Coug ,
is it impossible for some of you to concede that some people just want a choice and have every right to ask for one through the proper legislative channels ? That's exactly what the early bow hunters did those many years ago , and they got slammed by the gun hunters just as hard as some of you slam crossbows now .

1) Yes , they are very fun to shoot . Do I like it better than my recurve ? I don't know yet , I'll get back to you on that in 4 or 5 years .
2) Is precocked that much of an advantage compared to a 65-90% let off that you can "cock" while the deer isn't looking and wait for a shot ? I think not , but nice try .
3) I shoot my recurve more than well enough to hunt with it because ...
4) I took the time to become proficient with it , just as I did with my crossbow . I shoot both about equally well , although the crossbow gives me more consistantly accurate shots . Do you have some sort of problem with being accurate Coug ? Would you prefer that I wound 1-2 deer of every 10 that I shoot at like many bow hunters ? Stats don't lie Coug .

Pretty anal there Coug ...
As I said , the jury is still out , but I enjoy shooting both and I'm proficient enough to hunt with both . Enjoyment of a weapon has absolutely no bearing on your enjoyment of or proficiency with another weapon . Besides , as I've also pointed out you have zero right to tell me what's right or wrong to hunt with when my state says that it's legal . I don't feel any need to conform to your or Arthur's standards of what weapon is "right" . Frankly , I hope your notoriously greedy state does legalize them for everybody just for the revenue so that bow snobs like you will have something else to whine about in your old age instead of minding your own business and just hunting the way that you prefer . To each their own .

Once again I ask the same question. Why not? How does a hunter going into the field with a crossbow impact you? Why is a crossbow bad? Other than your desire to keep your bowseason all to yourself why don't you want crossbow hunters?

Bowfanatic: From Ohio DNR's March, 2001 press release on the 2000 deer season That makes the crossbow harvest 58% of the total in 2000.

For 2002-2003 ( www.dnr.ohio.gov/wildlife/PDF/pub304.pdf ) total archery season harvest was 48,904, of which 28,352 were taken with crossbow and 20,552 were taken with conventional bow. Again, crossbows accounted for 58% of the total archery season harvest.

I'll let you argue with Ohio over their official numbers.

Why don't we want crossbow hunters, 1865? Plain and simple. Because we want BOWHUNTERS in our bow seasons, not crossbow hunters. If they want to hunt with crossbows, then they can hunt in the seasons where they are legal. If they want to hunt in bow season, then they do like the gun hunters do. They can go get themselves a bow and come on along with the rest of us. It's not about keeping anybody out, it's about using bows to hunt.

It's too late to do anything about Ohio, Arkansas and Georgia, but there's no reason the rest of us have to allow our states to succumb to the crossbow disease without putting up a fight.

i agree with you 100%!!

Arthur,

Arkansas legalized crossbows sometime in the 70's just like Ohio did. But here in Arkansas the crossbow hunters only killed 2946 deer last year which made up 32% of the total archery harvest. Here is the link:

http://www.agfc.com/pdf/deer_report_03-04.pdf

Isn't exactly a wholesale slaughter is it If we are going to quote stats lets give both equal air time.

How can you give something away that isn't yours? This is really a silly conversation spurred on by nothing but pure greed. It's a shame that some people let their own selfishness overwhelm them and cause them to seek to keep others from entering this sport.

CougarMag-ArthurP-bwhunter501

I am still waiting for an explanation of why I am unethical and a bad hunter. Or an argument against crossbows that does not boil down to "we don't want to share OUR season."

Anybody?

Bueller?

Bueller?

Quit being such a dweeb! How many times does someone have to say that nobody is keeping anybody from entering this sport? For your benefit, I'll repeat this once AGAIN: If they want to enter this sport, then they can buy a bow and enter it.

Plain, simple and to the point. Period.

And you can shove that selfishness and greed stuff. We already know that the crossbow crowd has their own selfish and greedy motives for trying to impose their will on us.

I can't comment on your link because the darn thing won't download.


That's a big part of the problem with all hunting. Too many people refuse to treat our hunting seasons like their own personal property. The same way that they drive rental cars vs their own cars, or will trash a hotel room but keep their home neat and clean, people are too cavalier and careless with how they treat our hunting privileges. I feel like I was entrusted with a bow season by those who came before me, to keep it neat and clean and preserve it, as a BOW season, for MY kids. Too bad you don't have the same feeling of personal responsibility for the season to which you claim to have such a passion.

Still waiting

Ironically enough, you don't even hunt but you want to impose your will on everyone else I would laugh if it wasn't so sad. But honestly I can't help but feel sorry for people that are as bitter as you are.

I like MI's law on this matter. You can use crossbows during firearm season but not in archery unles you are disabled. My personal opinion is that this is really fair.