Hunting with bows

[Tarkwin]

Originally Posted by Jerry Tee

rifle hunters go for a heart lung shot because the chances of missing with a head shot are higher and that miss could cause a lot of suffering.

Game hunters may be more motivated by the fact that a wall mounted head looks better when it's all there..not out in the woods somewhere.

T.

[cliveanne]

I voted no. I can't see the sense of killing for the sake of it. Like fox hunting to qoute a certain Mr.Wild (I think it was) "The unspeakable chasing the inedible".

If I had to hunt to survive I think the answer would be obvious, as a cabbage does not run very fast

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Windknot

Never mind the deer- ther's a herd of swine loose in Devon!

Anyone have a treestand I can borrow?

Yes, I saw it on the news. They let loose a load of boar didn't they...? Hope they catch them (the swine, as well as the boar...).

[tel]

I did say 'if the need arose' - but I will stress that is 'need' not desire.

[jadlem]

I havent voted yet. I probably should have. I would rather track and hunt my food, than have it brought up in unnatural conditions only to be slaughtered cruelly en mass quite often with slow lingering deaths in the country's abattoirs.

I don't mean hop on the rightous indignation bandwagon but take a look at the following:

http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/campaigns.html

I think my food should have a free life and be hunted in a reasonably humane manner. It would have to pit it's witts agains mine on a hunt rather than being bred in captivity never having seen the light of day except in transit.

[elastoplastscavenger]

most of this post is pish except for the bit at the end where i invent a new sport.

i think i would quite like to try bowhunting. was thinking of buying a bow fishing reel but i guess that is more usefull when combined with that crossbow and kayak i dont have either. i think im right in saying that bowfishing is kosher in the UK?

i only get to fish about once a year. i go with the worm on a hook and hope technique and will only catch enough for the family's evening meal although generally just catch enough for my lunch. nothing quite like a pan fried wild trout that's been dead less than 2 hours.

my dad was brought up on a farm and iv spent atleast 1month a year at my grandads place so a lot of the farming stereotypes have rubbed off on me. i dont resist them. i would like to shoot rabbits, which are rather tasty for vermin! they are vermin at my grandads place, to the point where you cant drive a tractor over certain fields without a warren collapsing leaving the tractor sitting on the transmission case!

i think if i was dealing with the rabbit problem i would probably use a rifle (i shoot target rifle every week or 2) but wouldnt particularly enjoy it since it is rather easy. shooting to fill the pot i would probably make more sporting by using a bow but recurve just isnt practical really leaving crossbows...which are effectively crap guns and compound which is too expensive and complicated for my liking. hence my hanckering to try bowfishing.

i might have just come up with a new sport! attach a camera with some sort of crosshair arangement to a stick that appears to be a bow except when you release the string it takes a picture instead of shooting an arrow. all the thrill of stalking your prey and a trophy to stick on your wall without any risk or death.

the cameras could all be calibrated to the same view angle etc to judge range or be fitted with some sort of range finder that gives range to the thing infront of the cross. could maybe even incorporate an anemometer so that wind correction could be added. if the cameras were standard then you could have big competitions with points awarded for range and accuracy etc.

[jammed05]

i think its stupid that it not allowed it cant misfire like a gun, dont let city folk decide on non inner city laws

[TJ Mason]

Originally Posted by elastoplastscavenger

i think im right in saying that bowfishing is kosher in the UK?

I'm pretty sure it's illegal in inland waters (though I don't know about coastal waters), but in any case just about all fishing in the UK is subject to the rules of the waterway owners or the angling club. I'd be amazed if any allowed bow fishing.

[Tarkwin]

Originally Posted by jammed05

i think its stupid that it not allowed it cant misfire like a gun, dont let city folk decide on non inner city laws

I don't think it's the safety that's at issue. It's the likelihood of injuring rather than killing your prey. In the relevant acts that cover this, only high power and large bore weapons are allowed, i.e. those that are liekly to kill on the first shot.

Yes if hunting with bows were legal, you would have the woods full of nutters every week, but I'm pretty sure that the first concern of the government ( both Conservative - all hail Maggie, & Labour - Mr. Lapdog) was prevention of cruelty to the prey.

I can guarantee that there are as many white tail running around the US with bits of shot / arrow in them as are killed, cleaned and eaten every year, and many of the injured will have slow lingering deaths.

T.

[pwiles1968]

I dont think it's going to happen in the UK, we are just too small and some group would end up having bows banned full stop if hunting with bows was ever allowed.

Having said that and I may be upsetting a few people but If I lived in the US or similar I think I probably would, I would not shoot anything I could not eat unless it posed a danger to my family.

I'm not going to try and justify it, just giving an honest answer.