Gun vs bow

[Bigjay73]

A few years ago I bought a new decked out bow from a local shop. I also have a couple of rifles I'm fond of, one that I built. I can tell you what stock, forearm, receiver, scope, scope rings and bases, barrel, bullet, primer, case and bullet each rifle has and uses. If you put a gun to my head, other than the name brand of the bow, I couldn't tell you the make and model of the sight, rest, stabilizer, quiver, arrow, broad head. Anyone else way more attached to their firearms than their bows? I think for me it's that my rifle is a pretty simple thing made of wood, steel, sweat and artistic beauty, my bow is some soulless fancy schmancy wonder of technology . Let's stir this pot, I have time, didn't pick up and an OTC elk tag this year.

 

[Robert N]

I dunno. I’m not sure it’s about the tool as much as it is about how the tool forces the hunt.

I can tell you the following:

1. My Primary Rifle is one of two: a Remington M7MS (full mannlicher stock from the Custom Shop) in .257 Roberts topped with a Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36 high gloss duplex with a personally hand loaded 117 SGK over 43.0 gr. of H4350, Winchester +P brass and Remington Primer…2800 fps and 3/4” groups…
2. My “secondary” rifle is a Christensen Arms Ridgeline Carbon 24” barrel in .308 topped with a Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40 (MOA cds) with a TBAC Dominus silencer on the end…shooting 165gr. BT’s over a bit of Varget…2750 fps and sub 1/2 inch groups…
3. Or my Muzzleloader…a CVA Accura MRX topped with a Leupold VX3 1.5-5x20 running 300gr. of .452 XTP in a ribbed sabot over 80 gr by weight of 777… 1650 fps and yeah…inch groups…
4. Or my one and only bow…a PSE Carbon Levitate with an HHA dual pin Tetra, QAD Integrate MX2, Tightspot quiver and RIP TKO 5mm Arrows at 28.5” with a 125gr. Kudu single bevel broadhead for a net weight of 450 grains at 270fps…

Yes, all those are real, they are all mine, and they are all just tools. It doesn’t matter how much money gets spent or how well I know the specs of each piece. It’s like a NASCAR winners circle there. Really, do I givashit about Valvoline? (*Insert Ricky Bobby clip right about now)

The Bow forces me to hunt quiet. Get close. Get even closer. SLOW down. Even getting to a tree stand, SLOW is SLOWER. And go slower still. The slowness is kind of the thing. For me, this is all about getting quiet and finding peace in my head.

Is the bow soulless? Maybe…but being 15 yards from a doe starring straight into my soul while a buck is waiting at the edge…unable to move, unable to blink, unable to breathe…

The Bow is First, the Muzzy is second. Rifle season is less about the hunt and more about just filling the freezer.

The farther away I get, the less personal it all becomes.

It’s not the tool…

 

[perma]

Same for me, I can tell you all about my two rifles from barrel to butt stock. I couldn’t tell you the weight of my arrows, or the model, or anything else for that matter. I just know it shoots accurate if I don’t screw up.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I don't own a rifle and the few times I have had an opportunity to shoot one, I have not done very well. I would like to get one some day, but I also know that my dad has a nice .270 that I can probably borrow at any moment if I want to. But I don't really want to. Guns are scary and I haven't spent much time around them.

EXCEPT my two Remington 870 12 gauge shotguns (one a 1960s era Wingmaster with walnut stock and blued steel, the other a composite stock magnum receiver with full camouflage circa 2015ish). Love them and am always looking forward to a waterfowl or turkey hunt or even just some naughty clay pigeons that need to be taught a lesson. I almost don't think of them as guns the way I do a handgun or a rifle. It's super weird that I feel different about shotguns than other guns, but it is what it is.

My bow on the other hand I really love shooting. It is a Bowtech RealmX with whatever QAD sight and rest the bowshot was selling at the time. Look forward to hunting with that all year long. I also have a walnut laminated recurve bow my dad got in the 60s from a friend that I have been shooting a lot. I would shoot either of those bows before I picked up a firearm, UNLESS it was turkey season and I could take a shotgun out into the woods.

What can I say? I just like hunting and I like turkey hunting a little more than bow hunting.

 

[EastTNHunter]

I love guns, and I come by that honest. My granddad was a gun nut and when he passed he left a bunch of guns to my dad, aunts, and uncles. My dad loves guns, but he has a personality that is more focused on “gadgets” and peripheral things than actually building a load, then perfecting and knowing it.

I tend to be more of a focused tinkerer that likes to set up my rifle in a way that fits me best, then develop a “perfect load.” Then I have to develop another “perfect load”, which sets me to tinkering. I find satisfaction in putting that effort into what I used to harvest my game before the hunt almost as much as I find in the actual hunt.

With archery I don’t care. If it shoots then I’ll hunt with it. After all it is a short range weapon that requires less precision of instrument. Also, guns tend to hold their value while bows drop in value like computers when a new model comes out in a year or so.

I’ve never been attached to a bow the way that I have been a rifle.

 

[gouch]

I'm just the opposite of the OP, but I don't own a compound bow. I have always shot recurves and longbows. Nice recurves and longbows are more than a weapon, they are works of art. Shooting them accurately gives you a great sense of accomplishment and pride. A rifle is just a tool to put meat on the table. Low maintenance, very little practice needed, and minimal hunting skills required to kill critters. When I've hunter with a rifle most of the time I would brush the dust off before the season, and usually take two shots. One to see that the scope was still good and one to kill some poor little doe or maybe a bear.

Funny thing is I love my muzzleloader. I like to just hold it and look at it. I love to shoot it and hunt with it. I even enjoy cleaning it.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I can tell you all of the parts on my bow, but not my rifles...why...because I just bought them as is and did not feel the need to piece something together that just works out of the box I got it in

 

[NEWHunter]

Bow technology has been changing rapidly in my lifetime. Rifle technology has not. Bows get upgraded every so often and the old one gets put away or sold - never to be seen again. A gun I buy today isn’t going to shoot materially better than the one I bought over 30 years ago - not the case with a compound bow.

Besides, nothing says, “it’s time,” like the sound of the action on my BAR slamming shut.

 

[Salmonloaf]

Long time rifle hunter, and it wasn’t until i started bow hunting that i think i truly became a student of hunting. Regardless of the tool, forcing yourself within 30-50 yards of an animal truly teaches you the importance of the basics. It’s made me better in every way.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

I could tell you both components of my bows and my guns, but only because it has taken me so long to feel confident with my gear. After years of switching out scopes, rests, rings, arrows, sights, releases, bow strings, bullets, etc...it has finally come together and I've settled on what works for me.

 

[Rie Bread]

A few years ago I bought a new decked out bow from a local shop. I also have a couple of rifles I'm fond of, one that I built. I can tell you what stock, forearm, receiver, scope, scope rings and bases, barrel, bullet, primer, case and bullet each rifle has and uses. If you put a gun to my head, other than the name brand of the bow, I couldn't tell you the make and model of the sight, rest, stabilizer, quiver, arrow, broad head. Anyone else way more attached to their firearms than their bows? I think for me it's that my rifle is a pretty simple thing made of wood, steel, sweat and artistic beauty, my bow is some soulless fancy schmancy wonder of technology . Let's stir this pot, I have time, didn't pick up and an OTC elk tag this year.

It’s why I shoot traditional bow