6. Bow Hunting: Ethical Practice or Outdated Tradition?

***Remastered this is fresh update to the Outdoor Gibbon Podcast ***

Ever wondered about the ethics and reality behind bow hunting? This episode dives deep into a practice that dates back 60,000-72,000 years yet remains controversial today.

From ancient origins in South Africa's Sabudu cave to modern compound technology, bow hunting has evolved dramatically while maintaining its core principles. We explore how this method compares to rifle hunting, addressing misconceptions head-on. The truth might surprise you – ethical bow hunting requires extraordinary dedication to practice, physical conditioning, and fieldcraft that many rifle hunters never achieve.

The legal landscape varies dramatically worldwide. While banned in the UK since 1965, bow hunting remains legal across most of Europe and North America, often with rigorous education requirements that the UK firearm system lacks entirely. The British Bow Hunting Association continues working to demonstrate modern bow hunting's viability and ethics, potentially opening doors for future legalization.

Modern broadhead technology creates clean wound channels causing rapid blood loss, while compound bows with precision sights offer accuracy comparable to rifles. Traditional recurve bows maintain the ancestral connection, requiring intuitive skill and offering deeper satisfaction. Both approaches demand the same fundamental respect for quarry through disciplined practice and responsible shot selection.

Whether you're curious about taking up bow hunting, wondering about its ethics, or simply interested in traditional outdoor skills, this episode offers valuable insights into an ancient practice finding its place in the modern world. Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with an experienced bow hunter who'll answer more of your questions!

Transcript

Introduction to Bow Hunting

Speaker 2 0:26

Hello and welcome to the Outdoor Gibbon Podcast , episode 6 . Can't quite believe we've made it into 6 episodes and people are still listening , so this is always a good start . More interviews on the way , but I thought I would cover a topic today that's popped up a few times on social media , be it Facebook groups , instagram stories etc . And that is bow hunting . The image that pops into your head will be man dressed in green with a big , long bow , similar to robin hood , running around in the woods shooting arrows . There will be guys listening to this podcast that are bow hunters , so they know exactly where I'm coming from . But for the people that aren't , we'll try and give you a bit of background and explanation to how it all works and hopefully be able to answer some of those questions . So let's start right back in the beginning .

History of Bow Hunting

Speaker 2 1:44

Bow hunting has been around for hundreds , thousands of years . The oldest bit of evidence , they believe , is a cave in South Africa , the Sabudu cave , and they reckon that the age of that is between 72,000 and 60,000 years ago , with likely arrowheads and drawings dating from that time . So Mann has used bow for a long , long time and it's obviously been a very efficient method of dispatching game and harvesting a meal . So the bow was pretty much unstoppable up until around about the 9th century when black powder was invented , at which point that was a game changer . So the archer was obviously . One was the hunter would go out , bring food back for his village or people . Two in any battlefield situation the archer was probably one of the most vital weapons on the field . Didn't have to be right on the front line , could send a volley of covering fire over any foot soldier that was going ahead of them . But an archer had to train and train daily shooting arrows , because the only way you become a good archer is you have to build a muscle memory . That muscle memory is where you draw the bow back , to , where you lock the drawn bow on your with with a knocked arrow , a position on your face , consistency every time . You do that if it's not the same place , the arrow will shoot somewhere slightly differently . So these guys trained all the time and these archers were absolutely phenomenal at being able to put arrow upon arrow upon arrow almost in virtually the same place . But again , it all came down to training .

Speaker 2 3:25

But as I said , once gunpowder was invented and the first rifles appeared , the bow was was deemed not as good a rifle could out shoot an archer . He could be much further back it . It wasn't required and suddenly it was an easier life . You didn't have to practice as much , you didn't have to train as much , no muscle memory was required . There is a level of skill and and technique required to shoot a rifle , but not as much as shooting a bow consistently . So the bow probably fell from favor very quickly . Battlefields an archer was was no real use anymore . He could be out outshot from a further distance .

Speaker 2 4:07

Bows hadn't really changed . They've always been a piece of wood , basically with a string attached to the back of them , until sort of around about the 1920s when professional engineers took an interest in archery and went well , we've got modern materials and we can start looking at doing different things with them , and that created the birth of like the recurve bow and the compound bow , both of which used engineering skill to produce power . But you didn't have to have amazing amounts of muscle to draw these bows back and shoot like traditional longbow archers . So we're almost up to date

UK Laws and European Comparisons

Speaker 2 4:46

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Speaker 2 4:46

Let's have a look at how the UK law stands currently on bow hunting . In 1965 , bow hunting was banned . It's still banned currently and in the most up-to-date Wildlife and Countryside Act that still stands . But that act was last edited in 1981 . Now , in 1980 , archery changed massively with American enthusiasts and , realistically , american bow hunting changed thanks to Fred Bear and the design of some bows that he'd produced . But so when bow hunting was banned in the UK , our bow technology wasn't very good . The bows weren't very powerful , probably not as consistent as a modern bow . There is still a quirk in our bylaws of the UK that it says that all males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice the longbow at least two hours per week . And apparently if you live in York , it's permissible to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow . Just make sure it isn't a Sunday .

Speaker 2 5:54

So where does that get us to today ? Well , much of Europe still allows bow hunting . America still allows bow hunting , new Zealand the bow is still allowed to be hunted with . There's only a few countries in Europe that bow hunting is banned , but they're all under review at the moment . The UK is one of those questionable areas , but the Bowhunting Association , the BBA , are working hard with European partners to try and produce documentation to prove that it would be viable and ethical to actually allow bow hunting . So some countries , their governments , have actually given bow hunting a second chance and they've allowed trials to take place to see how it gets on , and some of these are still in trial mode at the moment . But the results are looking positive and potentially bow hunting will come back in . But this only works because these countries then have education programs they run and you can't just go out hunting with a bow without having first passed a qualification or something required by law to say that you're a trained hunter . So a quirk of the UK is there is no legal requirement to have ever been on a training course to allow you to go hunting .

Speaker 2 7:12

You can literally go and buy an air rifle and go and shoot rabbits . You could go and get a rifle , pass all the necessary paperwork with the police and you've never been trained to go deer stalking or to take an animal . But no problem , here you go , have the firearm . You wouldn't get that in Europe To own a gun in Germany you've got to go deer stalking or to take an animal . But no problem , here you go , have the firearm . You wouldn't get that in europe to to own a gun in germany you've got to go and do the hunter's training course in france . It's a similar thing and you get a certificate and a qualification and then you can be classified as a hunter and you're quite respected at that point . But no , the uk , yeah , yeah , have a , have a firearm and off you go , you can go go shooting . So my bow hunting side of things I've been to france and I've achieved the french bow hunting qualification . I've also done the international bow hunters education program called the ibep . Uh , passed the theory paper online and then I have been to the british bow hunting association and done all the requirements to pass the practical examination . Uh , which is very similar to a dsc1 idea , but it's all done via a bow different ranges shooting tests , uh , it's not a quick thing , it's a two-day event and , um , yeah , and you get a certificate out of that . Now , with that basically card , that opens up lots of different parts of the world that I can actually go hunting in with my bow .

Is Bow Hunting Ethical?

Speaker 2 8:44

So the question I posted on social media was is bow hunting ethical ? It's always a topic that comes up and there's always a huge number of people that say no and a huge number of people that say yes , I'd love to have a go and there are people that are unsure and want to know more . It's really interesting , though , when you just you talk to the nose . Most of them said I've watched the video online and the animal runs off and it looks like it's in pain or it was badly shot with a bow and I'm like but how many times have you seen an animal badly shot with a rifle ? I'd probably say there are more animals wounded or injured or maimed with firearms than there are with bows . However , these videos never make it onto the internet or there are no videos to go with it . Unfortunately , the bow hunting ones do get put up because somebody was there with a camera , maybe because it's more social , and there were a group of three of you out hunting and it's then blown out of all proportion . So all the bow hunters I know practice , practice , practice .

Speaker 2 9:53

It's always about building that muscle memory and consistency . If you don't practice consistently , your body isn't ready to to shoot the arrows . You fatigue easily . Your consistency won't be there . So the whole thing is you constantly practice shooting arrows to make sure that your accuracy is there . You understand how your bow works . There's any inconsistencies within your own physical form . You're building those up as well .

Speaker 2 10:21

Bow hunting is fairly strenuous . You're going to do a lot more walking . You aren't going to be shooting somethingrenuous . You're going to do a lot more walking . You aren't going to be shooting something at distance . You're going to get up close and personal . So your skill level , your fitness , needs to be good .

Speaker 2 10:32

You're going to be shooting an animal , probably between 20 and 50 yards tops , whereas obviously a rifle lazy shooters are going out to go deer stalking and they're shooting at three , four hundred yards . It's not stalking , it's just killing . A good stalker gets in close . This is using every bit of field craft you've got . If you're taking a shot at 20 yards , it's not just about being in the right place , it's camouflage , it's the ability to draw the bow silently , it's being able to hold the bow at full draw until the animal turns into the right position . Potentially , there's so much more going on than being behind the rifle and just squeezing the trigger . There's a definite discipline to bow hunting . That's yeah . That's completely different to rifle shooting .

Speaker 2 11:21

So let's look at the most important part , now that we're talking about bow hunting ethical parts of it the arrow and the what's called the broadhead basically the point that's going to be doing most of the work for you . The broadhead is the most important part . It's an incredibly sharp set of razor blades . It can either be fixed like a traditional arrowhead or there are mechanical ones that open up so they get more surface area as they go through the animal , create a larger wound channel so the animal bleeds out faster . Broadhead technology has changed from the original flint or bronze age arrowheads that were sort of semi-blunt to absolutely surgical precision blades that at the gentlest pressure will cut through a piece of leather with with no effort at all .

Speaker 2 12:13

So , if you can imagine , you've got your bow at full draw . You're in position 30 yards away from an animal and you release this arrow .

Arrows, Broadheads and Technique

Speaker 2 12:22

It's traveling at a fair speed and it's a fair weight of arrow with it . It hits that animal and with the momentum and the weight of that arrow it passes straight through . Now in most cases it happens so fast that the animal doesn't actually realize what's happened . It feels a sharp pain but it has no idea what's happened . It's created a huge cut or wound channel through that animal . Now if your practice has paid off and you're absolutely bang on in the kill zone or the engine room of that beast , it will bleed out incredibly quickly and probably within 20 or 30 yards that animal will drop .

Speaker 2 13:01

Very similar to taking a shot with a rifle . That animal will drop , very similar to taking a shot with a rifle . However , there's far less meat damage and , as I said , the animal has no idea what's hit it . Take a rifle , for example . We do the same principle we take that shot from I don't know 100 yards when the bullet hits it . The bullet is so small but traveling so fast . It does a complete transfer of all its energy and it's actually the hydrostatic shock of the bullet hitting the animal and causing the damage that normally kills it . But again it's that tiny little piece of lead that creates a huge amount of damage . The animal knows it's been hit because obviously there's a big thump and it probably still runs on 20 or 30 yards and drops on the spot .

Speaker 2 13:46

So in both cases we have an animal that runs on One . The arrow is passed straight through it . It's bleeding out very quickly . Lack of blood to the brain . The animal has expired very fast . Secondly , you've shot it with a rifle . Similar idea Potentially it's bleeding out into its chest cavity or bleeding out of the hole where the bullets exited . Lack of blood to the brain , animal expires very quickly .

Speaker 2 14:12

Yes , now , in both cases there can be problems . You don't hit the vital organs with a rifle . It's a bit more forgiving in some ways because obviously the amount of energy transfer may well fragment the bullet and cause other vitals to be hit , whereas obviously the bow if you don't , it goes straight through . It may clearly miss everything , but the animal will bleed out , but slightly slower . So this all comes down to what I spoke about earlier practice . Obviously a good bow hunter will practice and practice and practice to make that risk of missing far less . Now , if they do miss , this happens , but it also happens with rifle shooters . They miss as well .

Speaker 2 14:53

So my personal feeling is bow hunting is is perfectly ethical as long as you've put the effort and the practice in to make sure that the target species you're going to shoot at is going to get the most accurate , clean shot from you , the shooter , it can get . If you can't shoot , then you shouldn't be going out there to try and take that game . That's just the way it is . It doesn't matter whether it's with a bow , a rifle , a slingshot . Even If your accuracy is not correct , then you are not being just to the animal you're about to take . So we've spoken about the arrows and broadheads .

Speaker 2 15:37

Let's look at the bows and what I'm shooting at the moment . So so I currently shoot two different types of bow . I have a compound bow which has a set which basically has like a scope on it . It's a set of pins , so the accuracy of this is the equivalent to a rifle . You set your distance up and each pin is maybe 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 yards . You aim on the target , you release the arrow and it usually strikes within a very , very close proximity to where you were aiming . The compound bow has been likened to that of rifle shooting . And then my second bow is a recurve bow , more traditional style , and the aim on that is more it .

Speaker 2 16:25

It's sort of it's difficult to explain how you aim a traditional bow . It's kind of you think where the boat , where the arrow is going to go and your brain does all the maths and calculation for you and puts the arrow on the spot . But again , this bow requires a lot more practice , the muscle memory . My grouping with this bow some days is phenomenal and I can put all the tag , all my arrows , at 30 yards in a four inch circle . Other days you get the , the lock point in the wrong place and you spread your arrows out over to a size of a dinner plate . But again , it's all down to practice and shooting and I don't shoot enough at the moment .

Speaker 2 17:05

If I'm going to go to France within the next few years , I need to practice daily to get my , my skill level up . But I will definitely be hunting in France with a compound bow , purely because it's a little bit more forgiving

Different Types of Bows

Speaker 2 17:18

. You've got the pins and the ranges set so you know that when you put that pin on the target species and you draw and release , the arrow is going pretty much to where you are aiming . So why do I shoot two types of bow ? The compound bow , as I said , is more like the rifle . It's very clinical . You draw the bow back , you release , the arrow goes to where you've aimed , whereas the recurve is more traditional . It's that sense of when you shoot that and you're putting the arrows where you want them to go on the target . There's a massive feeling of I did that because actually it's your brain doing all these magical calculations and your hand-eye coordination putting it all together that actually sends the arrow down and places on the target . So I think that's probably why I shoot the two different bows . One I know is is a clinical killing machine and the other is if I can do this . Yeah , it's , um , it's a great skill to have and requires no other technology behind it . There's no sights , aiming points or anything like that . It's all done , um , the traditional way .

Speaker 2 18:35

So , with all of that in mind and we've looked at the bows , arrows and all the rest of it I haven't gone massively into detail , but I have arranged at some point to get a bow hunter on an interview so we can fire questions at him and hopefully he can explain a bit more and it's not just my random wafflings going forward . So his primary focus is actually bow hunting . He doesn't do rifle shooting uh , he is . He goes , he's been to france many times , uh , it goes to the us and he is in part of a training program which he can give more details about for ex-servicemen and it will be interesting to see a different point of view really . So hopefully we'll have that lined up once he's got time in the near future .

Speaker 2 19:23

We'll draw

Closing Thoughts and Future Episodes

Speaker 2 19:24

this podcast to a close at this point . Hopefully it's answered a few questions for you . It may have actually produced more questions , which I'm happy to answer either via email , drop us a message on social media or something like that . We'll do our best to answer those and hopefully help any knowledge blanks going forward . So that's the end of another podcast . Thank you again for listening and thanks for all the support and the comments that you're sending me , and hopefully I will keep on producing these and everybody will keep listening . There are some more interviews coming up shortly , um . The next one is potentially with Empire Cartridges , uh , discussing the potential lead ban and changes to the shooting world that are about to uh to to take place . So shoot straight and we will see you in the next podcast .