RE: NY Bowhunters proposal
Yes, I am a member, because I feel they are the best voice we have. But like any organization, they are not all things to all people - me included.
You are right about the early season - guess I am just happy with the 4 to 5 weeks we currently have. As far as bow in late dec, I am not comfortable with my ability to be proficient with the clothing needed so I choose the inline. I understand other bowhunters are and have no problem with that. I just do not feel for me at least, more late bow season opportunities justify changes in the early season.
As I have said, I hunt the gun and late mz with a Omega inline - a one shot rifle. I enjoy it greatly. But, other than the fact the dec sells a mz tag (many or most of which are used as a 2nd tag for bowhunters), I see no reason (but AM NOT OPPOSED TO) for a seperate mz season. I hunt with a recurve, longbow and compound in the BOW season - not trad season and modern bow season.
We have a 23 day reg gun plus 7 day mz proposed to go to 14. If use of the mz tag was allowed in gun season, then we would end up with nearly the same length gun season as bow. As far as allowing bows to be used in the gun seasons, I feel the archers impact to hunting pressure in gun season in almost non exsistant.
I would like to keep bows in bow and guns in gun. This is not a selfish position. Gun hunting for deer does effect bow hunting. for the most part, bow hunting has almost no impact on gun hunting. I believe there are ways to do this which will be fair to all and not require the drastic changes being proposed. We can increase opportunities and harvest where genuinely needed without the major changes being suggested.
Yes, archery season has grown over the years, but NEVER at the expense of another season. Because I hunt all seasons, I do not want this to become a us vs them issue. I hope I have cleared my stance somewhat here.
Steve