Expectations when hunting with bows.

[Preacher]

I apologise unreservedly to anyone offended by what I say in this post, but there is so much undue glamourisation of bow hunting and bow craft in the media that it has attained an unrealistic level of of acceptability. There are many myths around bowhunting and unfortunately, they've been around so long that many people take them as fact. So it's important to highlight the pros and cons more clearly. Overstating the usefulness of bows for hunting is also going to persuade some preppers to spend money they haven't got, on something they don't need and can't use!

Stone age and Bronze age man hunted in groups for good reason. They could hit a deer, or other medium sized prey animal with 10 arrows simultaneously and slow it down just enough to catch it easily... Their modern modern primitive conterparts learn their skills from the cradle, live in areas where the wildlife is usually small, happy to let them get quite close and have the knowledge to create poisons, make and replace anything lost, or broken.... WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM,!!!... Bows as hunting tools became obsolete in temperate riegions for a reason.

A good, accurate arrow, or bolt that misses its target, in the kind of environment that's good for hunting in temperate climates is more likely to be lost or damaged beyond repair by trees, stones, etc. than found in good shape... And cheap arrows are more likely to be lost, or broken in the first place through Inaccuracy.

You will not be targeting small game and birds unless you have an inexhaustible supply of shafts and, or bolts... Even a good archer will miss 3 out of 4 rabbits/birds Etc at around 30 yards with a good, purpose built recurve hunting bow, while even the best crossbow addict is unlikely to get better than an even chance. And can any of us honestly afford to run out of ammunition?

Most larger prey are unlikely to let you get closer than 50/60 yards (except domesticated animals which don't warrant shooting) and recurve bows below 80/90lbs draw weight, or even medium/heavy weight crossbows will need good quality (and expensive) broadheads to slow them down sufficiently to be able to track them before they get out of your area (unless you hit them in the heart), which is highly unlikely (most experienced hunters with powerful 100lb+ recurves won't even bother with anything further away than 50 yards)

Add to all that the fact that a wounded animal will often run off faster than you would expect an uninjured one to move and you begin to see the problem.

That leaves only one sensible choice for a lone hunter, armed with a bow... The compound hunting bow (80lb draw and 320fps minimum) with at least a good quality 5 pin sight, launcher, release aid, good quality (heavy aluminium) shafts, fitted with good, well balanced, broadheads..... And then (only after spending £750 or more) you have a better than even chance of bringing down small/medium deer or similar, without having to track it down too far after its been hit... The arrow itself though may well hit bone somewhere along the way, ruining it.... Bummer!

So I've been all negative, and rained on everyone's parade, and slagged off the idea of bow-hunting and if I were you, I'd be asking "If you know so much about it, why do you do it?" .... Simple... It's been a hobby of mine for decades, and that's the point.... It's a hobby... It's fun, it costs money to do it because even with soft targets and soft terrain arrows get lost and damaged... Even in the US where bow hunting is legal, people spend small fortunes on the best equipment and still come home from a weekends hunt without a single kill and half a dozen arrows less..... I wouldn't risk wasting my arrows in a survival situation when I can kill small game far more easily by using an air rifle, nets, snares, traps etc. and as for larger animals, I'm not going to compete out in the open with other armed hunters and risk injury, which in itself could be catastrophic.

Post SHTF My bow will be my chosen weapon of defence. Pure and simple. A shotgun is unlikely to kill a person at 100 yards. The shot wont penetrate all that far and Youll survive whereas from the same distance, a silent, heavy, hunting arrow will leave a man unable to move, bleeding out, with a 29.25" stepped aluminium tube sticking through his torso... And if you don't believe me, just go to any archery club meet on a Sunday morning and watch people use lightweight (60lbs) compound bows, to put 6 lightweight shafts in an area the size of a peach at 100 metres. Time after time... And still penetrate right through the target boss, with blunt, bullet shaped piles!