Idiots

[W5GA]

Dude. I am not a hunter. I know hundreds of them. I know what they do and what they say. You can badmouth the people you want to defend all you want. They say the reason the bow and arrow season is there is to minimize the headcount of the deer taken because it is not as accurate and keeps fewer deer from being tagged.

Think about what you just said. If the goal is to reduce headcount, why are there separate seasons for archery, muzzle loader and gun? If the goal was to reduce the number of deer taken, you'd eliminate separate seasons and/or reduce the days legal to hunt, ration the available licenses and tags, etc. The last I saw, seasons were expanding. Cutting headcount doesn't enter the picture at all, and those that try to tell you that don't have a clue. Usually, they are too lazy to put in the work required to be successful at it - and are the same people that you never see more than 1/2 mile from their truck. The goal is to maximize opportunity, and that includes archery.

All states set the length of their seasons based on deer populations as they are estimated by biologists working in a given state's fish and game department.
Once the estimate is established, the combined length of all seasons are adjusted to provide an opportunity for each method you choose to employ to fill your tag(s). The only thing the state cares about is the total harvest, not the method. The seasons are biased towards what is the most common method, so gun season occupies more days than archery or black powder. In some states, the seasons will overlap, but archery is usually given its own set of days. This is because the archers in some states get a break, and the guys using guns won't be allowed in the field at the same time. Archers will be heavily camoflaged, and may not have the "hunter orange" requirements that gun hunters do. You see, if you're hunting with a bow, you have to get really really close. 35-40 yards is about the limit for range. As such, archers have to actually have some woods skills. You don't find them shooting at noises like the rifle hunters do.

And now you say that hunters aiming for the head will naturally miss and hit the gut. Ooooh Kaaaay.

Try reading what I wrote again because I said nothing of the sort. I said the head is a piss poor target, due to size. IMHO, trying a head shot is irresponsible hunting, as the chances for a miss are far higher. Don't know about you, but I've seen more than one deer with its jaw blown off thanks to some slob hunter trying that very thing. Care to talk about inhumane?
As I said in an earlier post, shot placement regardless of what you shoot is the single most important factor there is. Accurate shot placement comes with practice, it doesn't happen by accident. You are no more likely to hit what you aim at using a gun than you are with a bow without said practice.