My Favorite Hunting weapon

[Swede]

It seems time to start another thread along the "My Favorite" theme. I know what some of you choose to shoot but have little idea why. Maybe you can help clarify how you got to hunting the way you do.

I started bow hunting in the early 1970s as a two-season hunter. It just gave me more time to be out hunting. I was still primarily a rifle hunter but thought it would be great to get game with a bow and arrow. I bought a 54# Browning recurve and a dozen cedar arrows. When I went to work in Washington the season and area available for bow hunting was not very good, so I dropped bow hunting. I even sold my bow. When I transferred back to Oregon they had a good bow season, and my son was about to enter college. He likes to hunt so I told him I would get us a bow and he could hunt in early September before college started if he wanted to go that way. He accepted.
Since that time in 1991 I have stayed with bow hunting as I get a month or more out and my success is better than what I would have hunting with a gun. I have no special hunting place and there is no secret to success. I follow solid hunting techniques, know a few things that help and persevere until I get one. Timw out means more opportunities. Bow hunting offers more opportunity for me. I use a Mathews 32" axel to axel compound Halon.

[7mmfan]

I have transitioned over the years, generally the opposite of Swede. Started out rifle hunting as a youth, but by about 15 or 16 Dad and I were bow hunting almost exclusively. We did this into my early 20's and then I started making the switch back to rifle hunting. My primary driving factor at the time was because I was tired of not killing anything. That has morphed into a multi-tiered level of importance as I've gotten older:

- Putting game meat in the freezer. We do not buy red meat, we only eat what I kill.
- Being most effective with the amount of time I have available. Can't beat hunting with a rifle.
- Ensuring a quick and clean death. I know this is totally doable with archery equipment, but the margin for error is significantly less and the level of precision is not what I can accomplish with my rifle.

My son has shown interest in shooting archery, I think as all young kids do. I may buy him a youth bow this year and setup the target in the backyard again. My bow, a Bowtech something or other is sitting in it's case in the garage where it's been for 10 years now. I may need to pull it out and dust it off.

My weapon of choice is my Ruger MKII M77 All Weather Stainless 7mm Rem Mag, with Barnes 145 LRX handloads.

[Lefty]

I love hunting during the September archery elk season. and all that it brings, the close encounters with lots of elk. So in one way it's not a weapon it is the timing of the season.


I couldn't draw my bow which I bought as a 13-year-old ( shoulder is gone) so my 06 Mathews Switch back.

Years ago I would have been specific; My Ruger 1o-22 with a 2-7 Redfield; Small game and upland by the hundreds,

And well,,,, Ive worn out my Smith & Wesson Model 1000 and replaced it with a 10 ga BPS and Benelli M1 90 and Tom Knapp was my internet shooting hero. That Benelli fits,

And my 7MM Browning A-bolt is literally a tack-driver with moose deer elk bear coyotes fox,

But of all of my weapons, I could give them each up.. As long as I can keep looking at my Marlin 30-30 (first deer) 1971 Saskatchewan. So my favorite weapon I've used to hunt

[saddlesore]

I started archery hunting back in the 60's. But mostly rifle hunting. I needed the meat more than the entertainment . Fast forward to the early 2000's and I won a compound bow at an RMEF meeting. After getting all the associated equipment with it, I was never very successful. I did not have the patience I guess. For years I hunted muzzle loader season on a draw tag and then rifle season on an OTC tag when Colorado initiated the "A" and " B" tags. This went along until my right shoulder could not tolerate recoil. After shoulder replacement I was able to do a few shots with a muzzle loader and had muzzle brake installed on my rifle.

4-5 years ago,I got so the snow and cold really bothered my. I was able to get a disability permit so I could use a cross bow in archery season.I tried that for one year and it didn't appeal to me.Too cumbersome.

So back to a muzzle loader and hunting one season a year. I am still able to hunt deer with a .243 and where I hunt on private land, I can drive up to them to recover it. Elk hunting, I have to hire an outfitter to pack an elk out if am lucky enough to tag one.

In the long run, I have always hunted to put meat in the freezer and used what ever method of take proved the most successful.

[Elkhunttoo]

Turned 12 in 1993 and started rifle hunting for the first 3 years…then I watched Primos the truth 2 big bulls…I was sold…picked up a bow and have been completely addicted since…I have done some rifle hunting since. Years that time is short or I draw on rifle hunts. Several deer rifle hunts…but I absolutely love to bow hunt and be in the woods in Elktimber

[WapitiTalk1]

The vast majority of the handful of elk I've brought home for dinner over the years have been via an arrow. Over the years it just seemed like the best time of year to be out in the elk woods was during the rut, with bow in hand. Once you've got your bow tuned up and dished out that chunk of dinero for the new arrows, it's pretty darn inexpensive to shoot the stick and string whenever you wish. I do use a boomstick for deer, again it gives me the best opportunity for success as there is a modern season during the deer rut, state dependent to some degree. I've recently (last few years) gotten into the smoke pole thing (I blame it on Saddlesore). They are still a relatively short range weapon and in several elk states, you can hunt at least a bit of the elk rut. I shoot a Darton Archery Maverick II bow (GREAT bows, been shooting them off and on since the 70s); primary deer rifle is a Browning .243, and not to be forgotten, I have a Traditions Strike Fire .50 CAL smokepole. Good thread Swede.