babyhog wrote on 09/08/10 at 14:45:26:

Piglet,how can such a sweet gal like you go out and slaughter a poor inocent Animal that has done nothing to you ?
And with a bow and arrow, the arrow is notably a slow death.
It's not like you cant find meat in the store.

Thank you Wolfman.  And Happy Belated Birthday to you!    The BIG 5-Oh!!  Hope you had a great one!

Mick, I am honestly surprised at you.  When I first started hunting, I thought some of those same things, but as Wolfman so eloquently pointed out, an arrow head is very sharp, and is not a slow death when done properly.

Reasons I fell in love with bow hunting:

--The peace and quiet in the woods is like riding a motorcycle -- you are one with what you are doing and everything else fails to matter.  No worrying about bills to be paid, no thinking about anything else.  Just calm and quiet.... until the rush of a deer (or any animal really) coming into your area.  Wow, its an excitement that you just have to experience first hand.  Watching squirrels in their own habitat, without them knowing you are there, going about their business is one of the coolest things to witness.

--Yes, I can buy meat of many flavors, but deer is different.  I can't just go to my local grocery store and buy deer meat.  So I go get it myself.  We clean and butcher it ourselves too.  Stocks my freezer for months and saves me alot of money too.  It is much more healthy than the store processed stuff.  Dont' get me wrong, I buy meat too, love a good T-bone and ribeye steak!  But I can't go cow hunting.  

--And deer management is necessary in many areas.  Many animals become nuisances to communities when they are not managed in the woods.  That's just the way it has become here.  If people didn't hunt them, I would hate to see how overrun it would get.

--Deer hunting for me has become a "family" thing.  I hunt with my husband and 2 sons.  We all enjoy it, and enjoy doing it together!

--And for me, its not necessarily the "kill".  Its everything else that comes with it too.  The sport, the adventure of finding the deer, the rush of even being able to take a shot!

I'm ready to hit the woods....  

Piglet, I agree with some of what you are saying. Management of game in some areas is needed.
However the way some choose to do so imo is not anything I have an interest in doing.
Like in everything their is good and bad as in hunters. Their are the ones that shoot first at anything that moves, then their are the sensible ones that make sure what their looking at before letting go of the arrow or shooting the gun.
I again have witnessed Elk that were not taken down with the first nor second arrow. They were found days later in brush where they had died from their wounds. It was not a fast death for them
I have seen deer that were killed only for their back bones.
I grew up and my father, brother and friends all hunted. At times had it not been for the venison in our freeer we would have been lost for meat. So I understand the reason for hunting in order to provide for the family. I don't have issues with that.
Yes the meat you buy in the stores taste different, as the feed they are given are full of hormones and such, where the wild are able to graze on non chemical land for the most part.
So again I see good and bad on the issue.
I have lived in the country with the deer, elk, coyotes and know the serenity of it all.
I don't begrudge you or your family hunting. It is just something this gal no longer chooses to be part of.
So you go hunt in the woods, I will continue my 6 mile daily walks thru the wetlands here. We will remain friends yet with different opinions on this subject.. Hugs.. love ya gal..    kim

kimchris1 wrote on 09/09/10 at 12:22:56:


No harm honey.  I agree with plenty of what you are saying too.  I consider myself one of the responsible hunters, doing it for the right reasons.  So I am ok to sleep at night.  

I have seen several deer already this season, dead on the side of the road.  I hate to think of "that" kind of death for such a beautiful animal.  And the meat goes to waste.  

This subject could be debated on and on.  And some minds would never be changed.  So just keep an eye out for them along the road.  Cars, trucks, arrows, and bullets have a much better chance against a deer than a motorcycle does.

Wolfman -

According to a study done at Ohio State University some years ago, we now have more deer here in Ohio than ever before, for the precise reasons that you mentioned.

The only predator left is the human - all of the wolves are gone.  We have a few coyotes, but since they are relatively small, they may take down a fawn now and then, but don't attack adult deer very often.

And unlike a couple of hundred years ago, when virtually all male humans were hunters in a rural area, actually few men hunt today, compared with back then.  Before hunting was regulated, it was a twelve month a year endeavor since men hunted to feed their families.  Now the season for all hunting in Ohio is only a few days for deer, and about 3 months each year for small game and game birds.

I did hunt rabbit as a kid,because other meat was still rashioned this was just after the war, and the only meat you could buy was horse meat OLD horse meat. Rabbit was way better and we had millions of rabbits, not any more they were just about wiped out from mixamatosis (spelling). there are a few dear left but they all belong to the queen,those and Swans..Big fine if you kill one of them.
As a kid in school Archery is manditory you had to take that class.
I guess that was a left over rule from way back.
A brief history of the Long Bow.
In 1252 the "Assize of Arms" ensured that all Englishmen were ordered ,by law,that every man between the age of 15 to 60 years old should equip themselves with a bow and arrows.The Plantagenet King Edward 111 took this further and decreed the Archery law in 1363
Which commanded the obligatory practice of archery on Sundays and Holidays!  The Archery law "forbade, on pain of death,all sport that took up time better spent on war training especially archery practice" an archer would be absolved of murder,if he killed a man during longbow practice.

Another great English invention,began a few hundred years before you stole America from the indians
I bet you bow hunters all use compound bows now huh!
Those old English long bows could pierce Armor at 250 yards.
in the battle of Crecy in 1346 ,the french were decimated there were 2000 french knights and soldiers killed by longbow arrows ,the English lost 50 men .
I have plenty more if you would like to read it.

PS,I hunted rabbit with a 12 guage, there was no movement after a hit.
but ones close by jumped 10 foot in the air.

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 09/09/10 at 14:41:40:

I think the shear weight of a broardsword on or about your noggin would kill you.
I'm sure the historian who wrote about the long bow meant the Armor of the day,Im sure it was fine warding off almost spent arrows and a glancing blow from a sword.
I might add here That I'm sure glad tanks had been in vented when my queen and country needed me.  Eleven inches of solid steel beats a khaki shirt.I know every enemy have tank busters ,but after years training to drive my tank I got pretty confident,is't that what supossed to happen .We are all fearless at that age.