bawanajim

Hey "numb nutts" it was a joke...........notice the little[:-][:-][:-][:-][:-]

the outsider

High school let out a little early today BJ?

bowtruck

so steel your the boss its up to you who can and cant use a xbow
you decide if we need anymore advantages
who said to shoot a buck heck i get doe tags too
imo people like you are scared that your archery skill are not up to par
and dont want anymore compation to bad you got it
oh yea about you kicking my A not worth a responce
already can see you are a sore loser

the outsider

Don't whine unless you're hunting with a longbow or a recurve. Compound bowswith pin sights and stabilizers are a long way from the primitive weapon season that was archery season. Ditto for this post. Wanna be a real man? Hunt with a long bow. Until then, stop whining.

BTBowhunter

Like it or not, the crossbow isthe law of the landnow. The place to expend our anger is toward the boobs that voted for it in the face of90/10 emails against.

The place NOT to take out our frustration is on another law abiding hunter out enjoyinghis sport legally even if we don't happen to like his choice of equipment.

rem700man

BtBow:
Over the years i have come to respect you as a pretty good hunter from reading your posts,,,i have come to the conclusion that you are into this thing just about as much as i am,,,and i also agree that we tend to disagree on some issues,,,so im asking you as 1 hunter to another,,,,why do you guys really disagree with the x-bow being a legitimate weapon during archery season,,,i dont understand the complaints,,,are you really worried about the ethics of the shot with some hunters,,,,is it the poaching thing,,,what exactly is it that ya'll despise about x-bows. They have been legal here in Va. for i think 5 yrs and i still know no one that uses them during season,,and i hunt alot of public land and i hav'nt seen 1 guy with a x-bow,,but then again,,,it's also legal to use semi-automatic rifles here and i see no one with a semi. I have shot x-bows quite extensively in the back yard with a few friends and no matter what guys like ole sproul say,,,their really not 3 shot 1 hole shooters @ 20 yds,,,so i dont think thats the issue. So enlighten me on the reasons why x-bows should not be legal in Pa. during the hunting season. Might i add honest answers

cardeeer

GOING TO QUIT BOWHUNTING. PERIOD. I originally started bow hunting so I would have more time to find a deer. But since I hunt in another state and I can see a deer any day any time I will just gun hunt and pic and choose a fat one.Infact I just got back from filling the feeders. Seen 53 this moring at 710am. They ate up 800 lbs of feed this past 3 weeks and linked up 60 lbs of molasses

blkpowder

rem700: I would like express my reason why I voted no if I may? I think Archery season "may," my opinion, turn into a cousin of gun season. Again maybe. Since I only hunt public ground,my concerns are "if", a growing number jump onto this bandwagon, my solitude that I enjoy "might" come to an end? I know, everyone has a right to be in those woods. But I just seem to draw the most ignorant people when I used to rifle hunt. That's why I quit almost 30yrs ago. You know what I mean, hunters who leave their proper etiquette at home when it comes to bagging a deer. This is my only concern! Believe me, if that hunter wants to us a spear,crowbar, what ever his choice? And they are enjoying themselves,God Bless them![/align]

BTBowhunter

First of all, thanks! It's always good to talk to guys that are as nutzo about deer hunting as I am

Fair enough question. If you look back over some of the crossbow threads prior to this recent vote, you'll find that my position on the crossbow as a weaponhad come around to being basically neutral. I've owned one since they were legalized for gun season. I have access to places where gun hunting simply isn't permitted and use the thing in the gun season in those spots sometimes.

It has pro's and cons. The two big pro's being that it doesnt need to be drawn in the presence of the game and it can be shot from a far wider range of body positions. By the time our gun season is a half day old, most every deer in PA knows the deal. Getting into bow (any bow) range at that point is a bit tougher than it was in October and through the rut. At that point in the season, not having to draw in front of those nervous eyes can be a big advantage over a vertical bow. It's also a weapon that can be shot lying on you belly. Something we occasionally do to hide in tight spots when doing small drives through tight areas.

On the other hand, there are cons to the crossbow. It's noisy.Being a shorter projectile,a crossbow bolt is actaully far less stable than a conventional arrow in flight. Accuracy comes easier at short ranges but only to a point. A good vertical bow archer will outshoot a crossbow guy far more often. When shot without a rest, it is actually far less accurate then a vertical bow in most hands. It is front heavy and unweildy to carry. I sincerely doubt that many healthy archers will switch and stay switched. I would bet that many of those that change to the xbow will quickly change back.

As I said, the weapon was not the issue for me. My concern was that the perception out there among non archers seems to be "now I can get a crossbow and it will be like gun hunting in the rut" or some similiar thought.

My worry was and still is that we'll experience a wave of new hunters that, till now, wouldnt put in the time it takes to be an effective, responsible, archery hunter. I'm worried about the gang that will simply plunk down the cash a week or less before the season and stomp on out there and probaly take irresponsible shots etc etc.

I had actually said several times that I could support the inclusion of the xbow if it came with a mandatory bowhunter ed requirement for ALL new bowhunters. Granted, there are vertical bow hunters out there that have no business being in the woods but I worry that the percieved ease of the crossbow will tend to attract those that till now would have been too lazy to make the commitment necessary to effectively bowhunt.

Theother big problem I have is with how it was done here.The vote seemed like a big bold F___ you in the faces of the 90% majority of hunters who wrote in opposition. Regardless of where I happen to stand on the issue, the BOC voted against 90% of the hunters who felt strongly enough about the issue to write. Personally, had there been a bowhunter ed requirement with it I'd have been OK with it but the BOC didn't act properly based on the wishes of their constituents.

Something else I learned only recently was thatroughly63,000 crossbow permits are out there now. That MAY, be an inication that the guys looking for the easy way have already gone to their doc, said "my shoulder hurts, please sign this paper" and got their crossbow permit.
It could be that the horse was already out of the barn.

The last thing I'llsay about HOW it was done is that I'd have liked to see a more gradual introduction.The sheer numbers we have here calls for caution when any new way to kill deer is introduced especially in these times.

bowtruck

well said well thought out can agree 100 %