Woodbow>
When Pope and Young (the people not the club) first started hunting with bow and arrow, it was considered by most of the hunting fraternity to be foolish. Gun hunters mostly said it was impossible to kill big game with one so Art Young set out to kill a moose and a grizzly bear to prove them wrong. He did it too. Took many years for States to accept bowhunting as a management tool. Glenn St.Charles started the P&Y club to have a body of evidence to present when trying to open up a new state/area. That' s why we owe him so much. He' s still alive too!

Did they say why they require a minimum arrow weight of 300 grains?

Frank

Thanks John. Just curious

You' re right about Glenn, He' s a pretty special man.

Not all of it, Ossage. Not by a long shot! Open class gear for instance. I' ve never seen a single one of those guys even ACT like they were having a good time, and most all of them seem hell-bent to ruin a nice day of shooting for everyone else.[:' (]

Beprepn, I don' t remember seeing anything about arrow weight in the article. Didn' t know there was a minimum arrow weight. But if it' s 300 grains, then it' s a good hundred grains too light.[&:]

A wise man once said a house divided cannot stand.If we all spend our time and energry arguing amongst ourselves the anti' s will win.Yes there should be limits as to what defines bowhunting.No a crossbow should not be legal during bow season because you don' t have to draw it back and hold the weight.Yes there are a lot of compound shooters who get too caught up in gadgets and speed.I think it' s part of our american nature that we want to make things go faster or do it better.It' s part of what makes this country great.There are also a lot of traditional shooters who think they are some how better than everyone else because of what they shoot.We are all bowhunters.We are all doing something our ancestors did for thousands of years.I read an article once where people thought the turkish bows of there time were evil because they were laminated and shot light short arrows.Some things never change I guess.

CB

After a bunch of soul-searching over the last few years I have come to the conclusion that I should just do what I enjoy within my small circle of friends. 3 years ago I switched to a trad bow. I really enjoy it and most of the people I' ve met as a consequence. A traditional rendezvous and the associated 3d shoot is a great time of fellowship.

My mindset on all the technical controversy is that I am just not interested. I don' t have anything against compound shooters. 3 out of the 4 guys I hunt with shoot a compound. They all have what would be known as ancient bows--one is an old Martin from the 1980s. They are hunters not technogeeks. I just don' t have anything in common with the technophiles. Quite frankly all that stuff is boring to me. The last time I went to a 3d shoot with compound folks it took 2+ hours to shoot 20 targets. This is fun?

I am 55 years old and don' t have any time on my dance card for the-end-of-bowhunting-as-we-know-it arguments either. Bowhunting is definately changing--not progressing to be sure--with the yearly air drop of technical advances. I would rather assemble with like-minded souls for hunting and the accompanying yarns and camaraderie than be a part of this or that movement. You are not going to repeal " progress," so why waste time on it. Enjoy yourself with your like-minded friends.

I used to belong to our state bowhunting organization, but I became disenchanted after 5 years because of the big tent mentality. Their political " understanding" (which no one has but them) has resulted in highpower rifles and muzzleloaders in the archery season with nary a whimper from them. They see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but a lot of us don' t even see the rainbow.

So....just hunt. I am basically inept when it comes to making or fixing things. But dang if I can' t make wood arrows that fly so beautifully. They' re not beautiful, they just fly that way. And that brings me joy. And game.

This was my first year shooting traditional equipment. I have practiced lots of hours and had a great time with my new recurve. I killed the only deer I shot at this year. I have enjoyed the people at 3-D shoots and on the message boards. I will have to say though that some of the elitist attitudes in the traditional community have been discouraging. Gadgets are not necessarily a bad thing. I haven' t touched my compound in nearly a year, but I know I could shoot it under the streetlight 5 or 6 times tonight and be ready to hunt with it tomorrow morning. If a guy is not dedicated enough to practice diligently, I would much rather see him shooting a compound. Some of the best hunters I know choose to shoot compounds.