macbe

after reading past posts about crossbows,i had to start using a crossbow 2 years ago because of back,shoulder&elbow problems.in those 2years i have harvested 3deer,i hunt from sept till the e nd of the seasons in two states.the crossbow is not the effient hunting tool that the archery group think they are.i would rather be using my compound that i have hunted with and harvested alot more deer in two years than i did with the so called non-archery tool(crossbow) yes you don,t have to pull the string back but you still have to be within your effective range and they don't shoot like guns, in fact with the new bows on the market they are more effiencient then a crossbow is. so to end this before i have every archer mad we still are all archery hunters and we will not impact the archery season as some may think

mysticguido

I think of it this way. You are doing with you love to do, That is HUNTING. Be it a hand gun, rifle, compound, recurve, shotgun, long bow, or even a crossbow. It is still hunting, our god giving right and a very worthy sport. Sorry to hear about your problems from keeping you from you compound, but more power to you Macbe.

BTBowhunter

My concern is that the one day wonders will view it as an easy way to get an early deer. Any undedicated, unskilled buffoon can get reasonably good with a crossgun in 5 minutes. No problem with that fact by itself, but when it gets lumped into the same season with a weapon that takes a LOT of dedication and practice to hunt with I now have a real problem with it. I support the disabled using them. They have enough other challenges, but the crossbow doesnt belong in the same season with hand held/drawn bows for the able bodied.

I am not opposed to it getting its' own season, at least until the impact has been assessed.

Tomster

macbe,

I love hunting and just being in the woods and if you are similar to me in that manner, than what you use to hunt deer should not matter, as long as it conforms with the laws of the land. Now I too have a compound bow and know that using my bow takes lots of practice to tune it and get it working just so. Compounds and crossbows have been in existance for many years, and they both have their pluses and minuses. I don't think you will ever change the opinions of traiditional compond bow hunters that crossbows have a place in bow hunting when they hunt, but know this, I applaud you for continuing with your love of this sport. My neighbor was hit by a truck a few years back and can not bring his arm all the way up to support a bow and he is looking towards purchasing a crossbow. He misses going hunting with the bow.

I wish you many years of successful hunting with your crossbow.

T

jerseyhunter

Hey just being out there is what matters. To each their own. Some people can choose their weapons some are less fortunate and cannot. I learned on a long bow, then the recurve, now a compound. I would like to shoot a cross bow just for the experiance, and to say I did. But til that time, if ever and health prevails I'm just glad to be out there.

macbe

btbowhunter,i just don't understand your logic. do you think a hunter using a crossbow is going to kill more deer than a person using a bow.i personaly killed three buck with a compound bow @ 40yds.i could put arrows into a target the size of soup [email protected] that is water over the bridge,now comes the crossbow,it is heavy,awkward to hold,you have to make sure there is not a tree in front of the limbs or anything else it may come in contact of.they are noisy,theyjump when they go off.i practice with this as much as i did with the compound and you cannot plug arrow after arrow at the accuracy of the compound,and as far as shooting at long distance as some think it don,t happen.you are shooting a bolt much shooter than a compound,it drops alot faster than the compound.so as far as not including this into the regular season is bullcrap.they have done studies in other states on the impact and it didn't effect there season. if they did set aside a special season where do you think it would come from.

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doughboysigep

Whatever anyone may think, the woods and deer do not belong solely to bow hunters or any group of hunters (haven't you ever heard the gun hunters say that the bow hunters ruin "their" season, by spookin the deer??) If you haven't noticed, there are plenty for everyone. I am a bowhunter and in all honesty wouldn't jump for joy if they were legalized for the general public, but at the same time i wouldn't be whining about it either . However, I think if they were to legalize them in NY they should designate a special season (say 1 or 2 weeks in the archery season and/or at the end of the season sometime and charge a separate fee like every other implement - generate some more funds .

PS - they should also increase the regular archery season (which may likely happen this year)

macbe

http://hunting.about.com/library/weekly/aa020716a.htm

here some reading for the non-crossbow supporters

BTBowhunter

Macbe, I agree with you that the crossbow is noisy, clumsy, and not necessarily better at longer ranges than a compound I'll say again that I have no problem with the legitimately disabled using them in the regular bow season.

Alloutdoors has done a good job of expressing the concerns of a lot of bowhunters including myself. Currently bowhunting= commitment. That commitmentis rewarded by a long season and opportunities to hunt in a relaxed low pressure atmosphere. The reason I dont want em in archery is the same reason the crossbow manufacturers are pushing so hard. THE CROSSBOW IS ATTRACTIVE TO PEOPLE WHO DONT WANT TO COMMIT TO THE WORK THAT TRUE BOWHUNTING REQUIRES. The sheer numbers of added hunters in the woods at that time will have to have an effect on hunting pressure and the risk is that our season will get shortened up.

I dont mind the idea of expanding opportunities for all hunters. I just mind when a manufacturers lobby and a few legislators try to force something on us that the majority doesn't want and runs the risk of hurting our sport.

We have 2 weeks between archery and rifle season, try a crossgun season in there before you mess with someone elses sport.

Again, I have NO problem with the TRULY disabled using em in archery season. But we all know there are already way too many guys out there that could shoot a compound or traditional bow that have scammed a crossgun permit. That needs to stop as well.