mdrbowler99,
You can hunt ALL of gun season with your muzzleloader, plus the late season. That's more than four weeks, with a weapon that is lightyears ahead of , (in regards to accuracy and effective range), a bow. Obviously, you need to get a lot closer with a bow. It's not like every Bowhunter goes out and stalks around in the woods and gets a 17 yard shot at a nice Buck, or doe for that matter. Treestands are still the norm for Bowhunting. Proper treestand placement means an opportune shot with a bow. This all takes time, sometimes a lot of time. Your 200 yard Thompson Omega(Or whatever you shoot) is a much easier weapon to level on game and shoot at much greater distances. I have allways purchased a Sportsman,with Bow and Muzzleloader, or now the Supersportsman in NY. I've owned a Thompson .50 cal White Mountain Carbine side lock now for over 10 years. I've never killed a Deer with it. I rarely take it out because of time constaints. I feel that they(DEC) could totally eliminate the late Bow season and it wouldn't bother me. Extend the late muzzleloader season by a week or two, then I myself, would definitely take advantage of it. I like things the way they are now. Eliminate late bow, open gun on a Saturday, stretch the late muzzleloader to 3 or 4 weeks, but don't throw a major disruption in the middle of a season that takes me all year to plan for!
That's just the way I feel. It sems to me that there are quite a few others out there with similar views. If you feel strongly about our Bowhunting season, contact New York Bowhunters and join the organization. They will fight relentlessly for what we've got.

http://www.newyorkbowhunters.com/

I don't mean to piss-off all the die-hard Muzzleloaders, but the DEC's proposals ARE NOT the way to go!

Thanks,
J-Bow