sorry no sympathy for felons here. i would rather not see them in thre woods.

That is a new one on me. I have never heard of it and to be honest I dont agree with it.

I know people that have got a felony when they were 19 or whatever and never been in trouble since so I dont see why someone like that shouldnt be allowed to bowhunt. Firearms maybe, but not bows

rick

IMO there should be classifications in felony status just as there should be in the sex offenders.

In no way should they classify a murderer and the 18 y.o. kid that has a personal stash of dope in his pocket as both felons.

Nor should a rapist and a guy at the backyard bbq that drank to much, peed in the street and got caught be in the same category as sex offenders.

They classify prisoners, why not classify their crimes.

I think a lot of you are WAY too quick to judge. That's my opinion.

I personally knowthree men who have felony records (that I know of).I have high regards fortwo of them. They made mistakes. They paid for them.

It's in the past. They've (2 of 3) gone on to become people I'm proud to call my friend. This makes me less hasty to judge.

I work in the juvenile corrections field and can tell you that all felonies are not the same. I would rather a "felon" be out in the woods bowhunting rather than carrying a perfectly legal steak knife out in the open in their truck.

My older brother is a "felon". He hasn't been in prison in 15 years, owns his own business, has a great wife and two great kids....helps alot of people out by allowing them to work for him. I don't think he should be banned from bowhunting because he got into a nasty fight 15 years ago.

I got a felony-charge when I was 20. No weapons, nobody injured. It was commercial-burglary charge for stealing cash out of businesses after hours. No property, no unnecessary damage. I was literally living on the street, starving and had noone to help me out. I ended up getting a job with a landscaping company and never stole anything again. I was caught for the crimes 3 weeks afterthey were committed. I was sentenced to 4 years, served 2 and 4 months, including 6 months solitary-confinement. I got out when I was 23 and never looked back. My parole officer was absolutely amazed at how well I did. Every month I'd see him, I had a new success I'd share with him that left him stunned. He told me that over 70% of parolees go back IN THE FIRST YEAR. I had a job lined up before I was released, an apartment under my name in 2 months, and a car in 6 months.


I'm 41 now, I live in my second house, and have an excellent trade. I install custom staircases, and I also do tons of other types of carpentry construction and woodworking. I've been with the same woman for 15 1/2 years now and I run my own little one-man-business doing various types of carpentry. And I've been a bowhunter for 14 years.

Do people really think I don't 'belong' in the woods? I made a mistake over 20 years ago, driven by hunger and desperation. I broke into the businesses because I didn't want to break into someone's home. That was too personal. And once I found a job, I stopped. I learned my leason, and there's tons of other people out there that have learned theirs as well. It's bad enough that I can't own a shotgun for hunting, or even self-defense. Do you think I don't deserve to defend myself and my family because of a stupiddecision madein my life 20 years ago? It's bad enough that I can't go pheasant, goose or duck hunting with friends because of it. I can never look forward to any type of rifle hunt anywhere because of it. And now I have to worry about loosing the right to bowhunt too? And I see alot of guys here all-in-favor of it.

Jeeze, maybe they should have just shot me when they caught up with me. I'm such a bad person....

How long is long enough to pay for a crime that didn't injure anyone? Hell, you should have seen the lies that those people put on their insurance-claims when I was caught. I would have needed a truck to steal everything one guy said I stole. And I didn't even have a car!

I may regret putting this out there, but what the hell, it's the truth.

BTW folks, the money I stole added up to little over $300.00. It was enough to keep me in a hotel room and fed for about a month. (I had a partner and he paid half.He also went to prison. And he never went back either).

Bowman....

Case in point. I'm damned proud of you. I know people who've taken more......and paid less......or none.

Congrats on making things "right".

x2

Wis. Stat. ?167.31(1)(c) defines firearm as "a weapon that acts by force of gunpowder."
In Wisconsin if you are a convicted felon you can archery hunt but not gun hunt.
But a felon can buy a gun deer tag, but isnt allowed to use it.
Our system is so screwed up we dont know up from down anymore.

How about this non violent felony. You have a ccw in your home state and legally have your gun in the glovebox of your truck. You happen to have a need to cross the state line and forget to leave the gun at home....BAM! gun related felony!

Are you a dange to society?

How about Bernard Goetz? The guy who saved his own skin by defending himself from 5 scumbags by using his weapon. It was ruled he acted in self defense so no crime right? Wrong! He took a felony hit for the unlicensed gun that saved his life!