Personal experience with crossbows destroys any notion of "wrong vs right"

Do you shoot a compound?

 

Atlas, i'm really happy your dad can hunt with you now.

 

A 70 year old disabled man, or any disabled man or woman for that matter is a different story than a healthy 20,30,or 40 year old who just wants to use a crossbow because they don't want to put the time in practicing shooting a bow. Crossbows just became legal in Wisconsin for everyone and anyone to use. I will still think its stupid for a healthy 25 year old who just started hunting with a crossbow now because its legal to call themselves a bow hunter. That being said I thought they story about your father was awesome.

 

And I can say the same thing about you shooting a compound and not a recurve or Longbow ...too lazy to take the time to learn....it's stupid that you call yourself a bow hunter....

 

Why such animosity for a fellow hunter? Knowing what you know about hunting, and how bowhunting is much more intimate than rifle, why would you want to prevent another hunter from enjoying it? Look at it like this, these same men who are now 60-80 years old are the same reason you're spending your Autumn days in the woods, they're the ones who taught you how to do it. It's time to give them their due. They're the ones who've made it possible for guys like you and I. I say we keep those old guys in the woods as long as we can. We might just learn a thing or two about hunting and life from them.

I'd like to pass a quick story on...first, my father passed away about 4 years ago now, and I still think of him everyday. Although he wasn't a bow hunter, he was certainly a hunter. So poor when he was a kid in KY, he would be given bullets in the morning and his father would tell him to bring back dinner, they couldn't kill the chickens, they needed the eggs. By the way, he had 7 brothers and sisters to feed. Imagine doing that nearly everyday of your young life.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I watched an episode of Michael Waddell taking his uncle out west for an Elk hunt. The guy is old, can't breath very well, certainly can't hear, but Wadell loves him because he's his uncle. At the end of the episode, the uncle harvests an elk, the old man turned from a broken old man into a giggling child, it was clear he hadn't had that kind of joy in his life for a very long time. The episode made me smile and tear up just a little.

Now ask yourself, do you really want to take that feeling away from a man because he may not be able to climb a tree?, or pull a bow back? He's worked so hard his entire life that he's literally falling apart at the seams, and now you say he's not good enough?

He worked that hard for guys like you. So he could take you to the woods, and teach you what he knows. Now you want to say that's he's not welcome?

No Thank you. I don't subscribe.

 

You're painting with an awfully broad brush there. Who's to say they don't prefer to shoot a crossbow instead of a compound? Or that they would like to have the option of shooting either one simply for the experience?

I put in a lot of time shooting my compound and have done so for over 20 years now. However I would still like the option of taking a crossbow out if the mood strikes. It has nothing at all with me being lazy.

I hear that one a lot. It seems that many bowhunters like to label themselves as some sort of elite hunter who is better than anyone who chooses to hunt with anything other than a bow. They feel like people who choose to use a crossbow are somehow tarnishing their reputation in the eyes of...well, I don't know exactly. The eyes of who? Other hunters? The non-hunting public?

Is that what bowhunting has become now? A badge of honor that we wear around, showing off to gun hunters and non hunters like we're somehow above them?

 

I can care less what others hunt with why the hell should anybody care what I'm using as long as it's legal. When I hunt with my compound, I'm a hunter. When I hunt with my recurve, I'm a hunter. When I hunt with my crossbow, I'm a hunter. When I hunt with my muzzle loader, I'm a hunter.

 

My dad recently fell on his *** during work and landed on his shoulder. He tore 2 of the 3 legements in his shoulder. 2 doctor apts later he was told either full shoulder replacement or hope like hell physical therapy gets his one tendon strong enough. My dads biggest worry was not being able to bow hunt with a real bow. He don't consider a xbow a bow so that's out if this becomes the case. My dad has bow hunted for 40+ years and loves bow hunting more then anything but has said he'll go to a muzzle loader if his health says so. What's Wrong in that???? It's ok to believe in one thing but not the other? I've got tendinitis kicking the **** out of me right now. Chances are my recurve days are coming to an end quick. This may be my last year hunting with a recurve. Sucks if you ask me. Such is life I guess but still bites. Compound with a finger realease may be in the works quite quickly. You all should knock me for shooting fingers cause I don't believe in a trigger when shooting a bow. Most of you know how I roll. I've got many friends on here who hunt differently then me. Actually most of you do. I like being different though. Who wants to be like everyone else??? I don't knock my friends on here or friends of my own who hunt differently then me. I have my beliefs and you/we have yours. What the hell is wrong with that??? To each their own I guess no matter what we believe in.

 

I see some of the negativity towards crossbows with the mindset that the hunter using one is somehow less worthy of being a "bow hunter".........whatever the heck that means LOL

Again, I think anyone who expresses such feelings......if they are honest with themselves is doing so for selfish reasons as it's not really others they are looking down on but rather a fear of their own high opinion of themselves they feel is at risk.

It's an interesting attitude actually.........not sure where it stems from but it's certainly not hard to find. I am the head cook for the 6th ranked competition BBQ team in NY state, just like you see on TV's BBQ Pitmasters. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what contest I cook in I always hear someone crying..........not about being out cooked, not about flavor profiles, but without fail it's always whining about the TYPE of smoker other cooks use. Guys cry about digital temp controls, water cookers, charcoal vs wood, and the loudest cries are over the new wave of pellet cookers. That's not REAL BBQ is heard quite often.

I just laugh.........I cook my chicken and pork butts over charcoal and wood and my brisket and ribs on a pellet cooker. This method gives me the chance to at least sleep for a couple hours in the camper and more importantly it gives me the most trophies and checks come awards time

I can promise anyone who is concerned about it for whatever possible reason.........the second my dad walks off the porch of our cabin and we walk side by side into the woods together to chase whitetails this fall..........we will BOTH be bowhunters, and we will BOTH be happy.

Nothing else really matters.

 

The tool doesn't make a hunter...

What is between your ears and in your heart is what makes you a hunter.

Put any tool you want into a slob hunters hand and they will still be a slob hunter!

 

See, that's where we disagree. To me a crossbow is not archery equipment. Just look at it, it has a stock, a scope, can be shot off a rest, is preloaded, it is a gun that shoots arrows. Take the same logic just one step further and my rifle becomes archery equipment, the only difference there is it shoots a bullet instead of a bolt. Or my spinning reel is a fly fishing reel. It has line, a handle, attaches to a fishing rod..... All I'm saying is why even bother having an archery season if it is not strictly archery only?

 

We will agree to disagree.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

 

Atlas im happy for your Dad, post made me smile! Sounds like a great guy! There is NOTHING wrong with crossbow hunting, ZERO!

 

What about a scope on a compound? 80% let-off? Lighted pins? Trigger release? The list can go on and on. Is that real archery? Traditional bowhunters can say the same about all of our compound crap. Crossbows have been around centuries longer than compound bows and firearms for that matter and they have far more in common with a bow than a firearm, for example there is no "fire" involved. Many resources on the history of archery mention crossbows, a lot of that inf dates back centuries before firearms were even invented.

http://www.archeryresource.com/history-of-archery.php

VA legalized it a few seasons back with little to no impact, I bought a crossbow because they are fun to shoot, the kids can hunt with it, and it's great for ground hunting. I rarely use it though because I find it to be heavy and awkward in the tree and I prefer my compound but it's nice to have the option.

Good luck to you and your dad Atlas.

 

Great post Atlas, if your dad is anything like you, then he's good people. Glad you'll have more opportunity with him in the woods!

Team crossbow all the way over here, my girlfriend grew up hunting with her father (who is a crossbow guy himself), and when i met her she wanted to get into hunting herself really bad (her Dad has strapped on time the last few years with working and paying for college/weddings/ect). We went the crossbow route and its worked out great (Just ask the Ohio Camping guys...gri22ly, virginiashadow, josh/OH and them guys how hooked she is...).





The people who want to stop others from hunting (with an ethical weapon of all things) scream of jealousy or "deer worry" (ie...somebodies gonna shoot MY buck). Dont be that guy.

 

The crossbow to us is as the compound to the traditional shooters. It's one in the same

 

Excatly.

 

Despite the similarities to a gun that you have stated, the big difference between a crossbow and a rifle are ballistics. The ballistics of a bolt are very similar to an arrow and nowhere near a rifle bullet. Effective range is practically the same as a bow and nowhere near the range of a rifle. So your logic is flawed. My Dad lives in Ohio where crossbows are legal and he has missed several deer with his crossbow when he misjudged the range by 5 yards. I have missed several deer the exact same way with my compound bow. We either shot over them or under them. A rifle isn't going to miss the mark if you judge the range to be 40 yards when it is actually 45 yards. A crossbow is NOT a rifle and there is no reason to not allow it during archery season. Here in Missouri, crossbows are not legal during archery season and there is no restriction on bow draw weight. My wife who is almost 50 years old cannot pull more than 30 pounds. She goes hunting with a 30 pound bow. Luckily, she has not been able to shoot a deer yet and I say that because I question whether her setup is going to penetrate enough for a humane kill. I have her setup with cut on contact fixed blade heads and she knows not to shoot past 20 yards but even then I am not that comfortable with the setup. But she simply cannot pull more than 30 pounds without straining and weaving leading to an inaccurate shot. This isn't going to change as she gets older. I would feel a lot better about her odds of a clean humane kill if she were allowed to use a crossbow during archery season. We hunt on private land that her Dad owns so she wouldn't be taking deer away from other bow hunters or whatever reason it is that people are so adamantly opposed to crossbows. She would simply be able to ensure a more humane kill by shooting a more powerful weapon that is more in line with a high end compound bow. I just don't get the hate when it comes to crossbows.

 

Crossbows are a touchy subject. In fact, I often contradict myself on them. I am 100% for them in situations such as atlas with his dad. But, with the people I typically see at my counter looking at crossbows..... It's hard not to judge. That being said, I seriously doubt any crossbow hunter will have a serous impact on any of my own personal hunting. They still have to get just as close.

Would you rather have a "slob" hunter taking shots with something that requires near perfect form or a "slob" hunter shooting something that requires a trigger being pulled?

 

Don't hunt with or near slob hunters.. you act like a slob hunter won't have perfect form...like someone else said..it's what's between the ears that makes a slob hunter....nothing else