Bow hunting or bowhunting is one of those sports that you either love or you hate - a little like fox hunting in the United Kingdom. Town people abhor it and anybody involved with it and country people see it essential to cull wild animals that could otherwise become a nuisance.
Despite its macho image, which was encouraged by the film the Deer Hunter, there are growing numbers of women who go bowhunting. The big difference between hunting with a rifle and hunting with a bow is distance. A hunting rifle with telescopic sights can deliver enough punch at 600 yards to take down a deer with a single shot virtually wherever it is hit in the chest.
On the other hand, a hunter using a bow with a fifty pound draw weight will need to get to within about forty yards to be able to deliver the same kind of lethal punch, if the shot is precise to the heart.
This means that if you severely wound an animal from 600 yards, it will most likely be dead by the time you get there, climbing over fallen trees and rocks, but if you severely wound a deer from forty yards you see its anguish.
This has a sobering effect on most bow hunters. The overwhelming majority of bow hunters do not want to see this and they do not want the creature to suffer either, so they wait for the right shot. If it is not there, they do not shoot.
A hunting bow needs to have a draw weight of at least fifty pounds to hunt large game and that used to mean quite a sturdy recurve or longbow, but the compound bow was developed in 1966.
A compound bow makes use of pulleys to help with the draw, which permits less beefy people to accomplish a draw weight of fifty pounds, which has opened up bowhunting to women and adolescents.
Large wild animals are risky and some will attack without notice if they feel in danger. This leads to a danger zone around wild animals. Every sort of animal has a danger zone, for a bear, that could be quite large and for a stag less so. This danger zone is an area outside of which you are fairly safe.
If you are hunting with a rifle, you can remain outside that danger zone easily, but with a bow and arrow, well, you often have to go inside it. This enlarged risk provides a superior rush for bow hunters - a bigger thrill. Especially if they are hunting bears or mountain lions.
In contrast to the Deer Hunter, most bow hunters go on organized trips these days. The hunting trip is organized with the aid of a specialized firm which will present guided excursions into areas known to have large numbers of the animals you want to hunt.
These professional guides know how to bait zones to attract your prey; they can advise on safety aspects and they carry a big gun in case a hunter is too stupid to follow their advice. Unfortunately, the gun is for use on the animal, not the idiot.
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on various subjects, but is currently concerned with compound hunting bows. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.
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