If you would shoot it with a bow why not a .243?

i would think a back-up gun/rifle is just in case the dangerous game decides to attack instead of run.a bow is more than enough for any animal.arrows just kill in a different fashion than bullets.as for watching tv shows where animals harvested with a bow are recovered the following day they also do this with rifles/guns also.when in doubt back out.those who can bow hunt DO,those who can not use a GUN/RIFLE.how many guys hunt dangerous game with rifles without some sort of back-up firearm? NONE if they have any clue how fast a hunt can go south.
 
RoscoeT said:
This is not a hunting ethics debate. If that's your bag, move along.

I was reading on an other site where someone was talking about using his .243 for an upcoming elk hunt. Well you can imagine the thread when to hell fast.

People who never use a .243 will say that you can barely kill deer with it, etc.

But someone did actually make a good point.

Given that my .243 will consistently make golf ball sized exit wounds in deer how is that worse than using a bow?

If you would shoot an elk with a bow, how is the .243 lighter than a bow?

Anyone see any failing to that logic?

Please keep this thread on the rails and do not let it get into the usually silliness that these "is this enough gun" threads get into.
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Back in history, there was a book written about the men and rifles that were used to shoot Elk in Colorado.

I may have seen it here on CGN... not sure anymore,.. but the calibers used were pathetic compared to what we have now. Im talkin from 25-20, 25-35 and all the in between Winchesters... up to the 45-70.

They used what they had, and if they wounded it, they pursued the game till it was found. The good old days...:cool:

Today we rely on one shot to put it down as soon as possible. The question is, are you a good old boy, or a new age power magnum guy?.:)
 
deadeyes40 said:
i would think a back-up gun/rifle is just in case the dangerous game decides to attack instead of run.a bow is more than enough for any animal.arrows just kill in a different fashion than bullets.as for watching tv shows where animals harvested with a bow are recovered the following day they also do this with rifles/guns also.when in doubt back out.those who can bow hunt DO,those who can not use a GUN/RIFLE.how many guys hunt dangerous game with rifles without some sort of back-up firearm? NONE if they have any clue how fast a hunt can go south.
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Why does a rifle need to be used for back-up on an attacking animal which has been stuck with an arrow? Wouldn't a bow suffice?
Interested in responses on this one.
 
same reason they use rifle for back-up on an attacking animal shot with a rifle.last thing an outfitter/professional hunter wants is a rep of having a hunter mauled or killed by a wounded animal.does not matter what the oringinal shot was taken with if the animal charges it will be shot with a fire arm of some sort.i have seen shows where the PH fires at almost the same time as the hunter(an insurance shot so to speak)just because .
 
deadeyes40 said:
same reason they use rifle for back-up on an attacking animal shot with a rifle.last thing an outfitter/professional hunter wants is a rep of having a hunter mauled or killed by a wounded animal.does not matter what the oringinal shot was taken with if the animal charges it will be shot with a fire arm of some sort.i have seen shows where the PH fires at almost the same time as the hunter(an insurance shot so to speak)just because .
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:confused:
You're not getting my point. If a bow is sufficient to kill any animal on the planet, why use a rifle for back up?
Do you see an RPG backing up a rifle hunter?
 
bearkilr said:
:confused:
You're not getting my point. If a bow is sufficient to kill any animal on the planet, why use a rifle for back up?
Do you see an RPG backing up a rifle hunter?
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Dangerous game could kill you in a couple of seconds and then die right after that. Not worth your life.

Did the bow kill the animal, yes, are you toes up, yes.
 
RoscoeT said:
Dangerous game could kill you in a couple of seconds and then die right after that. Not worth your life.

Did the bow kill the animal, yes, are you toes up, yes.
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Gatehouse said:
The reason is simple- Arrows won't drop animals instantaneously, while a CNS shot with a rifle, will.
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In other words, it's an inadequate weapon for potentially dangerous game.
 
Gatehouse said:
For stopping charges it is inadequate, but arrows have been used to cleanly take lots of dangerous game without needing a backup shot from a rifle. Most animals don't charge, they run away and die.
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Roger that. I'm to assume you'd also have no trouble taking your bow when looking for the dead ones. :D

Not really much use for a 375 Ruger then, eh? ;)
 
bearkilr said:
Roger that. I'm to assume you'd also have no trouble taking your bow when looking for the dead ones. :D

Not really much use for a 375 Ruger then, eh? ;)
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Well, I guess the bowhunters take their bow when looking for the dead ones. I'm not much of a bowhunter...Bows are too sissy:p
 
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Hate to say it, but you now done stepped on my toes.
When did this play hunting get allowed?
Yes, I'm typing about this sissy string thing....!
What, the sissies get to pull their wire a week or two before the
real shooting starts?
There is just something morally wrong with string kills.
As stated before, I have never witnessed a bang flop with an arrow.
One video showed a pair of moose bulls having at'er and some moron
shoots one with an arrow. The other bull takes vengeance with the arrow
stabbed bull and lays a whoop'in on it.
Piss me off, you bet.
My opinion of arrows, they deserve apples for targets........take the rest from
here......PMO...
 
kamlooky said:
Hate to say it, but you now done stepped on my toes.
When did this play hunting get allowed?
Yes, I'm typing about this sissy string thing....!
What, the sissies get to pull their wire a week or two before the
real shooting starts?
There is just something morally wrong with string kills.
As stated before, I have never witnessed a bang flop with an arrow.
One video showed a pair of moose bulls having at'er and some moron
shoots one with an arrow. The other bull takes vengeance with the arrow
stabbed bull and lays a whoop'in on it.
Piss me off, you bet.
My opinion of arrows, they deserve apples for targets........take the rest from
here......PMO...
Click to expand...

Ignorance at it's greatest!!
I really like hunting and believe it is a totally differant hunt with a bow than with a rifle. Any fool can get within a couple hundred yard of an animal but it takes a good patient hunter to get one within bow range and make an ethical clean shot. Not one with trees or shrubs in the way, or in the ass or facing you, but a good broadside or slightly quartering away shot. To get this close you have to outsmart the animal in it's own element either by calls or rattling or whatever trick you can come up with. Also just so you know I have never hunted over a bait pile because to me, I think that is cheating.. (we all have our thing)
To me an ethical shot is within 50yrds and that is because i practice a couple times a week with my archery gear and shoot out to 60 yrds and somtimes farther for fun. We all have to set our limits as to how far we and our gear can be effective, just like how this thread got started. Know your and your equipments limits.
As far as why we archers deserve a bit more of a season is that it keeps the road warriors at home and lets the quiet hunters have a bit of peace in the bush. I myself have never seen a guy jump out of a truck with a bow and lean over the hood of the truck and take a shot at an animal running away. I have unfortunatly seen that more than I care to during rifle season.
Now after saying all this don't get me wrong I really like hunting ... I enjoy it from the start of Sept for archery, till Oct for muzzle loader, till Nov to the first week of Dec with my rifle. I rarely shoot anything becasue I want a monster and don't feel the need to shoot one just to kill. I love the hunt, especially archery season when it keeps people with limited hunting skills at home:eek:. just kidding:D
 
deadeyes40 said:
i would think a back-up gun/rifle is just in case the dangerous game decides to attack instead of run.a bow is more than enough for any animal.arrows just kill in a different fashion than bullets.as for watching tv shows where animals harvested with a bow are recovered the following day they also do this with rifles/guns also.when in doubt back out.those who can bow hunt DO,those who can not use a GUN/RIFLE.how many guys hunt dangerous game with rifles without some sort of back-up firearm? NONE if they have any clue how fast a hunt can go south.
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Actually that's not quite accurate. It is true that in Africa a client on a guided hunt is required to be accompanied by a PH, but PHs and resident hunters are not required to have another gun along when they hunt for themselves. I had the opportunity to wander around a bit with one of the unarmed trackers to keep me out of trouble, while the PH was involved with other things. Was there dangerous game about? Only if you include lions, elephants, hippos, African wild dogs, crocodiles, and one particular black mamba that holds a special spot in my memory.

In North America resident hunters may legally hunt big bears without backup if they choose to do so. I've been in a couple of tight spots with dangerous game, and I doubt that the presence of a back up gun, would have decreased the intensity of the danger in any of them . . . well maybe when we got in the middle of the herd of buffalo in the tall grass. How I longed for a bolt gun with a deep magazine rather than that double rifle! But we managed to get out of that one unscathed, probably thanks more to the good nature of the buffalo than to anything we did. When one must rely on the good nature of an African buffalo to get out of a jam, he knows he's really stepped in it.

I've had the opportunity to bring my influence to bear as it were, in a couple of situations were unarmed people took questionable liberties with polar bears. There was no back up gun in those situations, nor is there one when I'm out wandering around here in the back country, but a little danger is good for the soul.
 
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What if that moose was shot with a rifle?? The aggressor moose would have gave up??

Interesting theory in the least.


kamlooky said:
Hate to say it, but you now done stepped on my toes.
When did this play hunting get allowed?
Yes, I'm typing about this sissy string thing....!
What, the sissies get to pull their wire a week or two before the
real shooting starts?
There is just something morally wrong with string kills.
As stated before, I have never witnessed a bang flop with an arrow.
One video showed a pair of moose bulls having at'er and some moron
shoots one with an arrow. The other bull takes vengeance with the arrow
stabbed bull and lays a whoop'in on it.
Piss me off, you bet.
My opinion of arrows, they deserve apples for targets........take the rest from
here......PMO...
Click to expand...
 
im sure the natives would say their bow and arrows and spears worked just fine for downing everything from elephants to cape buffalo to water buffalo to wild boar.


ive seen stuff on wild TV of guys shooting lions and other large cats with bows. they are generaly in the tree while cat is on the ground. the cat doesent seem to know where it came from and goes and slinks away and dies.
 
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