s. il. hntr

if its legal go for it. hell aint like there is a REAL big advantage over a bow, still have limited distance

Arthur P

Ever notice how crossbow threads never get nasty with personal potshots until someone says they don't like the things? And, to top it off, have the unmitigated audacity to say why! I think that attitude is why so many guys don't care for crossbows or the guys who use them - the handicapped aside, of course. As a long time opponent of crossbows, I know I've never appreciated the attitude.[>:]

I still don't favor their unrestricted use in bow seasons by the physically capable but, in light of what's been going on with compound technology and the abandonment of let-off restrictions by Pope and Young Club, I've been compelled to reassess the issue. IMO, compounds have caught up with, if not surpassed, the crossbow in ease of use. I can no longer say crossbows are bad while turning a blind eye to compounds. If compounds are okay, then crossbows have to be okay too.

Kybuckhunter

It's not the fact someone doesn't like crossbows but the fact they feel they must lump the whole group together as slobs and being lazy. That crap just burns me up. You can dislike anything and everything you like but to put down someone else just because they don't do things your way is total ignorance. By the way I have never shot a crossbow but I don't feel I'm better than someone else that does.

Arthur P

Don't feel bad about that. Most people who voice an opinion for or against crossbows have never shot one. Fortunately, I have shot, and hunted with, crossbows. I've also shot, and hunted with, compounds so I know a bit about how they compare.

I hesitate to speak for parker1, but I think you're reading more into his post than he actually wrote.

To be blunt, I think anyone who shoots and practices with his chosen hunting tool a lot during the offseason - be it bow, gun or crossbow - trying to improve his shooting skill and learning how it will perform in all weather conditions has every right to feel ethically, if not morally, superior to the guys who totally ignore shooting until the day before opening day. There are way too few of us that fall into the former category and way too many self-proclaimed hunters, across the board, that fall into the latter category. But it takes little imagination to see that a huge majority of the guys who shoot compounds now (remember that those of us on these forums comprise a very tiny portion of all bowhunters) will flock to the crossbow when they are eventually legalized because they think it will be easier.

They will THINK they are 'cheating' because they think they can finally have a weapon that demands none of their time or effort. How wrong they will be! But that will be their iintent.

And then, when all those guys start buying crossbows instead of compounds, what do you think will happen to compounds? Here's how I think it will play out...

The manufacturers will lose sales. Lost sales mean decreased profits. Decreased profits means less money will be spent on research and development. Compound bow technology will stagnate. The new bows won't be any better than the ones they came out with last year, so most folks that now buy one or two new bows every year will keep their money in their pockets and hang onto last year's bow instead of buying a new one. Compound sales will drop even further

That means most R&D money will flow into developing crossbows instead, because the manufacturers have to follow the market or go out of business. So, crossbow technology will flourish, that end of the market will run wild and compounds will become practially obsolete.

It's not a wild fantasy because I saw that exact thing happen to the recurve market when compounds got legalized. I wasn't around then, but the exact same thing happened to all-wood bows when Fred Bear started putting linear fiberglass on his bows. I'm talking historical precedent. Now, most of the traditional market is a montage of custom bowyers across the country. It's basically a cottage industry now, with a couple of exceptions.

Problem is, I can't see any way of preventing history from repeating itself. I'd bet within the next 20 years, the only people left hunting with bows will be traditionalists. Everyone else will be hunting with crossbows.

Sniper151

I see not problem with cross bows for handicapped hunters.

kelincp

Arthur P,
Posts like yours are one of the reasons I love this forum, well thought out and civil. I do have to disagree with the crossbow replacing the compound. The one big difference is the draw. As long as you can keep a crossbow ready to fire its just not like bow hunting (more like a pistol I've always thought). compounds and traditionals share the aspect that you have to draw in the presence of your target. Granted you can draw earlier and holder longer with a compound, but nothing like a xbow.
What you described may happen, but I think it will be a version of the compound that does it. say something with 0 draw weight, but shoots speedslike a70 #er. Don't ask me how but i'm sure somebody is dreaming one up.

Kybuckhunter

Arthur P ...I don't feel I read anything into his post. He gave his view of a group that is founded on nothing but conjecture and fear. Anytime you put down a whole group of people instead of individuals you are doing so out of ignorance. We have been debating this same issue in Kentucky and it's gotten very nasty and I have listened to all the arguments. It really comes down to bow hunters not wanting any more hunters in the wood to compete with. They are afraid all the gun hunters are going to take up xbows and take over. So what do they do? Start putting them down and calling them names. Instead of having a large group of hunters standing together as a strong united force, we have several smaller groups fighting and tearing each other apart.

With fewer and fewer people getting into hunting the future is not looking very good. If it takes xbows to get more hunters into the woods then so be it. If the compound bow had not been allowed and only long bows were allowed how many hunters would we have in the bow woods now. I'd say not very many. The smaller our numbers the easier it's going to be for the growing number (and well funded) anti groups to defeat us.

Jeep4x4

NO, crossbows aint cheating. They give you no advantages over a regular compound bow.

bigbuck15

no i would not say cross bow hunting in cheating..its just another form of hunting..it may be easier then most other forms of hunting..but its not cheating

Arthur P

How very politically correct! Let's talk realism instead of idealism for a bit. "Birds of a feather flock together." That's a very old adage, and it's still as true today as it was in antiquity. You categorize people as a group based on what you observe of the actions of people within that group. Sure, it's always unfair to various individuals within the group but, on the whole, it is true.

A handful of baseball players get caught doing steriods, now all of major league baseball is embroiled in the steriod scandal. You look at Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer and you have to think of all Democrats as self serving idiots.

Honestly now... How many people of Middle Eastern descent do you kinda watch a little closer as you pass each other in the store than you did before 9/11? Are all Muslims terrorists? No, only a very few are but you've judged the group as a whole based on the actions of the minority.Yes, you know you do it. So don't be so judgemental of others who do too.

I've heard the 'crossbow as saviour' bit before, and it's still as big a pile of meadow muffins as it's always been. The crossbow will just create switchover hunters. They'll switch over from the compound to the crossbow. It will NOT create new hunters. There are no ravening masses just waiting for the crossbow to be legalized so they can go hunting.

That's the funny thing about this whole crossbow debate. It's not driven by hunters at all. There isn't any great grassroots support for crossbows. It's driven by the crossbow manufacturers so they can get a piece of the pie away from Hoyt, Mathews, BowTech, Martin.... And all the manufacturers, of both crossbows and compounds, know what will happen if they are legalized.

Well, I guess it's a matter of when they are legalized, not if.