HuntingBry - Great post, well though out. Sorry your eyes are sore.
<font size=1>IF crossbows were to be made legal in general archery season to any hunter and an ethical hunter decided to make this his weapon of choice and practiced with it and worked hard to hunt with it I would embrace him as a fellow hunter. I would rather see a guy like this who cares about hunting and the game he hunts than some guy that buys a bow 2 days before the season and heads out to the woods, or a guy who takes 12 shots at game and only has one animal to show for it but thinks it's OK because he shoots traditional gear. If someone were to get a crossbow simply to try to whack some deer and put no effort into learning his gear, but simply wanted to take advantage of what he views as an "easy" opportunity, I would not want to share the woods with him either.</font id=size1>
Question - Do you think my coworker, after shooting the compound we set up and consistantly hitting 4" groups at 20 yards after only two days of shooting ... do you agree with him hunting over Thanksgiving with it and why ?
<font size=1>That being said, I disagree with crossbows being entered into an archery season because in my opinion it does not take archery skills. The form used in shooting a bow (compound, recurve, or longbow) is essentially the same. Upright posture, bow arm extended, DRAW the string, anchor, aim, and shoot. That is archery and that is why I shoot a bow more than I shoot a gun. A crossbow has all of the same mechanics as shooting a gun. Load the weapon, bring the stock to your shoulder, brace your cheek on the stock, aim, and shoot. There is your difference. One does not have to learn and apply the mechanics and skills of shooting a bow to shoot a crossbow and that is why I feel it does not belong in archery season.</font id=size1>
Archery skills ... like being able to pick up a compound and never having shot one and hitting a 4" group, that kind of skill ? I will agree that you hold a crossbow like a gun, but the mechnical release of the string and the way the arrow is propelled is that of a bow as defined. But you do have a point.
<font size=1>C903 had asked what the point of this thread is. That is all that it is about. It's just you using another vehicle (crossbows vs. compounds vs. traditional) to sing your own praises about how you have switched to a longbow and now you are a "true" hunter. "</font id=size1>
Okay, I'll play your game a bit. But first do me this favor ... go to this thread and read it.
http://www.bowsite.com/stickbow/tf/t...ges=8&forum=23
Paraphrased it says ...
[/i] I've been shooting a recurve for about 8 months now after 12 years with a compound and I want to share some things that I've learned and conclusions I've come to during the past few months.These are only my opinion and am sure some of these will change as I progress in shooting.
3.Snap shooting for me was a very inconsistent way to shoot.It took me a while but I finally trained myself to come to a solid anchor and hold for a bit before release and my shooting is much more accurate and consistent. 4.Shooting at a deer with a recurve and having to pick a spot is much more difficult than I thought.(I've missed two and wounded one).I am shooting well during practice and think that the next shot I get I will be able to remain calm,slow down,and pick a spot.After my misses I am now practicing on intense concentration on a spot. 5.Traditional archery is much more fun and rewarding than shooting a compound.I only wish that I would have begun years ago. 8.It takes alot of time and practice to be consistently accurate with a recurve.I shoot almost daily and after 8 months am just now consistent out to 18 yards.I shoot out to about 25 yards some but so far,I'm confident out to about 18,maybe 20 yards on a good day.Under 18,I'm very confident.With my compound,baseball size groups at 40 yards was the norm.Traditional archery takes a committment in time and effort to be a good shot.A compound shooter can be good in a few weeks. 9.For me,I like instinctive shooting.It seems to fit traditional archery.If I wanted to gap shoot,then I may as well go back to a compound.I'm not trying to offend the gap shooters.I can't say that I shoot purely instinctive because I am aware of the arrow but I don't aim with it and for me that is one of the joys of traditional archery.It is just you and the bow.No sights or gadgets of any kind. 11.My friends think I'm nuts for trying to kill a deer with a recurve.After my misses,they think I'm not ready to hunt with one but I'm not giving up.I just have to chalk those up to the learning process.I'll miss again,I'm sure,but I hope that in time,my misses will be few and far between. [/i]
Maybe I am not in the minority afterall.
To your game - am I tooting my horn ? Maybe I am, but I don't think so and here why. Theres three season in AR
(1) modern gun (rifles, shotguns and pistols)
(2) Muzzleloader (inline, caplock, flintlock)
(3) Archery (compound, crossbow, recurve/longbow)
Who uses what in each season the most ? Rifles in modern gun season, inlines in Muzzleloader season and compounds in archery (maybe a 50-50 split between compounds and crossbows, I have no stats on it). What then does that say ? They are the easiest weapons to use, most accurate and thats what people to use to kill animals with. I got not problems with that either. But to anyone who says contrary to that, that maybe inlines are just as hard to use as a flintlock, or that a rifle is harder to use than a shotgun or that a recurve is easier and better to use for archery hunting (as a general overall statement) its simply not true.
You want to know the people who really challenge themselves in archery ? Self bowyers who make the stuff themselves and primitive archers.
So back to the game. I do have a feeling of pride that I have spent the hours to learn my longbow and to shoot it like I can. I still got a long way to go though, and just like the thread above and those that responded to it, I didn't really think it would be this hard. If I were an elitest, I would call for a seperate traditional season altogehter, wouldn't I ? If I were against crossbows based on the way they are drawn, or held, or the mechnical release or the technology that they are wrapped up in, then its not hard to also draw the very same conclusion between compounds and recurves/longbows. You'll see that attitude on the LW and in fact, I am exactly the opposite I think as I approve of crossbows, longbow, recurves and compounds altogether.
<font size=1>You keep bringing up let-off and while it is an advantage the average amount of time I spend at full draw before shooting at an animal is about 6 seconds with the longest being 20 seconds. I don't know about you, but I cannot hold my bow back for several minutes and expect to accurately shoot my bow. If you are holding for several minutes and shooting at game, you need to rethink your ethics IMO. Then again you pal around with people that feel it's normal to have a combined 1-17 kill to shoot ratio so I'm not surprised.</font id=size1>
I can hold a very long time with a compound and shoot well - I practiced that way. I know my ethics. I never said I felt it was normal to have a 1-17 record, did I ?
<font color=red>But humble me - what criteria should I use to pick a hunting partner ? </font id=red>
"With all this being put on the table I will say this, I am very happy for you that you have found something that you are passionate about and wish you all the best with it. Just do the rest of us a favor and quit trying to prove (whether it be to us or yourself) how great you are for it.
For those of you that feel this post is a little personal it is. This guy has been doing this for over a year now and apparently on several boards. Those of you that know where I am coming from...well, enough said.
Best luck to your hunting as well. I AM a better hunter for trying more challenging equipment, that I know just as I became a better hunter when I started using a compound, and I'll make no apologies for that. I have been "doing this" for really closer to 3 years I think, and that being posting my thoughts about sensitive issues, presenting my reasoning and seeing how it hold up to against scrutiny. Abortion, 2000 Presidential Elections, Clinton, quartering to and frontal shots on game, broadhead choice, how to hunt elk, and yep, even crossbows. My "several" board are this one and the LW - I can send you a link if you want the address, but the search engiine over there doesn't work as well as this one, but the traditional archery information that can be found is tremendous.
This thread has come near to full circle I think, lots of great input by some and by other just trash talk and dodging because they are anti-crossbow but cannot debate why. Anyone else like to take a potshot before this thread dies a firey death ?? Anyone ?
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