Meat Hunting

[stick_string]

Hello to all.  I am curious to know how many of you  are really meat hunters (deer).  Also, I am curious to know what the average amount of practice time you put in a week?  In addition, what is the average amount of deer you take a year is.

In order to answer these questions I realize that there are differences in areas, # of tags given by the state, and the type of property you have to hunt.  But given all that how sucessful are you at filling your tags.

I am asking these questions because I am pondering giving up the compound and going to traditional only (which will require alot of faith in my ability - since we want to live of of venison)      

[John Scifres]

I guess I am a meat hunter.  I get most of it with the shotgun though. 2-3 a year.

As far as practice, well, I mostly gun hunt  

You are right, though, you have to have faith in your ability regardless of how you want to kill your meat.  Practice until you get proficient at a predictable range and keep your shots inside of that.

[JC]

We eat quite a few deer and other critters at my house...but don't subsist on it. If I had to insure enough meat to feed my family of 4, I'd pick a gun. Thankfully I don't have to do that so I haven't hunted with a gun for about 15 years or so. I also don't have the time to hunt enough to fill my freezer with meat for an entire year...nor do I have that many freezers. I usually take at least one deer a year, sometimes more if time allows and my son usually takes one with his rifle. With the other game I shoot: hogs, javies, goat, exotics etc. we have a pretty good variety of meat to supplement our normal store-bought stuff. Hope to add a mule deer and at least one pronghorn to the larder this year   :D  

As far as practice, I typically try to shoot everyday my schedule allows. Sometimes it's 4-5 times a week, sometimes 1-2. Every time though, I shoot until I'm tired if light allows,if not then anywhere from 50-100 arrows.

I wish accuracy on 3D ranges or the back yard equated to that on live animals...but in my experience it doesn't. It certainly helps, but shooting fur and feather is much more difficult psychologically than foam etc. The only way I know to get better at killing critters with a stick bow is to kill critters with a stickbow...and even then, it's still not a slam dunk. But that's one of the many reasons we do this, right?    

[Ray Hammond]

use a gun

[IB]

Ben...I would say that ALL who hunt would be MEAT HUNTERS.

As to how much we practice. Well that depends on how proficient you WANT to be. In some cases it may depend on how hungry you get as to how much you practice.

Over the years I have found I rarely get proficient at anything when I have something to fall back on. Pullin the Fat out of the Fire so to speak.

I shoot every day that weather allows, still finding I ain't where I want to be (nock splittin). We still have game on the table and I DON"T fall back on anything, sept me and my BOWs

[Kip]

I never hunted with a compound except a short part of one season in the 80's had a recurve since the mid 70's so I never felt my equip. could not do the job.I use and eat 1-2 deer a year.I use to use a rifle and bow but have now only my bow but don't have to kill as many deer as I use to  but still hunt every chance I get as I get older.After you make your first kill with you trad bow (hate that word) you will not question the equip.I am a trophy hunter but a doe is a trophy to me doesn't have to have horns.Kip

[indianalongbowshooter]

Usually kill 6 deer a year at least until last year and got one. Usually its split between muzzleloader and bow, 2nd year I hunted w/recurve killed 5 in a row with one double. Me and the significant other usually eat all 6 deer in one form or other be it jerky, sausage or burger, so really bumming this year. I made the mistake of setting my sights on a really big buck and passed up a bunch of shooters/eaters including a ton of does while waiting for Mr. Big, seen a couple huge ones but never a shot. This year will be meat in the freezer only if I get a shot at a big deer fine if not still enjoy the hunt just as much...

[Mudfeather]

There was a thread a while back about this same topic and I looked for it but someone deleted it. It exists in the search but doesn't pull up.

It is more challenging than using a compound. Some pick up this disipline quicker than others. I average 4.5 deer with trad gear a year since 2002...my first year hunting with trad BUT I hunt alot and get many opps at southern whitetails.

[eagle24]

I would'nt really consider myself a meat hunter.  I average about 2 deer a year with traditional bow.  I hunted 1 day in the last 5 years with a handgun and none with a rifle.  I'm just not interested in hunting other than traditional archery anymore.  I will harvest 2-3 does each year if I can and won't shoot a buck that I would'nt put on the wall.  I shoot every time I get a chance because I enjoy it.  For the past month or so that has been everyday.  The word practice does'nt sound fun to me.

[longbowman]

First of all I disagree with the statement "get a gun".  I've been bowhunting since the 60's and have always said will always say that if all you want to do is kill a deer then get a bow.  Here, in PA, gun hunting is way too much luck with deer running wild all over the place.  Now, as far as using a compound vs recurve or longbow...I've personally hunted my entire life with recurves and longbows but I did take one season while running my own archery shop and shot deer in W.V., PA and Ohio using a compound and sights.  I put them away after that and still see no difference in being able to kill a deer.  I shot the same distances with both types of equipment and I'm just as accurate with both.
     As for practice.  I always say I never practice I just love taking my bow for a walk.  I like it so much I do it every day, summer or winter and rain or shine.  I just enjoy shooting my bow.
     Am I a meat hunter?  I always put a deer in the freezer for meat.  I sometimes hate giving up my buck tag since in my state and area you get one buck and one doe tag.  I've averaged just under 2 deer a year since 1993 when we started the two tag system.

[stick_string]

JC:
I think that is the biggest challenge I have is the mental aspect.  I see Fred Eichler and others do it but I cannot help but think that these guys only hunt (for a living).  Not having put arrow to flesh yet will be a big obsticle to overcome.  I picked up a stick bow because of the challenge and because every deer I have everseen has passed me within at least 12 yards, and sometimes alot closer.  Thanks for the advise.

Ray Hammond:
I appreciate the advise but to say "use a Gun"; well I think you are in the wrong forum. I dont gun hunt because frankly it got to easy.  I got to the point that I could shoot a plume at 300yds 4 out of 5 shoots and I lost the real meaning of hunting...at least to me...it turned into killing      

[duck'n]

I still hunt with alot of different methods.  Last year I didn't pick up a gun but I did hunt with my compound.  This year I plan to leave the wheels at home and hunt with my longbow/recurve.  We don't subsistence hunt and everything I manage to take is considered a "bonus" if you will.  I do alot of bird hunting and if I add a deer/exotic/hog to the freezer, that much better.  I enjoy the journey much more than the end now.  The trip is what makes it.  A prime example is this past fall, I FINALLY took an Aoudad ram.  I have hunted these elusive sheep over 20 years and had yet to even get within gun range, let alone bow range.  I shot him at 17 yards with my compound.  When I finally held the horns in my hands, it was a little sad because the journey had come to an end.  Not to say I can't go after a bigger animal but the "first" was down.  That and my longbow was sitting in camp and I feel good about my shooting at that range.  Anyway, that is my take.  If I feel I have to have some venison, I will pick up my .270 but I haven't felt that "need" in a while.  I don't mind coming home empty handed most of the time.

[stick_string]

longbowman:
I really enjoy my recurve the same way but at the tender age of 27 and with a growing family; it is becoming harder and harder to get away.  in Texas we get 5 stamps (I think, with 2 buck/doe tags, and 3 antlerless tags).  I want to fill them all but we will see.

[Beau]

Strictly meat!
At the risk of opening a can of worms or offending my friends here, I consider it an insult to the animal to decorate my wall with his head after I killed him.
Especially with a rifle from 200 yards away.
We wouldn’t stuff and mount our brothers, right?

[Blue Moose]

"We wouldn’t stuff and mount our brothers, right?"

Beau:

I wouldn't eat them either;).

TM

[vermonster13]

if I had to insure that I got meat to eat and feed my family, I'd use the time spent for hunting, scouting and practicing on a second job. My family enjoys venison and we eat all we get, but if I don't get any deer for some reason there still won't be anyone going hungry at my house. As much as I support hunting, family responsibilities will always come first.

[JL]

Does consitantly connecting with traditional equipment make you a better hunter? In my opinion, yes. I make sure I scout the land I'm hunting to try to help stack the odds in my favor. If your hunting a well used deer trail/scrape line, your more apt to put a deer in the freezer then just setting up randomly. Last couple have been rough. We had a poacher killing anything that walked with a rifle on the property next to us. Considering we were hunting 52 acres, this idiot took somewhere around 40 some deer and put a hurtin on the herd. Glad DNR caught him, dirtbag. May have a lead this year on a great lease with plenty of Sika deer on it. Talk about good eating! Hoping it works out.

If I tag a big buck, it's going on the wall but I'll take a mature doe for freezer meat just as well. My family loves venison and we have a chest freezer that is just for venison. I do my best to keep it full!

JL

[jacobsladder]

i luv venison... and i think any animal killed with traditional gear would be considered a trophy... i dont find much skill in hunting with guns....

[Dave Lay]

to try and answer your questions like ya asked them: I dont know what your deer herd is like in your part of Texas, but here it is kinda tough killing 3 or 4 a year with a stickbow (we get max 4 deer and have a 5 month bow season). I usually kill 2 or 3 sometimes 4 but my wife gun hunts some so we will usually put 5 deer or so in the freezer. I like horns like everyone else but I also like eatin deer meat! I am by no means a great shot, and during the summer I will normally shoot a couple nights a week after work for a hour or so then shoot a few 3-d tournments during the summer. good luck stay after it or as Ray said, gun hunt if it means eatin or not...

[Orion]

All hunters should be meat hunters.  In short, if you don't plan to eat it, you shouldn't shoot it.  Probably preaching to the choir here though.  I take two a year with my trad equipment.  Could shoot a lot more, but that's all I can eat in a year.  Enables me to be selective and put in a lot of time hunting.  I shoot daily.  I don't call it practice because its more fun than that.