Should I hunt this year?

I haven't bow hunted since 1980. Yes, lots of technological advances
like trail cams, portable tree stands, new types of broadheads, etc.

But my neighborhhod is overrun with deer...big fat juicy deer!

I've lived in my home four years and know the woods near my home like the back of my hand.

And now that "urban sprawl" has set in, the deer are funneled into a narrow strip they have to use to get from their daytime beds to night-time
feeding areas. It's a choke-point from heaven!

And even better, there's an old barbed wire fence that is pushed down to the ground in one spot....vitrually ensuring they will step over rather than risk trying to jump over and get tangled.

It's a perfect setup and hard to resist. I could set up my blind literally minutes from my house.

Now the downside....if I put an arrow into a deer and it flips out and dies in someone's yard (you know they can run a bit before they finally die) I'll be the "mean guy" of the subdivision.

Still....this poortunity is calling my name!

That's my primary objection to bow hunting. If I do my job right, they may stagger a bit, but I use such a powerful cartridge/bullet combo that they usually just fall to the ground and don't get up.

That's the thing...hugh powered rifle bullets have "knockdown power"
or "shock" power. An arrow is basically razor blades attached to a stick.
It's just as deadly, but the deer doesn't know what happened.


If it's shot through the lungs (for example) it just knows there's a sharp pain and it can't breath. So how far away they can go after they are hit is limited to how long they can function without breathing.

I just read this and now I don't feel so well. Why did I check this thread?!

Why don't you feel well? You eat beef/chicken/pork and those animals don't just magically show up overnight in your grocer's freezer.

If it's not me running an arrow through it, the deer gets hit by a car, or breaks a leg and then attacked by coyotes, etc.

It's the circle of life.

Does beef/chicken and pork get hunted in the woods?

I don't want to get all heavy in here but all I could picture is that deer just minding his business and then your description of various kill styles just messed me up a little.

Like a cow just minding his business and then they slit his throat?

The cow is raised to be food. Unless you can point me to where wild cows are at.

Not all cows are raised to be food.

Re: Should I hunt this year?

Sure. Just be careful about Indians and dysentery. And try not to break an axle fording a stream.

That's their life. Whadayagonnadoo?! My feelings are different towards free animals. Those raised in the wild.

Wow, I knew I shouldn't have been reading this thread. This just makes you want to go all veggie and stuff....

It's easier to think of the "big picture" in a deer's life. They have a pretty good life (especially here in Georgia) where all they have to worry about is cars and hunters (and hunters are rare with kids stuck to their computers). Winters are mild, so starving isn't going to happen.
So basically they walk about free, going where they want to, eating what and when they want.
There are no wolves or mountain lions around my neighborhood to prey on them. It's a pretty sweet life.

So out of several years of "good days" they will have 30 seconds or so of a "bad day" (indeed, a very bad day) and then they are off to deer heaven.

Now animals raised for food live a terrible life, all penned in and running around in their own shit and only eating when some human decides they eat, and what they will eat. What a terrible life!
Everyday is a "bad day" for them. This seems pretty cruel to me.

Not for California Cows.

Only from an airplane.

With an assault rifle.

For baby seals.

Sure it is.

Ok, I am definitely going! The statistics are on my side....average 14 hours spent per deer kill in Georgia. That's only a week of TV watching I have to sacrifice sitting in a tree watching wildlife cavort. I think that's a fair trade! Also I get a free hunting license as part of a "Veterans Appreciation" thing Georgia started a couple of years ago.

My family actually enjoys venison (my daughter loves venison jerky)
unlike the fish I catch that I have to eat by myself.

How can you not like a panful of bluegill, or a bass grilled over charcoal?

Anyway, I can practice in my backyard, as long as I shoot elevated and angle all shots downward. That's how I will hunt (treestand) so I'll practice like that. I'm no hero.....I won't take any shots longer than 20 yards...
I know my limits.

Why not hunt with a rifle?

Because I'll be hunting near homes....not very safe.
Plus, I hate loud noises.

Silent But Deadly!

Oh. I thought you'd go out in the woods and stuff.

Not...quite. They use a Captive Bolt Pistol. It destroys the brain, but leaves the brain stem intact so the heart will continue to beat while they drain the blood out of the animal.

They use a bolt to put down horses also. But I believe they kill them outright.

I'll be sort of in the woods. I'll be on the edge of the woods, near a big field where they feed. I'll be hunting the area where they hang out before going out into the open field.

Believe it or not, deer don't spend a lot of time in "the woods" because big trees don't offer them any food (unless it's acorns.

They like edges with a variety of foods they can reach.

I believe you. I have yet to shoot a deer in the woods. Always get them on the logging roads on the farm, or by the pond.

That said... it's always as they're coming out of the woods.

Yep....go too far into the thick woods where they hide/bed down too often and it puts them "on edge" and will be counter productive.
Let them think they have a nice, safe place.

I have heard that if you let the deer run, the adrenaline they pump into their body degrades the meat's taste. Is this true? I'd imagine a deer getting stuck with an arrow would go through the next hour or so scared shitless until it finally drops due to lack of blood or failing internal organs.

Indeed....always wait when bowhunting unless you see it drop down and die (not very likely in thick areas). Sometimes a deer shot through the lungs will just stand until it keels over there if it doesn't know what happened.

As for adrenaline affecting taste? The only way would be a scientific test.
Feed blindfolded people deer shot under stress and those that died instantly (prepared the exact same way) and see if they can tell the difference.