What exactly do you find you like better Ben?? My best friend is left handed and I have shot his bow a bunch of times and I HATE it.........and the bow fits me pretty well. Not to mention I have never had any problems shooting righty. Just curious, because I know if I had started shooting lefty I think it would have been MUCH more frustrating due to my lack of dexterity with my off hand.
I'll second Rob. You're in an advantageous situation in that you haven't shot a bow yet, so you haven't developed bad shooting habits. Start out left handed, and start out right. I made the switch after almost 10 years of shooting, and it was a very smooth transition.
Thanks for waiting Ben!!! I love my bow!!! Tick Tock, Welcome to bowhunting and to the site!!! As for the question at hand.... I truly enjoy the challenge of getting close to the animals and I feel like I won when they don't know I am there... I don't necessarily need to kill an animal to feel like I have been successful... The bows, you have been given the best advice, shoot as many bows as you can and you fill find the right one that feels good to you...
I started bow hunting for practicality more than anything. (waaaaaay back when) There was NO gun season where I grew up. If I could find a spot to shotgun hunt two counties over... my chances of drawing a tag back then were almost nil. So taking up bowhunting was the 'easy' way to go for me. The deer I got most excited over last season? The button buck I shot at 11 yards with my shotgun. It's only my second shotgun deer. On the other hand I saw a really nice 10pt buck while I was shotgun hunting and I didn't even raise the gun. Go figure.
Try it once & you'll find out why we are who we are. That's really awesome that you want to do that for your son. I too had similar situation. Except my dad never did anything with me at all. Cars, hunting, shooting, etc, he never had an interest in it. So my younger son has taken up gun hunting last yr and we just go him a bow so that I can introduce him to bowhunting. He shoots a bow in school, so the interest is there. Biggest thing to teach your kid is patience. It takes alot of patience in waiting for that deer to come close enough to shoot. But when that buck comes in at 15 yards and you can see his muzzle whiskers and hear him breath, WOW, that'll blow you away. You won't even have to shoot, it'll be an experience you won't forget.
Why???? It's just a rush, addiction an education. I always said I learned more about deer the first year I bowhunted than I had in the previous 10 years of hunting them. I've been bowhunting for 38 years. I tried for most of them to get my buddy to take it up but never could convince him. I moved back closer to him and had just purchased a new bow. I took my old bow(which is a great bow and not that old) and set it up for him. It cost me a new set of cams, some new arrows etc. Over the past summer I taught him to shoot. He's 65 years old. Anyway, he shot 4 deer this past fall with the bow. He sincerely states, I may never hunt with a gun again. He said not only did he learn so much about deer just watching them interact whereas in the past he'd just raise his gun and blow them away, but he also learned so much about the woods, his surroundings, patterning deer etc etc etc. He said he even figured out this one guy had his dogs inside and invisible fence. The deer often entered the field from that side. When he heard the guys dogs start raising cane at 5 O'clock every night he figured it out. They smelled or saw the deer long before they hit the fields. 5 minutes of yapping and the deer were there. Yup, just try it. A target rich enviornment like my buddy has is nice. He walks 100 yards from his house and climbs into a ladder stand. He shot 2 bucks and 2 does from the same tree. LOL
Atlas, I thought it would be really awkward. I don't really know what to say. It feels way better, natural would be the word. I no longer have to tell myself to keep my eye closed.(3D shooting, I really had to make sure the left one was jammed shut) I am now holding (aiming) with my dominant hand and drawing to a set anchor point with my non dominant hand. I think that is what makes this so normal. Was the switch necessary? No. Did it help? Absolutely. If my LH Air Raid doesn't come in time for Spring Gobbler, I am gonna be stealing an Iceman from Rob to hunt in the blind right handed as I don't want to try to make my 101st fit. I can, have, and will continue to shoot right handed quite well, it wil just be other people's bows that I do it with.:d Texas, no problem. You reaped the benefits of my switching more than anyone. (Damn, I loved that bow) PS. Tick Tock.....just had the 20 week ultrasound this morning......my first child will be a boy! :d
I've coached Ben into switching and the transition was very smooth. When I first worked with Ben with his right handed bow I asked him about shooting with both eyes open. That's when I learned he was left eye dominant. Twildasin happened to be up to my place and Ben came over. He shot Tim's left handed bow, it was natural and since we got him to change to left handed, his shooting has never been better and it's just a natural form of shooting from anchor to release with both eyes open or at least semi open. What pisses me off is how well he shoots both ways now. I can shoot left handed but I have to think about it too much. :d
I have been bowhunting since I was 7 (crossbow then). It is simply in my blood and it is as much a part of me as any part of my personality.
Not even close. lol. jk. Why hunt with a bow? I don't know why. I do know that when I was young, I couldn't sit still for longer than 10seconds. ADD like crazy! lol. Then my dad started taking me up to the cabin with him in the Fall. We walked around for miles on end, and I helped him put up his treestands. Then the next year, I would go up with him, and I would sit in another tree, and watch him hunt. Boring, yes, educational though. Then the next year, I started hunting. All through this time, my grades in school went up, my attention span started expanding, I was an all new person. It was crazy. It was almost like hunting made me grow up. (Go figure).lol.
X 2, I agree...For me, gun hunting and bowhunting can't be compared. I gun hunted for years, and deciding to give it a try with a bow was the best decision I ever made hunting-wise. Since getting into bowhunting, my level of respect for the game I pursue has increased ten-fold, as well as my love of everything that has to do with wildlife and the outdoors. Nothing compares to being able to spit on an animal a few yards under your feet, or seeing the detail of a deer's whiskers, or hear it breathing heavily you're so close. In my opinion, bowhunting has made me a better hunter and I have gained knowledge I would not currently have if I only gun hunted. By no means do I have as much bowhunting knowledge and experience as many of the people I've met on various forums, but that is why Im here, to learn.
I hunt with a bow because the thrill of the kill is 10000x better for me. Process of the hunt remains the same for the most part, but the end result is more rewarding, and IMO more difficult to obtain. Simple answer = MORE FUN!
1. How does the weapon in your hand dictate how much knowledge you need while hunting? 2. So the weapon in your hand makes you more skilled at hunting? Seriously, I love bowhunting, but the elitism attitude is ridiculous. To imply that you are or have to be a better hunter because you use a bow is a little ridiculous. That weapon means nothing, you still need the same knowledge of the deer and the habitat to be successful. I don't care how far you can shoot a rifle, your aren't going to kill anything if you don't know where they are. How about some of the advantages that you get with archery tackle? Longer season, less pressured deer, more predictable patterns, hunting the rut, ect... Do those actually mean that rifle hunting is harder and requires more skill? Get over it, hunting is hunting no matter what weapon you carry. That deer doesn't care if it is killed with a bow, a bullet, a car, or a bear, ITS DEAD!
Barking up the wrong tree a little there though. Kodiak Spot and Stalks up in AK. You telling me it takes the same skill set to stalk into 300 yards, than into 40 yards? Yeah, me neither. I agree the elitism sucks, but in alot of cases...it isn't elitism..It is stating facts. Rob isn't tootin his own horn. He is comparing ranges. It is harder to get within 40 yards than within 300, fact. Up there, many of the seasons overlap as both bow and rifle, negating the advantages gained by bows. I know he went on a few hunts this year where everyone used rifles, but him. By saying you are better for using a bow than someone else using a gun, is elitist. To say that you are better yourself than you would be had you hunted with a gun all these years, is just stating fact. Even you can't argue stalking within bowrange is MUCH more difficult than getting within rifle range. There IS more to hunting than just treestand whitetails in the eastern hardwoods fellas.
Trevor, thanks for clarifying. Not sure if he was referencing what I said about it making me a better hunter, but that is what I meant. Not a better hunter than any other person, but bowhunting has made ME a better hunter than I would have been plopping down in the general area of where deer are gonna be with a Slug gun and 3x9 scope. I like to gun hunt too, don't get me wrong. But the thrill is no where close to bowhunting. Tick tock---You will enjoy yourself whether you choose to gun hunt or bowhunt. Either way good luck, and have fun ..thats what its about
