RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Hey Data .. how's that "square headed arrow" going to work coming off a bow? You are braver than I if you are going to start shooting square headed arrows to try and prove a point that crossbow shooting is actually archery.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

OK for all you statistics lovers out there here are some. These %s are based harvest numbers from the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Arkansas Harvest Reports.

2002-03 2003-04

Crossbow % as a total of harvest 2.26% 2.75%

Crossbow % as a total of all archery 28.87% 32.01%

In a state where crossbows have been legal for 30 years the amount of deer as a percentage is statistically insignificant compared to the population as a whole. :eek:

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Well every dictionary will have a slightly different definition but I agree with those. They are basically the same as my Websters.

I think you are confusing the Dictionary definition of a bow from the states Legally allowed weapons definition. Just because a state deems a weapon illegal dosen't mean it's not a certian type of weapon does it?

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Oooo - Politics makes strange bedfellows. You're a recurve hunter, pissed about compounds, so you embrace...Crossbows???????

That makes a lot of sense. Succeed in your goal to lump a crossbow with a compound and you'll have a lot more folks interfering with your "traditional" serenity.

Get over it, dude. A compound's a bow, like it or not. You still have to draw it, and hold it, and anchor it...aw, you get the point. But, then again, you always got the point. You're just bitter.

If you could get your way, and only recurves could be used during bow season, how many compound users would learn to use one and still go hunting? Now, honestly, how many Crossgun users would do the same?

I thought so.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Some of you guys even try to change the name....how desperate are you? By that very act you acknowledge the truth you allways knew....they are bows.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Let's see here...you can't provide facts to the contrary, but you demand them from us...how convenient for you.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Arthur, I honestly have never not one time seen a person in the woods with trad equipment during any season. Shouldn't we just do away with them as a legal method then? You rarely find people that take a lesser weapon into the woods during a firearm season. Wehn you do it's guys like me that are dies in the woods bowhunters. So that isn't really a valid comparison. Open up the bow season to them and then you can guage how many people are out there interested in joining the archery season. But if it's like you say and no one out there wants to shoot one anyway, then it should have 0 significance because there won't be anyone in the woods with them.
MaJay,

Seriously all I am saying is that I think that for no more detriment and negatives that in itself is a good enough reason to allow crossbows in archery season. I just don't think people should have to miss two months that they could be in the woods simply because they have shoulder problems or because they aren't a very good shoot or because they are to weak to pull legal poundage. When you weigh out the negatives (which in my opinion is just a negative outlook on them from compounders and trads) versuses the positives, I just think the upside outweighs the downside. I realize you have to draw the line somewhere I just think that's a particularly thin line to draw and that we should be making all aspects of the sport accessible to as many as possible without comprimising the sport. In this case there is very little diestinction between the weapons and in my opinion if it possess no harm to me, offers others a chance to be in the field during archery season, and increases the numbers of bowhunters in our ranks then I think it's a worth doing. If it only got 5 people involved that wouldn't have otherwise gotten involved in the sport but it cost me two weeks of my season, it would still be worth it my opinion for those people to get to experience the joy, admiration, adjulation, peace, satisfaction, and contentment that I enjoy while being in teh woods during archery season. I don't think those people should be deprived of that simply because they choose or are forced to shoot a compound mounted on a stick.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

hex shafts have a popular following, Thing is ...... they don't shoot well out of compounds :D

DING DING DING ! We have a winner. State laws CANNOT define what a bow is. If it did .... then a crossbow IS a bow in Arkansas and the moment it is taken into Missouri it magically transforms into not a bow - and that don't happen. Its still a bow - just not legal in archery seaon unless you talka doctor into signing a permission slip.

Almost got something right. Compounds don't piss me off at all. I shot one last fall in Kansas and was glad I had it to use. I'm all about using BOWS in BOW season.

Actually - most people don't need to be in the woods with a recurve. They don't have the time to devote to shooting one a lot (its called practice) and therefore a compound or crossbow much better suits their bowhunting styles.

Well ........... if we're basing what is and isn't a "bow" on drawing ........... then a compound really isn't a bow afterall because of the mechanics involved, the triggered release, the cams and pulleys, the high letoff ............. you get the point, don't you ?

By dang the SECOND thing you've almost gotten right ! Compounds are for people who aren't dedicated to mastering the recurve/longbow and traditional way of shooting. Thats all fine and dandy, it doesn't affect my hunting one way or the other - I'm glad ya'll have them to use. I'm glad they're available for ME to use when I chooce them. Crossbow ? Just another choice in bows - nothing more, nothing less.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

Thanks Grizzly for providing some raw numbers from a Crossbow state.

I was very surprised that 30% of all kills during archery season were with a crossbow. It appears either that the number of crossbows hunters is larger than I had thought, or their success percentage is higher. I'll assume a bit of both.

Adding 30% to the archery kill in NH would require the reduction in the season due to our smaller deer harvest numbers. I see clearly now why they decided to allow them only during firearm season. 30% is a high number.

RE: please tell me just one negative to crossbows
 

MA Jay

It surprises me also that the crossbow harvest is at 30% of the total for archery in Arkansas for the last two seasons reported. I personally use a compound and prefer it, and most of the people I know use compounds too. The only reason that I bring this up is that some people in this thread had alluded to herd being decimated by using crossbows during archery season and the numbers just don't support that.