@Muskox - very good Questions you raise. I would think all Bow Hunters wound/lose an animal More Frequently then Gun Hunters and might be similar to so called “Long-range-shooters”. Bow Hunters that hunt often (40-50+ days a year) and shoot multiple animals (5-10+ a year) in multiple States likely lose an animal every few years and some more often then that ——I’ve Never met a Bow Hunter that Never lost an animal. I would think that long range rifle shots (over 350 400yrds) have a similar Failure rate that varies based on the skill & discipline of the shooter —-every guy with a $15,000 McWhorter Rifle is NOT a great long range shooter under real Hunting conditions, just like Me shooting 3” groups of arrows into my 40 yrd target does NOT mean I can do it under Hunting conditions.
@K-man— good points and agree. On the Long-Range Hunting shows I’ve watched some 700 to 900 yrds shots taken on a Bear that resulted in a clean Miss - then they took a 2nd shot and killed it?? If you can completely Miss a Bear and THEN follow that up with a One-Shot-Kill….how many are WOUNDED that get “Edited Out”. Same on Bow hunting shows where a deer gets “spined” and the next thing you see is the hunters standing over the dead animal….what happen inbetween is rarely shown, gut shot Non recovered deer rarely ever make it onto the TV Show. Bow hunters that are GREAT bow shots still wound deer due to the deer’s fast “reaction time” and hearing the bow sound-jumping/moving before the arrow arrives. Deer taken at over 25 yrds often move slightly before the arrow arrives (string jump) and that can cause a Miss or Wounding even though the shot was “Perfect” when-it-left-the-String.
@ftrovato it is certainly harder with a Bow and especially a “Real” Bow ie: compound or traditional wood-recurve-long bow etc.. Understanding you had a lost animal and not clear if you wounded it or just missed? While wounding rates are higher with a Bow - would you Stop gun hunting if the same miss/wounded & lost occurred? Almost every hunter that hunts often has wounded/lost an animal - the experience should help make us better Hunters and better shots —- Better NOT Perfect. For Me Bowhunting made Me a better Hunter overall and especially better blood trailing and recovering animals, trapping also made me a better hunter - reading sign, habitat, & more precise travel patterns. I like the entire experience being Outdoors and always learning but Never learning it All. Another nice thing about Bowhunting - you spend more days in the woods and are often Unsuccessful - seeing game but Not getting a shot opportunity…makes me appreciate Success even more. But, you and everyone must hunt the way you enjoy most - it’s All great.
I respect and agree with all your points. But for me, to many variables with an arrow moving at 300 fps compared to a rifle bullet at 2500 fps or a pistol bullet at 1000 fps. So I stick with rifle or pistol. I've considered a now legal cross bow in my area but haven't made the leap (yet).
