New member, new hunter - continue with shooting pointy sticks?

Hi all, new member and new hunter from region 4. I took my PAL and core a while back with the intention of getting into hunting with a rifle. Been saving my pennies for a while to purchase my first rifle and get into shooting but I’d like a bit of advice.

Ive had an older entry level Excalibur Axiom crossbow for a few years now and thoroughly enjoy shooting in my homemade range in my back yard. I can shoot out to 40 yards, which is more than enough to practice. Sometimes I get carried away and putting 50–60 shots into the target in a session isn’t unheard of. I’m pretty well set up with the bow, arrows and quite a few broad heads now. Last spring I took my first spring gobbler with the bow, loved the challenge of sneaking up to around 15 yards, beating the bird at its own game and getting a perfect heart shot which busted a wing on its way through.

now I’m looking for some advice, I’ve saved enough pennies and I’m ready to purchase my first rifle to get out for whitetail this fall but I’m wondering if I’m better off focusing on hunting and mastering what I have for the time being. I don’t live close to a range, but have a lot of crown land where I can safely shoot and get proficient with a rifle. Problem is, I’ve only got so much time to devote to getting away from home life for shooting, scouting and hunting. The beauty of the xbow is I can shoot targets in my yard whenever I have a spare minute or hour. It’s cheap, good fun and I’m already quite comfortable with my limits with the xbow. Realistically I know that my first whitetail season or two will mostly be spent scouting and I’ll be lucky to take a buck in the fall no matter what I’m hunting with.

What do the experts say? Seems to make sense to stick with the bow for now, leaves some extra money (I’m poor) to buy a few pieces of gear I don’t have yet like a couple game cams and better glass and put more gas in my old 4x4 in the fall. On the other hand, spending the time and money to get proficient with a rifle now opens up more possibilities on a hunt in the future. I’m torn.

I'm no expert, but I have hunted with a little with a bow and a fair bit with a rifle. Rifle is MUCH easier and will give you more opportunity for success. Someone on here has a tagline that says a bowhunter's hunt is just starting when a rifle hunter's hunt could be over.

A .22 is an excellent first rifle to learn technique economically, then there are lots of great cartridges to choose from according to the game you want to hunt.

Welcome to the site, some great folks on here.

You will learn more hunting with the bow but like Albravo said, your harvests will be easier with a rifle...if you've already got glass etc and what you need to start hunting then I'd purchase the rifle, it will be similar to shooting the xbow, and when you go out scouting or hiking take it with you, get it sighted in well (start and get it dialled right in at 30 yards or so) then practice out to 100-200 yards...

Hunting WT in area 4 depending where you are of course but you should have a good chance of success either bow hunting or with a rifle, our family hunts 4-22 usually every year and don't go home empty handed.

I would grab yourself a rifle, as its just another option to hunt with, I bowhunted for a few years to increase time afield/opportunity, I prefer rifle hunting but bowhunting can be very rewarding and teaches you patience while hunting.

Welcome to HBC, good luck with your upcoming hunting season.

Thanks for the input, nice people here. I guess I’ll stick with “plan a” and start shoping for a rifle, it makes sense to increase my odds. I’ll always have the xbow if I want to go out with that sometimes, too, and if I decide to spend more time with the rifle in the bush, the bow will always be fun to shoot in my yard

It's a bit like using narrow skiis on hard pack and wider skiis in the powder, fly fishing a quiet river, or trolling on a big lake. Weapons don't put you into one camp or the other, they increase opportunity. Look for the best hunting opportunity and odds in your area, for the game you want to pursue and then select the appropriate weapon.

Life long rifle hunter, but once I picked up the bow, and shifted my hunting approach, tags started getting cut with more regularity.