Sorry, but there will be absolutely NO commerically marketed arrow poison that uses current technology. You can only use the traditional recipe as developed by the bushmen. Anything else will be considered "poison plus." And those damn poison plususers can go get their own season[:@]

I guess if you can't confront an opinion you disagree with usinglogic, facts,and/or intellect, the next best thing is to poke fun at it.

Oh well.....it's just an opinion--not like it will affect the price of gas or anything like that.

Hope it doesn't roll around and bite you in the butt one day. It wouldn't be any stretch to get the converted 10/.22 arrow guns allowed in archery seasonusing the same "logic". Hey, they shoot a bolt, you load them basically the same way, they are single-shot, they have a stock, forearm, trigger.......it's just a different type of crossbow, right? They have as much in common with a crossbow as a crossbow has in common with a recurve. They are still a challenge, and they still have limitations, and they still have disadvantages......so they are just as much archery equipment as a longbow, right?

If you don't like them, or consider them archery equipment, it's just because you are scared, biased, hypocritical,ignorant, etc. We'll sit on the sideline and poke fun until you agree with our side. Don't bother with facts or details--I like them and that's all that matters.

Chad

Well, sometimes poking fun ata position (in a cerebral kind of way)is the best way to demonstrateits flaws. Some folks get that, others don't.....

And I'm not worried about getting bit in the butt. Because as far as I'm concerned they should just have one big deer season where people can use what they want, whether it is a pointed stick propelled by a string,a chunk of lead propelled by ignited powder, or anything else that a given state deems acceptable to knock down a deer. Then we could put aside all this arguing, which isoften far sillier than anything i've said here.

Back to being serious for a minute. Have any of you considered just how far these things might go? Once they are accepted (read as profitable)to the point that companies are willing to pour the cash into r/d, there's no telling what they will come up with.

There's two BIG differences I can think of off the top of my head with a crossbow vs. a bow--compound, recurve, longbow, selfbow, flatbow, whatever.

#1 Regardless if the thing has 95% let-off, you still have to be able to pull the peak weight, even if just for asplit second. That is going to keepbows within the boundaries of human physical abilities. Not so with crossbows--with prods and other cocking devices, you can get them in outrageous weights, which will mean in time you will be getting outrageous performance/distance.

#2 You can't prop a bow. Sure, somebody will come up with some special situation where they were able to get off a shot like that, but it's not normal or usual. Propping up a crossbow is as simple as propping up a rifle. Add scope and 300#+ limbs, 80+ yd shots are feasable. The race is on--who can make the fastest, longest-range, EASIEST weapon on the market.

Is this really what bowhunting is all about? What happened to the old adage about bowhunting being about getting close? About the challenge? Or has it gone down the same road as most everything else--make it as quick and easy and simple as possible?

Chad

I can relate to poking fun to demonstrate flaws--I can be downright sarcastic at times, and enjoy it.

However, I usually use it to make a point. I've yet to see where the point was made--nothing but poking fun at points that evidently couldn't be confronted or argued.

Lanse, are you a bowhunter?

Chad

I think that i've made a lot of points that some folks here seem to get.

And I've never bow hunted and don't really plan to, although i like to hear bowhunting stories just as much as gun hunting stories. My father compound bow hunted until he became physically unable to and started to use a crossbow. And my uncle (who is not in very good shape either) started hunting this year with a crossbow when Illinois started allowing anyone over 62 to do so. Neither of them did as well as my dad's hunting partner who uses a compound bow because he puts a lot more effort into his hunting.

Interesting to note that some might think that the new law would result in the woods being flooded with a bunch of senior citizen new crossbow hunters that would slaughter all the deer. But to the contrary, the harvest for the 2007-2008 archery season was slightly lower than the previous two seasons when only the disabled could use crossbows.

I don't mean this sarcastically, but that explains a lot. It's human nature to look at something and say "it doesn't affect me, so who cares".

Unless you are a bowhunter, you won't and can't understand our perspective. By bowhunter, I really mean bow/bowhunting enthusiast. Not the guy who buys a bow to extend his hunting season--pulls it out a week or two before the season starts, shoots a few arrows to be sure the sights are still "on", and goes hunting with it. This guy can very much still be a hunter--you still have to do the work to be sucessful, especially with a bow--but could really care less about a bow in general, it's just a way to get more time in the woods. Then you have those of us who can't wait for the season, who shoot our bows year-round because we love the sport, many of us shooting in tournaments and gathering together with our friends just to fling arrows. There is a huge difference.

We had some dedicated people who fought hard to get a season established for bows only. They appreciated the challenge, the solitude, the experience that only bowhunting offers. Often having to wait until the animal is so close you can count eyelashes, you can see nostrils flare, even smell it--there's nothing like it.

Anyhow, don't take this the wrong way but it seems you participated in this thread just for the sake of argument--you really don't have a clue what bowhunting is about, how it feels, or seem to care if there is a bow season or not. That doesn't give much foundation to those "points" you made.

FWIW, I'm not worried about the "seniors" invading the woods--not at all. For the umpteenth time, my argument against allowing crossbows in the archery season is because they simply aren't bows.

Chad

Uhhh, following that logic then you shouldn't be talking either because you don't really know what crossbow hunting is all about and therefore aren't in a position to make a truely informed and objective assessment. And I respect your right to feel that crossBOWS aren't bows, but given the places that now allow crossbows during archery season, you will have to pardon me if i am a bit skeptical (well, actually amused) of your argument.

Wait a min. I cant see the pic very well, but that looks like a Penobsco bow. That is too high tech. Thats not traditional.

You're right. And upon closer scrutiny those look like stone tips instead of fire sharpened. FOUL FOUL. I guess that we will have to go with the pre-Bushman, Neanderthal bows to get to the real root of the tradition.