I understand your worry when Oklahoma introduced crossbows our deer herd was at a all time high and the herd numbers remain high(except for sections of the western half of the state which are down slightly due to drought but still have plenty of deer in those areas). I'm sure if California introduced crossbows it wouldn't help the deer herd but I also doubt it would have as big an effect as the drought,high predator numbers, and other natural causes. Also if you don't mind I would like to ask your feelings on the California fish&game. I've heard some real horror stories which makes them sound almost anti hunter is this true? Do you think the policies of California fish&game have contributed to the declining deer herd?
That comment was with me and my son and those nerves were mine. When you sit and watch your son wither away to nothing and want to come talk to me about what should be legal or not, that's fine. Until then eat an illegal bag of stem cell research and choke on a big bag of commie bag limit d!cks and have a nice day and enjoy the sunshine.
How do you feel about the week before season instant WalMart uneducated vertical bowhunters out in the woods. Hell, those that slam crossbows say they are "easier just like a rifle" and anybody can be shooting lights out in an hour after buying one. I bet there are more wounded deer with 28" arrows in them than 20" that most crossbows use. A slob hunter will be a slob hunter regardless of the weapon he has in his hands.
My father got me into bow hunting and I shot my first deer with a bow he bought years before. He stopped bow hunting quite a while ago and I never understood why. He said it was because he didn't have enough time but a few years later we found out it was because he could not draw his bow because he had rheumatoid arthritis pretty bad in his 50's. We bought him a cross bow and after jumping thru hoops he was able to get a permit because it is not legal to use a cross bow here in Minnesota. I would give anything to have got some of those years back that he did not bow hunt with me. So for someone to say that a person shouldn't be able to hunt with a cross bow during bow season to me is just plain BS and complete selfishness. If you don't want to use one it is simple don't but to say someone else shouldn't enjoy the outdoors and bow season whatever their reason to use it is just crappy. When I tore my rotator cuff this year I bought a cross bow and hunted 2 days with it in Wisconsin because it is legal there, but I never even tried to jump thru the hoops here in Minnesota. At the end of October I went into the bow shop and was able to pull back a 60 pound bow so I traded my 70 pound bow for it and sold the cross bow because I didn't need it. So I have no interest in hunting with it unless I have too but I don't think I have the right to tell someone else they should do the same thing as me.
Tom, I understand your perspective about your Dad but from what I understand the process to get a permit to use one only involves a Dr signing a form and then getting the documentation to the DNR, is it simple probably not but is it worth it in your case it seems so.
If the concern over crossbows is because it puts too many people in the woods during archery season, decimates the local deer population, and is an easy avenue for uneducated and ill prepared hunters to go out and wound a bunch of animals, then why not push for traditional equipment only during bow season. The compound vs traditional contributes negatively to all your concerns a heck of a lot more than crossbows. The crossbow gives the advantage of not having to draw and MAYBE more accurate but outside of that you still have to be close range, still have to be just as selective as shot selection and limitations such as no frontal shots, quartering to,etc. Also have to have the same tracking skills after the shot. Though there is a huge difference between the ease of crossbow hunting vs a compound, the difference between those two choices don't even scratch the surface between the difficulty spread between a compound and a traditional set up. I have no desire to use a crossbow but I also have no desire to hunt with a traditional bow after trying it and realizing the learning curve and limitations were too great for my personsality and time restraints. It would seem to me to be hypocritical for me to embrace the compound even though I know it is INFINITELY EASIER than traditional yet at the same time look down my nose because someone else wants to hunt with a crossbow, whatever their reason or motivation is behind that decision.
I will add to my comment. I know at least 15-20 people that never bow hunted prior to the legalization of crossbows. They could not shoot the broad side of a barn with a compound bow. Being they were rifle hunters for years, they bought crossbows and have flooded the woods. I am sorry if this offends anyone, however, a crossbow is not a rifle as we all know. It is a weapon of limited means and these guys think because they have a scope and they can bench rest hit a target at 60+ yards that they are expert bow hunters. Most on here know how difficult it is to harvest a deer with a bow. Waiting for the proper shot, taking pride in their shot placement and the thrill of good shot that takes their trophy down as quickly and humanely as possible. I am not saying that all crossbow hunters are reckless, in fact I know several that have jumped from vertical to crossbow and are responsible, I am saying that a crossbow makes it far to easy for some to go in the woods without any bow hunting experience and take dumba$$ shots because they do not practice and do not realize the limitations of their crossbows. I agree with Sota, I can take my 11 year old son for the first time to a stand or blind with me and he can kill a deer with my crossbow. I can NOT take my 11 year old and have him kill a deer with my compound. After he puts the time in and practices, and after I teach him the patience and proper **** placement, then and only then will he be allowed to go in the woods. I am of the belief that to each his own and everyone should hunt in whatever manner pleases them. I am simply saying that there should be a designated season for crossbows like firearms that limits the time I. The woods with them because they are without a doubt easier to hunt with. Make sense?
Makes sense. But as I mentioned, the same logic can be applied to compound vs traditional. Why should we allow compounds in archery season?
Sorry to get technical but there is legal precedent by law with compound bow usage. not so much with crossbows in all states and when trying to get past roadblocks to inclusion a strong case must be made, it is the burden of the crossbow users to provide evidence or a reason to usurp existing laws and accepted usage.
Besides the legal/technical aspects... Using the same logic that many have posted why crossbows are a bad thing, why should compounds be allowed vs traditional?
The compound has to be drawn and held just like a traditional, sure there is let off but the string has to be drawn and held.
It just amuses me that people have an issue with crossbows because a lot of "idiots" will go buy one aimlessly and hit the woods... Yet they fail to realize that for every 1 person who buys that crossbow there are 10 people in the same boat hitting the woods with a compound. Yet they have no issues with that. Why?
You guys make compelling points but are you of the opinion that the "difficulty spread" between shooting a compound vs a crossbow is greater than the "difficulty spread" of shooting a traditional bow vs a compound? I have shot all three and that is certainly not my experience. Traditional- range effectively cut in half if not more. no let off, no release, no sights.... I think Archery only season should be for traditional equipment only based on the reasoning and logic you guys are trying to apply.
To all the people that say anybody can get a crossbow and just take a few shots and be accurate.There are people who just take a few shots with their compound two days before the season and then they say they are ready for deer season.Well if crossbows are so much more accurate then would you rather have a lazy hunter using a compound that he has fired a few times or a crossbow hunter using a crossbow that he has fired a few times. Also obviously most of the people who say anybody can be accurate within minutes with a crossbow have never shot one or have never shot one more than a few times. When they allowed crossbows in the regular season in AR I thought what everybody else is saying,That the woods would be flooded by hunters and the deer population would drop like crazy.Well to my surprise even after a couple years i could tell abosolutly ZERO differnece in the deer population in fact if it did anything it went UP a little. It just makes me mad when people say that the deer population will go WAY down or even the deer will die off if they introduce crossbows.Come on guys thats not even realistic.If the deer population will go way down from some more bowhunters then wouldnt the deer be all the way exterminated after the rifle season ???? The amount of hunters today is already low enough that the last thing we need is for everybody to start fighting against each other.The Anti hunters probably love crossbows becauce they are really causing some fighting among all hunters. And while some of the people who say that crossbows are so easy to shoot/sight in.But yet they are buying a new bow that is so much easier to tune and so much more accurate and nobody has problem with that.
Actually if Minnesota allowed crossbows it would not change the quality of my hunting at all, hunting pressure would not increase. I am not against crossbows in other states, I am not against current crossbow usage in my state. If new crossbow hunters were honest about their motives are in deciding to suddenly take up archery hunting for deer we could have a logical discussion.
Sorry i guess I should have worded it differnently.It doesnt having anything to do with it.I was just using that expression to help get my point across.
In Minnesota you have to have gun safety training and be 12 to hunt 13 to hunt alone, there are no archery training requirements or age limits. Many things would have to change policy wide to include crossbows as archery. I do not trust the Minnesota DNR and Lawmakers and the Gov. to get it right.
