On hunting with less efficient weapons

[ianpadron]

I would venture to guess that practice time with a given weapon annually is a much stronger predictor of wounding than type of said weapon...

 

[Yoder]

If you are gonna be any good, you need to shoot year round. Plain and simple. Especially if you are just learning - OP has never shot a bow and has limited experience hunting. If you want to learn something, you either practice all the time or you go half-assed.

You seem to think that half-assed is the way to go.

I bow hunted from 1978-2013 and still do on occasion when the state forces me to either bow hunt or sit out the year. Not my preferred way anymore.

There's a big difference between a 20-30 yard shot out of a tree stand and shooting 50 yards after a long stalk. I also think it depends on your base skill. I've shot a bow, ever since I can remember. In my teens, I shot almost every day. I can start shooting a few months before the season no problem. I also don't shoot past 30 yards at an animal. If you are brand new, I think you should really take it seriously and shoot a lot. Even then, with modern bows and sights, it's almost like shooting a gun at this point once your sights are setup and your bow is tuned.

Traditional archery is completely different. There I agree you should shoot all year a couple times a week. That is extremely tough. I used to shoot instinctive with a compound when I was younger. Ted Nugent was the man back then and that's how I wanted to shoot. I even had an Oneida bow. I stopped shooting for about 7 years and when I started back up, I tried to shoot like I did when I was young. I lost a bunch of arrows, and I couldn't hit anything. I bought a sight and a peep within a week.

 

[Beendare]

I would venture to guess that practice time with a given weapon annually is a much stronger predictor of wounding than type of said weapon...

or at least highly correlated.....

 

[North of 60]

Get extremely proficient at whatever you use with good penetrating broadheads for archery or good bullets for your rifle, take closer shots, and it will minimize bad outcomes. Bow hunting you will see lots of big deer outside of an ethical range. My preference bow hunting is shots within 10 yds and around 25 max to reduce string jumping or wounding without recovery.

Humans have been bow hunting for centuries. Compared with trad archery, compounds with peeps are an easier button, and Xbows are the most easy button for archery. As others have mentioned instinctive shooting with recurves or longbows takes much time and effort for most to become proficient, and is much fun when proficiency is reached. I'm more proud of the does I've taken with a recurve than any of nice bucks I've taken with a compound or Xbow.

Deer hunting (medium game) is also a bit different than hunting larger game. When rifle hunting large game (elk and larger here if you get the opportunity), keep shooting (it may take 2, 3, or more shots) till their head stays down and that will help keep from losing a large game animal you thought would stay down that gets up and runs into the next county.