is Levergunning alike Bowhuntin ?

[HD.375]

So ive been often quoted that Lever gun hunting is a bit like Bow hunting......... but with a Bang and with a few more Meters under yer belt!?

Does anyone agree on this ? or like to discuss it?

I say this because I dont Bow Hunt (did purchase one this weekend) but the Gist of the Game is often to get in CLOSE to the Animal and PLACE a shot where it needs to be........

Then ya drop the hammer- where its supposed to go and WAIT.

i find the waiting part has become key for my lever gunning at present an learning to hold back from racing in an seeing where it went or whatever---- trust that shot..


Down under a TREE stand is very uncommon, not a method used often, but instead we Ground base, Sit and Wait, many folks i believe STALK or Still Hunt with their Bows but that may be slightly more difficult overall...

hunting from a tree is proberly very similiar weather rifle, bow , shotgun or slingshot...... Ya merely waiting on a Deer.

Sitting and waiting from the ground enables you to be in any spot weather pending..
an the still hunting, well theres a bit of movement involved, theirs knowing the Animal in the areas habits, testing your skill to find them, unalerted etc.. this to me sounds very hard with a Bow? not impossible (ima do it soon) but loweres the chances tenfold.
still hunting with a rifle is hand in hand, point shoot. without the angles presenting, a many variables from distance, alerted or spooked etc.

Im a Rifle man i love me rifles but im dipping into the Bow for the challenge... kind of cant wait.

[GregLaROCHE]

Bow hunting it a completely different discipline. I did it a few times, but never got lucky. Hunting with a lever action is pretty much the same as hunting with any other gun in my opinion.

[Randy Bohannon]

I agree with Greg, I do both . How and where I will hunt is different ,first and foremost I can hunt in town or the closer areas around town with a bow in certain areas,not happening with any gun.

[gunseller]

With about any calaber in a levergun you can make a good shot at 100 meters. It takes a very good shot to come close to that range with a bow and after a year of constant practice you might be able to pull off 75 with a bow. I have done both. I don't have the time to get good with a bow. I still like to get close. Most of the deer I have shot have be ed n under 25 meters no matter what I am using g to kill them. Have fun no matter what you are using.
Steve

[sharps4590]

Frankly, I don't believe there's any comparison. I used to bow hunt but haven't in....15 or more years?

My MUCH preferred method is...well, it was, still hunting. Man I loved doing that! Chemo therapy pretty well ended those days. I won't even climb into a tree stand anymore, can't feel my feet very well. So, I sit in a pop up and wait.

[HD.375]

interesting replies gents, keep em coming-

100m is say a good 'open sight' lever gun hunting distance, ya woods depending..
the bow game, .... well its a personal one with practise an how confident one is at longer ranges, for sure... but i am wanting to practise to be confident at reasonable distance.. im not sure if 40-45 meters is too far but thats where my target arrows will be flung at. ?

the discipline may differ and a fair call regarding the location differing too!

im not liited in any way or with any of the guns, i tend to just get right into one at a time, eg the 375, or the kimber ultralight, or the Ruger 1 , an with it the huntin style changes, i think it keeps me challenged and enthused to wanna 'succeed' for weird term, although doing what i do is imo success, i just like to challenge meself an i feel the Bow must be the pinnicle to a degree without nit pickin into recurve or spear classifications :)
i stopped metal spinner fishing rivers and streams years ago as ther was no major joy in casting, retrieving , casting, repeating until a fish nabs the lure..... so i got right into my Fly fishing..started with Dry flying, now all rounding all day- dont catch many... really enjoy it when i do. or dont .

think its going down the same path with the Compound bow! an i know SFA about it except some Youtbing like The Huntin Public an the like!

[Thumbcocker]

Nope

[petroid]

I have shot deer with rifles at bow range. In fact all of the deer I have shot have been within 50 yards, what many will consider bow range, although I limit myself to 30 or 40 yards with a bow. The biggest difference to me is being able to get positioned to draw the bow and do so without being busted and hold it as long as necessary for the shot. Its much easier to hold still for long periods of time with a cocked and locked gun aimed at the deer until he presents a shot.

[Grayone]

With about any calaber in a levergun you can make a good shot at 100 meters. It takes a very good shot to come close to that range with a bow and after a year of constant practice you might be able to pull off 75 with a bow. I have done both. I don't have the time to get good with a bow. I still like to get close. Most of the deer I have shot have be ed n under 25 meters no matter what I am using g to kill them. Have fun no matter what you are using.
Steve

My thoughts exactly. I enjoy it more when I can get under 50 yards or so undetected by the game.

[dverna]

You will be able to answer your question after putting a couple of hundred arrows downrange on targets...not deer.

Once you think you can make a kill shot, have a buddy put some targets out at unknown ranges at a place you have not shot at before, and see how you do.

I cannot shoot a bow well enough to risk wounding game. I shot my buddy's scoped crossbow and at ranges to 75 yards, it is like shooting a rifle...but his rig is over $2000. Too rich for me.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Not at at all, bow hunting - 50 yards is a long way,crossbow - MAYBE 100, antelope hunting with a scoped Savage 99 in .300,.243,.308 or Henry Long Ranger(not .223) - 150 yards is a chip shot, 250-325 yards is very reasonable from a stable position, even with a receiver sighted .32 Special - 150 yards is not difficult from any stable position in good light. I've taken multiple elk with a scoped(2.5 Leupold) Marlin 45-70 at well over 100 yards and one bull at 340 so NO, lever guns are not as range limited as arrows.

[Beerd]

I'd say hunting with a traditional flintlock muzzle loader is closer to archery hunting.
..

[koger]

I am a die hard gun lover, but all my best bucks have been bow kills. I counted them up recently from my journal, and I have taken 82 deer with a bow, doe and buck. 20 of those were with a recurve or longbow. I filled my buck tag here in KY, 14 out of 15 years with a bow. When you learn to become a proficient bowhunter, ML and rifle hunting will be super easy. My deer hunting goal was to shoot a P&Y buck, just one would do. I finally got a 130" 8pt and a 142" 10 pt, and never entered them in the book, the chase was the real trophy. Last 10 years or so I shoot the first buck that meets my wieght stds, #140 or so gutted, for burger. In my book, when you can get any deer, with 25-30 yds and they dont know you are there, you have already done the deed, getting them on the ground is the icing on the cake. About half of these bow kills, have been on the ground, from pop up blinds, or natural blinds.

[444ttd]

I'd say hunting with a traditional flintlock muzzle loader is closer to archery hunting.
..

with patched round balls.

[Orchard6]

For me archery compares more to hunting with a pistol. 30-40 yards and in. With a lever gun I’m easily good to 100 yards open sighted and 150+ yards with an optic and some decent ammo in an appropriate caliber.

[Hogtamer]

No! i hunted exclusively with a recurve bow for 25 years and 25 yds and in was reasonable. And getting one close is only 1/2 the game as you still have to draw and make the shot. A compound is more similar as you can draw and hold a minute waiting for him to take another step or look away. A shotgun with buckshot is the limit of firearms comparison.

[tdoor4570]

Not any where close to being alike. I am better with a lever gun than with a bow. I shot state competition archery for 5 years in senior male freestyle. stayed in the top 5 ranking so I am not bad with a bow.

[M-Tecs]

Nope, I've kill 65 plus deer with a bow and well over 200 with rifles, handguns, shotguns, muzzleloaders and handguns. I did take an antelope over a water hole with a smooth bore flintlock trade gun. That was the only one that would be somewhat comparable to bow hunting.

Longest shot with a bow was 32 yards. I lost my first archery deer in 1970 at ten years old. I have not lost one since with a bow. I keep my distance about half of what my shooing ability indicates.

[sigep1764]

I just started with a compound bow about 6 months ago. 5 arrows in 3 inches at 25 yards is my goal and is achievable on a good day. At 45 yards, that opens up to 7 inches on a good day. And this is on a target, not with a deer in my sights. Right now, if I were in a stand or ground blind, I'd limit myself to 25 yards with a bow. First deer was last year with a scoped rifle. 120 yards was no problem.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
First what kind of bow are we writing about ?
I have used bare recurves for 35 years and never taken a shot past 20 yards. That is my 55# bow lethal limit. Most all my shots are 12 yards or less in the river bottoms I hunt. Probably half the bucks I have stuck have been stalking. But then it takes me an hour to advance 50 yards.

The compound bows are not the same issue. Those gears can throw a shaft much faster. Add the do-dad sights and its far more accurate.
Then throw in the cross bows ! That is like comparing a 357 levergun to a 50 Alaskan !

[waksupi]

Good morning
First what kind of bow are we writing about ?
I have used bare recurves for 35 years and never taken a shot past 20 yards. That is my 55# bow lethal limit. Most all my shots are 12 yards or less in the river bottoms I hunt. Probably half the bucks I have stuck have been stalking. But then it takes me an hour to advance 50 yards.



I've tried to teach quite a few over the years how to still hunt, but have only been successful with two. Can't get most to slow down and hunt like you are supposed to! If you aren't using your binoculars more than your feet, you are going too fast!

[gumbo333]

I've tried to teach quite a few over the years how to still hunt, but have only been successful with two. Can't get most to slow down and hunt like you are supposed to! If you aren't using your binoculars more than your feet, you are going too fast!.


sharps 4590, sure nothing wrong with sitting in a ground blind or just in between some trees. Been hunting that way for 25 years after a car wreck. It works, had white tails within 2 feet on the other side of me brush/ deadfall blind.

[missionary5155]

I have to agree with ya waksupi. A good pair of Binos makes looking into and through thickets to see the minute details much easier. Sort of evens up the vision issue.
One of the best equipment items I bought 20+ years ago was a Steiner Predator Bino. Good glass and learning to patiently use them made the river bottoms come alive with critters that were always there anyway.

[Texas by God]

Binoculars are the second thing I grab after a loaded firearm when a hunt is afoot. Hunting with my .54 blackpowder pistol is as close as I come to bowhunting. My max range is about 40 yards but I prefer 40 feet!

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[HD.375]

nice to see some were able to lets say, understand where that Q was coming from an where it was going......
some of the other replies , WOW, lets just say WOW.... LOL.... Golf Balls V atom bomb comparisions in some of them ey.

hooroo


edit- im awaiting the mail man to arrive with my first compound bow.... so never mind... i got this ;)

[missionary5155]

Bully for you HD.375
Bow hunting will teach you a myriad of lessons. As you gain confidence and the craft of close hunting get your self a recurve or longbow and learn that art. Challenge yourself to become the preditor hunter.

I had a recurve when I was 13 and was very good at small game and fish. But all my gear disappeared when the Green Machine took me for 3 years. Bought a ML kit at the Army PX store and off I went when free again.
Soon muzzle loaders were to easy and then got bored with harvesting corn crunchers with rock locks down in river bottoms and thick woods. So when God provided a 45# Bear recurve from a fine Brother it all came back together and sharp pointed shafts were quietly harvesting bean eaters for the 3 months ILL-Nois gives to stick shooters.

Your terrain may be vastly different. In east ILL-Nois there is a river every 15 miles and creeks everywhere so getting close is not the issue. Study how the natives did it. Adapt and your compound will harvest deer to 40 yards +. Tube sights and scopes make it fairly easy.
Practice, practice,and then some more. A 3 inch circle is my gauge. Every shaft in 3" is my lethal range. A modern expanding razor head will slice and dice an big hole. With a shaft through the heart and lungs a deer can still move 100 yards in 3-5 seconds so do not get discouraged But learn how to track and follow a blood trail that may require doing so on hands and knees looking at blades of grass and flipped over leaves.

My longest firearm shot is 33 yards. My closest bow shot is 4 yards. It can all be done by anyone who will pay the learning price.
I still use recurves. But my limb pulling days are near over. 71 years and the shoulders just do not function like 15 yeas ago.
But I still sit in bushes and 3 days before we returned here to Peru I had a 10 point big buck standing 9 yards from me looking the off to my left and would have been been very easy to drive my broadhead through lungs and heart. May see him again in 2 years God willing when I have a bit more time to enjoy his flavor.
Mike in Peru

[missionary5155]

HD.375
What is the Handle about ? We shoot all sorts of Caliber .38 rifles from 38 Long up to 375 H&H.

[FergusonTO35]

For me personally they are kind of similar. I use my lever actions for slow stalking in the thick woods where 50 yards is a really long shot, and 20-40 is really the norm. I guess it's more like using a fast crossbow.

[centershot]

Bow hunting it a completely different discipline. I did it a few times, but never got lucky. Hunting with a lever action is pretty much the same as hunting with any other gun in my opinion.

^^^ What Greg said. Levergun or not, hunting with a rifle is hunting with a rifle. I will say that hunting with a 41 magnum Blackhawk (iron sights) for more than a few years taught me that extra bit of patience that made me a better bowhunter.

[quilbilly]

Even though I competed internationally successfully in archery years ago out to 90 meters, I still think the range limitations of bowhunting are similar to handgun hunting (unless you are the modern incarnation of Elmer Keith). 50 to 60 meters would be my maximum with a bow and I would have to think on that. The "9 ring" on an Olympic 90 meter target is about the size of the vital area of a large deer. Recently, on a TV hunting program, a bowhunter shot a bull elk from 90 meters and I was absolutely horrified at that conduct. He paid the price, however, having to trail the elk for 8 hours with witnesses on film then shooting it again, when it was clearly going to survive the first hit. It was a humiliation for bow hunters in general. If you limit yourself to the longest range you can keep 4 of 5 arrows on an 8" paper plate, I guarantee you will become a better hunter with you beautiful lever gun

[Lonegun1894]

I used to use a compound bow, but I was also practicing at least every other day. Now to be fair, the archery range was on my way home from work so I would stop in for 15-30 minutes after work and get practice in. I got to the point where I was consistently shooting 4-5" groups at 80yds, and could estimate my range to within 5 yards out to 100 yards, but have this personal rule of that I will not take a shot on game unless it is half my paper shooting practice distance or less, so 40 yards at most with the compound. I got addicted to the getting in close aspect of hunting, and now try to get in close regardless of what tool I'm using, so my gun hunting is similar to bow hunting in those terms, but it's still much different. And I was looking for more challenge, so switched to a longbow about 2 years ago for my bowhunting. Now my maximum range for game is 20 yards, and I haven't gotten good enough to stretch it all the way out to 25 yards yet. Goals....

[Shopdog]

Bows are very similar to hunting with iron sighted revolvers. I've been shooting bows for over 50 years,handguns about 40. Out to 50 yards bows are easier. It's a longer sight radius,and even if you're a trad shooter out to say 20 yards,it's still easier than iron sighted revolver.

What gives the hand gunner big "points" is movement during the shot process. No comparison,handguns are uber efficient in bring them to bare.

I'm too old to be climbing into tree stands,and wasn't all that wound up about them when I was younger.... but,a well prepped/tuned 44 mag hunter in a treestand here in the mnts of Va where shots are often in feet not yards.... they are very high on efficiency. Takes lots of practice though.

Rifles,compounds,and crossbows you can get away with much less practice. Trad bows and iron sighted revolvers.... you'd better be on your practice regime.

[hpdrifter]

I'd so yes, in one respect only.
I have to be closer than a bean field rifle.
My eyes only allow about 60 yards with open/receiver sights.
Compound shooters take longer shots than I do with my 38-55 or my 45 colt pistol.

[HD.375]

HD.375
What is the Handle about ? We shoot all sorts of Caliber .38 rifles from 38 Long up to 375 H&H.

handle just referin to the lever gun i got, model 94 ,.... 375 winchester of course,,,, not one of those big honkers.

[tmanbuckhunter]

The only gun hunting that gets close to hunting with a bow is a flintlock, and maybe a smoothbore at that. I'm a fervent levergun hunter, but let's just be honest here... any decent levergun is capable of 100 yards if not more in the right hands. There is no drawing, no anchor point, no back tension, no delayed ignition (flinter) etc... etc... etc... It's just a better looking, more functional and handy rifle.

[megasupermagnum]

Hunting with a smooth bore flintlock is like hunting with a crossbow.

I can't think of any firearm that would compare at all to a regular bow. A Lever gun is certainly not even in the same league. I'm not much of a bow shooter, and I failed miserably the few times I tried hunting. There are a million things that matter with bows, that do not matter with rifles of any kind, even muzzleloaders. Muzzleloading is all about what happens BEFORE the shot. Bow hunting is all about what happens AFTER the shot. Compound bows help somewhat with a few issues. With a compound you can draw when the animal isn't looking, or coming in, and wait quite a while to shoot. Using a traditional bow you cant do that at all. The space required to move with a bow is so much greater. You need both the height and the width to draw your bow. Compounds again allow you to get away with a little lack of form, but a non-sighted bow, you definitely need to be in good form to make a shot at all. There's a whole bunch more to it than I understand. Then there is the fact you are shooting arrows. Again, these new compounds are allowing the usage of some crazy broadheads that make quite impressive wounds, but you are still shooting arrows. You have to understand bone structure for any shot that isn't a perfect broadside shot. Even a sturdy 2 blade broadhead made for penetration isn't a great match for a light deer shoulder blade. Bigger animals are worse.

Let's try a scenario. You are sitting against a tree, and you see a deer at 75 yards out. #1 with a lever rifle, you take the shot, and the deer goes down quickly. #2 with a bow, nothing you can do but watch.

Sitting against the same tree, a deer you hadn't seen is 30 yards away, but knows something isn't right. #1 with a rifle, you raise the rifle when it steps behind a tree, you take the shot when steps out, and the deer goes down quickly. #2 with a bow, you could try and draw, but the deer would see you, and probably bolt. If you had a compound, you could probably draw when it was behind the tree, and hold long enough for a shot. The problem being when it steps out, and knows something is up, it will likely be facing you. Can you feed that arrow through the small area between the bone at 30 yards? You have only one real option, and that is to wait for a better shot. It might happen, but also just as likely the deer doesn't like what it smells, and bolts.

It doesn't matter how you cut it, bow hunting is tough. There's a lot of advancements in compound bows that take a way a bunch of problems you face with a traditional bow, but the fact remains you still have to draw on an animal, which is no subtle movement, and then make a shot while under pressure, and cold.

Shooting a rifle in the field is a lot tougher than at the range, but still, all you have to do is sight alignment, trigger pull. Even weak calibers are more devastating than arrows, to a degree. Arrows leave some crazy blood trails, but deer live a lot longer with an arrow through the lungs, so you kind of need it to find them.

[HD.375]

maaaan- I AM LOVING this BOWHUNTING caper!
if i had of had my lever gun, i'd have been able to shoot 6 deer in the past 5 or so days of hunting with the New Bow!!!!

ive sent one Arrow at Game, 33m on a Fallow- an been within 45m of 6 deer at various stages. unable to seal the deal for good yet but the Challenge, Excitement, Persistance and Patience needed..... is next level.

[HD.375]

https://youtu.be/L1cbgvai2bA

Enjoy my first few hunts, on camera. plenty off camera so far!
https://youtu.be/L1cbgvai2bA

[Thumbcocker]

Humbling isn't it. I hunted for 4 years before I killed a deer with a compound bow. Have you thought about a climbing tree stand? Saw a lot of nice straight trees there.

[HD.375]

Humbling isn't it. I hunted for 4 years before I killed a deer with a compound bow. Have you thought about a climbing tree stand? Saw a lot of nice straight trees there.

hey mate,
so i have, an am thinking of them however my style is , progressive? or just really curious to get in on them, i try to sit an wait as often as i can from the ground but il no doubt move a short distance before the prime, or to chase something ive seen!

Certainly is humbling but the feeling is unlike Rifle hunting............. its true wilderness warrior stuff.... i l o v e it

cant thank The hunting Public on youtube for the inspo an encouragment.

[Thumbcocker]

In the U.S. deer hunting is dictated by terrain and region. In the west with huge tracts of public land spot and stalk is the rule.

In much of the Midwest there are smaller parcels to hunt and often much less public land. Also there are more people hunting in smaller areas. Here tree stands and ground blinds are more common. Tree stands can be semi-permenant or portable.

We are fortunate to own our own hunting land and it is literally out the back door. We get to know the ground and the habits of the deer that live on it. We have a few ladder stands up but I still often hunt from my climber. It is compact enough to carry on my back and assemble at my chosen tree by flashlight. If I see deer moving elsewhere I can relocate easily.

Our hunting is in thick timber/brush and being able to see over it is huge. I have enormous respect for "The Hunting Public" folks but don't personally know anyone who stalks deer on the ground. I have sat on the ground, usually on the side of a hill overlooking a creek bottom, but don't have the space for long stalks.

This year I have killed 3 deer with a crossbow. 2 from ground blinds and 1 from my climber in a tree overlooking a trail and a scrape line.

What ever works for you.



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[pls1911]

No... not even close.
Cast bullets, properly cast and mated to the rifle are good to 200 yards... even in a (30-30 )TC pistol with open sights.
Plenty of energy remains to drop deer and pigs in their tracks with proper shot placement,