How long? What has changed?

[Keystone]

I have been bowhunting in Iowa for 27 years.
How long have you been bowhunting and what has changed since you started bowhunting in Iowa? Looking for the (+) and (-)!

 

[big buck 184]

I have only bowhunted one year and look forward to many more. I think I got beginners luck though. I shot a spike buck. I am really going to find it hard to pick up a shotgun or "muzzleloader" again. Well maybe the muzzleloader. But standing in that tree when a deer comes up is like a whole new feeling. I don't think anything can replace the way I felt when I released the arrow and watch it hit its mark. The excitement almost drove me to jump out of my stand. Sorry I couldn't tell you what I think has changed, maybe in a few years.

 

[Bowdon]

36 years of bowhunting . More bowhunters, more deer, quicker kills and better bowhunter ethics now days. When I started you may only see one deer every two weeks are so, you took the shot at it be it at 10 yards or at 50 yards because, you may not see one for a another two weeks and there where a lot more outlawing going on to get shots, lots of big deer drives see them with 50 bowhunters togetter and when we went out of state where there was lots of game some would go crazy shoot at every thing that moved, wood arrow where $16.00 a hundered and some would lose all of them in a week of hunting out of state.

[This message has been edited by Bowdon (edited 03-10-2002).]

 

[Rembrandt]

Whitetail hunting for 36 years....bowhunting for 16 years. Biggest difference, hunting then was like driving on I-80 at 4am.....now it's like driving on I-80 during game day for the Iowa-ISU football game.

 

[BW]

30 years bowhunting in Iowa. Deer herd quality greatly improved. Number of bowhunters greatly increased. More focus on success and scores than the challenge of the hunt and comraderie.

 

[IAdroptine]

This coming bow season will be my 28th. Everything is different but nothing has changed, I still love it.

 

[cityhick87]

My first year bowhunting but things are just gonna hopefully keep getting better.

 

[IaCraig]

I have been bowhunting for 27 years, and I love it more each year. The biggest change I see is the ethics of the hunters and the quality of the equipment. When I started everyone used recurves or longbows and many people could not hit a hay bale at 25 yards more less cleanly kill a deer. Now with sights, 3d targets and modern compounds most hunters practice until they can shoot 9 out of 10 in the vitals of a 3-d target at 25 yards.

There are many more bow hunters than there used to be too, but I'm glad to see that because I think on the average they are more friendly, less secretive and more legal than they were 27 years ago too.

 

[deerman]

1975 was my first year.Saw 2 deer and had no shots.Got into chicks and cars until 1982 with a recurve bow I went back out and arrowed my first deer 2 weeks into season.Ever since then Ive been out there every year.Went shotgunning in 88 but didn't care for it,To me it was like hunting big rabbits.I noticed a herd increase about in 84 or 85.I don't know what happen, just a hell of alot more deer.Now its even better.Last year I retired my recurve and went with a compound.I like it.I'm more successful.The only thing I miss about the old bow is the slower arrow and watching the flight on the way to its spot.There are alot more bowhunters I think because of the alowance of getting a deer with a bow and then one with a gun.Bowhunting has got soul and is good for the soul.There is nothing like it.

 

[Iowa1]

30 years here (1973). There are a lot more deer today and a LOT more hunters. Back then we never even thought of passing up anything to wait for something bigger. There were many, many days of hunting that I never even saw a deer at all. The equipment is so much better and the average hunter is so much more knowledgeable due to videos, TV, magazines, books, etc.

Man things have changed a lot. Mostly for the better. However, I had sole permission to hunt all the land bordering the north side of Pilot Knob State Park back then. Today, much of it is public hunting land. Boy if I only knew then what I know now about deer behavior. Oooooh.