I’m wondering if it is ok for me to go bow hunting for deer. I have heard that it is sinful to cause unnecessary pain to animals, and if you think about it, bow hunting is obviously unnecessary. If you miss the shot, the animal can have a lot of pain and suffer. Also, there are more efficient ways to hunt a deer such as with a gun where the animals will have even less pain and die more quickly. Thoughts?
You can miss the shot with a rifle too and cause unnecessary pain. It is not intrinsic to the bow. Whenever I hunt I try very hard to shoot the deer, turkey, whatever in a spot that will cause the most instant death possible so as to avoid unnecessary suffering. It really ticks me off if I fail. That said, a high powered rifle like a .308 is going to cause a heck of a lot more trauma to a deer than an arrow will.
Also, before the widespread use of firearms, deer were hunted primarily by running the animal to exhaustion then finishing it off with a bow or even a spear. So its not like the Church has never heard of bow hunting before and forgot to condemn it. And when it comes to inflicting pain, the only real difference between a bow and a rifle is the distance that you can effectively engage the deer.
Just make sure you use an appropriate draw weight for your frame/strength and appropriate arrows so that you are using your bow as effectively as you can. If you are really concerned about it, practice your shot placement a lot prior to going hunting, although I know in most states bow season has been open for a hot minute. Same as rifle hunting, you want the arrow to cause the most hemorrhaging possible in the chest cavity, aka the heart.
If you think about it too, how many deer have you shot that dropped dead on the spot. Many times they run 50-100yds before dying from blood loss. Sometimes you have to track them further. A slower death is not intrinsic to hunting with a rifle.
Long story short, there is nothing sinful about it as long as you are not intentionally inflicting pain. However if you simply aren’t comfortable in your bow skills, it might be best to save it for next year and work on your skills first.
