<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Old Buck:
Just in case you think they've gone away I copied this directly from the web site of the Humane Society of the United States.
"Some hunters use brutally inhumane weapons such as the bow and arrow. Yet, in all cases, sport hunting inflicts needless and undeniable cruelty -- pain, suffering, trauma, wounding, and death -- on living, sentient creatures as a deliberate and willful act of an individual. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) believes that causing needless suffering and death is by definition inhumane, regardless of method."
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I get so sick and tired of people saying that archers only wound deer and it isn't humane and that they leave deer out dying and suffering. Yes every year there are deer that are hit with arrows and aren't recovered,and this year I heard of a lot of cases of that in my area, even by the most skilled shots. I myself have not been able to recover wounded deer in the past but I did spend a lot of time looking for arrowed game, and I do a lot of walking a tracking when that happens until I exaust all my possiblities.
Most archers I know spend a great deal of time praticing shooting before the season and becoming more skilled in the art of it. Also I know that most of the ones who do stick and deer spend countless hours looking and tracking until the deer is recovered.
I have been bashed for years by gun hunters saying that archers wound deer, but I pose a question to them and ask, how many times when they shoot at a deer and quote miss do they actually check and see if there is any blood around and I'm not just talking about at the spot where the deer was shot, sometimes kill shots dont' leave a lot of blood.
I have heard of a lot of deer this year being lost by gun hunters this year as well, and some saying that it is hard to track without the luxtury of snow on the ground and this is true it is, but this is just a little taste of what most archers go through during our hunts.
I don't mean to bash gun hunters in any way, most that I know spend a great deal of time and effort on their sport too. I know a lot of gun hunters who are some of the best sportman I have ever had the pleasure to meet and they are wonderful hunters. It is just time to stop the bashing and enjoy the sport we love and try our hardest to try to track animals that haven't been hit in prime kill zones.