This is a really good example of an elitist statement. Elitist attitudes are something we, as hunters, would really be much better off without. Also, while I've never met you I have a strong suspicion that you would make a really strange looking "arrowrifle".
The same could be said for the compound bows versus the recurve/longbow users. But, just for discussion, lets say you slip and fall while in the field and catch youself on your elbow and mess up your shoulder. Now that you have an injury that prevents you from using the compound bow, do you give up on archery hunting or do you switch to a tool that allows you to continue to enjoy the sport that you love the only way you are able? Think it over.
So we're all in agreement that these should be legal during the archery season as well. I mean, you shoot it, they die. No real difference. Best of both worlds would be a crossbow bolt with one of these on it. Rac-Em-Bac Arrowheads. The Finest Shot On Fletching - Rac-Em-Bac Arrowheads. The Finest Shot On Fletching! Home of the Bow-Mag.
Why? The point is, there's been a line in the sand for years that crossbows are not allowed during the archery season. The point is when we change the lines where do we stop? A crossbow is a gun that shoots arrows, so why can't we have a bow that shoots bullets?
No, actually it's not. A gun uses an explosion to fire a projectile. A vertical bow and crossbow both use mechanical force generated by the bow's limbs, cams and string to launch the projectile. Two very different things.
It has the every characteristic of a gun besides how the projectile is propelled. It has a but stock, it has a trigger, it has a scope. You fire it exactly the same way you fire a gun. So you are correct it's not "technically" a gun, but surely you can agree that they carry characteristics more similar to a rifle than it does to a compound bow.
Do you "fire" your compound bow with a release that has a trigger on it?? I guess if it has a trigger it must be a firearm huh???
just for the sake of argument, xbows have limbs, cams, string, and a release aid (triger) and if you go deeper in it they are more like a bow when you consider the amount of noise from a xbow and a compund bow aint even in the same cataory as a rifle. im sure the wieght of a xbow is closer to a compund bow than that of a loaded rifle or shotgun. just some food for thought
You can choose what type of release aid you would like to use. You can use a trigger style release, a thumb release or your fingers. A bow is not cocked and loaded, so you still have to pull it directly before the shot.
Obviously a crossbow is a hybrid with the ease of use of a gun and the projectile characteristics of a bow, but come on guys. This looks just as much like a gun and it does a bow.
Here are the entries. Mn. was a player 20 years ago. This out of August edition of whitetail Journal. (Typical and non-typical combined) from 2005-2010 compared to 80-85. 1. Wisconsin, 383 entries (80-85 rank 3rd, 40 entries) 2. Illinois, 299 entries (80-85 rank 6th, 30 entries) 3. Iowa, 224 entries (80-85 rank 2nd, 59 entries) 4. Ohio, 215 entries (80-85 rank 14th, 16 entries) 5. Missouri, 214 entries (80-85 rank 9th, tie 25 entries) 6. Kenticky, 199 entries (80-85 rank 9th, tie 25 entries) 7. Indiana, 195 entries (80-85 rank 16th, 14 entries) 8. Kansas, 181 entries (80-85 rank 4th, 35 entries) 9. Minnesota, 172 entries (80-85 rank 1st, 76 entries) 10. Saskatchewan, 147 entries (80-85 rank 7th, tie 27 entries) 11. Texas, 132 entries (80-85 rank 12th, 19 entries)
times are changing, like they always have. crossbows are here to stay. I personally don't like it, because it requires little effort to learn how, just breath..stay steady...squeeze the trigger. in a half hour a noob can be hitting quarters at 20 yards. compound requires a bit more.....but not THAT much more. like I said on another post, traditional bows recurve/long bows (no release aids) should have the longer season...but that will never happen. I've been learning to shoot traditional/instictively for almost a year now, and I still don't feel like I should be in the woods yet with it!! could you imagine a noob sticking with that?!! its the way the world works....things change for better for worse. AGAIN, good to see a mature discussion on this subject!
I have read a few comments here that people say it is ok for a disabled person to use a crossbow during archery season, but in the same statement, they say that crossbows should not be allowed in the archery season. Why is it ok for disabled hunters like myself to use our crossbows, but no one else? Is it because people perceive it to be easier to shoot and handle? Honestly I found my compound to be easier to hunt with. Holding a 6bl compound was less tiring than a 10lb crossbow. Is it because they have a scope? If you look, most of the scopes put on crossbows do not have magnification. It is the same thing as using a peep rectifier. All that they do is clarify the image. I have also heard several comments about people sighting in and then not practicing. How many compound hunters do the same thing? How many times have you read on this website about guys missing a nice deer, and trying to figure out why, then a day or two later have them post that somehow the sights had been moved. If they practiced like they say they do, they would have noticed the problem before they took the shot. I know that I probably just stirred the pot a little bit, and I apologize to the Admins for that.
Simply because being able use a crossbow will allow those people an opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have due to some type of handicap. My wife has has a major surgery on her right elbow, and just had a scope on her left elbow. She couldn't pull back a 40lb bow if she had to. I could cock a cross bow for her, she could use a rest or some type of pod to hold the weight. I think we are all for people getting out and hunting and not being held back. I'm sure perspectives are different due to each state having different regulations. My feeling come from the fact that our state has never allowed crossbows during archery season unless you have a doctors prescription stating you have a physical disability that would preclude you from using a bow.
Slippery Slope I agree crossbows don't have much of an impact. Sometimes though, becoming liberal will open the flood gates to other issues. Introducing and accepting new weapons in deer hunting could become the norm and the slippery slope that could lead to the sling bow season, harpoon season, spear season, etc.. These type of hunting weapons could hurt the image of hunting. I don't think this is happening, but it is something to consider. Sure it is a "what if", but so is tomorrow.
Okay so what do these numbers really tell us? Did Minnesota really decline, or did all other states on this list just improve that much more? 76 entries in 80-85 compared to 172 entries in 2005-2010 would seem to indicate there's more trophies in Minnesota now than their were before. Hardly something to complain about when you're one of the top 10 whitetail destinations in the country. Furthermore I see Ohio ranking in at #4 where crossbows have been legal for more than 2 decades. From 59 entries in a 5 year period to 215 entries. Like I said earlier - the facts don't support anti-crossbow legislation.
