One lucky bird...

[Trond]

Saturday I went for a little stumping trip. The weather was just to nice to sit at home, so I grabbed the bow and went into the woods. After a while, and about fifteen stumps later, I came up on a small hill at the edge of a clearing. I stood there for a little while, listening to the sound of a small brook and feeling the warmth of the spring-sun in my face. Suddenly I heard flapping of wings nearby. I looked around, and there just 7-8 yards away a hazel grouse landed on a small branch with it's broadside right against me. I just couldnt believe it... Slowly I placed an arrow on the string of the Cayuga, raised the bow and carefully pulled the string back to anchor. Everything felt just right... I knew I couldnt miss this shot. For a few seconds I looked at the small spot I picked on the wing of the bird... and lowered my bow. Hunting with a bow is not allowed in my country, but I could walk away knowing that this bird was mine.
This is a little different hunting story, and about NOT shooting, but it was nice, just the same.

[Robert Armstrong]

Why is bow hunting not allowed?

[Trond]

If I only knew...

[Robert Armstrong]

Hope that will change for you brother. Best of luck.

[Trond]

Thanks bro, but I think it will require more than luck... I will continue to shoot at stumps, and dream of a time when my arrows will find it's mark, and I can eat it...

[longbow fanatic 1]

Counting coup! Well done!

[fmscan]

Good on you, as good as a kill, maybe better in some ways! That said I am very glad I live here and can hunt for real....

I have a couple friends who live in Austria where bowhunting is not allowed. I don't think I could ever live in such a place! I guess it is good because I would never have met my friends if they had not come to Texas to bowhunt, but i sure don't understand the mentality of it!

Bisch

[Mudd]

I applaud your self control and will of character.

It's what we do when no one else is looking that shows what we're really made of.

I am truly grateful that I live where I can take meat with my bow and arrows.

God bless,Mudd

[Trond]

Thank you, Mudd.
I must say it took almost every ounce of self control I have to not release that arrow. But if I can't hunt legally, I am not going to descend to poaching.
So you just have to put up with my stump-hunting stories up until someone finds out how to legalize bowhunting.

[njloco]

Just curious, since bow hunting is not allowed, are you allowed to carry a hunting type weapon ( bow in this case ) into the woods at all. I ask because most states here in the U.S. don't allow it unless one has some type of hunting license, be it large or small game. So to go stump shooting in N.J. I do need a hunting license.

[Trond]

Yeah, that's another funny thing about my country. You see, a bow is not considered a weapon here - it is "sporting equipment". So technically there is no difference between a bow and a golf club, and no one can deny you carrying that in the woods. That said, I haven't met a game warden yet so I don't know, but the law that regulates shooting with a bow only dictates that it is not allowed in, over or nearby public places. And since the woods isn't a public place, and I stay away from trails and roads, I think I'm good.

[Matty]

Pardon my ignorance.. Are there hunt able "game" animals in Norway? Is hunting, weather it be with bow or gun not allowed? I can understand in some countries that don't allow guns... But a bow seems relatively harmless from a public safety standpoint.

[Trond]

Matty, yes there are plenty of huntable game in Norway, and hunting is allowed as long as it done with guns. Rifles and shotguns only. We have moose, deer, roedeer, reindeer and a lot of different birds to hunt. I used to hunt birds and hare in my younger days, but my powderburning days are over. Now a days I practise with my bow, hoping one day hunting with it will be a reality. (Btw, my old shotgun is US-made. It's a Harrington&Richardson single barrel 12GA magnum.)

[njloco]

That is sad, here in nj. USA, we have been fighting for the right to hunt black bear with a bow, and it looks like we might get it for the 2016 season.