Getting into Hunting: Starting with a Bow and Arrow

[gravenewworld]

How does one begin to get into hunting if you don't have any friends that own any guns or go hunting? Specifically, I was thinking about getting into hunting with a bow and arrow. I know it is probably harder, but I simply don't have the funds available right now or think that my living situation right now would be suitable for buying and keeping around a gun. The thought of tracking down and hunting your prey has really started to appeal to me. What is more humane also than eating an animal that hasn't lived its entire life in a cage, been forced fed antibiotics and hormones, and has been allowed to roam free its entire life and live off of natural foliage it is supposed to eat? I wouldn't doubt at all either that eating wild game is healthier.

 

[zoobyshoe]

What is more humane also than eating an animal that hasn't lived its entire life in a cage, been forced fed antibiotics and hormones, and has been allowed to roam free its entire life and live off of natural foliage it is supposed to eat?

It would be more humane to push for kinder farming practices than to go out and cut some wild animal's life short.

 

[dipole]

What makes you think bows are cheaper than guns? I have a 50 lb recurve bow that I paid about $230 for, and that's one of the cheapest you'll find for a recurve. Compound bows can be more or less expensive. And then there's arrows and other necessary accessories which can easily add another $100 to the cost.

Hunting with a bow is not something you can just jump into. It takes months or years of practice to get skilled enough with a bow to responsibly hunt with one. You need to be confident you can take down an animal in one shot from 30-40 yards and not just maim it.

And bows are NOT humane in any sense of the word. Hunting arrows use broadhead tips, which are essentially large razor blades on a metal shaft, designed to inflict large gaping wounds so that the animal bleeds out and leaves a blood trail you can follow. They don't go down right away, and they do suffer from an arrow.

I don't use my bow for hunting purely for sport, though it is a hunting bow. Hunting is cruel and shameful in my opinion.

 

[Charmar]

I hunted as a teenager but don't have the oppertunity to do so now but would love to do it again. I was never comfortable enough to hunt with by bow and arrow, but I was plenty good with a rifle. There are public lands available in some states if you do not own land. Being with nature and contributing to what my family had to eat was one of the best experiences I have had. Also make sure you are very familiar with how to dress an animal, I don't think I would have done it right the first time without someone showing me. Happy hunting!

 

[gravenewworld]

What makes you think bows are cheaper than guns? I have a 50 lb recurve bow that I paid about $230 for, and that's one of the cheapest you'll find for a recurve. Compound bows can be more or less expensive. And then there's arrows and other necessary accessories which can easily add another $100 to the cost.

Hunting with a bow is not something you can just jump into. It takes months or years of practice to get skilled enough with a bow to responsibly hunt with one. You need to be confident you can take down an animal in one shot from 30-40 yards and not just maim it.

And bows are NOT humane in any sense of the word. Hunting arrows use broadhead tips, which are essentially large razor blades on a metal shaft, designed to inflict large gaping wounds so that the animal bleeds out and leaves a blood trail you can follow. They don't go down right away, and they do suffer from an arrow.

I don't use my bow for hunting purely for sport, though it is a hunting bow. Hunting is cruel and shameful in my opinion.

You don't need all of the permits and have to deal with registration hassles like you do simply to own a gun. I'm not going to buy a gun right now while I'm living in an apartment. Of course I don't think you can simply just buy a bow in a sporting goods store and go out and hunt the next day. I'm wondering how does one become trained to learn how to bow hunt.

Hunting is not cruel, humans have only been doing it for the past 3000 years.

 

[micromass]

Hunting is not cruel, humans have only been doing it for the past 3000 years.

Humans also had slaves for over 3000 years. Doesn't make it right.

 

[gravenewworld]

I hunted as a teenager but don't have the oppertunity to do so now but would love to do it again. I was never comfortable enough to hunt with by bow and arrow, but I was plenty good with a rifle. There are public lands available in some states if you do not own land. Being with nature and contributing to what my family had to eat was one of the best experiences I have had. Also make sure you are very familiar with how to dress an animal, I don't think I would have done it right the first time without someone showing me. Happy hunting!

That's the other big thing, how to dress it. Do most states have hunting classes that will teach you how to properly dress an animal in order to cut down on waste?

 

[gravenewworld]

Humans also had slaves for over 3000 years. Doesn't make it right.

Except people need to eat.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Hunting is not cruel, humans have only been doing it for the past 3000 years.

Since when is the length of occurrence an excluding criteria for cruelty?

Except people need to eat.

I haven't eaten the meat of an animal for several months now and I'm still alive.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Humans also had slaves for over 3000 years. Doesn't make it right.

Is getting torn apart by wolves, or starving to death due to old age, better options to a quick kill at the hand of man?

 

[gravenewworld]

Since when is the length of occurrence an excluding criteria for cruelty?

I haven't eaten the meat of an animal for several months now and I'm still alive.

As far as I'm concerned, vegans/vegetarians can start their own thread. Can we please stick to the topic of hunting and advice on learning how to hunt? I will continue to eat meat.

 

[micromass]

Is getting torn apart by wolves, or starving to death due to old age, better options to a quick kill at the hand of man?

We only have control over our own actions. As far as I'm concerned, I would starve or die due to old age than to die right now.

Furthermore, you do realize that hunters also tend to use dogs that rip their prey apart, right?? So it isn't exactly a "quick kill".

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That's the other big thing, how to dress it. Do most states have hunting classes that will teach you how to properly dress an animal in order to cut down on waste?

This is a popular technique.

http://www.thepet-boutique.com/images/DogClothes/SmallDog/CherriesHarnessDogDress_small1.jpg

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[zoobyshoe]

As far as I'm concerned, vegans/vegetarians can start their own thread. Can we please stick to the topic of hunting and advice on learning how to hunt? I will continue to eat meat.

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm responding to your ridiculous rationalization that it's somehow more humane if you go out and kill one yourself rather than buy meat at the store. Hunting does nothing for the farm animals and a wild animal gets killed on top of it.

 

[Charmar]

Furthermore, you do realize that hunters also tend to use dogs that rip their prey apart, right?? So it isn't exactly a "quick kill".

I was around hunting for the first 20 years of my live, I have never seen that or even heard of it happening, not once.

 

[micromass]

I was around hunting for the first 20 years of my live, I have never seen that or even heard of it happening, not once.

Now you heard of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_hunting

 

[dipole]

You don't need all of the permits and have to deal with registration hassles like you do simply to own a gun. I'm not going to buy a gun right now while I'm living in an apartment. Of course I don't think you can simply just buy a bow in a sporting goods store and go out and hunt the next day. I'm wondering how does one become trained to learn how to bow hunt.

Hunting is not cruel, humans have only been doing it for the past 3000 years.

You need a hunting license regardless of what weapon you're using. And depending on what state you're in, the regulations on hunting rifles can be very lax.

Humans have been hunting for much longer than 3000 years, the homosapien is at least 100,000 years old. People have also been killing each other in war for much of that time as well, does that justify the continuation of war?

Do wild animals really need to die just to cure your boredom?

 

[Charmar]

You need a hunting license regardless of what weapon you're using. And depending on what state you're in, the regulations on hunting rifles can be very lax.

Humans have been hunting for much longer than 3000 years, the homosapien is at least 100,000 years old. People have also been killing each other in war for much of that time as well, does that justify the continuation of war?

Do wild animals really need to die just to cure your boredom?

It's not very honest to reduce hunting to just "curing boredom"

To me it is a wide range of experiences some of which I've already mentioned, that I wouldn't trade for much anything.

As for the wiki article on fox hunting I've never been fox hunting or know anyone who does, just deer, a couple kinds of bird and squirrels.

 

[genericusrnme]

This is a popular technique.

http://www.thepet-boutique.com/images/DogClothes/SmallDog/CherriesHarnessDogDress_small1.jpg

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Oh god, I nearly jamp out of my seat, that thing is ferocious!

 

[KrisOhn]

I grew up on a farm, where we had guns. We never hunted for sport, we just used them for clearing out nuisance animals. Typically things like gophers, moles, magpies, and the occasional wolf or fox when they're wreaking havoc around the farm. But from these experiences I pose a question:

Would you rather we take a monetary loss, of often significant proportion, due to these animals, or would you rather we kill them for the sake of our livelihood?

 

[micromass]

Would you rather we take a monetary loss, of often significant proportion, due to these animals, or would you rather we kill them for the sake of our livelihood?

I think there is certainly a difference between killing for fun and out of boredom, than killing to protect your living. I can certainly understand the latter, even though I would never kill myself.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I grew up on a farm, where we had guns. We never hunted for sport, we just used them for clearing out nuisance animals. Typically things like gophers, moles, magpies, and the occasional wolf or fox when they're wreaking havoc around the farm. But from these experiences I pose a question:

Would you rather we take a monetary loss, of often significant proportion, due to these animals, or would you rather we kill them for the sake of our livelihood?

You're honest and admitting you're killing them for human benefit, not claiming this is somehow more humane for the animals. I'd be out there killing animals if that's the only way I could eat, but I wouldn't claim I was somehow benefitting the animals.

 

[turbo]

I have hunted all my life, starting around age 10 or so. Venison was a large part of our diet. My father insisted that a clean kill-shot was more important than taking a "chance" shot. Even today, ~50 years later, I use a Ruger single-shot rifle if I'm going hunting, and if it's a rainy crappy day, I will use one of my old Winchesters, and only put one round in the chamber (no extras in the magazine). I don't hunt animals just to get rid of them, with the possible exception of groundhogs, that are prone to taking a bite out of a squash, then taking a bite out of another one... They can be quite destructive.

 

[256bits]

I think there is certainly a difference between killing for fun and out of boredom, than killing to protect your living. I can certainly understand the latter, even though I would never kill myself.

That is touching on the morality of killing another animal for whatever reason, be it recreation, livelihood.
Poachers no doubt are killing for livlihood, even when they take down a complete herd of elepahants for the ivory tusks, bears for the gall bladder, or aligators for the hide, and leave the rest of the animal behind to rot. Irregardless of the claim that what they do is illegal ( it not always was ), there is an economic benefit for the hunter. North America was once a haven for trappers and hunters for beaver, mink, fox, buffalo to name a few of the wild animals they died in the name of livlihood. The Hudson's Bay company and the Northwest Trading Company were rivals in North America in that era to supply Europe with hats made of fur. The territory spanned across much of the eastern part along the Mississppi and into the northern and central part of the continent. Exploration and settelement can be largely attributed to the enterprise of the fur trade.

Very few individuals, and these would be aboriginal or associated with, need to hunt to put food on their plate, and even then some of the paractices have a cultural and religious flavour to them.

Hunting, in its normal usage, and not that for verman control, has 'evolved' into a recreational sport, so doing it for fun, getting back to nature, grouping together with hunter buddies, killing your own food, are some of the reasons a person/people will hunt.

Beside the big game ( deer, moose, bear ) there is also fishing ( lakes, rivers ) and bird hunting ( ducks, geese ) that the OP could alos try. The OP should note that for big game, his chances of ever going out and getting an animals are slim. Lotteries are held by the gaming commisions and only a few out of 1000's are lucky enough to obtain the license for the season to actually go out and stalk an animal. Your chances of locating a big game animal to shoot at is slim.

Contact a hunting society in your area about licences, camps, regulations.
here is one from maintoba on the internet
http://www.huntingsociety.org/Manitoba.html

 

[russ_watters]

Now you heard of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_hunting

When you said "tend to", that implies you think that is typical. It isn't.

 

[leroyjenkens]

As far as I'm concerned, vegans/vegetarians can start their own thread. Can we please stick to the topic of hunting and advice on learning how to hunt? I will continue to eat meat.

My comment was a direct response to what you said. It wasn't off topic, and I wasn't proselytizing.

 

[ThinkToday]

How does one begin to get into hunting if you don't have any friends that own any guns or go hunting? Specifically, I was thinking about getting into hunting with a bow and arrow. I know it is probably harder, but I simply don't have the funds available right now or think that my living situation right now would be suitable for buying and keeping around a gun. The thought of tracking down and hunting your prey has really started to appeal to me. What is more humane also than eating an animal that hasn't lived its entire life in a cage, been forced fed antibiotics and hormones, and has been allowed to roam free its entire life and live off of natural foliage it is supposed to eat? I wouldn't doubt at all either that eating wild game is healthier.

I've hunted since I was 8. I've hunted coast to coast with shotguns, rifles, pistols, black powder, and bows. Of those, the bow has the potential to be the least humane. Most broad heads use razor inserts that slice at the prey as it runs, assuming it's not a quick kill, which is none trivial since arrows are affected by wind, twigs, flight time to game movement potential, and even the release of the arrow can result in sound sufficient to spook your prey. Archery requires you get VERY close. IMO, it is probably one of the hardest hunting techniques. It requires stealth, immense patience, significant skill (shooting, stalking, positioning relative to the wind, etc.), and luck; whereas with a rifle, I can kill pretty much anything I can see. Archery, with all the gear isn’t necessarily going to be cheaper, btw.

As far as bows are concerned, if you go that route, a compound bow is the best choice. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! Forget Wal-Mart, Dicks, etc. and go to a specialty bow store. Last year’s models will be cheaper, and probably just as good. The stubby little compound bows that look like they are made for a small child are adult compact compound bows. You want small. Trying to maneuver a larger bow so as to avoid branches, minimize the chance of being seen, etc. is important, especially when you are hunting in thickets, dense woods, etc. You will need cammo, sent masks, etc.. Get the armguard and a good release. The bow and the arrows are fitted to you. The arrows will have a custom length for you, and the weight and balance are critical, so record the length brand, etc., everything about the arrows because you will need more at some point.

Learn how to cook what you kill. Only kill what you will eat, for the most part (I don't eat ground hogs). Deer is good when cooked right. There is no way to make bear tasty!

Lastly, don’t go hunting before you are certain you can make a relatively clean kill, i.e. your skill with the bow under ideal conditions is dead on. TAKE LESSONS! You can’t control the environment, but you should practice under some modest conditions, such as light wind, rain, etc. If the wind is blowing a gale, it’s not a bow hunting day. Read about and practice stalking techniques because you’ll never get a shot if you can’t get close. NEVER take a hail Mary shot, I don’t care how great the mount would look! Hunting is a skill and hail Mary shots have no place.

 

[skippy1729]

How does one begin to get into hunting if you don't have any friends that own any guns or go hunting? Specifically, I was thinking about getting into hunting with a bow and arrow. I know it is probably harder, but I simply don't have the funds available right now or think that my living situation right now would be suitable for buying and keeping around a gun. The thought of tracking down and hunting your prey has really started to appeal to me. What is more humane also than eating an animal that hasn't lived its entire life in a cage, been forced fed antibiotics and hormones, and has been allowed to roam free its entire life and live off of natural foliage it is supposed to eat? I wouldn't doubt at all either that eating wild game is healthier.

1. Bow or gun? Depends where you live. Access to a shooting range or archery range should be your prime concern as you will need a lot of practice. A lever action Marlin or Winchester in 30-30 will not cost any more than a quality bow. A rifle allows humane shots at much greater range than a bow. A rifle with good iron sights is good for 100 to 150 yards, you do not NEED a scope.

2. Field dressing the kill. Several You-Tube videos available.

3. A hunter safety course is highly recommended and is required in some places to get a license. The NRA runs a lot of these.

4. You might meet people with similar interests at a range or safety course.

5. Check your state laws before buying a rifle or bow, many have specific requirements.

Good luck.

 

[turbo]

Ditto on #5. There are many locales in NE that do not allow rifles, so you could be restricted to shotguns or bows, even in places that are overrun by deer. CT comes to mind.

 

[dlgoff]

My father hunted with firearms all his life (I just bow hunt) and we ate everything he brought home; ducks, geese, dove, pheasants, quail, squirrels, rabbits.

I doubt most members here know how good these critters taste.

 

[turbo]

My father hunted with firearms all his life (I just bow hunt) and we ate everything he brought home; ducks, geese, dove, pheasants, quail, squirrels, rabbits.

I doubt most members here know how good these critters taste.

Probably not. I grew up eating deer, moose, fish, ruffed grouse, etc, and I was always disappointed with the food in our school lunch programs, and actively avoided supper-invitations from some of my friends as a kid. One of my friend's mother would fry cheap steak until it was past well-done - and that was here best effort. I understand now why he was skinny.