As I understand it, time was added to the hunting season specifically for archery. Nobody using any other weapon lost even one day, or had their season changed to accomodate archery season.
allowing crossbows would be the same thing then wouldn't it ? You change a seasons rules to allow a different kind of equipment, like when bowhutning added compounds, mechanical releases, mechanical broadheads, >65% letoff bows etc.
I also mentioned that if the market gets opened up, and the money starts pouring in, it's very likely we'll see advances never thought about--just like we've seen with compounds in the last 10 years.
We've not seen that in Arkansas, I don't hink Ohio has seen it, Canadian provinces haven't seen it ....... why do you think it'd be that big a deal ?
Bull. First, they are only legal for a slim minority (disabled and elderly, two groups who don't generally hunt a lot to begin with). I already told you one way it will effect me--there will be folks that don't know or care to learn about the weapon, other than how to load, aim, and pull the trigger--taking them to the woods in droves. Adults to lazy to bother, and their kids that they won't teach. We need to bring in a bunch of folks that think a crossbow is a "jump and shoot" weapon, without knowing squat else about it. I figure most will give it up eventually, once they find out that crossbows aren't magical, but at what cost? I figure that 99% of those that care a bit about hunting already hunt.
Again, we don't have that in Arkansas, why would it magically appear in Mississippi if crossbows were legal ?
brucelanthier tell me why you don't sell all your compound gear right now and go trad then ? do you really want to try and tell me a compound isn't more powerful ? easier to draw and hold ? easier to be more accurate with ?
wanna know something ? I can shoot your compound pretty dang good. Give me 3-4 shots to get a feel for it, and I'll be shooting very good groups in short order
Can you do that with my recurve ?
wanna know something else ? Most men and women can do it too. Not AS good AS quickly as me, because I've shot before, but its a sighting system and trigger - compounds are DESIGNED to shoot accurate !
That not to take away from your bowhunting either. Its tough, bowhunting is. I can count many times deer have busted me trying to get that 20 yard range. I can't ocunt many times it would have mattered any if I'd have had a compound or crossbows - probably about equal ammounts that one would have given me an advantage over the other. Thats the truth too - a crossbow is worthless trying to turn around for deer behind you. Worthless for second shot opportunities. Worthless for elk hunting and stalking antelope.
I can count all those times about and many more that HAVING a compound in my hand or crossbow would have made all the difference instead of the recurve in my hand. There is THAT much differnece.
Because there IS that much difference, I really don't see that it matters if a guy has a compound or crossbow. It aint much difference, its never proven to be a negative in archery / bowhunting season and it wont' affect my hunting in the least.
30+ years now and it hasn't, that it magically would is almost a non existant possibility IMO
I think it was already asked, but I'll ask anyway--do you want to keep rifles out of the archery season? If so, aren't you just as guilty of the "my season" mentality?
you really see a crossbow the same as a rifle don't you ? Gunpower, bullets or not, you see them as the same ?
I'd make a wager with you Chad. This fall hunt with a crossbow in Arkansas with me. Come up and you can shoot my Dad's Excalibur. You'll have no more deer within 20 yards because of it. None of them will give you any better shots than if you had your Crusader in your hand.You'll not be able to still hunt with it like you could your longbow, and you won't be able tostand and shoot anything behind you. You won't ever get another shot.You WILL be able to shoot without making much movement, thats a plus but its so loud you might not get the deer because of jumping the string.
The crossbow in your hand ..... it will not make you a better hunter. I think it would actually make YOU a worse hunter because you're not use to the restrictionsshooting a crossbow has !
Hunt the next week with me and shoot my Q2, and you'll have very similar luck. Sight, trigger, you won't have to wait until the deer isright there to focus/draw. Its quiter. You can get a 2nd shot if you're lucky. You can still hunt with it.
It won't make you a better huntereither. You'llnot get more P&Y bucks by you because of it.
Both bows WILL give you a better chance to kill deer over your stickbow because they're powerful, flat shooting, they havesights, trigger releases, they're DESIGNED to make you much more accurate, thus a higher % of kills can be had.
If so, aren't you just as guilty of the "my season" mentality?
the whole point of my thread - YES ! we ARE guilty, we all are unless you truley either want it to go back to being archery/bowhunting season (thats recurves and longbows the way it originally was) or to the other side of the pendulum and want to allow it all.
if you call in between those then you're an elitist. you want YOUR easy, or you you DON'T want someone else to have THEIR choice of weapons and it don't matter all the stuff you liost to justfiy it ..... in the end, you'r saying you want to restrict whats allowed in archery season.
is that bad or good or ?? I dunno ....... sometimes I think allow it all, it won't hurt (look at all the states and provinces that allow them, no negatives come from it) or go trad only (like the few places (McAlister military base etc) and make it what it once was, truly a primitive season.
We fear it sets a precedent for OTHER weapons
Doublecreek - what has Arkansas allowed that scares you along those lines ?
from those quotes
I refuse to accept that abled body adults can't use archery gear. Maybe you can pull only 35 pounds...that's more than enough for whitetails. My son killed many deer with recurves of the same approx weight.
ban compounds then - make those kids use REAL BOWS !
Does anyone really want to take the disabled and elderly special privileges away? The use of the crossbow allows them to participate equally with other hunters...despite their special challenges. Opening it up to anyone is like a perfectly healthy driver taking the handicapped parking spot at Walmart and saying...they can still park anywhere they want!"
ask all the handi-cap in Arkansas, they're more than happy to have everyone hunting in archery season. the above anaology is stupid anyway, archery hunting isn't a finitie number of tags like parking spaces
4) Georgia is down almost 25% in archery participation since the crossbows legalization in 2002. Forgiveness of the states actions by bowhunters is hard to get there.
5) Alabama participation in the archery season has also dropped double digits since the crossbow was legalized. See item number 4.
WHY are those numbers down ? Nobody can seriously believe that compounders are staying homw with crossbows in the woods ? Thats a ridiculous thing to assume, there has to be another reason ?
7) Mississippi's archery participation has held steady over the last few years and actually has shown a small growth as opposed to our crossbow neighboring states whose participation is plummenting.
where are the Arkansas and Ohio stats ? left out intentionally I see ? I submit the losses in hunting numbers don't have any direct relations to crossbows being allowed. The numbers were falling anyway
10) In Ohio bowhunters are the minority users in the archery season. crossbow users make up 55% of the total participates. In Arkansas, around 45% are crossbow users.
I want to know where those stats come from. I rarely see crossbows in the woods, its almost always compounds ???
11) A new age of crossbow technology is being developed. One crossbow maker advertises 400 FPS speeds. Since the hunter doesn't have to pull the bowstring..there is no end to the innovation of the product.
Matt / pA will tell you compounds are very close to that threshold too
12) Most importantly, no poll ever shows that hunters want the crossbow legalized. Partly due to the fact, that the crossbow has no American heritage and history as a sporting component
LOL ....... HISTORY is crossbows, recurves and longbows. Compounds are the new kid on the scene, I can't believe they actually published that !
DoubleCreek you know that the anti-crossbow sentiment comes from people not wanting more people in the woods. They want it all to themselves. Its got really nothing to do with how a bow works, hell people can't even discuss the metrics of it !
It sth emost hypocritical thing in the world for a decked out compounds shooterto tell a crossbow he can't bowhunt in archery season. I mean, seriously .........