[2-BIG]

in reply to: Conflicting Emotions about gun hunting… #61735

I think that many of us traditional bowhunters are also gun hunters. I hunted with a .22 and .410 for squirrels and rabbits when I was just a youngster and as soon as I could hunt deer with a gun I did. We are hunters first and foremost but many of us like to challenge ourselves by bowhunting and then we take it a step further by hunting with traditional equipment.
I cringe when I hear bowhunters complain that gun hunting is cheating or not challenging. That is like having someone that makes all of their own equipment from natural materials tell me that I am cheating or my equipment is not challenging enough.:roll:
I only have issues with game agencies that take hunting days away from bowhunters and give them to gun hunters and this is where I think a lot of people get the impression that bowhunters do not like gun hunting.

[2-BIG]

in reply to: 2009 Utah MuleDeer #46136

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[2-BIG]

in reply to: Favorite Game animal to hunt and why? #44874

Turkey followed close by squirrels. I am obsessed with whitetail deer but I seem to run into more horn porn idiots in the woods every year and kinda takes the fun out of deer hunting. You don’t find these people in the squirrel woods.

[2-BIG]

in reply to: Recurve vs. Longbow #44865

I shoot them both and love them both but I prefer to shoot my longbows. Might have something to do with the fact that I am more accurate with them.:wink:

[2-BIG]

in reply to: who was your mentor? #44861

My dad would have to be my first mentor as he spent a lot of time with me squirrel hunting and trapping. As far as a bowhunting mentor it would be my mom’s cousin Carl. He was more like a favorite Uncle to me but he had a passion for bowhunting and got me into shooting a longbow. He is still one of the great unknown whitetail masters in my opinion.:)

[2-BIG]

in reply to: Donating meat? #44855

I think that donating the meat from game we kill to those in need or just friends and relatives is fine. I’ll tell a short story of something that changed my life when I was only 10 years old.
My parents held a big benefit dance right before Christmas for several years running and with the proceeds we bought clothes and food for families in desperate need of help.
My younger brother and I complained that we had to do a lot of work for these events and we didn’t have an appreciation of why or what we were actually doing. To teach us a lesson my parents took us to a little house in the country and told us to carry several boxes of food and clothes to the door of the house and just tell the people that it was from people who cared about them.
When the lady let us in to set down the presents her kids went nuts over the food we had for them. Dancing around the room holding canned goods and boxes of cereal they acted like they had not eaten in a long time.
When my brother and I returned to the car we asked my parents why the kids were so excited over the stupid food and we were told that the father had recently passed and the mother was unable to work and they probably hadn’t eaten very much in quite a while.
What we take for granted in our every day life means the world to those who go without. Do I have a moral dilema with donating meat from animals I kill? Not in the least!:wink:

[2-BIG]

in reply to: Defining "Traditional" Bowhunting #44839

Like some here, I believe that traditional bowhunting is more of a mindset than basing it on ones equipment. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the best people on the planet through traditional bowhunting gatherings…but I have met a few that call themselves traditional bowhunters because of their choice of equipment that I wouldn’t spend 1 minute at their campfire.
The simple equipment can range from self bows, bamboo arrows, and home made flint tips wearing wool plaid clothing to the highest performing recurve, carbon arrows, sight pins, and new broadheads wearing scent proof name brand camo clothing.
I would classify the bowhunters attitude and ethics as traditional first and then take a gander at his equipment.
I was hesitant to throw pin sights into the mix but I am a firm believer that if one chooses to use sights on a simple bow then it is most likely that the person is doing this out of necessity and not to tip the odds in his favor when shooting at game. Like Gene Wensel said in his video (Spirit of the Bow)…”There is no shame in aiming when you are dealing with an animals life. Shooting a bow becomes an athletic ability and some just don’t have that.”
To me traditional bowhunting in a nutshell is 90% attitude and 10% simple equipment.:)

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