I was at an archery match recently when I overheard some of the old timers talking about the old days of bowhunting. It did'nt take long before the conversation turned to "blunting", which was a new term to me. I asked what it was and they said they used to shoot deer, elk, bear etc.. with various types of blunt arrows, (like an '06 casing or something on the end of the arrow). The purpose was to shoot and not kill, like on non-trophy animals. I guess it was fun to draw, aim, shoot and hit, yet the critter gets away alive and you can continue to hunt for a trophy. Kind of like catch and release hunting. I questioned their ethics, like they must've wounded some animals in their "sport" and how could they think it was safe. They reminded me the bows were mostly recurves and compounds of 25-30 years ago, which were much less powerful than the compounds of today. One guy said he quit "blunting" after he heard a deers ribs break and the other guys all had similar "last" blunting stories. I was shocked that this was actually done by people that I would otherwise have considered ethical hunters.

My question is this. Has any one here ever heard of the practice of "blunting" and was it once considered "O.K." to do?

I was blown away by this "sport" and I let them know my feelings about blunting. The old timers actually agreed with me and said it was a stupid thing to do. None of them were proud of it nor did they brag about doing it. They said they would never consider doing it today. I guess we all did stupid things when we were young and bowhunting was in its infancy back then, both in equipment and knowledge.

Yes, blunting used to be something that alot of people did.

No, it is not ethical and has the possibility to harm and even kill the animals.

If you have any doubt, let someone blunt you.

quote:

Originally posted by SDhunter:

If you have any doubt, let someone blunt you.

Very true!! I have shot grouse, squirrels, and groundhogs with blunts (metal) and the penetration was usually pass thru. Before I could find "real" blunts I used an empty 38 cartrige on the end of my arrow and it fit nicely. I can't remember if I was using 2117 or 2216 at the time.

I spoke to someone recently who claimed that he glued an old 12 gauge shell(spent)on the end of an arrow for shooting rabbits. He said it was so he could kill rabbits without losing arrows.
I had crossbow bolts years ago which came with a blunt plastic "bulb" on the end. I shot rabbits with it and it killed them like they"d been hit with a sledgehammer!
good shooting

Blunting small animals with the intent to kill is ok. In fact, Fred bear used to bird hunt that way.

I was talking about big game animals getting blunted. I agree with SD, I would not want to get shot with one, thats why I cant believe anyone ever thought it was OK to do.

I was hunting in Texas this year, and the ranch owner told me that some guy blunted one of the animals because he didn't want to have to pay the trophy fee for it. Well, he ended up buying it because it was severely wounded. He shot it with a compound with no tip.

Yep, I've heard of it. Back in the day there were alot of things done that would be frowned upon today. The great Fred Bear also shot an Elk @ 125yds. He just kept walking those arrows in there till he killed it, today that would be taboo.
As far as hunting with blunts...I do it all the time on small game. My favorite is still using 38/357 casings on wood shafts.

quote:

Originally posted by mousegun:
Blunting small animals with the intent to kill is ok.

I was talking about big game animals getting blunted.

I didn't mean to change the subject. What I was pointing out was the effect of a blunt on an animal. Bowhunting has evolved as a sport in the last 50 years. Things that are unethical today were ok back then. I think most of us (when we started hunting) would occasionally launch an arrow at deer WAY out of range. Today, 30 yards is my max, no exceptions. You just live and learn.

I was talking to my local game warden the other day, and he told me a story about a woman who shot a deer in her yard with a blunt because it was eating her flowers. The blunt hit the thing in the head and it dropped dead right there.

MG

It was very popular until they found out the deer died a few days later from multiple internal injuries from (no punintended) blunt trauma. This info came from a conversation with Ron LaClair a few years back.

quote:

Originally posted by Madgoat:
I was talking to my local game warden the other day, and he told me a story about a woman who shot a deer in her yard with a blunt because it was eating her flowers. The blunt hit the thing in the head and it dropped dead right there.

MG

That's one of those things you could try to do the rest of your life and not succeed. I would like to have seen her face when it dropped.

Some idiot in my town decided to 'blunt' some deer in his neighbor's yard.

He's not a hunter, but a noob target archer.

He missed... and the rubber blunt tipped arrow smashed through his neighbor's car window.

What a dope!