RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

While I agree not making a gutshot in the 1st place is ideal, I have to think more people would find more of thier gutshot bow deer if they didn't push after the deer so fast. Odds are it will be 100-150 yds away curled up dead, if given 8-10 hours to die. Yea its going to take a much bigger effort than a 50 yd bucket blood trail but it can be done.


Stealthy,
you mentioned hunting a state with legal Xbows and it not making a difference. I wish I could say that would be the case in my state. Would your views change if in your heart you felt adding Xbows would highly affect(and in a BAD way) your hunting? We have a boatload of hunters in PA and even in the archery season, it can get quite crowded. Add in several more thousand Xbowers and there starts to be more deer shot in the archery season, so then the next step is shortening, what's already one of the shortest archery seasons around. How would you feel then?
Also you have been shooting bows for a long time, that's why you and many others here can pick up a tuned bow and shoot it well, in a short amount of time. New guys in general can't do that, unless they have a shooting coach.

Silentassassin,
You have very good points in the story you tell.

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Do you mean that ? Crossbows included ?

silentassassin is right to a point. If you got your compound tuned, same assessories as year before, chances are you can pick it up a few days before archery season and shoot it just as well as before with little loss in accuracy. I don't think many trad archers can say this though because of the hand/eye coordination thats involved. It'd be like walking away from basketball for 12 months then trying to play again ... something would be lost there because of the lack of practice.

Not my hunting, no. If a given weapon affects the herd, or the archery season as a whole, then yes, it need to be looked at. If I see it as affecting "my hunting" thats a selfish thing to think and I could easily say compound hunters affect my bowhunting because of the sheer numbers of people it brings into the sport. Remove compounds and "my hunting" would be so much better for lack of sportsmen in the woods. See ?

Weapons of choice aint the problem, its the number of people. Take away mechanical releases and see how many guys would drop archery. Take away grater than 65% letoff , less than 40" ATA, illegal solocam bows, drop away rests, carbon arrows etc etc and see how many guys would quit bowhunting.

I mean, you DO want less bowhunters, right ? Crowded and boatloads are adjectives to describe a situation that needs resolved - so you're infavor of no crossbows AND maybe restricting compounds to limit the number of archery hunters ??? Am I reading that right ?

Same fear AR, OH and GA had ... never came to pass. Same fear trad hunters had when the compound was introduced ... never happened. Why the same fear now ?

Have you really thought about how dramatic compound have changed the face of archery ? Take the compounds out and archery season is back to recurves and longbows, few hunters, longer seasons etc etc. Isn't that what you're kinda envisioning ? Except you want to use YOUR choice of bow, right ?

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

By "my" hunting I mean my seasons, not the actual numbers of deer I can shoot. I am confident in my hunting abilities to shoot what deer are out there. I never said I wanted less bowhunters. Stop putting words in my mouth. I don't feel it neccesary to remove archers, yea its a little crowded in some places, but not to the point of feeling they should be limited. My main thing is to not get the seasons shortened. PA probably has more hunters than those 3 states combined, so its not comparable.
They can absorb the influx with no detrimental affects. I don't feel PA can.
Again, trying to put words into my mouth.

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

rybohunter - If hunter numbers increasing isn't your beef with crossbows, what is ? That sure looked like what you were driving at ?

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Seems to me Trads and compounders are getting closer and closer.......

8 pages of argueing - and we havn't been locked up:D

Sounds like the begginings of a long, long friendship;)

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Rack-attack - It would have only went 3 pages and died had I not joined this thread :)

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Hunter numbers that will SHORTEN seasons. If the numbers went up and the seasons stayed the same or got longer, I'd be more accepting to it.

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Ha? I will be accoutable for people not shooting and missing or wounding deer? That's silly, don't you think? I'm not telling anyone to do anything - to shoot or not to shoot. What piece of advice I am offering is to know your ability. I don't step foot in the woods with my recurve because I don't practice enough with it. Sure, I could pull that thing out and be hitting an apple at 20 yards out of my stand within 6 arrows. That does not mean I am consistent, at all. It's called knowing your ability. So let me say again, I do not condone sitting on your arse all year and pulling the bow out the week before season. Don't do it - commit your life to shooting, or get out of the sport. If you don't love it, and you aren't shooting everyday in the off season, you hate it, so why do it? Sell your schit! Give it up! You cannot be a hunter unless you are first an archer. Don't ask me questions come fall either you little punks.. Oh wait, I'm not Arthure P!:D

Seriously, know your limitiations, your ability, and plan your season accordingly.

And yes, I am going to make it a point to get out and shoot more during the off season because it certainly can't hurt. It will be the recurve though.:D

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Show me where that has happened with archery, just one example, and tell me which type of bow caused it.

RE: Who Practices Year-Round? Is it REALLY Necessary?
 

Wow, that almost made me cry [&:]

Beautiful man, just beautiful .....