New hunter, bow vs rifle.

[type2bowhunter]

Bow! It's much more difficult and not an efficient way to fill the freezer... but the challenge and excitement of stalking into 30 yards of an animal is unmatched.

 

[markhugus]

Bow

 

[benkahle9]

I always recommend beginners start with rifle, that said, if there is one you gravitate significantly more towards then either is fine. Whatever you choose, practice is most important.

 

[kybuck1]

I'll second the rifle recommendation. IMO a rifle gives a little safety net on marginal shots and ethical kills for an inexperienced hunter. Get a few under your belt and then maybe get out and practice with a bow and see what your comfort level with that is. I would personally strive to get animals within bow distance with a rifle first and then go from there. You'll learn a lot anatomy wise, deer reactions, quartering shots, tracking and stuff from those early encounters. Don't worry about any criticism from archery only guys as there are always those guys out there. Be an ethical hunter first and foremost.

 

[Ztm91]

I wanted to share an update here. I ended up picking up a cheap rifle, a savage 110 trail hunter lite. Never having fired a rifle before and being cross dominant, I ended up going left handed. Which left me with the two primary choices of 6.5 creedmoor or 7prc… I did choose the creedmoor. Bought a used scope here, diamondback tactical 4-16 EVR-2C MOA reticle. Assembled everything yesterday, scope base, scope, MDT Oryx chassis, full arca rail, spartan javelin lite bipod, precision armament M11 brake.
Luckily I have tons of BLM land within 30 minutes and got out to see if I could at least get it on paper. Neglected to take my full bit set in addition to the fat wrench case and bits, therefor couldn’t pull the cheek rest and even get close to bore sighting, so just had to wing it. Got pretty close eventually.

 

[Marble]

My advice to the OP is to do both. If you want to become proficient at hunting, the weapon choice is secondary to all of the other knowledge you'll need. I would have a shotgun, rifle and bow, and hunt whatever you can, as much as you can. Each discipline bleeds over skills into the other. You will learn skills from hunting various big, small, fury and feathered animals, that will help you learn things you never thought of.

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[cq0302]

Whatever one you see yourself practicing the most with and getting the most proficient with. I would say both. You don’t need expensive versions of either to be effective. Archery will give you more reps in the woods with longer seasons. The skills of getting inside archery range of a big game animal takes time to learn and you’ll likely fail more than with a rifle. Best answer, both lol


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[JeffRaines]

I'll echo what a few have said, being an "adult onset" hunter. My background was sorta like yours, save for the camera part. I started out being interested in backpacking, then fishing, then put the two together. I had always wanted to hunt but living in areas with next to no public land meant either befriending someone with property or paying to get on a lease. In hindsight it would've been a good idea, but I hadn't ever hunted before so at the time I didn't know if it would be a big waste of money or not.

When we moved to Washington I started with small game and worked up from there. Small game lets you get your feet wet during very liberal seasons. You get to see the killing part, then the work that comes after albeit scaled down. If you decide it's not for you after that, you haven't sank a bunch of money into it.

My first season I hunted grouse and rabbit. Found them both fun to hunt and tasty to eat. Then I started deer hunting the next season. I had been interested in archery at that point, having bought a bow before moving out here from the east coast(I had planned to hunt, but once I discovered that little public land dilemma I decided to put it on hold until I moved out this way. Subsequently I sold the bow before moving out).

I ended up buying a rifle, and then deciding "screw it" and buying another bow as well. I ended up hunting archery my first big game season and I learned a lot. My very first day out I could've filled my tag had I known what I was doing. I had one dead to rights at 15 yards while walking through some timber. It took me until the following season to finally fill my tag, and that season I let a lot of deer walk before I took one.

Believe it or not, it wasn't until 4 years later when I finally shot something other than a target with a rifle(a bear)... and the year after that I took two deer out of state with a rifle, and a buck here with my bow.

When you're out hunting for small game, you'll be taking notes of where you see deer/elk. Where you see sign. Where you see crowds. It all helps later on.

Good luck!

 

[TradArcher]

What calls out to your heart? Thats what you'll need to pursue.

Also, don't neglect shotgunning for birds and small game, very satisfying hunts.

 

[North of 60]

Agree with most of what is said above. Start with a modest rifle to get acclimated and see how you like that first. If you have a local archery shop/club, that is a great place to try various bows.

Having shot deer with recurves, compounds, and crossbows, it takes most a long time to get proficient enough with a recurve or longbow to ethically hunt game. If you know someone with a crossbow to let you borrow it (and it is legal in your state), that would be the easiest way to get a taste.

If you go the archery route, whatever bow you choose, get proficient first before hunting.

Beware because bow-hunting is quite addictive...however it is also (imo) the best way to learn how to hunt because the margins for error are so much less.

 

[MDpublic]

you can probably do both - archery seasons tend to be longer so you get more time in the woods. personally, the challenge of bowhunting is more exciting to me but it is more of a personal preference

 

[hibernation]

With that being said, while working full time I will also be going back to school in a master’s program so my ability to tinker and play around learning bow and arrow tuning may be hindered at the current time.

Good call picking rifle, especially in a state like Idaho. Archery doesn't just take more time to learn, it also takes more time to hunt. You've got way better chances on a rifle tag fitting in a quick weekend hunt between classes.

 

[Ztm91]

As another follow up here, I did end up getting my first tag recently. My Idaho residency isn’t official until almost November, so I should be good for application season next year but my choices were limited this year. I’m still watching returned tag sales in Idaho and am on the alternates list in Montana. The only mule deer tag I was able to scrounge up was a leftover 22-2 tag in Wyoming. Not the type of unit I’d prefer as I’d much rather backpack hunt and this unit has almost no public land access, but it gets me out in the field and learning.