Should it be a close-range sport? THE POLL

[Deadsmple]

TSP's thread about bowhunting being a close-range sport, has become a really good debate. After reading 4 pages(so far) that thread got me thinking about the different sides. Both sides I feel have valid arguments. I find myself agreeing with both sides but also disagreeing on different levels.  TSP said he didn't know how to do a poll, so I thought I would set up this little poll just to see.

[mcgroundstalker]

This should be interesting........

[Billy]

Good open questions...

[bowdude]

If not "sport" what would you call it?

 The $$ value involved does not typically let it qualify as sustenance hunting.

 You do it for enjoyment.  If we did not enjoy it we wouldn't be doing it.

 Don't be afraid to call it what it is.

[tradtusker]

thanks interesting few questions im interested to see how it turns out!  

[NorthShoreLB]

I always find it hard to seek parameters.

Should it be a close range affair ??... that's what I personally like, (close to me is 4 t0 12 yards) that's where all my kills have being, ....but than again if everything feels right I'm ready to take a 40 yarder, so right there I'd contradict myself !

...don't really care for the word sport, lifestyle is more appropriate to me.

[TSP]

Deadsmple, thanks for setting up the poll!  What better place than TradGang to ask a question like this...should get a pretty decent 'snapshot' of our collective approach when it comes to shot selection.    

[wtpops]

For my self, if i can hit a baseball at 50 yards, im talking all the time, and the situation was right there would be no reason not to take the shot. But even if i was that good i still would not take that 50 yard shot. Not that i think it would be wrong to do so for sombody with the talent but there is somthing in my brain that makes me get as close as i can, to close some times, i cant help my self. So for me it is a close range sport because i choose it to be.

[bentpole]

Brother Vaughn the closer the better for me now days. The furthest kill shot I made was years back on a yearling doe 28 paces to the arrow in the ground, she went maybe 40 yards. Would I take a shot that far now? Hard to say seems the older I get the closer I like them.

[Brian Krebs]

I believe bowhunting is more of an art form; a relationship with nature- than a 'sport'. Most see a sport- as a game. It is not a game to me.


 

[Bonebuster]

First off, there is no doubt by nature, bowhunting is a close range endeavor.

Some animals and the terrain in which they live, dictate that a ten yard shot is all but impossible. As an example, thirty, or thirty five yard shots at Caribou, are quite common.
Often a Caribou that has been hit with an arrow will bed down within sight. Poor hits can be followed up on much easier than a woodlot whitetail.

Through my bowhunting career, there have been a few animals that I hit with an arrow that I did not recover. ALL of them have one thing in common, they were at or beyond twenty yards or so. Shooting skills were not what caused the errant arrow. It was unseen brush, or movement on the animals part.

When I was younger and less experienced, twenty five yard shots were not uncommon for me to take.
With age, my shot distance has decreased drastically. I pass up shot opportunities now that I would have jumped at years ago.

I`m not telling anyone how far is too far. I`m saying there is no doubt that the percentages for a favorable outcome when you shoot at an animal go way up as the shot distance decreases.

Is bowhunting a "sport"? I say absolutely not.
Baseball, football, basketball, these are examples of a "sport". The outcome of a sport is meaningless. One team wins. A title is gained, maybe. Money, endorsements, are a possibility.
Fame and fortune so to speak. Everyone enjoys some type of "sport".

Bowhunting is so much more than a sport. In my opinion to call hunting in any form a "sport" is an insult to the people who are truely involved in the activity, and certainly an insult to the
animals pursued. Hunting is a noble, time honored endeavor, where traditions are handed down through generations. EVERYONE and EVERYTHING benefits from hunting.

Personally, I never refer to hunting as a "sport". To each his own.

[larry]

now we're going to get hung up on the word "sport" also?      

[Ted A. Young]

I don't see killing as a sport although it is the end result of hunting.  Hunting to me is a way of life not a sport!

[SteveB]

Larry -    

Like I said on the other thread - subjects that tend to get overthought.

If someone is to be judged or wishes to judge themselves, it should be done on recovery %.

If a hunter with a 40yd max has a better recovery rate then one with a 15yd max, which one needs to be asking why.

Steve

[Mr.Chuck]

Most sports are competitive!  We do not need to hunt for survival! So, in all honesty, I think  it is a form of recreation.  Eating what we harvest may let hunting fall into the catagory of supplemental food supply, but not survival.  As far as being a close range activity, I can't hit a baseball, but I can hit a pie plate consistantly at forty and fifty yards.  If that's as close as I can get, considering the size of the animal,forty or fifty would be my closest and best shot. Close to a Grizzly bear is not the same close as close to a chipmunk!  Of course if your not confindent in taking that shot,  then, you shouldn't.  My thoughts! :-)

[Recurve50LBS]

Ok here's what i'm thinking about long distance shooting at game.
Everyone screams about being ethical out in the woods and respecting our quary and I agree.

Who's to say that a individual who practices long range shooting shoulden't take long shots on game. There are no ethics police to tell someone to shoot or not to shoot. The decision rests entirly on the shooter's conciance.

I have read that Fred Bear took long shots at game. So has Ted Nugent. Both have made quick and humane kills at long range.

I feel that the range that a hunter shoots at game is entirly up to the individual holding the bow,shotgun,or rifle. He or she is the one that knows what their ability is better than anyone else. What may be ethical for me might not be ethical for someone else. It's up to the individual to decide.

Larry

[Deadsmple]

No TSP thank you. I feel the thread you started is a very good example of what makes this site so great. It showed we can have a lively discussion about something we all definitely do not agree on without stooping to name calling and trying to belittle anothers opinion. I'm sure it also allowed some of us to look within ourselves and see who it is we present to others.

[John 4]

Close range?? = Yes!
Close range is ? = 35 yards!
Sport = NO.
to me a sport has rules,referees,points,scores,winners,losers.
I guess some people see all or some of these things in their hunting,for a lot of different reasons,,none of them wrong in my view,just different to my own situation.
The only rules where I hunt are impoused by me,there is no score,no referee,no winner or loser,,,that last one's subject to debate but as far as I'm concerned we all live and then die at the end of the day anyway,so no contest.
My club archery is sport,,my hunting is the following of an age old instinct to provide,it's recreation,it's being a part of the natural cycle,it's me proving myself to myself on a very basic survival level.
It's not sport.

[larry]

according to my Random House College Dictionary;

sport;  an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often competitive by nature.

sportsman; a man who engages in sports, esp. in some open air sport, as hunting, fishing ect.

If the phrase "competitive by nature" bothers you, I can't count the threads that I've read on here on how we match our skills to the animals we hunt.

     

[McDave]

Besides bowhunting and archery, the other activities I enjoy are mountain climbing, backpacking, and fishing.  None of these things involve keeping score so far as I'm concerned; I don't care to keep score, and I'm not good enough that anyone would be impressed with any of my scores anyway.  However, scores are kept for all of them by those who care to do so: Pope & Young, archery tournaments, first ascents of mountains or unclimbed routes on mountains, fishing derbys, etc.  As far as I'm concerned, all the activities I listed are sports, whether anyone keeps score or not.  Heck, I had more fun playing golf when I gave up keeping score.

They fit the dictionary definition posted by Larry.  More importantly, they are all considered to be sports in the common usage of the English language.  It just helps in communicating with other people, particularly those who are not involved in your activity, to use the same language everyone else uses.

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers here, but one of the things that has irked me over the past 10-20 years has been the movement toward politically correct language.  We're not supposed to say waitress, crippled, retarded, or a whole host of other perfectly good English words anymore because someone might be offended, so we make up a bunch of new words that mean exactly the same thing.  It seems to me that we're headed in the same direction when we debate whether "sport" describes what we do in bowhunting.