Louisiana has allowed the use of crossbows this year for everybody during the Oct1-Jan31 archery season. I dont want this to turn into a debate on bows vs crossbows, but what i want to know is has crossbow legalization in any other state affected your season.
There will be more people in the woods, probably more deer killed. Will they shorten the season because of the annual deer harvest? More deer crippled?
Will it be a fad?, most guys I know who dont bowhunt dont because its hot and the skeeters are too bad. Should I wear orange with em in the woods? Mabey Im parinoid but I have seen a crazy influx of people buying crossbows. Our rack at BassPro is almost empty. Good for sales So tell me what has the legalization in your state has done?
****Remember this is not intended to be a crossbow bashing post, even though I cant stand to see a healthy 30 year-old with a crossbow talkin bout shootin 100 yards*******

According to LDWF Hunter Orange is not necessary with bow hunting. I'm in Baton Rouge, LA and when I attended the Archery Safety Course so that I could get a permit to hunt Cat Island we had 3 or 4 people there that were crossbow hunting. We went off into this debate and I think it will be a fad this year because people who have never bow hunted before or shot a crossbow before may pick it up thinking it's a rifle. with 100+ pounds of draw weight and needing slings or other "tools" to draw it back I think you'll see a lot of Cross Bow for sale adds after this season.

In addition, crossbows are only as accurate as the shooter is but I don't think you'll see or hear of any 100 yard Cross Bow shots. It's not a rifle and still shoots between 300 and 400 fps which is the same as most high end Compound Bows.

That's my two cents in the matter.

100 yards hell, I am good out to 130, even though the bolt is just barely sticking in!

J/K. I think they should only be used by those that can't pull a bow back, (physical disabled).

I don't think so...

When Arkansas opened crossbow hunting years ago, bunches of people predicted the demise of bowhunting. Many predicted the rape of the deer woods and outrageous kill numbers. Many predicted the addition of huge numbers of sloppy, scary crossbow hunters.

None of that came to pass.

You can and do have good and bad in every class of hunter. Be it Traditional Bow, Compound Bow, Crossbow, MuzzleLoader, shotgunor Modern Gun. I would not fear being shot by a Crossbow hunter. I would deem it much less likely than being shot by a gun hunter.

The kill numbers have not increased by any real magnitude like some said they would. The number of Crossbow hunters is actuall quite low by comparison to other methods. I have only seen one crossbow hunter in the woods in 20+ years of bow hunting. I actually started with a crossbow about 24 years ago, and moved to a Compound Bow after about 3 years. I found that there was no real benefit to a crossbow. It is bulkier, heavier, harder to pull back ( although locked back at that point ) , it had no real range advantage, and it was not like shooting a rifle... I still had to aim and aim true. I had to learn its range. It had a kill range of about 40 yards ( for accuracy and penetration ). So where was the advantage??

I believe a lot of folks worry needlessly, but then again, where is the harm in bringing in another class of hunter to further our sport. What if inline ML's were not allowed ?? What if Compound Bows had never been allowed ?? There are plenty of deer to go around... and none of us own the game in the woods... There are a lot of other things in this world to worry about that are more justified..

Hunt your woods ( be it private , leased , or public ) and enjoy yourself. The crossbow hunters are of no threat to you... I am right above you ( state wise ) , and the effects here are very minimal... despite all the doom and gloom of the naysayers for the first few years... It will balance out.

Good Luck and God Bless

MET

Maryland legalized the use of a crossbow this year [:'(]. Before this, you had to have a Dr's note in order to hunt with one (which is the way it should be). I personally don't think this rule should have changed, but who am I to say .

OHio has had xbows legal for longer then i have been alive.[im almost 29}.I have no prob with anyone using a xbowhandicapped etc..or not.Maybe they dont havethe time it takes to be good with a vertical bow.IN ohio its bout 50/50 on hunters shootin xbow an vertical.The more ppl hunting the more power we might have against the anti-hunters. We as hunters an sportsmen need to stick together,no matter if its ..a gun..xbow ..compound ..recurve,,or a fishermen.or we are fighting ourselves.i would rather have a guy shootin deadly at 30yrds with a xbow then a guy shootin paper plates at 30 in the woods..seems more ethical..

here we go......

Well said.....

Here in British Columbia, crossbows are legal to use whenever any other archery equipment season is open. They have not made a significant impact on game populations, nor do the crossbow hunters make the woods crowded. In fact, the firearm hunters kill many times more deer and provide a lot more competition for hunting space. Please notice that I didn't say anything bad about the use or misuse of crossbows.

I agree with micheal T, go hunting and have a good time. Crossbow have been legal here in arkansas for almost 20 years and that has not change our hunting here one bit.