[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.