Funny, this let off thing. After talking to several hunters locally, most of the higher than 65% letoff archers are newbies. Many walk into an archery shop and the dealer automatically sets them up with a 75% or 80% bow.

Most of the bows made today are advertised at higher letoffs and some new archers don' t even know what the letoff differences are. Fact is, most compound bows come with an optional letoffs.

IMO if they do away with the let off rule they mise as well do away with the high fence rule.

Leave things the way they are.
The system has worked well so far.

They need to change the rule for the simple sake of keeping up with technology.
We as a country need to keep advancing not staying in the old days. If they changed the rule bow companies would probably even quit making bows with 65% let-off. The demand is for higher now and it doesn' t change a thing as far as taking a deer that qualifies. You still have to find a buck that big and you still have to make the shot.

My bow is set at 65% let off, so I really do not care if they change the let off rule or not. My question to those who are opposed to any changes is: has the 65% let off rule always been set at 65% or was it once 50% or less? Has a compound bow always been allowed or was it restricted to " traditional" bows?

Amen to that!! I hate to hear people pop off and say they don' t give a hoot about the P&Y or other type orgs. Don' t get me wrong, I' m not a member, I' ve never shot a P&Y deer and probably won' t.(but I hope I do.lol) But I do respect the club for helping bow hunters make great strides in many areas. To me P&Y and B&C are the " Hall of Fame" of deer hunting. Why would anyone not like the Hall of Fame? Sure there are a few bucks in there that shouldn' t be, sure there are some crooked hunters with bucks in the books, HOWEVER, there are some people in any sport' s Hall of Fame that should be there. That in itself does not make the whole Hall of Fame bad. Let me take it a step further. There are alot of guys out there who say " I' d never enter my buck in that stuipd book anyway." Fine, that is your choice, however, the book isn' t about you, it' s about the amazing deer that God created. We know most of the famous bucks by the last name of the hunter who killed them, but we normally don' t know the story of the hunter or know what he looks like. We know the story of the buck. Sorry to get off on a rant but I wanted to add to what Arthur said.

My opinion on the let-off rule? I' m undecided right now. It' s a tuff call. Obviously, the sport is moving in a direction that is not in line with the current rules of the P&Y. Are hunter' s with 80% let-off unethical? I think not. I do however, see why the club has rules and why they make sense. I guess we have to ask ourselves some tuff questions. The way it stands today, I would say that a very large percentage (if not the majority) of new bows sold are 80% let-off. As someone else pointed out, most new bowhunters end up with an 80% let-off bow, for some reason, which is fine. So does the book follow the trend of the sport or does it stick by it' s old rules and start to take in less and less bucks into the " Hall of Fame" every year because most hunters don' t follow it' s rules? The loser' s here aren' t the hunter' s that kill a big deer with 80% let-off but the rest of the hunting world is because without a buck being scored as a P&Y and gaining some " fame" , most of us will never get to see or appreciate this big deer.

Just some of my rambling thoughts. And for the record, my bow is 80% let-off. I wanted 65% but I was getting the bow at cost from the manufacturer and I was not going to be picky.

I would hate to think that hunters have reached the point that they would condemn those who shoot 80% let-off from being able to have a great buck scored and maybe become tops in the record book. I also noticed someone else talk bad about Buckmasters, what is wrong with the BTR scoring system ? It doesn' t discriminate against any let-offs or deduct from nature has given a deer' s rack.
P&Y will change or go under in the near future but what about all those they have already turned away?

That' s right, Howler. And that is just one of the problems. P&Y seems bound and determined to make this a traditional vs. modern debate. Maybe the idea of a separate record book for traditional vs. compound should be considered. Then at least some of the whining can stop.

P&Y was dragged kicking and screaming to go from 50% letoff years back. Before that, all kinds of folks griped about compound bows period, Fred Bear included, although a prohibition of those would have never flown. Now they have painted themselves into a corner with this silly letoff rule and some in the organization are trying to find a graceful way out.

Amen!

Who knows? Maybe Boone and Crocket should implement a rule disallowing rifles that fire bullets with speeds of greater than 2,000 FPS, or scopes beyond 2X. That way, they can defend the " purity" of the older records, like the James Jordan buck.

There' s your answer. If you want to shoot that kind of bow, then haul your carcass over there and let them score it. Ever wonder why the Buckmasters world record doesn' t enjoy the same prestige (and potential product endorsement money) that P&Y' s world records do?

Isn' t that what this is all REALLY about?

Arthur, I usually agree with what you say, however on this one I feel you and others are in a traditional vs modern argument. And the comparisons of 80% let off to a cross bow is ridiculous. I have a 75% letoff bow b/c I can shoot it better, which is what it is REALLY SUPPOSED to be about. Would you agree that going from traditional to compounds it MUCH more of a step than going from 65% to 80%? I really just don' t understand the argument against it. Yes, it is easier to shoot than a recurve or perhaps a 65% letoff, but a peep sight is easier to shoot than without, sights are easier than bare bow and so on. However, none of these items makes it " easy" to harvest a deer, just increases you odds of a good shot. The fact that you were a good of enough hunter to get the deer within range and then excute the shot is what really matters. Also, I' ve have heard everyone of the traditional guys on here saying they can shoot with traditional just as good as they can with compound. So if that is true, whats the handicap? The fact that it requires more practice? How does it factor in at the moment of truth when your putting yourself within range of a trophy buck and taking the shot? Its simply a traditional vs modern argument. End of discussion.

That paragraph makes the top 10 list of the most IDIOTIC statements ever on display here!