Barebow archery.

[Fly Mach .86]

Barebow shooting (No sights, stabilizers etc.) my grouping is steadily getting better. This was from 20 yards. Does anyone else hunt paper plates.

[cabmandone]

NICE!!! Never tried paper plate but I'd think if you wrap it in bacon it will come out pretty tasty! Assuming you're shooting recurve?

[Dantilla]

I took the sights off my bow.

They help when flinging arrows at targets of known range, but out in the woods its a guessing game how far the target is.
I've found I'm more accurate shooting instinctively instead of trying to decide which pin to use when aiming.

[john70t]

I once won a close match in the junior leagues 45# Bear recurve but 50yrds takes some getting used to and still much arc. [edit: most] inside the red to catch up.
Hunting is another level.

Just imagine reaching out and touching it right in front of you.
Become one.

re-posted for inspiration

[Cajundaddy]

Barebow archery is a game I played for 10 years or so. I still have my gear but it's been a long time since I shot a round. Typical tournaments were at 30,40, and 50 yd distances. We also had a nice field archery range with unmarked distances through a Eucalyptus grove. Fond memories.

[petrolhead611]

I shoot barebow at my local archery club, using a 38 pound left- handed American flatbow ( made in Sherwood Forest England from the American oaks planted therein to trace the I digenous oaks used up for the British navy).
I also have a 14 yard range in my back yard but I use an 18 pound jellybow there as that's safer for the neighbours in case of a mishoot
Never tried paper plates as targets are so cheap and survive the English weather for months at a time .

[Crowbob]

Splitting an arrow shot at you?

Good thing he said not to try it at home.

[billybek]

This is probably the furthest thing away from barebow archery but thought it might find an audience here.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by billybek

This is probably the furthest thing away from barebow archery but thought it might find an audience here.

It's an "assault bow!" (well, it's not black). Oh, no, it's semi-auto!

THat's pretty cool. WHen I first saw it, I thought "he reinvented the crossbow, but so it's less powerful?"

[wswartzwel]

We always called that instinctive shooting. Fletch up some flu-flu arrows ( They have much taller feathers that act like parachutes to prevent the arrow from traveling too far) and get a friend to toss up some cardboard disks... Like shooting skeet. Lots of fun. We built a bottle launcher to throw 16 oz plastic coke bottles up in the air to shoot.
I have a Keith Chastain custom built Wapiti recurve, that I shoot Cedar and Ash arrows from that I make myself. Lots of fun.

[Seahawk]

I don't Barebow but I stole your idea since my son bow hunts and we have a pistol range on the farm.

I had extra pads and hooked them up yesterday to our target stands. I'll take pics...thanks!

Originally Posted by Fly Mach .86

Barebow shooting (No sights, stabilizers etc.) my grouping is steadily getting better. This was from 20 yards. Does anyone else hunt paper plates.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by billybek

This is probably the furthest thing away from barebow archery but thought it might find an audience here.

A pretty ingenious device with practical application for a hunter. This guy is not much of an archer though. His grouping at that range should be inside a 3" diameter.

[john70t]

Small game perhaps. Not recommended for moose and bears.

[Jeff Higgins]

I have very mixed feelings about archery. On the one hand, I think it is a fantastic sport, and a great deal of fun. Especially traditional archery. The modern compound bows with their sights, modern trigger releases, and all of that kind of leave me cold, however. I won't begrudge those who enjoy them, however - to each his own.

On the other hand, I'm a hunter. I mostly hunt with muzzle loaders. I love the challenge of using a "primitive" weapon in the same manner in which our ancestors used them. And here is where I draw a parallel to archery - I firmly believe that muzzle loader, and archery big game seasons should be restricted to traditional, "primitive" weapons. No stainless steel, plastic stocked, scope sighted, plastic sabot / pistol bullet shooting, shotshell (209) primered, "black powder substitute" burning muzzle loaders allowed for hunting. Like wise, no fancy modern whiz-bang compound bows, either. Truly "primitive" tackle only, for both seasons.

But therein lies a problem. Even with all of the modern "cheats", bow hunters lead the leagues in wounded and lost game. It's the dirty little secret of bow hunting - most do not have the skill, or patience, to find even the game they kill, much less wound. If they run off (and most do, even when hit with a fatal shot) in any kind of cover or rough terrain, most bow hunters are simply incapable of finding them. Myself and my hunting buddies have collectively lost track of the number of deer we have found over the years, lying dead, half eaten by scavengers and rotting, with an arrow in them. It's the one aspect of bow hunting that bow hunters refuse to address.

So, yeah, it's bad enough when they use the modern tackle. I cannot imagine how bad it would be if they had to use "primitive" tackle. Maybe, though, the half interested duffers who only bow hunt (but refuse to practice meaningfully) to take advantage of the bow seasons would find it "too difficult" and give it up. That won't happen, though. For whatever reason, bow hunting is seen by many as more "pure", or more "fair", or more "sporting" - or whatever. It is anything but. The dirty little secret is that it is horribly cruel, and many who practice it are horribly irresponsible.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

...bow hunters lead the leagues in wounded and lost game. It's the dirty little secret of bow hunting - most do not have the skill, or patience, to find even the game they kill, much less wound.

Counterpoint-

How many deer carcasses/skeletons have you found assuming they died of natural causes?
Is it possible there is a bullet somewhere in there?
An arrow makes itself known easily, a bullet, not so much.

I have a hard time assuming outdoors-loving hunters with rifles have more integrity than outdoors-loving hunters with a bow.

Another possible factor is the different seasons. It's easy to follow a blood trail in snow, more difficult when dry, very difficult when raining.

If archery season is earlier than modern firearm, there is a higher chance of loosing the ability to track a wounded animal. Flip the seasons around, and perhaps the archers would complain about those rifle guys who don't have the patience.

Don't know the answer, just thinking out loud...

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Counterpoint-

How many deer carcasses/skeletons have you found assuming they died of natural causes?
Is it possible there is a bullet somewhere in there?
An arrow makes itself known easily, a bullet, not so much.

Once they reach a certain point of decay, or consumption by scavengers, it gets pretty difficult to tell what killed them. Unless there is an arrow in them.

That said, finding deer lost by others either during or after a rifle season is comparatively quite rare. That, and until they reach that point of decay, bullet wounds are every bit, if not more obvious than, arrow wounds. Modern rifles do a lot of damage.

Originally Posted by Dantilla

I have a hard time assuming outdoors-loving hunters with rifles have more integrity than outdoors-loving hunters with a bow.

Oh, I'm not trying to imply otherwise. As a matter of fact, I would guess that as a population, the bow hunters are far ahead of the rifle hunters as far as ethics. Ahead in field craft and all of that as well. Modern rifle hunting, unfortunately, attracts a lot of less than dedicated slob hunters.

The big difference is in how much less likely an animal is to run very far after getting hit by a modern rifle. Yes, many (probably most) still run a bit, but not nearly as far as those hit by an arrow. And they leave a lot more blood trail to follow.

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Another possible factor is the different seasons. It's easy to follow a blood trail in snow, more difficult when dry, very difficult when raining.

If archery season is earlier than modern firearm, there is a higher chance of loosing the ability to track a wounded animal. Flip the seasons around, and perhaps the archers would complain about those rifle guys who don't have the patience.

Here in Washington (and in most states), archers get out first, followed by muzzle loaders, then modern rifle. Our seasons are so darn early that most years none of them get to hunt in the snow, with our general seasons all done by the second week of November. We start in late August / early September. I'm generally out hunting early muzzle loader season elk in a tee shirt and shorts, in bone dry 90 degree weather.

So, yes, you are correct in that weather and ground conditions make a big difference in one's ability to track wounded game. My point is that here in Washington, we all share generally the same conditions.

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Don't know the answer, just thinking out loud...

That's good - there are certainly a lot of factors involved. Terrain, cover, weather, ground conditions, etc. all play a role in how easily one can track wounded game. If those factors indeed change as we flow from bow to muzzle loader to rifle seasons, they could certainly be responsible for the disparities we see in numbers of lost animals. Like I said, though, here in Washington those conditions really don't change enough to be that big of a factor.

No, I think the biggest factors are the way in which an arrow kills, and the relatively higher skill level required to place that arrow where it counts. Any animal even well hit with an arrow will run off - arrows kill by inducing massive hemorrhaging, which takes some time to kill. Rifles kill in the same way, mind you, but the wounds are far, far more traumatic and more quickly fatal or disabling.

That, and it takes far less skill to place a bullet with a scoped rifle than it does to place an arrow properly. Many of the deer we find with arrows in them have those arrows in a less than fatal location, like in the haunches, through a leg, in their necks, and that sort of thing. I even shot a deer with an arrow through its jaw one time. How he lasted that long is beyond me.

[petrolhead611]

Bow hunting is illegal in the UK, and rightly so. Shame on other places that don't follow suit.
Hunting other than for food is barbaric.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

Bow hunting is illegal in the UK, and rightly so. Shame on other places that don't follow suit.
Hunting other than for food is barbaric.

Dude, relax. Bowhunting IS for food, just like hunting with guns is often/mostly for food. In my experience most hunted game is for food. It's a minority of critters that are killed for anything else.

I had an uncle that was a pastor of a church in North Dakota. He hunted and bow-hunted and even bow-fished, and everything that he killed was to feed his family.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by masraum

It's an "assault bow!" (well, it's not black). Oh, no, it's semi-auto!

THat's pretty cool. WHen I first saw it, I thought "he reinvented the crossbow, but so it's less powerful?"

I guess it is not technically a crossbow because he is holding the string with his draw or handle and the string while a crossbow pulls back to a latch the archer doesn't need to maintain pull on.
He is a pretty cool guy. I have watched a few of his vids.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

Bow hunting is illegal in the UK, and rightly so. Shame on other places that don't follow suit.
Hunting other than for food is barbaric.

That's a bit extreme.

It is unfortunate that some hunt with no intention of utilizing the meat - trophy hunters after a big rack, big horns, big tusks, whatever. I have no use for them. By and large, however, bow hunters are not guilty of this particular transgression. Yeah, they appreciate getting a nice buck, or a nice bull, just like any other hunter, but trophy hunting doesn't seem to be the primary focus of many of them.

I'm afraid I've probably come across as way too harsh on bow hunters, after going back and re-reading my comments. Let me emphasize - the vast majority are true sportsmen (and women). It's just that by the very nature of their sport, it's far less forgiving of error than other means through which we harvest big game. The ones who are good at it have my utmost respect.