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Thread: is Levergunning alike Bowhuntin ?

  1. #1
    Boolit Man HD.375's Avatar
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    is Levergunning alike Bowhuntin ?

    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.
    Model 94 XTR .375win (38-55+p) - Australian Sambar Deer Hunter.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master


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    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.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master Randy Bohannon's Avatar
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    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.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    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

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    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.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Man HD.375's Avatar
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    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!
    Model 94 XTR .375win (38-55+p) - Australian Sambar Deer Hunter.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    Nope
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

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    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.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by gunseller View Post
    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.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master
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    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.
    Don Verna


  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master 444ttd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beerd View Post
    I'd say hunting with a traditional flintlock muzzle loader is closer to archery hunting.
    ..
    with patched round balls.
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  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy Orchard6's Avatar
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    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.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master

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    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.
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  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    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.
    Last edited by tdoor4570; 12-06-2021 at 01:41 PM.

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master



    M-Tecs's Avatar
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    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.
    2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

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  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master


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    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 !
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