A 7 year old kid is not mentally prepared to shoot at animals with a xbow, IMO. A rifle? sure, shot placement isn't nearly as crucial.
If the kid can hold 4" groups at 20 yards ........... of course he/she is ready escpecially cinse its very likely the parent will be hunting with the kid too.
Also - are you suggesting those compound shooers who also rifle hunt aren't really bowhunters and don't count towards your states bowhunting numbers ?
Do you see what I am saying? IMO, more #'s doesn't necessarily equal more support.
Sure it doesn. Arhcery totals are for ARCHERY weapons - that gun hunters do the double season thing is irrelevant in the big picture.
The difference in the amount of effort put forth shoot compounds and become proficient at it compared to those who shoot xbows is greater than that between recurves and compunds.
BS. I can shoot your compound, your crossbows in very short time. You, however, cannot shoot my recurve after weeks of pracitce. It takes months, YEARS of practice and dedication to master recurve/longbow shooting (with exceptions of course). The compound and crossbows are designed to be master VERY easily. Thats why people use them !
but a line has to be drawn to keep compounds from becoming less like archery equipment and more like guns.
Really ? Where would you draw the line ? 85% letoff ? Triggered releases ? 400 fps ? 2 pounds mass wieght and 28" ATA ?
Oh, wait, we already HAVE those characteristics, don't we ?
You don't see anything wrong with the high tech stuff because YOU SHOOT IT. And the truth is, you shoot a compound because its vastly more easy than you shooting a recurve, you're more accurate with lots less practice.
That is the truth, isn't it ? Its okay to admit it - I took an easier route last fall to kill my KS deer. I'm not ashamed of it at all, glad I did. But the truth is, the recurve was NOT what I should have been hunting with, I realized it, and switched to a much easier weapon that afforded me a good chance at killing a deer within 30 yards of my stand. A crossbow would have given me almost the same identical advantage.