Big Country, no not really. I have only been archery hunting for about 10yrs. The bow I was using was a Fred Bear Whitetail that due to it' s design could never be tuned properly. It was a 50% bought from Wal Mart. I was only accurate to about 20yrds. The first of this month I bought a new bow. I am shooting this one as good at 40yrds as I was the old one at 20. It is not because of the 80% letoff, it is because it is a better bow.

I don' t think the 65% rule will ever effect me. First I don' t measure a trophy by the size of its horns. Some of the most memorable deer I have ever shot were doe. To me the memory is the trophy. The skull just reminds me of it. Second, I don' t hunt in areas that have many BIG BUCKS. I hunt the lower TX Hill Country. The deer are small and preportioned but not going to put fear in a South TX monster.

I have seen many statements similar to this one, and it is a true statement... to a point.
1st this and all private clubs are nothing more or less than its members.
2nd in this case, currently as shown in the most resent vote, the minority want the rule changed.
3rd in all cases, the minority should not be silenced by the majority.

If the ideas of the minority don' t stand the test of time, they will fade. If these ideas are good, they will become the opinion of the majority. That is what is currently happining with changing the letoff rule.

When the rule is changed, should the then minority of people that want the letoff set to 65% be silenced as you currenty want the pro 80%ers? I don' t think so.

Cougar you said a mouth full!!!

P&Y & B&C is all about the MAN, if it was about the animal there would be no mention of the hunters name.

I am thankful for the things that both P&Y & B&C have done for hunting over the years, but what they have done is honor the hunter and not the animal.

Pluto, I may not have been clear in my last post. I have no animousity whatsoever towards archers that prefer the higher letoff.

I certainly don`t want to silence your thoughts.(change them maybe!)

I do feel that if most people shooting 80% bows would give a quality 65% bow a try, they would realize that they are just fine. The only reason I would like to see it is because I think some things should quit changing.

The old saying.....gotta draw the line somewhere.

Now, do I think that going to 80% letoff is making crossbows a step closer to being included? Probably not. But, what if I am wrong?

ArthurP seems to feel that way, and he is.......more seasoned than most of us. See Arthur, I did not say older!

Maybe I am outdated in my thoughts, but they are my thoughts, so I gotta go with them. I would like to see P&Y keep it where it is.

It sure is NOT anything personal against the guys wanting it to go to 80%.
I just hope you lose!

So what is to stop someone from shooting a P&Y class buck with a cross bow, and recovering the deer, and a couple days later claim it as P&Y shot with a bow that qualifies? Assuming he has the nice little 65% letoff compound sitting in the corner?

Nothing stops someone from doing this other than their integrity. And I am sure there are some animals entered from those without integrity, and I feel strongly that there are more animals NOT entered than there are that are entered. So is the world record really a world record, when there could be a handful of people who have taken larger deer and never had them scored?

Whats the point? The point is, P&Y are nice guidelines, if you get a book qualifier, you got a big deer. Thats really all it means. If you followed some set rules then great, but just cause a deer is in the books does not mean anything more than the word of the person who took it/entered it as following the rules. Sorry guys, there are enough people out there lying to make it an issue. Again, back to integrity.

Personally I shoot an 80% letoff, and don' t care if I put a deer in the books. I want a quick clean kill, and let small bucks walk hoping to see bigger ones (talk about tough, letting bucks walk!!!!).

In closing, my only point is summed up best by stealing a line from an old english buddy of mine, " To thine own self be true" , cause thats all that really matters.

Good luck this coming season!

--Jim

Taz, I hope you didn' t misinterpret my post. I meant that some hunters take more pride in seeing their name than they do in their great buck! I do not think that Pope and Young/Boone and Crockett honors the hunter more than the animal itself!

Why is the Zaft buck even a point of discussion when making any type of ethical hunting situations. If you have read all the stories and articles about this deer you cannot find that this was anything other than a found deer and probably not even killed by any hunter but by wolves, coyotes, or whatever predators roam the area. It was found by a farmer already long dead and devoured by those predators leaving nothing but the head. No way to even identify where it might have been shot and no arrow around to associate it with. The farmer tells some goose about a big deer carcass in his field and that goose says that if its that big its got to be mine. Ha Ha, you bet!! I commend P&Y on their decision to lower the score, it was at least an honorable way to keep an unethical claim out of the books. By the way, Zaft said his arrow cleared through the big deer and when found there was no arrow around, but when P&Y started investigating and asking some serious questions, the farmer changed his story and said that he believes that Zafts arrow was in the body of the deer. Sounds like some credibility problems here. But thats all ok, Zaft didn' t get in and can proudly take his place along side Brother Rompola. Remember him?

Take two identical bows with different letoff %.....the lower letoff bow will draw way smoother, and I think they launch better too.

I am on your side on this one Arthur and Cougar, and a few others. But I fear we are in the minority here.

This should really open up a can of worms ....if P&Y raises the letoff%, I will grumble for a while, but if they include crossbows, my membership is over!


Well I have to disagree a little. My Mathews LX is built and rated at 80% let off. It is very accurate and very smooth. It is also very fast and hits hard. I don' t know for sure where you got your info but I would like to know? Also where exactly do I stand in the P&Y books seeing I have the 80% or 65% let off option on my bow? I can change it in about 30 sec.? Just curious what does P&Y say about my bow??

You bow is acceptable as long as you have it set for 65% when you take an animal. Liars, cheats and thieves that just want their name in the book would change it afterwards and probably get away with it. If you take a top 10 animal, or one that' s in the running for the Ishi Award, I believe you have to pass a polygraph. Not sure on that one though. The way things are these days, with most times a man' s word is worth about as much as the bubblegum stuck under a movie house seat, I' d say they need to polygraph each entry.

I feel that they should change the rule.