Bow hunting in the woods behind my house

[SELF-MASTERY]

good idea or bad?? I would love to hunt with a rifle, but LE wouldn't be happy, and my neighbors would rat me out....

I've noticed more and more deer in the area...

 

[S1NN3R]

Why would it be a bad idea? As long as you're not violating hunting regs, why not? Just get some good practice in and make sure you're capable of hunting well enough, there's nothing worse when hunting than just injuring the animal and not actually bringing it down.

I used to bow-hunt wild boar in central Texas all the time. That was a trip. Half the time those things would rush you before dying and you're standing there flipping out trying to re-nock before he gets to you. Scary sh!t, those tusks....

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

Have you ever hunted javalina???

 

[S1NN3R]

I don't know what that means...

 

[Create Reality]

With a bow you're more likely to wound a deer and let it slowly die rather than a one shot kill.

 

[Bible_Belt]

It's not hunting season until winter. That will give you plenty of time to practice, because shooting a compound bow with accuracy is not especially easy.

 

[Helter Skelter]

I've noticed more and more deer in the area...

I've noticed more and more humans in the area. Who's the one that's really out of control.:nono:

 

[Vulpine]

Also, if it's not your land, be sure to have permission to hunt on the land from the owner. If the deer are pests, then you should have no problem.

 

[Porky]

personally I think this is a very bad idea.

given my personal assessment of you, I doubt very much that you could actually manage to kill a deer with a bow. As somebody else said, you'd be far more likely to wound it and let it die slowly, in great pain.

 

[Vulpine]

personally I think this is a very bad idea.

given my personal assessment of you, I doubt very much that you could actually manage to kill a deer with a bow. As somebody else said, you'd be far more likely to wound it and let it die slowly, in great pain.

Yes, Porky, you have a point. However, all bow hunters had to start somewhere. I feel there is a certain "order of progression" with bow hunting. First, the would-be bow hunter must first hunt with a rifle. This way, the hunter develops an appreciation and understanding of the animal and it's elements/behaviors. Then, after understanding the animal and respecting it, then they can properly transition to the more intimate hunting scenario that is bow hunting.

Self Mastery, I assume you are a hunter and are looking to "graduate" to bow hunting. I also assume that your goal is not to just kill deer, but hunt them properly. When I say "properly", I mean as a sportsman and not a trophy hunting yahoo. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt here: I assume you know that you'll be 15 yards away from your prey in camouflage, in a tree stand, with your license, at 6:34 in the morning with the prey's vitals on your 15 yard bead, waiting for the 6:38 legal shooting time. I assume you understand all that bow hunting entails, and are looking for encouragement from other bow hunters, correct?

Well, I rifle hunt. And, I've been out with guys who have hunted with black powder rifles and bow. It turns out that I'm very interested in black powder because you have to be much, much closer, as with bow hunting. After I successfuly hunt with black powder, I will be better prepared for the intimacy and will transition to bow. My family does all 3, rifle, black powder, and bow. That will be my progression as well. I understand what is involved with each method by proxy, I have been with bow and black powder hunters while they were hunting either driving, calling, or hunting other species on the trip - and driving.

I recommend you get a bit of sponsorship by a current bow hunter and practice. Unfortunately, I haven't the time nor place to practice with a bow or smoke pole, so I haven't gotten either yet. I would hate to be in the woods and unsure of my ability to humanely take down an animal. I think Porky and I both hope that you are responsible as well.

Check your local laws, you may be able to hunt with a shotgun or black powder rifle because of their reduced range.

 

[Bible_Belt]

In my area of the midwest, there is no rifle season on deer. It's either bow or 12 guage with deer slugs. I think there may be a handgun season in some states. Crossbows are usually banned, but a few states allow them for handicapped hunters.

I am no fan of hunting in general, but the way that deer are 'hunted' by the average drunk redneck is an insult to the art of wilderness survival. They just sit in a tree and blast the deer as they wander by. There are hardly any natural predators of deer left, so they are overpopulated, sickly, and not especially scared of people. It would take about as much hunting skill to go into a fenced pasture and shoot a cow.

On the other hand, if you can bring down a deer with an atlatl, that I respect.

Ancient Spear Weapon OK'd For Deer Hunt in Pennsylvania
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0124_060124_atlatl_deer.html

 

[youknowtherest]

I've been bowhunting since I was ten. I take blacktails behind my mother's place on the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington. I fill the freezer pretty much every year. She has 10 acres butting up against 1000+ acres of DNR land which makes for wonderful stillhunting and very challenging spot-and-stalk. Organic, range-fed, lean meat for $1 a pound (butcher fee)? Best deal going.

My concern with bowhunting in a more populated area is the impact it would have -- on your neighbors and on hunting in general -- when the critter runs out and bleeds out on someone else's yard. . . or in their swimming pool. . . I trust you've shot a deer before and that you know that even with a double-lung shot they can and will run 100 yards before they go down, and the bloodtrail will look like someone was running with an open can of red paint. If you miss and hit the paunch or brisket, they'll run into the next ZIP code and as a hunter it's your duty to track it and finish the job. Either way, it would be an awkward way to get to know your neighbors.

Some dip$#!+ kids shot a dog to death with target arrows around here a few years back, & there was a push to ban bowhunting altogether. It didn't get far, but you get the idea.

Incidentally, I built my own purple osage and thornwood recurve (63#), I make my own arrows (I buy the raw wooden shafts, and cut, fletch, paint, head, and balance them myself) and I hunt on the ground, boot to hoof in God's arena. No treestands, no baiting, and no training wheels on my bow.

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

I was planning on doing it the hard way with a longbow. I've been into archery for a long time, I've deer hunted before with redneck friends, and have shot trap/skeet for 3 years.

 

[youknowtherest]

Awesome! I recommend Fred Asbell's "Stalking and Still-Hunting: the Ground Hunter's Bible." It is a damned difficult sport and I wish you the best. Good luck.

My bow:

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

Awesome! I recommend Fred Asbell's "Stalking and Still-Hunting: the Ground Hunter's Bible." It is a damned difficult sport and I wish you the best. Good luck.

My bow:

thanks....'

nice bow...

 

[youknowtherest]

Oh, yeah. Chicks will NEVER -- NEVER -- get it.

Never.

I keep my archery trophies on a bookcase and my bow hung on the wall, but my European-style mountings are all at my mother's place. I've learned to not bring it up.

 

[youknowtherest]

Come to think of it, there are a lot of similarities between sarging and hunting. Real hunting -- groundhunting -- mind you. Patience, alertness, camouflage, working the surroundings, finding suitable prey, drawing a bead (finding an angle to work), the release (the actual pickup), tracking the wounded (getting her back to your place or hers). . . . hmm.

 

[Vulpine]

In my area of the midwest, there is no rifle season on deer. It's either bow or 12 guage with deer slugs. I think there may be a handgun season in some states. Crossbows are usually banned, but a few states allow them for handicapped hunters.

In most shotgun zones, black powder is also ok, since it has the same limited range. As for deer overpopulation, that is why the DNR refers to killing deer as "harvesting".

And yes, sitting with your butt in a stand waiting for a deer to stroll by is a bit less than "hunting". Which is why I track my deer in the late morning and afternoon. I only sit first thing in the morning and in the evening. The deer are moving then, so I don't have to. There is a certain feeling you get when you come up to a deer in it's bed that you don't get when a deer just strolls by. And, when you see a deer in it's bed and leave it alone... then see the same deer walk by later when you are sitting... that's pretty cool.

I agree Bible_Belt, drunken rednecks give hunting a bad rep. Where I hunt in northern Wisconsin, wolves have been making a big comeback. Deer there are far more scarce, and far more weary. Also, I've been out in the morning and when I came back to camp in the evening, there have been bear tracks following my tracks. At night, the hair on your neck stands up when the wolves start howling... hunting THERE is a far different than hunting the farm field rats of other areas. Oh, and I camp in a tent, in the winter, in northern Wisconsin, for a week, in the snow, by myself.

There are guys out there, Bible_Belt, who treat hunting as more than getting another head for their wall. There are guys out there who don't sit and watch a pile of corn. There are guys out there who go out in the woods with a compass because they go deep. There are guys out there who don't make a shot unless it will be a fatal one. It is indeed a shame that there are far more people who have heaters, refridgerators, and satellite TV in their deer stands. Hunting? Nay, more like target practice.

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

Oh, yeah. Chicks will NEVER -- NEVER -- get it.

Never.

I keep my archery trophies on a bookcase and my bow hung on the wall, but my European-style mountings are all at my mother's place. I've learned to not bring it up.

That's for sure..

Last winter I had a deer somehow get into my fenced backyard and my ex gf got pissed when I wanted to take it down. People generally dont understand or respect gun ownership...

 

[Vulpine]

Awesome! I recommend Fred Asbell's "Stalking and Still-Hunting: the Ground Hunter's Bible." It is a damned difficult sport and I wish you the best. Good luck.

Right on! It's good to see other's with the same approach to hunting. My uncles made me read a similar book before they ever let me hunt with them. I've been chasing deer on foot ever since. It's a different game when you are mano-a-deer in the deer's environment: they have the home field advantage, that's for sure.