Why You Should Rifle Hunt This Year

Sure, there are obvious advantages of rifle hunting, and, generally speaking, it requires a lot less dedication than archery. However, you’d be mistaken if you think a rifle is the only thing separating you from consistent success in the deer woods.

If you’re more interested in the process than the product of deer hunting, stay with the stick and string. But if you’ve hit a big buck drought or would be happy to shoot a buck with a rifle, here are a few reasons to rifle hunt this deer season.

There’s no denying that rifle hunting eliminates a lot of the headaches and challenges of bowhunting. Twigs are no match for a 150-grain bullet traveling 2500 fps, and you don’t need the exact tree or trail to have a legit shot opportunity. This doesn’t mean there’s no room for error. You’ll still need to practice with your rifle and get comfortable shooting from uncomfortable positions. However, the learning curve is much shorter than that of bowhunting.

While rifle hunting can increase your odds of making a good shot, it can also give you more shot opportunities. I’m not just talking about extending your ethical range, which rifle hunting can certainly do. What about those frustrating opportunities when deer come into bow range, but they’re just behind brush, and you have to watch them walk out of your life? Most of these shots are layups for your grandpa’s .30-30. For weekend warriors who have a handful of days to hunt, this might be the difference between killing a buck and eating tag soup.

I’m not suggesting that you give up bowhunting. You’ll have to work hard to achieve consistent success as an archer. But just because you pick up a rifle doesn’t mean you’ve thrown in the towel. In the South, rifle seasons span multiple months and typically fall during the rut. I know several hunters who wouldn’t dream of picking up a bow during this time of year. They’re excellent woodsmen who consistently kill mature bucks, and, no, they don’t care that they didn’t fill their tags with archery equipment. You shouldn’t either.

I love bow hunting, but it can be incredibly stressful at times. Between picking the right tree, drawing without getting busted, and threading an arrow through a gap, there are a lot of moving pieces. This is why successful hunts are so rewarding.

Rifle hunting, on the other hand, can be as simple as pointing and shooting (sometimes). Don’t get me wrong, you can make rifle hunting as complicated as you want. You can carry a truckload of gear into the woods, but some of my best rifle hunting experiences rarely involved anything more than my gun.

These days, when I rifle hunt, it’s either from the ground or I’m still-hunting. I don’t overthink my strategy, there’s no second-guessing, and I just play the wind and hunt. I’ve had a lot of success hunting this way, and more than anything, it’s enjoyable. Even if you don’t commit to filling a rifle tag, you can always just switch it up and take a day to scout with a rifle in hand. If you happen to kill a big buck and still think it’s not a challenge, you can always go back to flinging arrows.

Social media has created, for those of us without the blue checkmarks, an imaginary audience. This illusion leads most social media users to believe that others constantly monitor their lives. For hunters, it’s the illusion that people wait for us to post a hunting update, or that they even care.

This way of thinking not only puts a real, albeit phantom, pressure on social media users. It can also quickly become the motive for how or why you make certain hunting decisions. Like, oh, I don’t know choosing to only bow hunt because it’s more challenging, and therefore, your followers will see you as a talented, stone-cold killer? Most hunters on social media (who aren’t influencers or pros) would be lying if they said they haven’t experienced similar thoughts. Myself included.

The reality is, no one cares about the caliber of deer that you kill or how you do it. Whether you run a buck down with your recurve or shoot it from a ladder stand with a magnum rifle, your actual friends and family will be excited for you. The random folks who creep on your stories probably clicked too fast to see your hero shot anyway. So, the next time you get on your bowhunt-or-die high horse, just get down. You’ll have a better shot angle anyway.