I don't know about anyone else, but I have been addicted to shooting my bow since I got into it last year.  I decided that I would have more opportunities to hunt, and to just get out and shoot, with a bow than with my guns.  Now I am at a point that I'm considering getting rid of some of my gun gear to finance more archery gear.  Is it even possible for BRD to be trumped by something else?!  Can archery and gun hobbies co-exist or are they mutually exclusive for those of us who aren't on unlimited budgets?  Lets hear it gents...

Gotta admit, there's something 'Zen' about flying arrows. And a deer with a bow is so up-close-and-personal that it's quite a thrill.

I hardly shot gun this last year at all(glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem).  Got two bows in the last year and have been shooting a lot of archery since March.



Archery will be my number one, but my recent Glock 34 purchase did remind me to continue fighting the urge to ditch gun gear.  I think I can make them work together.



Both are fun and both have there place but I love the challenge archery brings me and think not much beats a day shooting 3d.

I think archery and firearms compliment each other.  They both share the same principals of shooting.  Both have parabolic trajectories.  I'd dare say one makes you better at the other and vice versa.

It's already happened to me.  I developed BRD as a response to 9/11, and it has always been about 2A rights and family/home protection.  I say this as someone whose only hunting rifle is my AR-15 in 6.8SPC.  I really, really like my black rifles, and I want to get one for each of my boys (7 of them makes that impossible, though), but archery is my first love.  I started shooting a bow when I was 13, but lost my place to shoot when I was 14, then cars and girls took up my time and money followed by college, marriage, family kept me away from archery until my 2nd son decided that he wants to bowhunt instead of gun hunt after Cub Scout summer camp, where he tore up the archery range.  I got back into archery in order to teach him and quickly remembered why I love it so much.  I won't get rid of my two EBRs, but I don't know how many more I'll be buying.  My 3rd son already has a bow, and my 1st son wants to start as well.  Boys #4 and 5 are already asking for bows, and they are 7y.o. and 5y.o.
It depends on how deep you want to get into each hobby.  If you think you need a brand new bow with new equipment every year, or that you need 5 or so fully equipped bows, along with fully decked-out guns, then they are mutually exclusive for the person on a limited budget.  If you keep things simple, then you can have both.  I only have one bow for myself, my 1st and 3rd boys have to share a bow, my 2nd son has his own that my wife can shoot if she decides to get into it (they're both left-eye dominant), but I won't be one of those archers who have a 3D competition bow, a hunting bow, a backup hunting bow, a bow set up for NFAA, one for FITA, etc.  I have one AR in 5.56 and one in 6.8SPC.  I would like to get one more 6.8SPC upper so that I can take one of my boys rifle hunting with me rather than instead of me, but if more than one boy wants to rifle hunt, I'll have to stick with my bow while they hunt with rifles.  There just isn't enough money to go around.
 

 

I don't hunt with a firearm anymore.  My first passion was bowhunting, and it still is.  Best time of year to be out there, and there are more opportunities to hunt with a bow than with a firearm.  I just bought a house that borders on a 2140 acre county park which allows bowhunting only.  Shot a doe on opening morning, missed a shot this past monday, and my best buck was a 10-pt on opening morning in the park a few years back.  Now if it would only quit raining.

worst thing about bows is how much they depreciate in value.  Firearms go down some but then level out - doesn't really matter how old they are.

True, but bows last almost forever with almost no maintenance, and you don't have to clean them after shooting.  A good hunting bow will last a lifetime, and you really don't need a new one.  They're plenty fast, and quiet, and deer are the same as when we killed them with stone tipped wooden arrows from green wood bows.  Bummer you have to walk out there to get your "bullets" back, though.

Luckily I only have BRD and HWABD ( hunt with a bow disease )

I am going Pheasant hunting with my bow in the morning.

Last year I shot 2 phasant with the bow while I was deer hunting.

This year I am going out with the intention of hunting pheasant with my bow.

I only have a dozen arrows, so I may need to get some more before deer season starts on Monday. Those airborne shots are tuff

I will say mine has changed from BRD to BBD.

I like the idea of an all black bow, but without a ground blind, I think it would be too obviously out of place.  My bow is currently camo'd in Next G1 Vista, but next year it might get redone to ASAT to match my camo.



 

I bowhunt and gun hunt and they can coexist even on a budget,  I am still waiting for my first bowkill I have thought about only bowhunting this year I want to put an arrow through something so bad I can taste it. I fell I can't really call myself a "BOWHUNTER" till I kill something with my bow.

If they notice that while you are 20 feet up you have done something else wrong my friend.



But whatever helps you confidence go for it and I mean that seriously.

I don't own a tree stand.  I hunt on the ground.  Last week, on two separate occasions, I had a deer within 4yds looking straight at me.  Yes,  deer would notice an all-black bow (I don't have my ASAT camo yet, either.  It will be here this week).





 

Sure you can... that's why they call it hunting. Just don't call yourself a "BOWKILLER" until you kill something with it.



 

looking to get into archery as a supplement to shooting.

would be a valuable hunting skill, that i need to refine further.

also great way to do cool shit with the gf.....and her family have expressed interest in this and guns.......which at least the shooting part, I'm going to teach them.....

archery, hoping to learn together

I agree with you sir.

the skill is what I am after not making it my life

you only sell Ross bows because Andy Ross is a dick.

guy is a dick, backstabs everyone he has worked with, his original company he ran into the ground with debt, a few years went by and the guys at Bowtech decided to bail him out, Ross screwed them out of money, the guy is a leach, stiffs everyone and owes a lot of money to a lot of people.

I got curious and went to a bow shop a few weeks ago to look around, and the staffer there let me shoot a few models. Well I'm now a owner of a Mathews heli-m in Tac finish. It's pretty tricked out and shoots great. Already looking at getting a second bow, maybe a dxt or switchback. There is something great about slinging arrows.

I do this too.Three years ago I decided I wasn't interested in archery anymore and sold almost everything. all was fine and dandy until bow season got close and my wife started getting her stuff ready, then I decided that selling everything was a mistake and I ended up replacing everything I just sold 8 months earlier.