Me being a compound shooter don't like the idea of an open crossbow only season. Why you might ask? Well shotgun season is always right in the middle of rut and if you make a sepperate crossbow season, they people in favor of it will want it to be during rut and that would take more time out of my hunting!! Selfish? Maybe, but hey, I got an opinion too. I will have to agree with dick4bows though, too many people taking advantage of it. I knew a guy that got one for having a bad heart. His bad heart kept him from pulling his bow back? I doubt it!!

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<font color=red>&quot;In what stretch of imagination can you compare a shoulder held, vertical plane, pre-drawn string weapon to a true bow?&quot;</font id=red>

I have absolutely no idea. Personally, I think archery seasons have been bastardized enough in the last 10-20 years without having to add crossguns to the list.

Just my two cents.

JRW

WOW!<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle> I guess I did open a can of worms. To all of you SALUTE! You have each given your different oppinions regarding crossbows and for that matter the hi-tech's, but you can say one thing is certain; We are all passionate when it comes to our (bowhunting) season, we don't want to share or lose any of it. I do not wish to comprimise either, what I want (in a perfect world) is for bowhunters to set limits upon the type of equipment we allow afield. At the current rate we should have ion powered warp arrows in a matter of years (joke). Why do all of these technological changes occur? Because we are always looking for ways to stretch the limits allowed to make the goal easier to achieve. Crossbows are viewed by many as the easier means, just sight it in and head for the woods (not unlike many modern hunters bow or firearm). Unfortunately the game are the only real consistent victims as they are maimed or grievously wounded and never recovered by the lazy hunters. I know of one family who have a member that never tracks a deer that doesn't drop on the spot, his theory is if it can run away it is okay. This person is a parasite to all that true hunters strive to promote but we cant force him to do otherwise as he does all on his land and there is no law that we know of that says he must follow up his shots. What can we do? We can speak our minds and write our oppinions and most important of all we can teach our young hunters the difference by our own examples. At this rate we will soon have hunters wanting to use a morning stars, mounted lances, or catapults to hunt with as they are also primitive weapons. Heck for that matter my M-16 with a bayonet on the end is just a modern pike/spear. Lets not fight among ourselves but develope regulations that govern us ALL.
SSgt Vernon Pratt
shoot straight, aim well,
and tell tall tales to
good friends.

I occasionally shoot a compound bow also and I can tell you that most compound shooters support some sort of equipment restrictions, even if it is just meant to keep the crossbow out.

I would agree that a tournament compound shooter with all of the right gear can shoot with a scoped crossbow on the range. It is in the woods that I am concerned with. How many compound shooters do you know uses a scope? All crossbows would. And they are already drawn so that action wouldn't spoke game. And they wouldn't be shot off hand like on the range. They would usually be rested on the tree stand's shooting rail. Not only is that not archery, it will draw hordes off game spooking hunters to the bow hunters woods. We can't shoot at the running deer that rifle seasons frequently bring. Also the deer go into their tunnel systems after a period of high hunter pressure. We need that natural movement. They go nocturnal and the game is over for a bowhunter.

Peace. love and beads!

Here in Arkansas, crossbows are allowed during bow season. I hunt public land almost exclusively. In 14 years, I've run into a bazillion people in the woods, but only one crossbow hunter (a young girl with her father.. maybe 12yrs old). I did see another one in a truck and in a campground, but only one in the woods. Go figure.

As far as easy... Yea, not much to using a crossbow... If you can get your broadheads to fly (mechanicals make that easy).

There really hasn't been that big of an effect that I notice. Seems if someone is going to take the time to hunt in the bow season, they will use a bow. I know a few who only have crossbows, but they don't hunt serious and only hunt a couple times at most with their xbows.

Just my observations.......

chad

First off, I have to give you all a VERY sincere &quot;THANKS!&quot; This is a topic that could, and most likely would, get nasty quick on most boards.

Lots of good points/counterpoints have been made, some great and thought provoking facts presented. This is how grown folks are supposed to have a discussion!

I agree with a lot of what has been said. There are a lot of misconceptions about crossbows, from both sides. Funny thing, a lot of them are the same for the pro and against, such as how easy to shoot, accurate, and effective the crossbows are. One side wants them for this reason, the other is against them in regular archery season for the same reason.

My experience with a crossbow is very limited, but I will post from that limited experience. These things have a lot of drawbacks. They aren't that easy to be accurate with, at least at any distance. Although they are ready to shoot, you will only have one shot. They loose their speed much faster than compounds (and probably trad bows) due to the short power stroke--the reason they need 150# or more, and the reason they are hard to shoot very far with (bolt drops quick). They are heavy and bulky--I'd hate to know I had to tote one through the woods or pull it up in a treestand. In my opinion, these drawbacks will keep many of the &quot;slobs&quot; out of the woods, at least after the first few hunts. Folks looking for the easy way out won't put up with the hassle. I don't think these weapons impose a threat to the deer population at all.

That being said, I don't agree with them being used in the regular archery season. Possibly make amends for those who are truely disabled--I do know a few folks that love the woods, and could not enjoy bow season any other way. I do understand a serious heart condition being a cause for not being able to shoot a bow--I have family memebers who have been through bypass surgery; it permenantly weakens you, and you are limited on how much you can lift/pull. I also know of some that are on disability that are just plain too sorry to work, and they could be cured quite easily with a good boot in the rear.

Then there are the compounds, which resemble a bow less and less every year. Companies make the bows and accessories with the promise of them being easier to shoot, more accurate, lighter, faster........the user doesn't have to work nearly as hard if they will just use X-brand bow and accessories, much less learn any hunting skills, as these bows will do the shooting, tracking, cleaning, and processing of your game (bit of sarcasm there, but I think you get my point). I think it is a joke that here in MS we have a &quot;primitive weapons&quot; season that allows all kinds of modern equipment including Draw-Lok and scopes.

Where do we draw the line? Danged if I know. Hunters need all the help they can get to keep their rights, but at the same time it seems they are shooting themselves in the foot by not policeing themselves, and the companies that cater to them are not helping. I would like to commend Muzzy broadheads at this point--as far as I know, they are the only company that caters primarily to the compound crowd that has not come out with a mechanical head. It's great to see a company with ethics these days.

I hope I don't sound like I am straddling the fence here--that is not my intent. I do see a lot from both sides though. I know two men who are seriously disabled and if not for crossbows they could not enjoy archery season. I wouldn't have the heart to tell them &quot;you can't hunt in MY season&quot; when they have no season of their own. On the other hand though, there is a lot of game I will never get to hunt because I can't afford to go or will not draw a tag, so is that fair?

If it came down to a simple yes or no vote--yes, crossbows are allowed in bow season for all, or no, not for anyone, I would vote no, but it would be a hard vote to cast.

Again, I sincerely thank you all for keeping it civil. It goes a long way in showing what kind of people we have on this board.

Chad

Long Bows Rule!

I agree with LBR and several others, whose points have been made here. The crossbow has no business in archery season. In our state, they are allowed in the General hunting season, which is open to all legal weapons but is generally referred to as the firearms season. I hunt with Archery Only tags so I don't encounter them in the field.

I also agree that the compound (I used to shoot them) resembles a bow less and less with each new model they introduce and as long as hunters flock to the proshops to buy them up they'll continue to make them shorter, faster and easier to shoot. That is until the bottom drops out of the market, then watch all them bow manufacturers go back to making washing machines or whatever it was or is their business originally.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Republic of Kalifornia bans all hunting from some areas again this coming season. Allowing only traditional equipment to hunt in high stressed areas was brought up a couple of years ago and the compound hunters threw such a hissy fit that the state just decided to close the areas to all hunting. Now, I gotta ask, what did we as hunters gain by one faction turning on another?

Make em sharp and shoot em straight, or leave em home.

In many states, crossbows are not allowed for hunting period. Unless you are handicap. Just like GA not to long ago, you could use a rifle or a bow during rifle season, but not a crossbow. I would like to use a xbow, but I don't think they should be in our archery season. I support a traditional bowhunting season!

&quot;Hey ya'll, watch this&quot;

What ever Xturds are or aren't, they are KILLING MACHINES! They have been &quot;legal&quot; in the Ohio Bow Season for a very long time. Xbows kills now outnumber longbow (recurve/longbow/compound) kills by two or three to one. The ODNR has always said &quot;bowhunting&quot; was not a mangement tool. If the kill keeps going up, time in the field we most certainly go down! IMHO the quality of the hunt has already deteriorated.

Ted A. Young AKA COB

Thank you everyone for your input. I am very grateful we have used this subject for level headed debate and kept the political mudslinging out of it. Chad makes a very good description when he stated &quot;You don't see folks playing soccer and football on the same field at the same time either&quot;. When archery season was first allowed in Michigan it was the stick bows with wooden arrows that won the right for their own season. From what I have read in the past it was lobbied that a bow did not produce enough killing power to bring game down in a humane manner. Archers of the time demonstrated the penetrating power of a bow using armor piercing arrows to punch through a sheet of boiler plate! The point is bowhunters had to go to great extremes in my state to be accepted and were rewarded with an archery only season. Now I feel that our human nature of finding the easiest method of getting the prize has begun to dilute the definitions of what is what; an example other than the traditional bow and crossbow is the muzzleloader. Todays modern muzzleloader is as far from the traditional concussion and flint lock as anything can be. In Michigan muzzleloader hunters were granted a season just for their weapon after the modern firearm season, but some hunters realized there was a loop hole in the state's game laws that allowed for muzzleloaders to be used in the shotgun only zones during the modern firearm season. This loop hole has contributed to the developement of muzzleloaders capable of firing smokeless ammunition and reaching ranges beyond what a shotgun normally achieved. Of course shotguns have extended their capabilities to the point some hunters are shouldering a small howitzer. It is not the weapon I do not agree with, it is the point that there are hunters who want to use crossbows during the bow season just to take the easier road. I am all for allowing hunters with permanent physical restrictions to use a crossbow or simular device if said physical restriction does not allow those individuals to safely and correctly use archery equipment. How or who can determine the physical conditions is not something I can answer and I will not speculate on that subject. My son is fast approaching the age when he can legally hunt game in Michigan and I like many other fathers look forward to the day my children fill their first hunting tag, I just want them to have a choice of what to enjoy to take that game. Lets keep the archery season for bow hunting and create a crossbow season outside of the archery time frame; that is what I propose.
SSgt Vern Pratt
shoot straight, aim well,
and tell tall tales to
good friends