that anymore.  Simply put it was another good excuse to get into the woods. 

Remember when I told you I'd probably stick to only rifle hunting as I had no interest in bow hunting during last year's Suffolk Archers Hunter's Rendezvous?

That didn't last long...

[Don_C]

It's always been with me. I remember when I was maybe 4 years old, behind my Grandfathers garage in Pittsburgh with my Father and his brothers, they were target shooting with their recurves and I had a toy bow of some sort. I vividly remember shooting at the target, a giant round competition bulls-eye wrapped straw target towering over me - maybe 10 feet away -  the arrow bounced off. I remember my Dad and uncles laughing out loud and telling me "good shot!" That was 47 (or so) years ago.

I've always shot a bow, and always hunted with one. I've never been particularly great at either, but i have loved it and hope it I will be able to enjoy it for many more years.

 

[Elmo]

Being able hunt longer.  Having more access.  Being closer to the animals and interacting with them before they've been all spooked.  Not having to deal with the orange army.  Not having to freeze my butt.

[DirtTime]

Flat out just more time hunting.

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[Jeremy K]

16 hours ago, uberyan said:

You folks that shoot for groups at the same spot, are you not afraid of damaging your arrows?

I'm sure at longer distances the chances of a robin hood are slimmer but I'd still be afraid of busting up my precious hunting arrows.

I switched to a 5 spot target when I shoot 40 yards because of damaged arrows , I guess group is considered a round now.

[WNYBuckHunter]

17 hours ago, NYBowhunter said:

More time in the woods, deer not in hide mode, change of seasons (love the fall), more challenging. See a much more natural deer behavior.

Same for me.