Is bowhunting a "sport"

[jrbows]

If you consider our opponents while we're hunting, wind,weather in general,the animals senses, the rules as they are and a bunch of other things I'm sure I forgot, then yes I can see where it would be considered a sport. I just don't think "winning" always involves a kill.

[Thumper Dunker]

Originally posted by Plumber:
archery is a sport,hunting is a skill. an man do I love it!!!! my 2 cents

I like what he said.And will add We do not need to kill for food its cheaper to go buy it, than to pay for all this stuff and gas ect.  We want to kill or own food . And there's nothing wrong with that.I think we have way more respect for the meat that we do get. Even the stuff we do buy.

[cahaba]

Webster's defines a sport as an activity having an opponent. An opponent is defined as a person with a different objective from your own. If you shoot for scores to win archery is a sport. If you don't compete against anyone then it's not a sport whether it be bow hunting or archery in general IMO.

[Tajue17]

I personally hate sports all sports so with me its one of my hobbys intertwined with my sense for adventure,,,,, I'm not trying to win, I'm not trying to beat my average, I'm not doing this for excerise, if I can lose some pounds and feel better though I'll take it!

[NOMAD88]

In order for it to be considered a sport you have to be competing against another. So if your personal reason for hunting is competition then it is a sport. For me I don't consider bow hunting a competition so I would say it's not a sport.

[GreyGoose]

Sport or not - I'm trying to get my game on - the grill!

[Roger Norris]

Originally posted by ron w:
Hunting, Mountain Climbing, sailing, fishing, shooting and a bunch of other things are sports. Things that are considered sports today such as Baseball, Football, Basketball and a host of others are games. Archery and Bowhunting are a sport!      

Very good!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Archery is a sport.  Hunting and Gardening are Activities.  Bow hunting could be considered a sport I guess.

I look at it as the act of collecting food and alleviating stress just like gardening and fishing.

[Bowwild]

I've played a variety of sports in my life. A key word in that sentence is "played". My favorite sports were solo activities such as cross-country, track, and mountain bike riding.

For  me bowhunting is too important and serious an endeavor to be on my list of sports. In fact, except for purposes of considering this thread, "sport" doesn't even come to my mind when I think of bowhunting.

I don't consider bowhunting "play". When I play I win or lose. When I bowhunt I succeed or fail. Some would offer this difference is really just the words I choose to describe my emotions? But success and failure have deeper and longer-lasting meaning to me than beating a time or a competitor. I distinctly remember my cross-country coach became perturbed in October as my focus turned to the woods instead of the course. I missed only one practice per year and that was opening Saturday of bow season.

I can't recall, even when breaking x-country records (40+ years ago) ever feeling as ecstatic as watching a Doe drop after a receiving a well-placed sharp arrow. She was a Doe before the shot but now she is my Doe.

Bowhunting challenges my knowledge, stamina, skill, determination, patience, and sometimes my tolerance for pain. Hmmm.. some sports do too.

I often run into people who can take or leave bowhunting. They bowhunt when the seasons are open, then put archery away until next year. I wonder what they or I am missing to take bowhunting so casually? For these folks bowhunting is just among things that define them instead of THE thing.

I find myself a bit concerned as I age about what I'll do if someday archery/bowhunting are no longer possible for me. It helps me to read about folks here who are older than I am and still going strong.

Finally, I'll admit I may be too passionate about bowhunting or not passionate enough about other things that matter to a lot of (normal?) folks.

[Cootling]

"Sport hunting" was distinct from "market hunting" and "subsistence hunting," just as "sport fishing" was distinct from commercial fishing.  

The connotation of "sport" has changed.  "Sport hunting" has a negative connotation that makes it a preferred term in some quarters, used to trivialize the culture of hunting.  Many of us obviously share that negative connotation, as it is evident in responses to this thread.

In some contexts, the distinctions between recreational, subsistence, and market hunting are still important.  I think "hunting" connotes recreational hunting, at least in the U.S.  Labeling other forms would help prevent confusion, e.g., in news article that refer to effects of subsistence or market hunting on species that are now rare or extinct.

[Llamma1]

I see archery as a sport only if you shoot competitively. I use to do that and it was very competitive. Now I shoot and hunt for myself. It is something I really enjoy. I feel it brings me closer to my heritage and improves me as a person. I shoot and hunt alone. What I find in the woods is myself and reflection. I can not see that as a sport. I know it means something different for every individual. So it makes it a difficult question. Every person will see it from a different view.

[ChuckC]

Bowwild,

right or wrong, normal or twisted, you are not alone in your feeling and holding of certain importance, maybe even inner drive toward bowhunting and the chase.  

I tried to stay out of this one and let everybody else think and talk, but what you said is how I feel.  It is much more important, much more ingrained, much more a part of what and who I am to be "just a sport".  For me anyway's.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this one, only a feeling that each of us has and that feeling is most certainly different, and holds differing importance among every one of us.
ChuckC

[Stickbow]

I don't care what a book says, personally it is more important to me than baseball, football, hockey, tennis, NASCAR etc.

It might be a sport to some .......to each his own

[Zradix]

By the book hunting is a sport.
..I'm too ignorant to read that book though.

...I don't consider myself a sportsman.
..even though what I do is called a "sport"

To me a sport is a game. Played for fun.

3-d shooting, football, firearm shooting, etc are sports.

Hunting is hunting. I personally feel that calling it a sport is disrespectful to the animal and to me.

In sports, the teams that play against each other go home afterwards..win or lose.

I wouldn't play a "game" that the goal is to take life.

...there are other words for such actions...combat comes to mind....and that is certainly NO GAME.

If I took an animal's life with the same mindset as shooting a basket, I'd have some serious soul searching to do.

To me hunting is no game.
It's hunting..plain and simple.

[WildmanSC]

Bowhunting is definitely a sport.  Especially with stickbows, we are giving game a "sporting" chance that actually puts the odds in their favor more often than not.

Bill

[Bladepeek]

Personally, I think we just get way too hung up on terminology which is interpreted differently by everyone using the terms.

I eat what I kill, but can't claim to be hunting to eat. When I look at what I have wrapped up in  bows, arrows, clothes that I really wear just for hunting and licenses/tags, I'm paying way more than what the best rib eye, or top sirloin would cost me from my local butcher. I have always enjoyed the tradition, emotions and challenges that I associate with fall colors, smells and getting out in the woods.

I really don't care what someone else calls it. For me it's "hunting".

[sidebuster]

Its a sport.  If hunting with a bow had to be done every day or week so you could eat and survive then it would not be a sport.  Since We do not hunt for survival then its a sport.

[SportHunter]

Well you can see my screen name implies it is a sport but when I went with this screen name my truck was the "sport" edition and my dog was named Hunter (still is), and most other screen names I came up with were gone. Also, I don't really care what people think about screen names.

Anyways, back on point. I think the hunting most of us do is actually a sport rather than subsistence hunting. Most people are hunting for the enjoyment of the chase, the challenge of the endeavor and the horns and meat are a bonus. If you really look at it and calculate the cost of your time, equipment etc. it would be cheaper to work your day job (unless you're retired) and buy meat at the store.

I don't look as it as a competitive sport like football or soccer but it is a sporting discipline like fishing. It takes time to become proficient with your weapon of choice and you need to develop hunting skills like planning, patience, tracking, navigation and much more.

Some people balk at it being referred to as a sport but there is always someone with a difference of opinion as to what is right and what is wrong or proper...

As long as you are ethical in your hunting I could care less what you call it, much like the harvest or kill debate.

My chosen sport that I pursue is hunting. I've been playing in the woods since I was a kid and being outdoors still makes me feel like a kid with a bb gun.

[hitman]

Bowhunting is my lifestyle.

[Flying Dogg]

Monkeyball spelled it out.

A "sport" would be an activity where you are competing either as a team or an individual against others. I think in all reality bow "hunting" would not be a sport for most of us.