Can we agree though that the bow hunters get the best chances for the largest bucks... First pick you can say and that the majority of big bucks are taken by bow hunters during early season? Why shouldn't the average joe who wants to hunt early season use a weapon simulair to a bow but easier to use? Only different from an Xbow and a reg one is the draw is held back. Everything else is the same as far as I can see.

If there is a value to harvesting more doe in Oct. in 2B , then I am sure you would agree that there would be even more value in increasing the Oct. harvest in areas with poor habitat like 2G and 2F. Therefore, you should be supporting the legalization of x-bows statewide. Its just good deer management.
AR's insure that more big buck will be taken and your buddy Livbucks says his group only takes 10pts. or bigger buck in 2B. Isn't your buddies word good enough for you.Remember, you defended him on the Goliath issue even though he was wrong.

You are the energizer bunny when it comes to continuing to seek out ways to argue just for the sake of arguing.

Get a life!

Hey don't knock him. Reading arugments about deer hunting in Pennsylvania is one of the most entertaining and informative parts of this site.

Yes Sammy_tat, we can partially agree that archers get FIRST chance at the largest bucks.I've always saidbelieved the mature bucks killed in buck season are often killed during the first few minutes or not at all.

I know you've probably heard this before but why not take up bowhunting yourself? Yes we do get first chance but we pay a price for it. Not in dollars. The archery hunters that get more than a random chance at the best bucks have a lot of commitment involved. We don't just walk into the archery woods and pick out the best buck to shoot. I would estimate that the average archery hunter puts in 50 times more time into his sport than the average gunner. The guys who consistently harvest mature bucks probably put in a quantity if time anually that approaches the equivalent of a regular part time job. My scouting begins in March. I plant food plots, run trail cameras, hunt sheds all through the spring and summer. I start putting up treestands in late summer and have 10+ out every year. Archers spend many long hours on stand just to see a deer and many more to get a shot. The vertical bows, even the compound require reglar if not daily practice and while not all do it year round, many do.

So, forgive me for being unsympathetic to the guy who doesnt want to make the time or expend the effort to get that same opportunity. How would you like it if your employer decided hire someone who doesnt work as hard or as long as you and has less experience than you but paid him the same wage?

Harvesting mature bucks carries a price.You are welcome to pay the price we do but I won't support making it easier for those who are unwilling to pay the price I do. Especially when it could well cost me valuable hunting time that I paid for with my efforts.

Good point LCC!

Wouldn't it be nice though if the arguements could have just a little less distortion and twisting of the facts? I'd love to enter a debate where I didn't have to watch out for bad information or partial information ora twisting of the real information. Maybe a little less rehash of the same old things said 50 different ways and maybe let a crossbow thread stay just that, not simply degenerate into the same old PA deer wars.

Talk to ya Monday guys, I'm going to ......



CAMP!

Greg, I'm leaving you in charge of spotting the lies and distortions. Keep ole DD under control!

BTBI agree. I said the same thing on another thread not to long ago. After twenty some years of gun hunting and only for one week a year, I decided I wanted:
[ol][*]more timeto hunt[*]hunt closer to home[*]quieter time in the woods[*]a shot at the bigger bucks that I knew where being taken by the bow hunters.[/ol]
I didn't sit there and cry foul. I became a bow hunter. One of the best things I've ever done!!!!!

I feel the same way about you. But you argue a point based on your opinions while I support my opinions with facts,which you in turn reject even though you provide nothing to prove I am wrong.

There is no doubt a bow hunter gets the best chance to SEE a big buck. He gets to play all phases of the rut most years, he doesn't have to deal with everybody and there brother walking right past his tree stand every 30minutes like in rifle season ( atleast where I hunt some years ). Like CCPaHunter, I went out and bought a bow and over the last several years I am finally making the time to learn to shoot proficently and getting time to get out in the woods. On a side note 3 years ago I had 3 different nice bucks come to within about 70 yards of my stand early in the season, but like I said, it's easy to SEE them. With a rifle they would have been dead, but that's part of the challenge. Back to the subject of X-bows, I would like it if the PGC started off slow, like maybe having a one week x-bow season or a x-bow season concurrent with bear season. I think it should be limited in some sort at first until the FACTS are in on hunter success using an x-bow.

How about a 2 weekXbow season before reg archery season? I can here the kicking and screaming for sure if thatwould happen. How many would switch to Xbows for that?

I do hunt with a bow. I got an old mathew ultra light solo cam. I should say I use to hunt with a bow. But I think an Xbow would be fun to use also. Freedom of choice to decide what I want to use.