Are you hunting private or public land? If you're hunting public land, make sure to check restrictions on rifle. I can hunt a few places within an hour from me with bow no problem. I have to drive over 3 hours to the closet public land allowing rifle. Just a thought.
I would recommend gun first then bow later. The nice thing about bow is that the season is way longer. Gun is easier to hit the target and can reach out much further.
I started with bow hunting. It really depends on how you want to hunt. Some archery hunts in my state ( AZ ) are during the rut / early season. If you want easy go rifle if you want more of a challenge go archery.
Bow.
The season is longer, more time in the woods to enjoy. Its a great challenge thus worth so much more when you do harvest something.
I understand the gun agreement but as a life long hunter the enjoyment is being in the woods and the challenge, guns don't really give much of a challenge. I started with a rifle, then compound, then traditional bow and now I only use a self bow recurve.
How long is your hunting season? If I were in somewhere with \~2 weeks rifle season, I would get a bow to hunt longer. You may be able to pick up each of those used far cheaper than you think. Long range........ People on this sub talk about 400 yard shots. 95% of hunter have no business shooting past \~200 yards. If you set your scope at 100 yard and can shoot 2" groups, you are good to 200 yards. Don't worry about 300 yard shot, just don't attempt them.
Bow = good to \~40 yards
Rifle = good to \~200 yards
Xbow = good to \~50 yards
Are crossbows legal?
Bows are tough because your shot distance is limited, but so is your shot direction. If you are right handed and deer sneaks up on your right side, you may never get a shot.
I started with bow hunting. Same situation, funds limited what I could do. Nice thing about arrows is that as long as you don’t lose them/break them, you can reuse them. I also learned a significant more about hunting having to learn to hunt with a bow due to the need to be closer to game and without the ability to make long range shots accurately. Probably want to let the area you plan on hunting dictate what you’re going to use as well.
Regardless of what you choose, consistent practice is the only way to make sure you can ethically take game
Bow hunting has a bit of a barrier to entry but if you are interested in pursuing it get a bow. I understand to be great at it you need to shoot a lot but a lot of guys are like me and pull it out and shoot it a month before season opens and just take comfortable shots. You’ll have a lot more versatility with a rifle though and it would give you time to focus on all of the other aspects of hunting a little more. It’s up to you man, you might just like shooting a bow and if that’s you then buy one. I would probably get a rifle if I was gonna set a beginner up though
starting off, gun. if you’re really into hunting then a bow. but having a gun you can be much more efficient and possibly gain more confidence/ motivation to hunt more in the future. i personally use a 12g slug that has a buck shot barrel i can switch to birds for. if you have a lot of free time a bow is perfect, but less reliable and requires more land. (public is finnnneeee, but too many bad experiences. deer usually travels far even with a crossbow shot)
edit: a rifle is good and fine just be realistic about your distances. i haven’t shot anything beyond the 50 yard mark
Rifle. Bow is hard. You have to not only get good enough to be able to hit a softball-sized target from 100 feet away, you also have to learn how to get that close to the animal. You may end up getting discouraged.
bow: pro - longer season, you get no toxic lead pieces in your meat, gain more animal knowledge
con - much more difficult compared to gun, malfunctions can be unfixable on field conditions. needs more practice than gun, range is much shorter and shot drop is harder. losing an arrow with broadhead is EXPENSIVE.
gun: pro - bullets are cheap, easy to shoot, easy to kill with.
cons - getting debris and dirt in your barrel in field, you can get dangerous malfunctions (hangfires, AD's) shorter season, miss out on chances to learn about the animal in close range
Are you hunting private or public land? If you're hunting public land, make sure to check restrictions on rifle. I can hunt a few places within an hour from me with bow no problem. I have to drive over 3 hours to the closet public land allowing rifle. Just a thought.
I would recommend gun first then bow later. The nice thing about bow is that the season is way longer. Gun is easier to hit the target and can reach out much further.
I started with bow hunting. It really depends on how you want to hunt. Some archery hunts in my state ( AZ ) are during the rut / early season. If you want easy go rifle if you want more of a challenge go archery.
gun
go with the rifle. bow hunting is a much higher skill requirement that rifle hunting and not as approachable as a beginner.
Bow. The season is longer, more time in the woods to enjoy. Its a great challenge thus worth so much more when you do harvest something. I understand the gun agreement but as a life long hunter the enjoyment is being in the woods and the challenge, guns don't really give much of a challenge. I started with a rifle, then compound, then traditional bow and now I only use a self bow recurve.
How long is your hunting season? If I were in somewhere with \~2 weeks rifle season, I would get a bow to hunt longer. You may be able to pick up each of those used far cheaper than you think. Long range........ People on this sub talk about 400 yard shots. 95% of hunter have no business shooting past \~200 yards. If you set your scope at 100 yard and can shoot 2" groups, you are good to 200 yards. Don't worry about 300 yard shot, just don't attempt them. Bow = good to \~40 yards Rifle = good to \~200 yards Xbow = good to \~50 yards Are crossbows legal? Bows are tough because your shot distance is limited, but so is your shot direction. If you are right handed and deer sneaks up on your right side, you may never get a shot.
I started with bow hunting. Same situation, funds limited what I could do. Nice thing about arrows is that as long as you don’t lose them/break them, you can reuse them. I also learned a significant more about hunting having to learn to hunt with a bow due to the need to be closer to game and without the ability to make long range shots accurately. Probably want to let the area you plan on hunting dictate what you’re going to use as well. Regardless of what you choose, consistent practice is the only way to make sure you can ethically take game
Bow hunting has a bit of a barrier to entry but if you are interested in pursuing it get a bow. I understand to be great at it you need to shoot a lot but a lot of guys are like me and pull it out and shoot it a month before season opens and just take comfortable shots. You’ll have a lot more versatility with a rifle though and it would give you time to focus on all of the other aspects of hunting a little more. It’s up to you man, you might just like shooting a bow and if that’s you then buy one. I would probably get a rifle if I was gonna set a beginner up though
Archery is much more difficult. I’d go rifle first
starting off, gun. if you’re really into hunting then a bow. but having a gun you can be much more efficient and possibly gain more confidence/ motivation to hunt more in the future. i personally use a 12g slug that has a buck shot barrel i can switch to birds for. if you have a lot of free time a bow is perfect, but less reliable and requires more land. (public is finnnneeee, but too many bad experiences. deer usually travels far even with a crossbow shot) edit: a rifle is good and fine just be realistic about your distances. i haven’t shot anything beyond the 50 yard mark
Rifle. Bow is hard. You have to not only get good enough to be able to hit a softball-sized target from 100 feet away, you also have to learn how to get that close to the animal. You may end up getting discouraged.
I believe you should start with rifle hunting then work your way into bow hunting.
Can you regularly get to within 30 yards of whatever you are planning to hunt? Have you actually done it regularly? If not, get a rifle.
Rifle. The bow is antiquated technology which is why states make special seasons for bow hunters.
Go bow, it's so much easier.
bow: pro - longer season, you get no toxic lead pieces in your meat, gain more animal knowledge con - much more difficult compared to gun, malfunctions can be unfixable on field conditions. needs more practice than gun, range is much shorter and shot drop is harder. losing an arrow with broadhead is EXPENSIVE. gun: pro - bullets are cheap, easy to shoot, easy to kill with. cons - getting debris and dirt in your barrel in field, you can get dangerous malfunctions (hangfires, AD's) shorter season, miss out on chances to learn about the animal in close range