Rhetorical Questions

[ohiosam]

A friend and I had this discussion recently. What if the deer season wasn't divided in Archery, Gun, Muzzleloader seasons and was just DEER SEASON like turkey season. You could use any legal weapon. Of course bag limits would be adjusted so total harvest wouldn't change much.

What percentage of dedicated bow hunters would stay with only hunting with a bow?

Are some of the problems caused by gun hunting being crammed in to so few days (everyone is in the woods on the same few days) and would they be lessened?

And no the DoW in not likely to ever do this so don't have a cow. :)

[scout0324]

I'm hunting tomorrow morning with my bow....looking for you gun hunters to drive the big one to me!:mischeif:

[JC5]

Hey Sam,
Not trying to be a smartass, but you might want to change the title to Hypothetical instead of rhetorical.

But to answer your question, I would probably still bow hunt.

[TheCream]

I have been in that situation when I went to Georgia a few years ago. Their deer season was really open, shotgun, muzzleloader, bow, rifle, etc... In my honest opinion, I thought it would really suck if Ohio was like that. All it took for me to draw that conclusion was comparing quality of the deer I saw in Georgia, the quality of the hunting, and then thinking about how it was back home in Ohio. We see more deer in Ohio, more bucks, more BIG bucks, our system is working. Also, comparison of the harvest totals here in Ohio speaks volumes. In essentially 2 total weeks of gun hunting in Ohio, gun hunters will kill more deer in those roughly 2 weeks than all archery hunters in roughly 4 months. Those numbers tell me that the gun hunters have it good enough as-is, and the system is fine. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Imagine the devastation numbers we would have if you could gun hunt for 4 months.

As for what would I do if it was all a jumbled mess...I'd still bowhunt, but it would not be nearly as enjoyable for me. Part of what I love about bowhunting is the peace and quiet.

[ohiosam]

Hey Sam,
Not trying to be a smartass, but you might want to change the title to Hypothetical instead of rhetorical.

Yep, you're correct. :o

[jackalope]

I would get 20 guys together and lease 1000 acres for bowhunting only...

[deerhunt45]

I would move to Michigan because the deer hunting would be better :rolleyes: :whistle:

[Shadow]

I like it the way it is. I spend more time with the bow than the shotgun and I don't own a ML yet. I hunt 95% public and it usually feels like I'm the only guy on 800 acres most of the time, and I like that. When gun week starts its not my woods anymore and the whole feel of the woods changes. (i'm not saying it's bad and I'm not trying to start any crap, the woods are just different) I hardly see anyone else hunt my personal public land during archery and if you open guns to all season that would change. I guess I'm really selfish about what I don't own.

[ohiosam]

There are 15 days(including youth) that guns can be used to deer hunt in Ohio. Of those 15 days 10 are weekends or over the holidays. A big (and justified) criticism of gun season is that it becomes a circus. Isn't some of the fault in that the way the DoW has concentrated the gun season?

[ohiosam]

I have been in that situation when I went to Georgia a few years ago. Their deer season was really open, shotgun, muzzleloader, bow, rifle, etc... In my honest opinion, I thought it would really suck if Ohio was like that. All it took for me to draw that conclusion was comparing quality of the deer I saw in Georgia, the quality of the hunting, and then thinking about how it was back home in Ohio.

Georgia has a 12 deer limit and 2 can be bucks. Could that and not the weapons allowed be the reason?

[357MAX]

I was going to bring up Georgia myself, so here is what i know about that situation. Most guys, residents, will hunt with bows until they have a doe day, then they get out the rifles. In fact some only hunt the doe days. They generally have two doe days, consecutively, about every two weeks. On those days it is a sea of orange just like here. I don't think we would like it better than what we have now.

[XX78]

I would PM jackalope in hopes I could get in on that lease.