I saw a setup a guy used, last winter. It was a bear to pull back but once it got there it stayed until you hit the release. He used it to bring down some of the largest game in Africa and even then it was borderline poundage.

Ma Jay,

The funny thing is that I think adding crossbows to the archery season should actually help the problem. The threat to the extended archery season come from a group of vocal firearm hunter who feel the bow hunters are killing all the deer. the way it is set up is you have an archery tag good for a buck or doe. Then the extended tag allows an additional buck and virtually unlimited does. By lumping crossbows in with archery it would allow these vocal gun hunters another means to enter archery and instead of complaining they could be an active part of the management plan. The areas were designated for the extended archery season because the towns they encompass have ordances against the discharge of firearms.

I think A happy middle road would be to let crossbows in, limit the doe harvest to 1 additional doe other then the regualr archery tag. This would limit archers to no more then 3 deer. It would achieve management goals in the area and it would include everyone.

It wasn't until last fall that I started getting informed on pending legislation and threats to hunting. I fear all together to many hunters have a blind eye to the encroaching opposition and are unimformed of pending legislation or open comment periods when we as hunters as a whole need to speak up for our sport.

I have seen this all to frequently here in the North East. In fact, many towns in Mass have made it illegal to hunt with any weapon, even on private property. I thnk New Hampshire got it right by allowing crossbows to hunt during firearm season as it allows gun hunters to access areas their firearms are not allowed. People's aversion to guns is resulting in more and more towns banning hunting .. at some point archery or a crossbow is going to be the only in option in many of these areas if they allow hunting at all.

Interesting conclusion you drew. I had assumed that the added hunters would result in more deer taken in a season that already is pretty tightly controlled in most of the state, I figured it would result in a shorter archery season. Good luck.

They're legal in Arkansas and nobody ever uses one. Why ? Worthless contraptions are all they are. Most guys still hunt with the good old compound because its the best archery weapon available (better than recurves/lobgows/crossbows or drawlocks)

Now that is about the biggest pile of manure I have ever heard! Some guys with traditional bows or recurves could put a lot of compound archers to shame with their shooting skills. Where legal either for handicapped or regular folks crossbows take home lots of deer. So you are quite uninformed or spreading out a quote just to get folks stirred up of which I suspect may be the latter.

Or zealingy (or what ever his second alias was) or datamax. He is a sneaky person. He should have stuck with stealthycat, it is more fitting.

Nope this is my first time here wanting to talk about xbows not knowing your moderators have had it up to their posteriors with the subject.

jh45gun - Son, I've been around a long time, having shot crossbows, compounds and trad bows. I've hunted in a dozen or more states and bowhunted more than most guys twice my age. I have also lived in probably 40+ states and was born and raised in one that allows crossbows in legal archery season.

I think I know what I'm talking about, having been there and done that. And the majority of guys still use the good old compound to hunt with. Why ? Its a better weapon to use, plain and simple. People DO NOT choose the longbow/recurve because they'll kill more deer, I gaurantee that. People DO choose compounds because they can, and crossbows too.

The drawlock ? Another compound gizmo thats isn't practical and doesn't really increase ones chances of killing a deer with a compound. I've NEVER seen one in the woods or at the ranges - ever. They're legal here too I believe, and no one ever uses one.

As for your misinformation, a very few trad shooters are that good. Go to your next local 3D shoot and compare the top scores. You'll see who shoots the best, and don't forget to factor in the trad stakes are MUCH closer.

Now I don't wanrt to start talking about crossbows again, but to say that nobody is using them isn't exactly true. In Arkansas 30% of the deer killed during archery are with crossbows, so some guys are using them. What I found amazing is that in Ohio, 60% of all deer killed during archery season are with crossbows. So to say that if Maine allowed crossbows there would be no difference is not really an informed statement.

Now I have never actually seen a draw lock, but I did catch the infomercial. The support bar that the release is attached to seemed very flimsy to be holding the bow at full draw. I would not have trusted it. Also, unlike crossbows or guns that have "safetys" the draw lock's trigger is very exposed as it is not protected from being bumped and accidently released. I'd advise being careful if they are legal in your state.

MA Jay - what I'm saying is that Arkansas allows them ............. and no one is EVER seen using one. Why ? Just another gizmo to attach to a compound that likely makes shooting a compound worse - not better. I've never shot a drawlock, and never saw one in the woods.