Is a bow part of your survival gear?

[Cpt Caveman]

Well Teddy, I don't wanna get in a urinating competition with you either.The original post was about bows in your survival gear. They didn't ask about your theory on the deer seasons and how they should be divided up. If we had firearms open for the whole season we'd not have any deer left after a couple seasons. Thats why the firearm season is so short they are very effective weapons at killin deer. Thats also why archery is so Long. Takes more work to kill one with archery tackle and by its limited range statistically it is harder. The hunter can't cover as large an area with a bow as he can with a rifle.
I too would be using a rifle(shtf) as long as the situation didn't require silence. If it did I'd probably be using my crossbow or any of a number of improvised gun quieting devices. We are talking SHTF here folks. Rules that keep me from feeding my family no longer apply.
Lets keep the subject of the thread the subject of the thread.

 

[whipfinish]

Amen Brother Caveman. Nuff said.

 

[TheGhostRider]

Yes...
Bows are a part of my "system".
I have a Ben Pearson long bow with 45lbs of draw and a B8 Rocket 25lb long bow with plenty of nice wood and carbon fiber arrows with interchangeable tips.
SBD...
Easy to pull and easy to hit with. Very effective with minimal sound and if you can recover you arrow... a never ending supply of ammo.

 

[DHolder]

Just got back from shooting my bow. In a SHTF scenario I think a bow would be a great tool to have. In some situations, silence can be good for more than just hunting deer.

 

[Dr Falken]

I have a Horton Legend 150 Crossbow, in addition to my PSE vertical bow. There are three things that I think give crossbows an advantage. One is that you don't have to draw and can shoot prone. Secondly, they are not sized to you and with a cocking device/goat's foot, a wide range of people could use it. Thirdly, it might be easier to fashion arrows/bolts then for a bow. Additionally, for the poundage you hav a shorter axle to axle length in a compound and even a non-compound type crossbow compared to a bow.

I'd say if you have the money get one, they're fun to have, and could be real useful, just another tool in the toolbox. Additionally, as people get up there in age and have shoulder issues, a crossbow can still let you hunt archery season. I think you can use them in turkey archery season too?

 

[Wabatuckian]

I just keep a wrist rocket slingshot.

I used to make bows when I was a kid, took some game with them, and am sure I could do it again. The woods are full of raw materials.

Josh <><

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Josh, Thats kinda like saying I'll learn to shoot and how to cook the food I have stored after the SHTF.
It takes months for wood to dry out enough to make a passable primitive bow.
I've made a bunch of them. Mostly osage but some hickory and ash as well. Made my own arrows and broadheads too. Made everything myself and killed a deer with that rig as well. Took me three seasons of diligent hunting before I got it done. The primitive bow is not a good SHTF weapon for food gathering.
If I were you I'd get a bow now and learn to shoot it. Better yet a crossbow if its only gonna be used teotwawki.

 

[longbarrel]

I have a lot of reasons why I don't like bows for hunting. The way i understand the idea that bow hunting takes more skill & practice is because you have to get closer to the animal because the range and power of a bow is very limited. Nothing frosts me more when talking about hunting when guys say that it's more of a challenge to hunt with a bow. You can hunt the same way, just as close with a rifle. It takes the same amount of skill to get close to an animal regardless of what weapon you bring to the table. Most of the deer I've seen in my life have been within bow range. Does that make my hunting skills less because I had a rifle with me?

I don't like that bow hunting gets special treatment with a bow only season during the time when deer are still on a schedule going down the trail. How does it take more skill to be closer and ambush them on their scheduled trail? I don't think that's fair to gun hunters, and I wish the entire season was open for bows, shotguns, muzzleloaders & whatever. I don't like how they dice it up into sections. Doing this would even out the hunting pressure across all seasons, instead of just a couple weeks and I think there would be less accidents because of it.

My biggest problem with the bow is that how many deer are wounded instead of cleanly taken. It's absolutely unofficial but how many hunting shows do you see a deer drop on the spot from a bow? Most of the ones I've seen run off, or they "let it stiffen up over night".

Here's the article I was thinking about:
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3781397

This is another one, when I did a google search under scholarly journals.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r225384339n48737/


For me, I feel a great deal of responsibility that if I'm going to kill an animal I owe it the courtesy of a quick clean kill to the best of my abilities regardless of what I think is the most fun weapon to hunt with. I don't let an animal suffer for minutes so I can brag about a one shot kill when I can ease the pain with another shot in a seconds time.

I've probably ticked off every bow hunter here, and I usually don't voice my opinion on this just because it goes against what so many others think. Having said all that, if I needed to provide food for the family and all I had was a bow, that's what I'd use. That's what made me think about a bow in a SHTF kit, just in case.

You are really just "out of touch" bigtime

 

[Jack Ryan]

I have a lot of reasons why I don't like bows for hunting. The way i understand the idea that bow hunting takes more skill & practice is because you have to get closer to the animal because the range and power of a bow is very limited. Nothing frosts me more when talking about hunting when guys say that it's more of a challenge to hunt with a bow. You can hunt the same way, just as close with a rifle. It takes the same amount of skill to get close to an animal regardless of what weapon you bring to the table. Most of the deer I've seen in my life have been within bow range. Does that make my hunting skills less because I had a rifle with me?

I'd love to see pictures of you standing in front of all those fantastic deer kills you've made on wild free ranging deer. Sounds like you are quite the expirienced expert.

I'm sure IDNR just overlooked the day you were born and haven't gotton around to consulting you so all the hunting regulations may be revamped to suit your personal taste. Seems like such a waste they haven't consulted you yet?

 

[Wabatuckian]

Josh, Thats kinda like saying I'll learn to shoot and how to cook the food I have stored after the SHTF.
It takes months for wood to dry out enough to make a passable primitive bow.
I've made a bunch of them. Mostly osage but some hickory and ash as well. Made my own arrows and broadheads too. Made everything myself and killed a deer with that rig as well. Took me three seasons of diligent hunting before I got it done. The primitive bow is not a good SHTF weapon for food gathering.
If I were you I'd get a bow now and learn to shoot it. Better yet a crossbow if its only gonna be used teotwawki.

Hello,

The bows I've made in the past are simple. They will shoot an arrow hard enough to take a rabbit. No harder, and it wouldn't be used for deer.

I much prefer the atlatl and its spear darts. Much easier to make - and afternoon of whittling will get you one. The spear points can be hardened in the fire, or you can nap flint.

That, or a sling, would be my first choice.

I have a hard time shooting a bow due to 20/70 vision in my right eye. (I shoot firearms left handed, but could never get the hang of shooting a bow lefty).

Josh <><

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Yup the spear and atl-atl are an often over looked hunting weapon. There are some states that allow their use in archery season.
Wasn't trying to harsh you ,Josh. I just hate to see folks thinking something' is easier than it is . Shooting a bow left handed is a challenge but it can be learned if you wanna put in the time.
In the end you can't have too large a variety of weapons. Unless you don't have bullets( arrows) for them!
<><

 

[Zoub]

I'm not a big archery guy, but I was curious about how many people here have a decent bow for hunting if they needed one. Ammo runs out, but sticks and strings can always be found somewhere.

Before you do archery, buy a .22lr can for the same money and put aside 10k extra 22lr rounds.

Then do archery. My logic is you already know how to shoot a gun and archery is new to you.

Yes I have a bow. A 22 with can is quieter and carries easier.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

I think it will cost me a bunch more to buy a can and a can compatible 22 than it would to buy some used archery equipment. I traded $38 worth of 45 ammo for a used compound bow and 8 arrows from a guy.
But like I said you can't have too many weapons( or bullets)!

 

[JBrockman]

Crossbow in a hardshell case with a wide assortment of arrows and broadneads and field points (smallgame). Not only for hunting but if things get real bad it is good for a quiet self defense weapon!

 

[FordMan08]

I have a lot of reasons why I don't like bows for hunting. The way i understand the idea that bow hunting takes more skill & practice is because you have to get closer to the animal because the range and power of a bow is very limited. Nothing frosts me more when talking about hunting when guys say that it's more of a challenge to hunt with a bow. You can hunt the same way, just as close with a rifle. It takes the same amount of skill to get close to an animal regardless of what weapon you bring to the table. Most of the deer I've seen in my life have been within bow range. Does that make my hunting skills less because I had a rifle with me?

Seriously???????

 

[Wabatuckian]

Capt Caveman,

I'm not trying to oversimplify. I'm really not.

When I was a kid, my mom was totally anti-gun. I therefore studied other things I could make - and made them. I guess I was an experimental archaeologist long before I knew what such a thing was.

Throwing sticks and spears became boomerangs and darts for atlatls. The belt I used for a sling gave way to an actual sling, as I studied. Never could nap flint as well as I'd like, but did it well enough to get, dang... not a Clovis point, but a pre-Clovis, one sided, but with an area for lashing. They worked well enough.

I have a Cherokee friend who wants to teach me to make them in the traditional style, and after I get some vacation time, I might take him up on it. He lives several hundred miles away out-of-state, and it'd be a crash course in a bunch of things.

Mostly I count on being able to find man-made junk. Make arrowheads from junk metal, say, and my first boomerangs were made by pounding out old tent poles and folding them over.

I doubt the proper rubber for actual slingshots has survived unless you want to count latex, but no more non-vulcanized rubber tires laying in the woods that I know of.

I might start another thread so that we can compare notes. Meantime, I'm trying to stay awake so that I can get onto thirds. Need to work 6p-6a Wed and Thu, then get a three day vacation, then it just gets real crazy with the new job.

Josh <><

 

[Octomonkey]

Just got back from shooting my bow. In a SHTF scenario I think a bow would be a great tool to have. In some situations, silence can be good for more than just hunting deer.

It worked well for John Rambo.

 

[matthock]

It worked well for John Rambo.

Worked for this guy too

Jack Churchill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Octomonkey]

Worked for this guy too

Jack Churchill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

F'n A! That dude was a bonafide badass!

 

[ddenny5]

Crossbow. Wonderful weapon. Fairly silent, and deadly, up to about 100 feet. Some states they are illegal, but where they are legal, and in here they are, I consider it a viable back-up weapon.

I have a crossbow and it would be a good to take it along for self defense and hunting.