not "you" meaning you, "you" meaning compounders - sorry I didn't put that right when I typed, sorry

compounds don't pass tradition either ....... but is shooting guns in archery season legal? I didn't know that




People love easy. We live in a world of easier= better and hunting is no different.

Compounds were created and have thrived because they are easier. Every addition that is added to them, be it solo cam, split limbs, drop away rests, SIMS, mechanical releases, mechanical broadheads, 85% let off ........ its ALL designed for one purpose - to make the shooting easier and thus, the hunting easier.

Crossbows are simply one step further, and nothing more.

Thats really ALL it boils down too. Compounders say crossbows are too easy, yet they're using a weapon much easier to use that a real recurve or longbow and yes, those ARE real bows and what bowhunting is and has always been.

There has only been "traditional" archery since compounds. Before compounds, archery and bowhunting WAS recurve and longbows, and selfbows. Only after the compound invasion did a shift in what a bow is changed.



When crossbows, or compound, become a negative to archery season, ban them. But until then? You have to allow them if you allow compounds.

Cross bows do everything compounds do

Dunno, it could be argued that unless they are using only wood, deer sinew for string,stoned tipped arrows, etc. even the non-compound bows are acouple of steps up the evolutionary scale from "real" bows aswell.

When I place my compound bow in its bow holder it is no longer Prepared to fire with the touch of my finger.you can't say the same with a Xbow now can you?

Those new fangled crossbows are ruining archery.....


Literary and physical evidence suggest that the crossbow originated in China during the 4th century BC, though a type of crossbow called the gastraphetes may have been independently invented in Greece at about the same period. It wasn't until the 10th or 11th centuries AD that the crossbow became a significant military weapon in Europe. It passed from general military service in the 16th century, but its use for hunting and target shooting has continued to the present day. The majority of the following chronology is abridged from GUIDE TO THE CROSSBOW by Paterson:







341 BC


Earliest reliable record of crossbow use at battle of Ma-Ling in China.



228 BC


Earliest crossbow artifact, a bronze lock mechanism from the tomb of Yu Wang.



0-100 AD


Heron of Alexandria describes gastraphetes.



300-700


Roman carvings of crossbows.



385


Vegetius mentions crossbows in DE RE MILITARIA.



1066


Crossbows introduced to England by Normans.



1096


Anna Comnena describes Norman crossbows.



1100-1200


Composite crossbow lath appears.



1139


2nd Lateran Council interdict forbids use of crossbow among Christians.



1192


Crusader victory at Jaffa aided by crossbows.



1314


Earliest reliable record of steel lath.



1346


Genoese crossbowmen defeated at Crecy by English longbowmen.



1373


Earliest illustration of cranequin.



1503


First of many English laws restricting possession and use of crossbows.



1550-1600


Firearms replace crossbows in most Western armies.



1860


Photographic evidence from Chinese shows repeating crossbows still used there as military weapons.



1939-45


"Arrowspeed" crossbow used by Australian commandos in Pacific Theatre.



1945-1975


Crossbows employed by Montagnard peoples and US special forces during Vietnam conflict.



1960?-present


Crossbows used to shoot anesthetic darts for capturing and treating wildlife; also used to obtain tissue samples from marine animals for obtaining genetic information.

Oh yea go ahead and introduce somelogic into this argument.

However, even though I am "pro-choice" when it comes to crossbows, you have to look at the historical signifigance of the weapon and how it was most often used.

Back in the day, it took years in order to train an archer (vertical bows). They were the special forces of midevil warfare. They were paid better, fed better, trained better and were more efficient than most other troops or conscripts.

When it came to large scale war, crossbows were widely used because it didn't take nearly as much skill or training in order to be effective with them compared to a longbow. Crossbows were also used in defense of a fortification, such as a castle. Defense of such structures was not like you see in the movies, but usually there were only 30 -60 men defending most countryside castles. A seige would last for months, and often those 30 or so men knew it was coming and they would cock and lock several crossbows up on the ramparts and shoot and move. Apparently one of the popular things to do was to wait for an enemy knight to overheat and raise his iron face mask and have a go right at his face with a bolt.

Actually they were hugely unpopular because the bolts would easily pierce armor and kill the nobles.

I would counter that there is very little difference in the way a self bow is shot vs a modern recurve/longbow. The English Longbows were powerful bow were they not ? Arrows/heads have improved no doubt. But in comparison, about the same kind of shooting/hunting aint it ?

Compounds and crossbows of today are a complete different kind of technology.

no I can't, and you can't argue that a compound has highletoff, pulley and cables to generate energy instead of the limbs and string producing it, and all that compounds are that recurves/longbows are not.

I bet you 95% of compounders use a triggered release in their bowhunting.




if anyone really beleives that I'd like to see some proof

The 2 guys I know that use Crossbows draw when a deer is in range and never hunt with their CB ready to shoot.. I don't know if thats the norm but seems like it would be a pain in the ass to shoot your bolt every time your done hunting etc.....

The more I think about it, I'm certain I'm done with this thread.