my only worry would be adding more season that would affect the deer pop
kinda like the early inline week of doe's already

I think a lot of us share that concern. Unfortunately, the crossbow industry isn't gonna let up. I'm just looking for a way to work with it without risking destroying our archery season as it is.

I know that I don't hunt or live in PA. I live in Arkansas, we have had crossbows legal here for many many years. Crossbow hunters have not impacted our deer herd here one bit. You can look on the Arkansas game and fish web site to see for yourself. They break down the kill between bows and crossbows. Our longbow kills far exceeds the crossbow kills here. Our bow season runs from oct. 1 to feb 28, the season has been that way for years and legalizing crossbows didnt change our season 1 day. I don't have a problem here with people hunting with the crossbow and neither does any other Arkansans to my knowledge. I wont be as bad as some folks on here think. The only way this sport can stay alive is for hunters to band together and not fight among ourselfs. The more hunters they are the bigger the voice is. If a hunter hunts on private property, I cant see where crossbows would increase the number of hunters on the place where you hunt. If its public land, every person that wants to hunt it should have the right to. For the record I hunt with a compound. I really think some of ya'll are getting work up over nothing.

The inlines have no effect on the deer population.The doe population is regulated by antlerless allocations.If that doe wasn't killed by an inline,chances are it would be killed with a rifle.The concern is that by adding crossbows into the general archery season,more pre-rut bucks will get killed,thus shortening the archery season.That's precisly why muzzleloader hunters have never been able to have an early buck season.Crossbows will not increase the kill.Rifles control the harvest.

DOUGE, WHERE DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR INFO.

in-lines are killing more doe in oct that would make it thruseason.thats another doe that wont make it to be breed in nov and maybe make it thru until next year and have a fawn.

you know doe get harder to get after archery season with pressure, in oct they are easy to get, you have to know that.

pre-rut buck thing is wrong.

most that get a crossbow will shoot the first doe they see.[:@]

crossguns will increase kill of deer in archery.

no doubt about that............

This is one I don't care for. Using other states that allow crossbow, to justify its use in Pa. That's like saying, John Doe just jumped[/align]of a bridge,maybe we should do it too.Here is two states that have been mentioned, license sales in these states don't even come close to Pa.[/align][/align]Around 258,000 Arkansans purchase a hunting license each year, according to sales figures from the Arkansas Game and [/align]Fish Commission. Cory Gray, the agency's deer program coordinator.[/align][/align]The boom in Ohio's deer hunting largely was responsible for gains in hunting license sales.
In 2008, the wildlife division sold 301,958 general hunting licenses for an income of $5,737,202. This compares to the 297,246 general hunting licenses sold in 2007 and worth $5,647,674.[/align][/align]This is why I have to agree with BTB, I'm not saying no either. But maybe just a week or two season to see what happens.[/align]

they have all of gun season and flintlock season to use their CROSSBOWS.

leave early archery for recurve/compound archery hunters.

do away with early in-line season/gun season.

too much STINK in woods with all hunters trying to get doe meat that week, it screws up your hunting in archery and makes bucks noc-turnal

Sproul,I'm not wrong.The antlerless kill is controlled by the number of allocations,notby the different weapons or season.I've never once seen a hunter in the woods during inline aseaon and I hunt that season myself.I don't think deer are hard to shoot in any season.

Where are you getting any information that crossbow hunters will shoot first doe they see?Even is they did,it wouldn't matter.The antlerless kill is controlled by the allocations that you so often complain about.

At one time,biologists stated that if our archery buck kill went up much more than it is now,the season would have to be shortened.That's what all the fuss is about.It has nothing to do with more deer being killed.

if I didn't hunt with a bow,I still would have killed just as many doe because I had x number of tags and killing them with a rifle is much easier.

i get my info from talking to hunters.

a lot of non archery hunters WANT to use crossbow.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

because they wont take time to practice with compound bow and THINK that the crossgun is a 60 yd gun that you dont need to practice.

NONE OF THESE HUNTERS I KNOW EVER HUNTED TO GET BUCK,they are fill freezer hunters.

they want that doe meat before gun season and crossbow they feel will do it.

they are same hunters that bought a in-lines ,they want deer meat and cant get it unless they hunt for year.

its all race now to get MEAT,very few care for horns other than a few of us that take hunting with passion, not for meat.

So,will they use their inlines or crossbows to get that meat?They only have so many tags.I oppose the use of crossbows by able bodied hunters.however,they won't impactthe harvest of does at all.That's controlled by antlerless allocations.

Ibought a TC omega about 5 years ago with the intension of using it during Colorado's early muzzleloaderelk season.i ended up not going to Colorado so I used it here for two seasons and killed two deer with it.It was pretty anti-climatic killing a doe with it in October.Last year,I loaned it to a buddy and never asked for it back.With the exception of a couple older fellas,I dopn't know anyone that has hung up their bow for an inline.