Archery Technology

[AMann]

Two years ago I had the privilege of elk hunting with Mike Mitten and discussed the future of bowhunting. He had an interesting perspective on where our beloved activity may be heading. The website journeyofchallenge.com brings up some valid points many of which I can relate to as a traditional bowhunter. If you have viewed this site what is your opinion? Are the advances in technology and increase in effective killing range doing more harm than good?

 

[cnelk]

Alex
If there was a significant rise in harvest success, I would say yes.
But there isnt.
It is still about 10% and has stayed there even with all of the tech improvements

Game managers do not rely on archery [or ML] harvest for herd management.

 

[Swede]

I enjoy disagreeing with Brad, so again I will indulge myself.
Before compound bows and arrows with inserts, there were few bow hunters. A person needed to learn and practice a lot to become proficient out to 25 yards. Broad heads were a challenge to get to fly well. We worked on them and selected the best for our hunt. Now anyone with a decent bank account can go to their archery shop and become an instant bow hunter capable of shooting at ranges that were unthinkable back in the early 1970 when I started.
In the early 1970 I would guess there were fewer than 2,000 bow hunters in Oregon. The last I checked there were well over 30,000 and the number keeps growing. Brad is correct that the percent of success has remained unchanged, but 10% 0f 2,000 is a lot less than 10% of 30,000. Pardon my bias here, but back when I started bow hunting, the hunters were serious sportsmen and dedicated. I know, as we increased the hunting numbers, we picked up a lot of folks, that the only thing that matters to them, is killing something. Instead of camaraderie and sportsmanship we see much more competition and the need to kill even when it involves great risk of just injuring the animal.
Back in the day, I never saw any women or even teens out bow hunting. I assume there were a few, but they were very rare. I see that as one of the great benefits of modern archery equipment. It has made bow hunting feasible for women, youth, and men who never could draw a 50# bow. But lets admit it, that too is a change to bow hunting.

 

[mtnmutt]

I agree with Swede\'s comments which doesn\'t\' mean much since I have only been a woman bowhunter for 5 years.

I respectively disagree that there are few women or youth that can draw 50#. I draw 53#. I am 50 years old with a slightly damaged shoulder. With my old 1st bow, it took me one year to go from 36# to 52#.

The key is the let-off of 75/80%. If the let-off was lower, I would not draw 53#. In addition, the slower bows would have dictated a shorter range and a near 500 grain arrow for an ethical kill.

I have not been blessed with an elk harvest, however, the modern equipment gives me piece of mind that it can get the job done.

New bowhunters flood the archery shops in August which likely does not make for a skilled archer by opening day. They can be setup on a new bow in 1-3 hrs and go hunting. My guess is that this may lead to more unethical shots on animals than perhaps in the past.

 

[Swede]

Mutt: I was not very clear in what I said about women and teens, not being able to draw 50#. Oregon requires 50# as a minimum to hunt elk. What I was talking about was back in 1971 or 1972, the bows were all traditional. Most were recurves. If Jennings had made his first compound I was not aware of it. When I saw my first one in about 1975, I was not impressed with the contraption. Anyway, I was trying to say 50# traditional bows were too much for most women and teens. Back then archery was thought mostly to be an ineffective way to expend a hunters season. There were few women hunters. I knew of one and she hunted with a rifle. BTW: She was good. In fact she was better than her husband. She was careful and patient. That always makes a huge difference.

 

[mtnmutt]

Swede, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

Someday, I will give traditional a try. However, I am not likely to pull a 50# recurve.

If we all had to hunt with traditional bows, there would be far fewer bowhunters.

 

[Swede]

You got it Mutt. That is what I was trying to say was one of the differences technology has made. I guess that is the good, the bad and the ugly. Some people was to resist it completely, some embrace everything that comes alone to make killing game easier, and some want the best of both worlds. The later group resides in la la land and have bats in their belfry.