As the about me section for this blog says I'm going to turn myself into a bow weilding elk hunter I can't blame any of you who are tapping your fingers and demanding "enough of the kit collecting and distractions, get with the hunting already".
So in the interests of getting on with it I thought a review of the european options for the hunting toxophile would be in order. As you can see from the map, bowhunting is really starting to gain popularity in southern Europe, the summer before last the French hunting magazines all had bowhunting sections and CHJ has found severl Italian bowhunting sites. The European Bowhunting Association has some useful information, if you're thinking of making the trip.
I'm off to Italy in a few days to do some outdoor plumbing and some scouting for big pigs in a chestnut forest.
Frankly any pointers would be much appreciated
Your Pal
SBW
Practice a lot with your bow and carry a BIG knife in case you just make one angry with you. Here in Texas, skipping the bow and hunting them with dogs and a knife is starting to become quite popular...Think of just how many ways that makes PETA people angry and it could be worth it just to say you've done it in the right social context... :-)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
What's the italian for Dog?
ReplyDeleteSBW
SBW,
ReplyDeleteAlbert Rasch mentions you often at his blog The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles, so I thought I would stop by! Good stuff here, but I don't know much about bow hunting for hogs.
Peace,
Mike
SBW, I know you've mentioned Italian pig hunting before, but are you going to be bowhunting them?
ReplyDeleteWish I could give you some pointers, but I live in an area that's still relatively pig-free(they're still a little ways south but moving inexorably north. I suspect I'll see my first pigs this fall) so I don't have a clue when it comes to porkers.
But I'm guessing big, heavy arrows with big, heavy cut-on-contact heads would be in order, no?
The first deer I ever killed with a bow dropped to a 125-grain two-blade Zwickey swaged onto an Easton XX75 2216 shaft. I don't know how much those arrows weighed but it had to have been over 600 grains
I think my old bow flung them out there at about 23 fps but it passed right through that deer and buried itself into an Osage orange tree (bois de arc for you purists) on the other side.
I know most bowhunters, including me, tend to concentrate on speed but there's something to be said for mass and inertia, especially on stuff that can hurt you.
Just look at what Howard Hill and Fred Bear used.
Michael
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and saying nice things.
SBW
Chad
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that we'll get to actually hunt this time around. But we are taking a bow and at the very least we'll practice and do some scouting. There are certainly pigs in abundance and some very big deer have been seen too.
SBW
Italy?
ReplyDeleteI wish I was going with you. I would say practice alot, alot, alot.
Don't know anything about hogs but I look forward to hearing what you find out.
Good Luck!
The bowhunters I know that use them for hogs around me tend to use heavy chisel pointed 2 blade broadheads for maximum penetration. Nothing fancy and none of that 3 or four blade or mechanically articulated stuff.
ReplyDeleteI prefer a .30-30 pistol or better but we all have our own tastes. In Texas, as they are feral domestics/non-native game, other than javelina you can use pretty much whatever a human might want to hunt with. As long as you have a hunting license you can use a pocketknife if you wanted to try it. Dunno about Italy, I looked into hunting there as an American and it was so much more expensive than Africa that it didn't hold appeal to me. You being closer and such, the economics are likely different.
Happy hunting,
Italy sounds great - s and slay the you'll have a fantastic time.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely take that BIG knife, practice a lot and slay the pigs.
Cheers,
LSP