RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

This is the same as B&C or P&Y, their book, their rules. Simple as that.

--Bob

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

I don't know why people diss crossbow hunting so much. It has been proven that it is harder than hunting with a compound bow!

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

I wouldn't go quite that far ......... but its very, very similar in challenge IMO

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

Deer Destroyer, uh nevermind.......I am trying very hard to hold my tongue AGAIN after reading several of your posts.[X(]

Its perfectly clear since you are from Ohio and use a crossbow, hence the previous non-sensical post you made. Well anyway, I can't wait to see your pics after you and your dad take those 300" and 200" bucks.[8D]

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

. Thats why over half the bowhunters in Ohio use - because they harder? I am sure they are after the addittional challange!

Like Cougar Mag - words fail me.

Steve

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

I was just tring to say that people should not diss crossbow hunters. I don't diss people who hunt with a high powered rifle, but I think it is cheap to hunt with one. Everyone has their own opinions and whatever they hunt with that brings them joy thats good.:D

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

In our state (Minnesota) it has been said that the 15% of successful bow-taken whitetails are harvested buy 7% of the licensed bowhunters. In my travels around the various web-sites I have encountered those that claim the crossbow is a distinct advantage over the vertical bow, because the user does not have to draw back. His or her bow is already at full draw, thereby giving the shooter the advantage.

Any of you that have shot a crossbow know how heavy they are. A hunter does not merely raise his bow to a shooting position and wait for the animal to appear. When it does, he only has to take the bow off safe and release his arrow. Once the animal is in shooting range, the bow must be brought to the shoulder, aimed and then fired. That entails movement!

I refuse to enter the discussion of whether that movement requires more movement than that of shooting a vertical bow, but as a vertical bowhunter, I believe they are similar. One gentleman related how often he had been busted in a single season by deer as he attempted to draw back his vertical bow. Well, I am sorry people, but I have been bowhunting for thirty-three years and one thing that I picked up on fairly early in my bowhunting career is that you don’t draw your bow back, whether it be vertical or horizontal when the animal is looking at you. Most seasoned bowhunters are aware of the fact that a whitetail deer can see 300 degrees and that if you pull back your bow or raise your crossbow when you can see the animal’s eyes you are going to get busted!

That is why I believe that 7% of the hunters harvest the majority of the bow kills in Minnesota and probably in a lot of other states as well. It has nothing to do with the weapon that is being used, but the hunting skills of the person holding that weapon. One of the most positive things that I see about the use of the crossbow is that it is going to keep a lot of our experienced bowhunters in the field. Those that would have quit the sport because they could no longer consistently shoot their vertical equipment will still be afforded the opportunity to stay in the field and thereby share the vast storehouse of knowledge that they have accumulated over the decades that they have hunted. These old-timers are our best teachers and we should do everything that we can to keep them involved with our sport.

The crossbow is not only a fantastic tool for hunter retention, but it shines in the area of hunter recruitment as well. I videoed a nine-year old hunter killing his first deer with a crossbow in 2003. That young man’s feet were treading the ground six inches above the sod as he walked to the downed animal. Not only did he consider himself a bowhunter, but his life, from that point on, will be dedicated to the sport. And that, my friends, is what we need more of. The chatter about how the crossbow will ruin bowhunting pales in comparison to what it offers our sport in the way of hunter recruitment and hunter retention.

Alabama legalized the crossbow amid a flurry of animosity and vile behavior in 2004. At the agency meetings this spring, there was not one negative word mentioned about the crossbow, only stories about women, kids and old men that were back in the woods bowhunting for the first time with a crossbow. And that is good for us all. With the anti-everything movement gaining strength and finances as they move to eliminate the harvest of ALL natural resources, we should fall to our knees and thank God for a tool that is helping the modern hunter to maintain and recruit new members to our ranks.

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

Wow.. can't wait[&o]

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

CROSSSBOW COSTS
By Will Elliott

What does it cost New York State to continue banning the use of crossbows as a hunting device?

Plenty.

One of the leading arguments anti-crossbow advocates put forth is that it's just a move on the part of crossbow manufacturers to generate more sales in New York State.

Why not?

In fact, those sales argue strongly in favor of crossbows being legalized in this state. Sportsmen's - and all conservation-oriented - groups would benefit directly and indirectly from sales of crossbows and all accessories used with this device.

Whenever sporting goods purchases are made, percentages of those sales are collected under provisions of both Pittman-Robinson and Wallop-Breaux.

Let's say the device became legal for hunting and just 10,000 sportsmen across New York State chose to purchase a crossbow in 2006. Considering additional gear, each total sale might average $500. That adds up to five million dollars in gross sales, not counting additional income generated from travel, lodging, food and other purchases made when resident and non-resident hunters take extra trips to enjoy a crossbow hunt.

Amounts vary for types of purchases. P-R funds come from hunting/shooting related items; W-B collects from fishing/boating buys.
No doubt, the hunter numbers and gear purchases would be much higher than those figures given above. In Georgia, when crossbows became legal for hunting in that state two years ago, officials there pegged revenue increases at somewhere near 3.2 million. Not bad.

As it stands right now, money that New York State's hunters would be spending on crossbow gear goes elsewhere. Funds that would come back to the state from federal taxation simply will not come into our coffers. Others collect.

Many of those upstate and New York City megalopolis grandpas get too chilled waiting for shotgun or rifle seasons to open in the fall. Even under new deer-season proposals, a Southern Zone shotgun shooter can't hunt until mid to late November.

Archers can start hunting sometime in early to mid October, under the latest proposal.

But those Grandpas - and all other hunters who can no longer pull and hold a vertical bow - have to wait five to six weeks before they can hunt big game in this state.

Many of these older, slightly-impaired hunters simply withdraw completely, opting instead for golfing during warmer months and buying goodies for the grandkids.

Instead, all those prospective hunting-gear buys go to a better set of golf clubs, more or longer trips to Disneyland with youngsters, an addition on the house, a backyard pool and scores of other items that won't be taxed under federal programs that benefit New York State's fish, wildlife and conservation programs.

These grandpas - and grandmas, youths, and middle-aged folk with some kind of "ittis" or upper-body injury - not only leave the sport, reducing the total number of licenses sold, they also lower the numbers of future hunters that would join our ranks in decades and generations to come.

Crossbow use has proven most useful for introducing young kids to hunting in Ohio, a state that has legalized this device for 27 years. Kids there can use a crossbow as an option to vertical bow use, adding to youth-recruiting numbers.

The problem intensifies when older hunters leave our ranks. Not only do we lose their purchases, we also lose their mentoring skills with youngsters that might be influenced by their active interest in hunting. Lost are those grandkids, nieces, nephews and neighbor kids that might have gone hunting with him or her in years to come.

Instead, that money and outdoors involvement goes to golf courses, theme parks, and other non-hunting activities.

Anti-crossbow critics are correct. Crossbow manufacturers will make money when this device is legalized in New York State. So will the travel industry and all companies that sell hunting clothes and accessories.

That's business. We're loosing it. But the recruitment of youths and the retention of older hunters - and those with slight impairments - stand as an even stronger argument for allowing crossbow use here.

Nearby Pennsylvania, and most recently West Virginia, legalized crossbows. West Virginia, with bow hunters groups more adamantly opposed to crossbows than here in New York State, will let youths and impaired hunters hunt now.

Both states will benefit from increased license sales and gear-purchase revenues - as has been seen in Georgia - but not in New York State. That loss, along with the painful drop in hunter numbers, leaves New York State behind on both fronts.

Connect with your state representative in the Senate or Assembly and ask for support of proposed crossbow legislation put forth by Senator George Maziarz and Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte.

Crossbow legalization does benefit manufacturers - and every hunter in New York State.


TO WHICH I CAN ONLY SAY, "AMEN!" >>------->DJH

RE: ACF ANNOUNCES LAUNCHING OF BIG GAME CROSSBOW RECORD BOOK
 

Boring!