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Post by jdmiller on Sept 4, 2005 0:28:20 GMT -5
I've heard the same excuses over and over . Easier weapon....crossbows are unsafe..... overharvest our resources....overcrowding . It all boils down to they dont want to share a resource that doesnt belong to any of us.
The great lengths that some groups are going through to keep crossbow seasons from expanding will end up biting all hunters and sportsmen in the butt. A crossbow is weapon of equal or lesser range and equal success rate....it deserves equal oppertunities in the same season. If you dont like them....dont use one .........its just another weapon choice and no ones forcing anyone to stop hunting with the weapon they prefer .
Crossbows , compounds , recurves and stickbows.....all are archery equipment . The same things said about crossbows were said about compounds when they were introduced . Compounds didnt end hunting as we know it ....they made the sport easier and attracted more to the sport . Crossbows will do the same thing .
As food for thought.... a modern compound with all the accessories (fiber optic /lighted sites/even scopes with range finders) , fall away /shoot through rest and releasing the string by a triggered mechanical device...does it have more in common with a crossbow or a recurve ?
I've also been a bowhunter for nearly 30 years and I have shot or hunted with all those types of archery equipment I mentioned .....including crossbows . I respect anyones opinion but I reccommend that anyone opposed to crossbows... gain experience with one ..to develop your own opinion and not someone elses... before you stir the pot.
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Post by jh45gun on Sept 4, 2005 1:06:04 GMT -5
Good post JD Miller I agree. Would you do me a favor. Let me repost this at Greybeards site or if you want to bother you could do it your self. We have about the same arguements at the round the old potbellied stove board there and this would fit right in with what I have been saying. www.greybeardsoutdoors.com |
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Post by steiny on Sept 4, 2005 11:43:00 GMT -5
Thanks reynoldss. Good luck to you this fall too. Don't forget guys, that early season is WIDE OPEN to you or anyone else who wants to hunt by the present regs. The only thing holding anyone back from hunting that season is themseves. Heck, if we're wanting a bunch more hunter participation, why not open up the early archery season to centerfire rilfes and pistols too. That would be totally unselfish, and get a bunch more hunters involved.  What makes the crossbow crowd think they are so special, that traditional seasons, rules and regulations should be changed just to accommodate a few of them. Seems pretty selfish from this angle. |
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Post by jdmiller on Sept 4, 2005 12:13:26 GMT -5
Good post JD Miller I agree. Would you do me a favor. Let me repost this at Greybeards site or if you want to bother you could do it your self. We have about the same arguements at the round the old potbellied stove board there and this would fit right in with what I have been saying. www.greybeardsoutdoors.com jh45gun : post it up if it will help .  |
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Post by jh45gun on Sept 4, 2005 12:30:01 GMT -5
Thanks JDM I will. Steiny some places gun seasons do overlap archery seasons. WI has a 4 day doe season the last 4 days of Oct in areas the DNR figures it has too many does. Bottom line is no matter how you do not like it or others of your ilk a crossbow is a bow by definition and performance and should be allowed in a archery season by anyone who wants to use one.
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Post by jdmiller on Sept 4, 2005 13:02:21 GMT -5
Thanks reynoldss. Good luck to you this fall too. Don't forget guys, that early season is WIDE OPEN to you or anyone else who wants to hunt by the present regs. The only thing holding anyone back from hunting that season is themseves. Heck, if we're wanting a bunch more hunter participation, why not open up the early archery season to centerfire rilfes and pistols too. That would be totally unselfish, and get a bunch more hunters involved. What makes the crossbow crowd think they are so special, that traditional seasons, rules and regulations should be changed just to accommodate a few of them. Seems pretty selfish from this angle. steiny : your absolutely right about the regs... their there for anyone willing to use a vertical bow or have a proven disability then they can use a crossbow. However ...what about the percentage of former bowhunters that can no longer draw a bow but doesnt meet the disability requirement ? What about youth that havent quite grew into a vertical with adequate poundage for whitetail deer ? What about our wives and daughters....they make up a percentage of sportsmen . So.....what your saying is when or if you get into a position due to age or injury(dont wish this on anyone)and cant draw a bow ....you are going to quit bowhunting. I think you will be like the rest of us and do whatever it takes to be in the woods . Even if it means swallowing your pride and your words . I've done it and many more have over the same comments. As far as allowing pistols or centerfires in .....if it wont hurt the resources and is necessary to control the heard ...bring it on. In Kentucky we have just that ....early muzzleloader .....early centerfire youth ...it sure hasnt ended hunting as we know it . Fact being crossbows could be just the factor to increase harvest somewhat to stave off expanded firearms season in some states but regardless of oposition you can bet changes of some sort are on the way . Look around at other states ..how long will your state wait to make attempts at increasing hunter numbers . You can bury your head in the sand ...but something new is always on the horizon . Then you had to bring up the word tradition..... If those opposed were the recurve and stickbow users ...and compounds were stuck in their own season ...you would have a different argument . We all may disagree on this but the word "tradition" and "primitive" will slowly be phased out of the vocabulary of the game departments ....look at what was posted about Mississippi and their allowance for breech-loading weapons in muzzleloader season . Is this a example of tradition or primitive ....I dont think so ...but declining license sales and hunter numbers in general are causing all game departments to think outside of the box . Is all this a bad thing....If we dont do something that attracts a few to the ranks ....we all wont have a season to worry about ....so I'm in for the ride lets see what happens . I'm sorry you feel this way on the crossbow expansion issue and like someone else stated ..I hope you have a good season also...I hope we all do . Regardless of opinions were all hunters . We just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that . Time will be the factor to see whose right but I bet either way it wont change the way you and I hunt . |
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Post by schoolmaster on Sept 4, 2005 20:44:35 GMT -5
I was a bowhunter bac k when there were no compound bows. Shot a 45 pound recurve. Got in a truck accident and had my left shoulder crushed. Quit bow hunting. The compounds came out and when a 65 percent let off bow appeared I bought one after experimenting on various ways to get it to break over. By hooking the lower limb on my knee I was able to use the bow. As I grew older my shoulder grew weaker and I couldn't draw the bow anymore. I quit bowhunting again. I finally swallowed my pride and got a crossbow permit. Now I am back to a sport I love again and a new learning curve is underway. The crossbow handles different and is heavier. If you think that you will hunt out of state with the crossbow you had better check the regulations where you want to hunt. All states are different and many have a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get a crossbow permit to hunt with. I hunt from the ground due to some other physical problems. If you think bowhunting is challenging from a tree stand try it from the ground for one season. Hunter numbers are declining all over the USA. We need to promote our sport and take some kids hunting or like the dinosaur become extinct.
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Post by cday on Sept 5, 2005 15:31:14 GMT -5
Why don't we just make the late season crossbow only season and make a seperate license and tag for that season. Or make it like the rest of the season where if a bowhunter wants to hunt the late season then they will have to purchase a crossbow license just like during the firearm season. I mean I keep hearing all the anti's saying they do not want then in thier early bow only season. This way the crossbow has its own season as well especially since most feel the woods are going to be too crowded. If that is the case then we sure do not want to crowd the woods during the late season either. I feel after a season or two of this several of these anti crossbow folks will have a changed mind and see the real light.
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Post by jh45gun on Sept 5, 2005 20:30:07 GMT -5
Late seasons make a big difference where you live. I know by Dec with its cold weather here in WI it can get darn miserable so why should xbow hunters have to suffer through that just because their verticle bow brethern are too selfish to share the season? I like hunting much better in OCT than I do Dec.
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Post by RJ on Sept 5, 2005 23:06:34 GMT -5
steiny : Not sure what your point is ? if the bow or crossbow is easier to use is a moot point when it comes to hunting deer in the archery season . Basically if you can't make a move on a deer because it will detect you at the draw or when you get your crossbow into position , then you need to do some work on your set ups ! I have participated in our archery season for 28 years and have taken many deer with bow and crossbow . I also take many photos when I'm in the field and it doesn't matter if you are shooting a crossbow , bow , or camera you still have to get the deer in range to make the shot without being detected .... These deer ( see pic's below ) could have been harvested by any method because the set-up's were good ( wind , stand placement , stand height , being careful to only move when the deer has it's head behind a tree , looking down or away ) .... With the deer in the pictures below I could have been twirling a baton and the deer still had no idea I was there .... so lots of time to draw , aim , whatever ....       On the other hand .... the deer in these pictures couldn't have been taken with bow or crossbow because they were either too close , or had sensed danger and picked me up , because of a flaw in my set-up ..... or a mistake on my part when getting set up for the shot ....    Sorry I don't have any monster buck pictures right under the tree because I was too busy sending some Easton Aluminum thru them with my bow or crossbow at the time ( I do have their " after pictures " ) ;D Woody wrote : That about sums it up .... I know some very skilled archery hunters in our area and none of them have one up on the other because they shoot bow or crossbow . The only guys that seem to complain about crossbows in our area are guys that usually are not very successful or are fairly inexperienced / unskilled hunters , so they figure it is the crossbow that has given the individual an advantage ( these guys figure the crossbow has 50-100 yard range and every bolt finds it's mark ! ). We have some real experienced , seasoned archers in our club that shoot stick bow and compound .... they are very successful every year and all agree that except for the speed difference of each arrow flinging tool .... the individual hunters skill is the determining factor for repeat performance year after year no matter what choice of archery tackle . steiny wrote : ;D ;D I have heard this same phrase many times and it usually ends up with the guy eating his words ! ;D ;D .... they just don't get it !jdmiller wrote :reynoldss wrote :jajwrigh wrote :jh45gun wrote :joen wrote :kevin1 wrote :It's obvious from reading these guy's posts " they get it ! "stieny : Best luck to you and your Missouri buddy this season .... with what ever weapon you venture forth with !
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Post by steiny on Sept 6, 2005 20:56:25 GMT -5
Told myself, I wouldn't get bogged down in these pointless debates on Woody's new forum.
It gets pretty unproductive after while.
Oops ! Guess I did. We're just not in agreement, guys ... that's all.
Good luck to all for a successful season this fall.
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