Think gun is easier. You have a much longer range of fire, and scent control is not as important, wind and weather have much less effect on a bullet then it does on an arrow.
This... I.e; You are on the last day of a 7 day Dall Sheep hunt in the Brooks Range. Your guide spots a mediocre ram but a definite shooter. The ram is bedded just below a 10ft rock cliff with nothing but grass above him. The thermals are rising and he is only 300 yards out. Perfect stalk. Bow or gun?
Now this is a question I will answer...Gun because I am tired of walking up and down those mountains for 6 days and just want to be done.
Hard for me to answer as I'm sure it would change if I was there. I would probably try to sling the gun over my back and attempt the stalk w/ my bow. If anything got shakey it would be boom stick time.
My answer to this would also be gun. Simply because its the last day of the hunt. If it were a very similar scenario towards the beginning of the hunt I would put a stalk on with the bow.
I actually clicked bowhunting is easier. 6 week season that includes the rut, and about 1/10 of the people in the woods at any given time 2 week season, after the rut, where the deer are not under any sort of natural movements because of so many people in the woods.
Yeah pretty much spot on for our state. Still think bow hunting is harder of course, and most people I know put way more effort into bow because it takes more. But, you make a great point.
I also gun hunt in Illinois, it's not my favorite, but its another day to hunt. If you get a second season only permit because of the lottery and have only 4 days to gun hunt for the entire year, it can be challenging because of weather patterns and other misfortunes. With that said, the gun season in Illinois is very short for a reason.
