OUTDOORS: BOW HUNTING DEER HAS EVOLVED INTO COMPOUND SPORT

Thousands of hunters are slipping off into woodlot and thickets with the arrival of the autumn archery deer season -- a modern-day adaptation of an ancient pursuit.

One of the main attractions of deer hunting with bow and arrow is that seasonal opportunities are generous, measured in months in most states, whereas gun hunting for deer usually encompasses a relative few days. The difference is based on the higher degree of difficulty with archery gear.

It has been conjectured that modern advancements in archery equipment -- high-tech materials, refinements in designs and add-on accessories -- have made taking a deer with a bow too easy. Today's compound bows and their accoutrements remove the built-in challenge that archery hunting initially constituted, some speculate.

There are plenty of unsuccessful bowhunters, and successful ones, for that matter, who would take issue with that supposition.

Archery tackle most certainly is greatly improved from the earlier days of the sport. THe technological advances of today's compound bows set them apart significantly from the traditional recurves and long bows, the original "stick" bows, that trace back to ancient peoples.

One writer recently reflected upon traditional bows and contrasted them to the typical modern compound, to which he referred as "really almost a different kind of gun."

Again, some bowhunters who use modern archery equipment might wonder if the writer has.

A reality of bowhunting, be it with modern compound or traditional bow, is limited range. And the difference between the two bow types isn't as great as might be imagined.

Rick Sapp of Bear Archery, one of the giants of the archery industry, shoots and hunts both with traditional recurve and cam-powered compound.

"Shooting instinctively, I can hit a paper target with my Bear Kodiak takedown recurve at 40-yards, but I'm not consistent enough to shoot at game that far away," said Sapp, who has bowhunted extensively for deer and larger game. "On a deer, I've got to be within 15 to 20 yards to be confident.

"When I shoot using sights with my compound, a Jennings Unitech, I can shoot gold at 40 yards, but so much can happen with a live animal, I wouldn't shoot that far at a deer," said Sapp. "I'm comfortable shooting at deer at only 20 to 25 yards with a compound. I don't suppose I've ever taken a big game animal with a bow at more than 25 yards."

Sapp's viewpoints on range limitation are typical of most responsible bowhunters. Of particular note is that his "comfortable" limitation with the compound bow is only approximately five yards greater than that with traditional bow.

A major difference between instinctive shooting with traditional bow and shooting a compound bow equipped with sights is the amount of time required to shoot proficiently.

"Good, effective, instinctive shooting with a recurve takes a lot more practice," Sapp said. "You really need to shoot frequently. With a compound and sights, though, you could put the bow down and come back some time later and still be right on target."

What the compound bow does best is allow the hunter to pull more draw weight because of the phenomenon of "let-off," reduction of holding weight at full draw, that comes from the physical properties of the eccentric wheels or cams used. Hunters who have their hands full with a 45-pound recurve bow may be able to shoot under control a compound bow pulling 60 to 70 pounds.

In fact, compounds with 50 percent let-off at full draw, even though hunters may pull 70 pounds to "break over" the eccentrics. leave them holding only 35 pounds when they're anchored and aiming. This alone allows more people to shoot accurately within reasonable range limits.

The business of comparing even a refined compound bow to a gun, however, holds little water when ballistic data is examined.

Even a relatively slow rifle bullet, a 170-grain slug from century-old 30/30 cartridge, travels at some 2,200 feet per second. By contrast, a blazing fast arrow from a hot cam-driven compound bow might be something that travels in the neighborhood of 270 feet per second. A typically hunting compound bow might deliver an arrow at about 220 fps, whereas a traditional recurve might produce an arrow speed of around 190 fps.

A .30/30 rifle is considered a relatively short-ranged rifle, but it's certainly capable out to 150 yards or more -- a far cry from the 25 or so yards to which a bow is reliably consistent under hunting circumstances.

One of he biggest hurdles of the bowhunter is the physical necessity of drawing her bow, pulling it back to prepare for the shot, in the intimate presence of a game animal. The movement required is often all that's necessary to alert a deer to danger and send it into tail-flagging retreat.

Shot selection is another huge limitation of the bowman in contrast to the rifle hunter. The penetration and power of a typical deer rifle cartridge makes almost any good look at a deer, from whatever angle, a potential shot. Straight-on or going-away possibilities are no problem for a proper bullet.

With bow in hand, however, not only does a deer need to be close, it should be fully broadside or slightly quartering away to offer a reasonable shot. Lacking the shocking powers of a bullet, a broadhead-tipped arrow kills only by inducing hemorrhaging a surgical-like cut. The only reliable arrow placement to ground a deer is the heart/lung area, so an unobstructed entry to that target from the side must be available.

For the bowhunter, just having a deer come near guarantees nothing. Between the need for a good shot angles and the need to draw the bow without being detected , many close range encounters produce zero opportunities.

That may be exactly the point of bowhunting. however. The lack of ease with which shots may be taken and the intimate range necessitated by the equipment produces a fair share of high anxiety and heart-thumping anticipation even on occasions when a hunter eventually goes home empty-handed.

Approximately 90 percent of all bowhunters have their deer tags as leftovers by the time the end of the archery season arrives. Those who succeed in collecting even one deer via arrow constitute a scant minority. Even with refined equipment included in the equation, its' still no pushover pursuit.

Still, for many of those who fail to land any venison during the season, there's a fair share of adrenaline and more than a few shakes and shivers involved in the near misses and might-have been encounters. That's the attraction.

Steve Vantreese is outdoors editor of The Paducah Sun.