I find it funny....compound users criticizing the xbow. Id like to see them hold a 50# recurve or longbow for minutes on end like you can with modern compounds. Haha 75-85% letoff. Real tough. If you want to cast stones then throw your bow in the trash can and jump out of a tree with a rock and club the deer on the head. Until then get over it.
I recently got my preconceived crossbow notions shattered. My dad decided that he would like to join my son and myself in bowhunting. However, the arthritis in his shoulders would hamper his efforts. I suggested a crossbow which he got for his birthday. Of course I had to shoot it, so I cocked, loaded it and shouldered it like a rifle and missed the target. I tried again with the same result. It wasn't until I figured out to quit thinking rifle and start thinking bow did I start to do any good. I found out that a crossbow isn't a rifle that flings arrows. It's truly a bow that requires proper form, anchor, target ranging and practice.
If it's legal do whatever you want... And don't be worried about what everyone says. Now having said that, I give all my friends who use a crossbow and earful of crap about it. That's just the price they way.... And before you start feeling to sorry for them, they give me just as much back!
LOL....I ve been bowing for 40 years....use both the compound and xbow....I always get a kick out of these posts....and so do the antis....love them also....no matter what tool we use in persuading our sport....we should put all this time and energy into fighting the antis...not our brothers shooting xbows...in my mind...this post is a waste of time.....times have change and so have the tools that we chase our favorite game with.....except it or be left behind with tunnelvision...LOL...
Recurve guys could say the same for compound guys also. Its all about the sport and your choice on what you decide on harvesting the animal. You a man just for killing your own food IMO.
I only hunt and take game with my antler knapped flint knives. I'm especially proud of my Kodiak rug I made from the bear I killed with my hands and my flint knife. I dug the chert out of the ground myself in Oklahoma, knapped it by hand and crafted the handle out of elk antler that once again...I killed myself with a club before I learned how to make flint knives...when I was four years old. You guys using these high tech bows and special grade carbon shaft arrows are sissies.
So you killed the bear? I thought you would say you broke him and now ride him on all your hunts lol.
Hey now, I sense a bit of sarcasm there... Actually that would be my buddy Gerty the Kodiak. I didn't break him, I'd never break such a magnificent creature. I simply convinced him who the superior predator was and we became besties. I don't ride him, all that loose skin and fur is terrible to deal with, it's like draping a super fuzzy comforter over a 3' log and trying to balance on top without tying it down. Tried a saddle but he got hot with the saddle blanket under it so we just hunt with my pack of wolves now. Like my daddy always said, first liar ain't got a chance.
Do what you enjoy to do, that's all that truly matters.. Plus you're not really gaining a advantage shooting a crossbow compared to a modern compound. I personally think the only real advantage you have with a crossbow over a compound is the fact you don't have to draw it back before your first initial shot because you've already cocked it, but aside from that it really has no other obvious advantages. With a crossbow most will need a steady rest to ever get any consistency out of them, so in a lot more cases you have more of a advantage with a compound because most hunters can shoot standing up or sitting down and you don't need a rest. Because a crossbow is so much more bulky (horizontally) it also limits your shots out of a tree hanging stand compared to a compound bow, that's why a lot of crossbow hunters tend to cater more to hunting on the ground in a ground blind, a box stand or a homemade stand with sides because they're so limited out of tree hanging treestand. You're not getting any better range, you're not getting a faster projectile and you're not going to be any more accurate with a crossbow than a experienced compound bow shooter regardless of range. I personally prefer a compound bow, but don't think it's any less of a challenge to get a deer with a crossbow. It's still a 15-40 yard style of hunting. I disagree much more with the youth and senior rifle season and inline seasons they've intertwined with the fall archery seasons in my area. Then you have people out in the woods who can shoot 100+ yards at buck in the rut and that's when a archery hunter is really at a disadvantage and it just doesn't seem right to me. It also gives those certain people a excuse to fill tags with a rifle and claim their kids shot it, which happens a lot.
Little over a year ago, I was looking towards buying a crossbow. But fortunately for me my shoulders recovered enough where I don't have a problem drawing a compound. If the day comes where I cannot draw a compound I would have no issue switching, it is still more difficult and takes more work than Rifle hunting which I also have no problem doing.
We all hunt for the same reasons. Why cry about what other people use. Do what u have to do to get out there enjoy nature and get some deer. #keephammering
hater's gonna hate. try not to let em get ya down about your choice of weapon. only advantage you have is that it is already cocked. and I feel the disadvantage's out weigh that advantage. unless your shooting out of a pickup lol. not much of a buddy if they harass ya all the time.
Well...I'd hate to see what these guys would say to me since I rifle hunt with a 7mm mag and 30-06. I think (I hope), the majority of hunters give other hunters a hard time for this, just for jokes. Just like most Chevy guys give Ford guys a hard time. And visa versa. The other minority just don't know any better and actually think their way is superior. Some call them elitist. That's too "friendly" of a word for those knuckle heads IMO. They're not smart enough to realize we enjoy the same thing....hunting/outdoors.
I have bowhunted here in iowa for 30+ years, now by no choice I am a crossbow hunter. (depressing) but at least I"m out there! No matter what you use for a stick n string, scent free, quiet,play the wind,make sensible and ethical shots! Its not about the kill its the hunt, at least it was in my family. Use the meat, donate it, don"t waste it. Hope all have a great season! I will, not many left in me and I"m lovin each one!!!!!
Completely understand that. I've been bow hunting for 39 years and this is my 3rd with a crossbow (not the easy button most think they are), by no choice of mine either. I do hope to get back to some easier archery seasons next year when I finally get to switch back to training wheels I really love how someone can have an opinion of others based on them being some kind of "man" ......... A real man would not care what makes it possible for others to hunt, they'd simply be happy that others shared the same passion for hunting!!
I just bought a bow to hunt with. I'm sure the learning process will take tons of practice, and i'm hoping I can get accurate enough for the fall 2016 hunting season. I say that, because I tried my buddies crossbow a couple of years ago. Being a rifle/muzzleloader hunter all my life the crossbow felt very natual to shoot, and i put the first three bolts in the 10 ring. So, I don't quite buy into the argument that a crossbow isn't easier to shoot.
Crossbows aren't just for the elderly and disabled in Minnesota? Anyone can use them for turkey and bear hunting AND during regular firearms season. I am thinking about getting one next year and hope some year our state legalizes them across the board one day. I've never killed a deer with a gun but I've arrowed one every year since I started hunting 12 years ago. I don't begrudge gun hunters for using a gun. Nor do I care about trad shooters thinking my compound is easy to use. I learned long ago to not give a rats but about what some know it all thinks. I do what makes me happy so long as it's legal and not hurting anyone. Some of these attitudes make me want to get a crossbow all the more. Or even lobby the legislature here to legalize them all archery season. Dnr here says it's a social issue, not a management one.
That's because it obviously is easier. Once a CB is zeroed in, it's as simple as point/aim and fire. Anyone can shoot a CB quite accurately with zero experience, the same can't be said of the compound bow. This is what rubs many folks the wrong way.
LOL, I could not possibly disagree more Sir. I've taken game with my rifles at ranges from 10 yds to 500 yds regularly. Longest shot to date, and one I'd not repeat, is 680 yds. Many / most of my long shots are on chucks, but have taken deer at long range as well. I've owned a crossbow & practice a ton with it for the past 5 yrs. Have yet to take a shot at game however at more than 37 yds. & that 37 yd. shot was a chuck. I've shot both mulies & whitetails with guns, no mulies with the crossbow. In all my deer hunts I've never, ever lost a wounded deer.........this is the one thing I take most pride in. And I've been a hunter for over 45 yrs. I'm sorry to say that 2/3 of all deer I've found gone waste, due to hunters without adequate tracking & recovery skills, were wasted by archers....vertical archers. MI has only had crossbows in the archery season for a few years, so I'm sure that will change one day, just as I've found a few over the years that gun hunters let go waste......again due to inadequate tracking / recovery skills. I've passed up numerous shots at 40 yds & beyond with my Scorpyd in my hands. I do so, even though I shoot target at up to 80 yds every spring-fall & can hit a grapefruit sized target every time at 80 yds. BUT, a target can't take a step just as the trigger breaks as a animal can. I'm very, very aware that it takes a long time for a arrow to reach it's intended target. All fine & good with no issues for me shooting target, but not game. Poor shot selections, and inadequate recovery skills are the realm of what I consider "Trash hunters".......as their skills set are indeed trash. Trash Hunters come in ALL flavors of weapons choice & are a bane, or black eye, against ALL hunters. A poor hit on a animal can & will happen to anyone who hunts for many years. The animal moves, just as your trigger breaks & a poor hit is the result. BUT what happens after that, is determined by prior learning & preparation. A real hunter, can & will take that track & not give up until the animal is found, dispatched & utilized. So while you may take comfort in thinking that it's the rifle hunters, who've taken up the crossbow, who are at fault, I urge you to reconsider. A skilled rifleman, who then takes up the crossbow, knows all to well how much more limited is the crossbow vs a centerfire rifle, or even a slug gun.
