What Mistakes do Bowhunters Make When Going Rifle?

[SDHNTR]

I find that when I rifle hunt, I often don’t take stalks seriously enough. I don’t stay as in tune with the wind, or staying out of sight as much, or thinking I can get away with movement. Being used to bowhunting, I often think it’s easy to get within 2-300 yards. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not, especially if taken for granted. Treat every stalk like you are bowhunting into range, even if that range is a few hundred yards.

 

[Grassymike]

I bowhunt about 95% of the time. Prairie country in Southern Alberta, when I do rifle hunt with my Dad I am always telling him to get down or we can't walk that way because of the wind. Most of his shots end up at 100 yds or less, sometimes much less. Most guys around here that "hunt" are rifle hunters who just drive until they see something to shoot at. Sadly few walk much at all. I much prefer hunting with my bow in hand before the "pickup army " season. The mistake I make is working in much to close for rifle .

 

[WCB]

I've noticed some really good archery hunters go on rifle hunts and think they don't have to "hunt" anymore. They get a "if I can see it I can shoot it mentality"....or fall into the same trap joe blow gun hunter does. Sits in a box blind on a big open field and doesn't get why they arent see big bucks. Again, they stop hunting.

 

[TaperPin]

The basics of either kind of hunting are simple, but the devil is in the details. It says it all when we talk about the kinds of long range things we talk about and our wives say, “How do you guys know all that?” A new hunter that doesn’t have his system sorted out completely will miss some animals because they haven’t fully thought through or experienced all the situations that are likely to be encountered and how to deal with them.

Range estimation for quick shots requires some feel for yardage. If a hunter has to laser every animal, a small percentage of relatively close shots will slip through the cracks. Proficiency at long range with a rifle isn’t easy - it’s a different skill set from archery and has to be practiced regularly to get that muscle memory. It’s also a skill to find animals in the scope quickly - it’s second nature, but only because of the trigger time over the years. Offhand shooting can be a specialty in itself.

Especially when stretching beyond 400 yards, wind calls becoming increasingly important. If someone can’t tell the difference between a 5 mph and 15 mph cross wind, that’s going to limit effective range in some situations.

If we polled archery hunters about how far to lead a moving animal with a rifle, they would have a hard time guessing, not that average hunters are any better. It’s a good skill to have, or at least know when to throw in the towel.

When a mulie is jumped and he’s headed over a knob or ridge, both kinds of hunters have a feel for when they will pause and look back, but the rifle shooter gets down to business and knows when the deer stops the rifle has to go bang. We also know sometimes an all out run is required to get to a vantage point for a shot before the deer disappears into thick vegetation or terrain. I keep a small cow elk call on the binocular strap to get a bedded deer to stand up, stop a walking deer/antelope/elk, or get one going away to turn a bit - how it’s used is somewhat unique to rifle hunting just because of the distances involved - with a lot of use it becomes automatic to use when it would help, but it requires time in the driver’s seat.

Stalking is different, at least having a good feel for where you need to be for a long shot is different - the variety of doable shots is different. Antelope hunting I’m always working to get to a slight rise or knob - that’s automatic to me, but something not even on the radar of bow hunters. Same for getting caught out in the open - I was crossing a big bowl packing out an elk and a big mulie had walked over the top opposite of me maybe 800 yards away - to the right is so steep it can’t be climbed, back tracking and getting on top of the bowl puts the wind at my back, and the instant choice of all bow hunters is going down hill to get in the trees, follow it around the bowl, and pop out 100 yards from him. Out in the wide open with him pawing at snow, a single deer you can see clearly is a dead deer. I walked right at him, stopping unless his head was down, and closing the distance to 400 yards - Bang Bang.

As everyone else has said, elk are very different during rifle season. Even still hunting in the timber requires a different feel for how fast to push, how far you can shoot, and when everything explodes and your brain is on overload, what you practice is what you’ll do. I’ll bet many animals have simply walked away at easy rifle range just because the brain wasn’t conditioned to rifle ranges.

Then there are the simple things like not sticking the muzzle in the dirt, or banging a scope into a rock, even a little bit. When it’s raining, keeping the scope covers closed until your ready to shoot - if there are no covers, protecting the lenses at all cost. Not hanging the rifle off a shoulder unless you need to or those few seconds can cost you. Basic gun safety sounds easier than it is to do consistently. Think of all the things a new shooter learns over a period of years. My nephew has hunted a number of years, but I’m constantly reminding him he better get his asss in gear and shoot pretty dammed soon - the kinks just haven’t been fully worked out of his system so he’s better at killing turtles than hares.

 

[Kramerica3]

More competition is likely. Watch out for the sea of orange vests and clogged forest roads with road hunters.

You need to practice with a rifle on a continual basis like you practice with your bow. If you can afford to shoot as much as a bow, great…but, chances are you will practice enough to stay sharp to stay within budget. Training rifles such as 22LR or .223 will get you shooting more for less money.

Are you hunting in the same elevation as where you’re hunting? This matters for you’re ballistics.

Safety, safety, safety. I cannot stress this enough when handling a firearm. Watching a noob swing a muzzle all over the place is always disconcerting.

As others have mentioned, you likely will have to go find the animal you’re perusing. Unless you can hunt during the rut, you have to find them and then get close enough for a makable shot.

Unlike a bow, follow-up shots can occur pretty quick if you’re well practiced. I’ll keep shooting the animal until it’s down and dead. Typically, this isn’t needed for me, but it’s good remember in case you spoof a shot or for some unknown reason…you get a stubborn animal. Weird stuff happens. This makes sure there’s no getting away.

You will probably be hunting in a colder time of the year. Lots of gotchas to list here. Be prepared, and do your best to keep your weapon clean and dry.

X2 solid advice right here

 

[Zac]

I think the biggest mistake people make is when they mount their 5 pin sight to their rifle.

 

[nobody]

I did the opposite, rifle to archery. But I’ve rubbed shoulders with and interacted lots of people who did both and now crossover. By far, almost without exception, is the mistake of believing that rifle hunting doesn’t require as much practice as archery. This perception permeates most facets of the hunting industry to some extent, that archery requires exponentially more practice. I would also venture to guess that anytime an archery hunter sees somebody make a bad shot “because it was too far” with a rifle, they throw the baby out with the bathwater and blame rifle hunters across the board.

News flash, I would bet the majority of archery hunters have zero business shooting an animal with a rifle any further than their supposed effective bow range. But hey “rifle hunting is easy,” right?

 

[Oldrifle]

Bow hunters are more adept at getting near than rifle hunters, who will simply sit in a saddle and wait for the wildlife to approach them. Very species-dependent. For elk, it's not like you're hunting the same animal.