ORIGINAL: BTBowhunter

First of all, thanks! It's always good to talk to guys that are as nutzo about deer hunting as I am

Fair enough question. If you look back over some of the crossbow threads prior to this recent vote, you'll find that my position on the crossbow as a weaponhad come around to being basically neutral. I've owned one since they were legalized for gun season. I have access to places where gun hunting simply isn't permitted and use the thing in the gun season in those spots sometimes.

It has pro's and cons. The two big pro's being that it doesnt need to be drawn in the presence of the game and it can be shot from a far wider range of body positions. By the time our gun season is a half day old, most every deer in PA knows the deal. Getting into bow (any bow) range at that point is a bit tougher than it was in October and through the rut. At that point in the season, not having to draw in front of those nervous eyes can be a big advantage over a vertical bow. It's also a weapon that can be shot lying on you belly. Something we occasionally do to hide in tight spots when doing small drives through tight areas.

On the other hand, there are cons to the crossbow. It's noisy.Being a shorter projectile,a crossbow bolt is actaully far less stable than a conventional arrow in flight. Accuracy comes easier at short ranges but only to a point. A good vertical bow archer will outshoot a crossbow guy far more often. When shot without a rest, it is actually far less accurate then a vertical bow in most hands. It is front heavy and unweildy to carry. I sincerely doubt that many healthy archers will switch and stay switched. I would bet that many of those that change to the xbow will quickly change back.

As I said, the weapon was not the issue for me. My concern was that the perception out there among non archers seems to be "now I can get a crossbow and it will be like gun hunting in the rut" or some similiar thought.

My worry was and still is that we'll experience a wave of new hunters that, till now, wouldnt put in the time it takes to be an effective, responsible, archery hunter. I'm worried about the gang that will simply plunk down the cash a week or less before the season and stomp on out there and probaly take irresponsible shots etc etc.

I had actually said several times that I could support the inclusion of the xbow if it came with a mandatory bowhunter ed requirement for ALL new bowhunters. Granted, there are vertical bow hunters out there that have no business being in the woods but I worry that the percieved ease of the crossbow will tend to attract those that till now would have been too lazy to make the commitment necessary to effectively bowhunt.

Theother big problem I have is with how it was done here.The vote seemed like a big bold F___ you in the faces of the 90% majority of hunters who wrote in opposition. Regardless of where I happen to stand on the issue, the BOC voted against 90% of the hunters who felt strongly enough about the issue to write. Personally, had there been a bowhunter ed requirement with it I'd have been OK with it but the BOC didn't act properly based on the wishes of their constituents.

Something else I learned only recently was thatroughly63,000 crossbow permits are out there now. That MAY, be an inication that the guys looking for the easy way have already gone to their doc, said "my shoulder hurts, please sign this paper" and got their crossbow permit.
It could be that the horse was already out of the barn.

The last thing I'llsay about HOW it was done is that I'd have liked to see a more gradual introduction.The sheer numbers we have here calls for caution when any new way to kill deer is introduced especially in these times.