What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

Here in Pa it is legal for disabled people to use a crossbow if they have the proper permit. I have the permit and use my crossbow. I was wondering what everyone thinks about the crossbow in the deer hunting community? Do u like it's presence? The crossbow is a slight but very moderate advantage. Well fill me in on what you all think. I personally have no problem with the x-bow lol i must not cuz i carry one every fall. Hasn't let me down yet, got me a nice 6pt 2 years ago.

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

I myself have not used one,They are legal to use during rifle season here.
But someone like yourself with the proper permit can use it during archery season.
My Brother being such a person,He was injured seriously in a auto Acccident,Doesn't have full use of his left arm.
So I am all for them it let's a person such as yourself and my Brother get out and enjoy the hunting aspect that other wise was taken from them.
Well that's my Two cent's

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

:):) hey i think thats great if u love to get out and enjoy the woods its a plus in my books

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

For the disabled or used during open gun season, they are OK! Otherwise, no!

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

I myslef am disabled to the point if I didn't have the permit and could use my x-bow,I would not be able to get into the woods with a bow.

I say if it is legal and you go about you hunt legal,then I say it it great that a person can get out and hunt .

there are a lot that doesn't see it that way,and want to nock the xbow and the disabled hunter.we have enough problems with peta and othere,we don't need problems from other hunters.

I say if it is legal,then it shouldn't matter to other hunters. JMHO[8D]:D

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

I don't see why people have this great disapproval idea about the crossbow. They are very deadly, if used in their range, which i believe is probably shorter range than a compound bow. I don't see why they aren't legal during bow season for everybody. Frankly the term 'primitive weapon' is overused in my opinion.

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

How many times are we going to have this discussion? How about we place THIS on as a 'Top' thread so we don't see them over and over and over again like we have been?

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

Theyre legal here during archery season for anyone with a deer licence. Half the guys I know that archery hunt use x-bows,, they dont kill anymore deer than the compound shooters.

Its tough hunting here with any type of archery equipment or firearm for that matter. If someone kills a deer with any type of bow or gun every year in this province(im not talking a good buck, but any deer), they are da^& good deer hunter PERIOD!

I kid you not,, I know of about 15 guys that deer hunt hardcore( most everyday of 2 different weeks of gun hunting a year, and 15-20 sits each for archery) yep usually very tag available gets filled between us (we are allowed to party hunt on our 1 deer tag a year). but alot of times 1 guy will go on a run and take 3 or 4 in 2 days of gun hunting. We dont quarrel about it, we throw the proper tag on it and get hunting again,, we have to work to fill our freezers. If its legal use it!

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

;) Well they are legal to use here in Ontario & I have an Excalibur Exocet & I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Brampton Mike [8D]

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

here's my take:

- they are not legal in NY, therefore should not be used
- they are legal for handicapped hunters and I feel that is a good thing (allows them to still hunt, etc.)
- would not have a problem if they were deemd legal, but I think they should make a separate season (say a week or 2 during regular archery and/or maybe a week at the end of the season - or something to that effect) AND have a separte license fee for that weapon - this would allow those that wanted to use a crossbow and generate some more funding for the state conservation fund

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

Cross bows are great ... buy an excalabur !

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

Crossbows rock !
I love mine . :)

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

This is probably the most controversal subject you can bring up. I will give you both sides of my story. I grew up hunting in Iowa in the 50's. Shot all forms of game from squirrels to deer, using the legal weapons at that time - .22 or shotgun. As I got older and spent many years in the army as a weapons expert, I moved on to other game - if you get the meaning. All the way up to 50 cal., crew served 105 cannons and M1 tank with 120mm cannon in the Gulf war period. Shortly after getting out after Desert Storm, I was diagnosed with Muscular Distrophy. A real bummer because even though I had a reconstructed left shoulder, I was an avid bow hunting, using up to a 45lb compound. Then it went down hill very quickly from there. Now I shoot exclusively with a crossbow and only at deer & turkey.

So what do I think about the issue? Crossbows do not shoot an arrow any further nor more accurately than my compound did. It's all in the "eye" of the holder, to paraphrase an old saying. Should they have their own season or be lumped in with high power or shotguns? Definitely NO. No one else should be in the woods when gunpowder powered projectiles are being used. It's just too dangerous. We as arrow hunters use much more stealth, camouflage and scent/noise control than do the majority of gun hunters. This on top of the having to wear blaze orange only points out the fact that we HUNT differnet than do gun hunters, we have far less projectile penetration into the woods and can usually see way beyond the impact area of the arrow. Most guns could easily shoot almost 1500 yards if shot at the right angle, shotguns a couple hundreds at the right angle, but we arrow hunters shoot way less than that. We as hunters need to promote all forms of hunting but done SAFELY. Would you go for moving the bow season into the firearms season? Why? Worried about your safety? Then why do any less for the otherside of the arrow equation? Let's work toward getting more people hunting so land use rights aren't the norm but an exception. The more hunting public we have the more our public lands are going to be made available for hunting. Here in the east it is becoming harder and harder to find places to hunt. Why? Because the animal rightest have a very large percentage of the population, if hunters had their number of the population we would still be hunting on all public lands.

So this is what I think. I'll let you hunt on my land with any legal weapon for the season if you will let me do the same. And let's both go out of our way to make each and every hunter have the seasons they want, to hunt the way they want, with the weapon of their choice. If we don't, the others out there will continue to take away our rights and our land use, thats for sure. So why should we bicker and fight about bow vs. crossbow vs. season? There's more deer now than ever before so they say, so lets get more people hunting.

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

if they are legal then use them i say. in ohio they are legal and most hunters i know use them. not anymore acurate than a compound and they dont have any more range so whats the big deal.

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

i ,like a few others, do not understand why the people dislike crossbows during archery season. they have less distance and are not as accurate.we put that to a test this weekend.the compound bow out shot the crossbow.when we moved back to 30 yards the crossbow was all over the target.another thing is about a seperate season.they never tell you why.i assure you a compound has many more gizmos on it than a crossbow.you will not see the compound people taking off all those gizmos.the bolt on a crossbow is allot shorter than a compound.a compound can shoot many more different broadheads than a crossbow.with all this said what is the problem?we never get a straight answer. what you always here is that it has a trigger.what do the compounders use to release the arrow?not all crossbows have scopes. they have sight pens just like the compounds.sure it is cocked. do they think you can draw back 175 lbs?i wish for once the compounders would give a reason that is not bs.

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

i have one and i like to play with it but i will never go hunting with it

RE: What does everyone think of crossbows?
 

I do not have as big a problem with them as much as some of the other PA hunters that I know. ;). If the PGC passes the new crossbow measure in April then I will be buying one to use during the after Christmas muzzleloader hunt.