Success rates for traditional hunters.....

[slayer1]

I read an article in an old TBM last night. The author stated that only about 2 to 4 % of all traditional bow hunters were successful. When I read that I was kind of floored. I guess because most of what I have seen over the past several years tells a different story. I have about 6 friends that I hang around with regularly that hunt with trad gear. Out of 6 guys, everyone has taken at least one deer already and a few have taken multiple deer.  Does that stat in TBM seem a little low? I wonder where he got his numbers? What do you guys think? Am I way off base here?

[whitebuffalo]

I'm interested to hear from some others too. I remember a stat once that said only 10 percent of hunters actually harvest deer???But thats a totally different story,,

[vermonster13]

Average for traditional is the same as for other equipment. About 12% nationally.

[Jim now in Kentucky]

I have read that it's arouind 7% for all hunters in Maine---if I remember correctly. Totally believable to me. Tough to see a deer in the daytime here. That's why for decades gun hunters here engaged in well organized drives.

I've seen 2 deer here while afield this year. One I came across whil still hunting and the other was skulking in the brush at the edge of a field just before dark.

I would guess the success rate for traditional archers in Maine is down around 2%--but that IS a guess.

[jbb]

How old was the article?  I remember back in the 70's when I first started hunting I saw FAR fewer deer then what I consider 'normal' now.  Back then, one area we hunted I was lucky if I saw a deer off in the distance during the course of a weekend.  Now I am wondering what's going on if I don't have 8-10 of them that walk directly below my tree each time I go out.  90% of the time I go out I pass up shots.  I just like being out there.  I could have filled all my tags the first weekend but then what would I do?  This year is my first with trad gear since the early 80's and I connected on the only shot I have taken.

[Gun]

I'd say that is a little low. In our Province wide Trad Club we have about 50+ members and I know that at least 8 - 10 guys get critters every year.
Lets let them believe those numbers. Otherwise they will think that we are actually a management tool.  

[Ben Woodring]

Two thoughts....I would say deer populations are as high as they've ever been, and the success rates would certainly follow that trend. The second thought is the pool of hunters you're looking at, for example, I shoot at a trad club every Thursday..this group of men shoot at least once a week year around and are always improving their technique.  This group averages about 30% success in any given deer season and we have all been hunting trad for at least 10 years.  Any one of us would say the first 3 or 4 years hunting trad was more luck than know how.  I would hazard to guess there's a big number of trad hunters that hunt 1 to 3 seasons and then give up having had no  success either in getting a shot or recovering the animal.

[slayer1]

jbb, I think the issue was about 2 years old. Maybe I mis-under stood the statistic he was trying to get across.
I am with you on the passes. I have passed up 15 to 20 bucks this year and no telling how many does. I have taken 3 shots this year and connected all three times. One of the other points that he made was compounders and smoke pole users had higher success rates. From my point of view. I have had more opportunities for success because I have had to become a better hunter in order to use my weapon of choice. In other words, I have to get closer, be more stealthy, practice shooting more ect. than the previous lot mentioned. I guess if anything I have been way more successful than when I gun hunted or hunted with a compound. I guess its just another way of viewing things.

[jbb]

I wonder how they measure success rates, anyway.  Consider deer for example:  is a person 'successful' if they tag one deer in a season?  Or if I have 5 tags and fill 1, am I 20% successful?

[MI_Bowhunter]

Well, I'm 0 deer for 2 seasons with my trad gear.

It has nothing to do with the gear.  I hunt in an area with low deer population and I just haven't seen many deer to shoot.

There are many factors that could define success or failure that have nothing to do with the gear a hunter uses to take game.

Stat's can be misleading, esp without knowing how the data was gathered and the parameters for processing the data.  Even then it can be misleading.    :confused:

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Some guys I know are hunting for one deer that they have seen and pass up shots on others that could have been taken. Success rates are deceiving IMHO.

[eagle24]

Every time I go into the woods my success rate is 100%.  

[George Tsoukalas]

eagle24, great answer! Last year I saw 2 deer in 3 months. This year I saw 2 and arrowed one of them which was my first ever. I live in NH.   Jawge

[Bjorn]

You can do anything with statistics. Don't forget 'we' are talking about guys that hang out on bowhunter sites, shoot regularly and hunt often, and post even more! LOL.
We likely comprise a tiny percentage of the total bow hunting population; and yeah our numbers will be way different from the general pool.

[jbb]

Yeah, I think there are a lot of casual hunters out there that maybe buy some tags and maybe hunt a weekend or two, or maybe not.

[eagle24]

Originally posted by Bjorn:

We likely comprise a tiny percentage of the total bow hunting population; and yeah our numbers will be way different from the general pool.

Good point.  If I take myself and 4 best trad buddies, we will be 80 to 100% almost every year.  Course we are hunting in a state that harvests almost 1/2 million deer annually.

[slayer1]

eagle24 that's a good point. we have a pretty good population here in NC too. I guess the more deer you have the better your chances are of harvesting an animal.

[Lost Arra]

I think Mark Twain said:

" There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies and statistics".

I agree with Eagle24. The one statistic I have not seen described is that of the 10-12% success rate, probably half or more  of that success is by the same hunters every year. While the remainder is by a larger group of hunters who are occasionally successful.

[Molson]

That statistic is probably correct.  I think it seems unbelievable because most of us are heavily involved in bowhunting as are the people we associate with. There are far more "casual bowhunters" out there than there are committed.

[vermonster13]

The rates vary from state to state. Nebraska is #1 with a 29% success rate. The national average is 11% I was one point high. Graduates of the NBEF course are around 25%. Those numbers carry over into traditional because those who hunt with this equipment tend to be even more committed to hunting.

I don't know where the numbers for the article came from and haven't seen it yet, but I am basing mine on national, state and university studies and statistics. Many of which were used in the WHA battle. Recovery and wounding rates are very similar across the various weapons also. Firearm hunters do have a higher success rate average though not as much higher as one might think.