Rifle vs Archery

I asked outfitter Bill Burnett to give me his thoughts about the difference between an archery hunt and a rifle hunt.

Maybe the biggest difference is the psychology of it. Archery hunters tend to know that the odds are stacked against. And rifle hunters oftentimes, especially if they don't have a lot of experience big game hunting think that because they've hired a guide that they've guaranteed an outcome of success, which is never the case. The way you approach the hunt is a little bit different. But the attitude with which these hunters approach the hunt is usually very different. The bow hunters generally like to immerse themselves into the outdoors, knowing that they're probably going to go home without filling a tag. So they try to put themselves into a mindset to kind of enjoy the present and not get attached to the outcome. Rifle hunters. They want that outcome. They want that photo. Hey, I'm one of them. When I take off hunting with a rifle, I expect a little bit different outcome than when I go off with a bow. And then the way we approach the hunts is different too. The weather dictates a lot of that archery hunts being in September. We had some cold nights and some warm days and big temperature changes, but it still doesn't require as much equipment as going in on some of these October hunts. And these rifle outcomes in October, you can be dealing with weather that is so punishing that you need so much more gear just to be comfortable and successful during that week. And so I think the biggest difference on the operation of the archery hunts and the rifle hunts is the amount of extra gear you need to be comfortable just four weeks later.