Alabama needs more bowhunters if only 1500 members are a part of the organiation !
Ohio obviously has strong bowhunting numbers - with 25,000 + deer killed in archery season - which is a GOOD thing.
I wonder in Ohio ........ how many of those deer were killed with real bows ? You know, recurves/longbow ?
I don't want to take the chance that my state will end up like Ohio!
And how is that ?
Ohio Hunters Set New Record
217,301 Deer Taken During the 2004-2005 Season
Ohio
91 non-typicals all-time
179 typicals all-time
52 – scoring 200 or better B&C
Yeah, I'd hate to have those numbers too ! NOT
LIfe is so unfair! EVERYONE should all be able to carry a machine onto the field to throw balls and make a few million dollars a year as an NFL quarterback. Those elitist football players with natural abilities, who work their tails off to improve those abilities, need to be chopped down to size.
Well, thats not really any analogy at all, but I'll work with you. Steroids. Its what made average ball players excellent ones. Not unlike making an average hunter an excellent one.
Comparison ? Chuck Adams (and I love the man) he aint no Howard Hill. Take away Chucks compound and he'd suffer while Howard Hill truly was a great hunter/archer. Compounds are archery steroids, aren't they ? Quick and easy way to achieve excellence. And the crossbow ? Just another steroid, isn't it ?
A parent that is truly interested in getting his child into bowhunting should take the kiddo rabbit hunting instead of putting him/her up in a treestand.
Aint that the truth ! I remember being better at flushing rabbits than those hard heade4d beagles we had as kids. I loved those days ............ I wish I'd have had a recurve as a kid.
They set them up with the 'best' equipment they can buy, compound, sights, release, tricked out rest, carbon arrows... and then harp on them because their form isn't exactly 'right' or their concentration wanders and they shoot one of those expensive arrows off into the bushes. On the other hand, I've started a lot of kids out by handing them a bow I whittled out of a tree limb, a few wooden arrows, taught them the safety rules and basics of shooting, and then pretty much stand back and watch them shoot. I'm there to help them if they need it and to make sure they stay safe. Kids absolutely LOVE shooting at balloons. The look on their faces and the laughing leave no doubt they are enjoying themselves immensely.
Watch it, thats anti-compound sentiment and we don't want to be truthful here, you know ?
His defeatist point of view is, if we don't ban the compound, we might as well allow crossbows. While I might sympathize with the mindset, I realize that quite a few bowhunters are turning away from the compound because it has gotten too easy, even boring. As a result, we have a rapidly growing number of traditional and primitive bowhunters. So, I still have some level of optimism left. There is a growing backlash against all this technology that dm refuses to acknowledge.
And that Arthur P is where we differ and literally about the only thing we differ on. IF compounders are putting them down in favor of recurves, then do 2 things - either allow them the choice of putting down the crossbow in favor of the recurve, or mandate it by outlawing compounds. You cannot say "this steroid we'll allow, but this one we wont" based soley on one having a blue label and one having a red one. A steroid is a steroid, they both are an easy means to achieve greatness without having to put in the time and effort. A compound and a crossbow is the same thing - both are here to make bowhunters better and at the same time EASIER.