I don't have an link yet but reading my new Wisconsin Outdoor newspaper last night, it appears the WDNR is about the change the rule that did not allow bows to be used during the 9 day gun season. This change should be in effect for the 2011 season. This is one of these rules that never made any sense to me. If a guy wanted to keep using his bow, so be it. Blaze orange requirements will still need to be met but at least it gives the guy the choice to use a bow or gun. Well done WDNR.
What advantage would that have? They are the same price. Quite honestly there is no reason the gun tags could not be non-weapon specific the way I see it. Right now the herd control tags are that way. The tags can be used for gun or bow. But you could not use a bow during the gun season.
Well, I don't know how WI does their tags now... but is there a limit on how many antlered and antlerless tags a rifle hunter can buy? How many archery tags can they buy?
No they are the same. All anterless tags are non-weapon specific. I guess the only thing you could do is shoot two bucks with a gun and claim one of them is a bow kill. There are much easier ways to buck the system these days than something like that. Another great thing about this is if you attend a traditional deer camp for a week during the gun season and you shoot a buck with your gun you can always pick up the bow and hunt for another buck. I see about 100 advantages to this new law and about 1 disadvantage.
Some will work twice as hard to cheat than simply do it the legal way. But since the tags are set up that way, then there really is no reason to not allow bows during the gun season. They've talked about allowing bows during gun seasons down here, but like almost all thing Illinois... our tag system is so incredibly convoluted that it would be fraught with problems.
I hope they don't change it here. Bowhunters gripe enough now about gun hunters, I can't imagine how bad it would be if they had to share the same woods.
This is the way I see it. Even as a bowhunter, I am completely opposed to allowing bowhunting during gun season. Like Christine said, there are a lot of guys who will do whatever they can to cheat the system. The WI season structure has been just fine for years and there was no need to change it. Like The Offspring said........You gotta keep em separated.
I just don't understand Dan what you really could do that to even cheat the system and gain any type of advantage. Where does it end? Should there be a two week layover before and after the gun season to make sure no deer are shot with the gun and tagged as a bow? You could say that just about anything. Sure it's fine the way things are but that doesn't mean things could not be better. I know of a couple of guys (maybe even myself) that would love to hunt with the bow during gun season at their camp because they much rather prefer hunting with a bow. If a guy wants to put himself at a disavantage during the gun season... so be it. I see no reason why crossbows could not be used during the gun season. The way I see it you could make all tags non weapon specific during the gun season. So if you have a deer in your possession it better have a gun season tag on it. There are bigger fish to fry in terms of the WDNR rules being changed. So it's not really a big deal to me. This is a move towards less regulation instead of more regualtion in regards to our hunting seasons which is something we need more of. Just hunt!
Right now bow hunters have no option to hunt during the 9 day season. They are not lenghening the gun season or changing it in any aspect. They are simply giving the option to hunt with bow instead of a gun if you want to. If anyone should be complaining it's the gunhunters having to share the woods with bowhunters during "their" time. My guess very few people will actually hunt with a bow during gun season. But it sure would be nice to have the option.
If this was the law proposal, I would be totally for it. But, to allow guys to bow tags to be filled with a "bow" during the gun season is ridiculous. The "brown its down" club and the hundreds of thousands of other wing nuts out during the 9 day season will be slinging even more lead than they already do. Shoot first and ask questions later. Not a good situation. I know I'm taking this quote out of context, but really...where does it end? Allowing bow season during gun season makes as much sense as allowing crossbows during bow season. Different? Sure.....but not really.
Down here in the CWD areas you can bow hunt during the 9 day gun season, of course as long as you follow the blaze orange requirements.
I like VA. You get your deer tags and you can kill those deer with whatever weapon you choose when each season opens (bow, muzzleloader, then general firearms). I can hunt with a bow during bow season. I can hunt with a bow and muzzleloader during muzzleloader season. And I can hunt with a bow, muzzleloader, and gun during firearms season. It progressively gets broader. You can hunt from opening day to closing day with your bow.
This is how I'm looking at it. I'll bow hunt from open to rifle season, switch to rifle and if I get one with my firearm tag, I'll go back out with bow during rifle season and rest of the year.
MD is the same and I like it also. I bow hunt only for deer and like being able to do that all season.
I bow hunt here in Indiana from Sept. to January right threw gun season , just gotta wear a either a orange hat or vest ,
