The reasons for season segregation has nothing to do with our personal feelings about the various weapons people use and everything to do with managing wildlife numbers. Firearms hunters have a much higher success ratio then bowhunters (vertical or horizontal). If the seasons were made to run concurrently you'd either run into too many animals being shot (longer gun season) or too few animals being shot (shorter bow season). Assuming the playing field was completely level and we didn't have to worry about harvest numbers then yes, I would be okay with it. I would love the opportunity to bow hunt during firearms season.
That's a pretty broad assumption. I know many guys who crossbow hunt, they are damn good hunters and just enjoy shooting with them and hunting with them. Not saying they don't like having it cocked in certain circumstances(i.e. shooting from the ground) but oversimplifying the possible reasons people may or may not use them is just like you said....a guess. You have no idea really. Many folks against crossbows seem to think the only reason people would use them is because they are lazy or want some kind of shortcut and I just haven't seen that with the serious hunters I know. I have seen plenty of half-a$$ hunters with compound bows, cross bows, and guns and what I have seen is that the half-a$$ednish (<-- not a real word) generally has more to do with the person than the weapon. Serious question for anyone, is it that hard to draw a bow on a deer from 20+ feet up in a tree? Is it that hard to hold 13 pounds at full draw? Sometimes maybe but why do we try to make it sound like we're performing open heart surgery up there?. Hell this last Episode of BH or D shows Todd drawing multiple times and holding his bow FOREVER with the deer in range and mostly oblivious.
I am leaving in about an hour to hunt some public ground here in VA. Should be hunting right along guys/gals with both guns and crossbows and I could care less.
To be perfectly honest, this is the ONLY reason I shoot a CB at all, and I'm as serious a hunter as you're likely to run into. After hunting almost every day for the last 2 months with my compound, letting 5 yearlings, 3 adult doe, and 3 small but legal bucks walk that I could have killed, I'm ready to put the odds more in my favor during the late season. I'm far from lazy, as I put a TON of time in on stand, but when it gets cold and the deer are fewer/wiser it's time to break out "silent thunder". She's hard on the eyes, but she gets it done!
When I'm " pulling the trigger on my release" so many different things can go wrong. The bow might be creeping on me when I pull the trigger or maybe I'm shooting at a weird angle and my knocking point is not correct or maybe my release is to loose. When I pull the trigger on a crossbow and I have it steady I know that arrow is going to fly true and come screaming out of that cross bow with 150+ pounds of pressure and can top 400 fps. I'm not trying to force my view on anyone it's just my opinion and one opinion is not forcing anyone to not hunt with a crossbow. I just know some people won't be able to handle that crossbow and treat it like a shotgun taking ridiculous shots.
Crossbow could and would effect my area. My biggest concern is access to private land since we are mostly private in my area. Right now we have a lottery draw for our rifle tags and muzzle loader tags. It can take 2 - 3 years to draw a rifle tag in my unit. It can take 5 - 6 years to draw a muley rifle tag. It can take 6 - 7 years to draw a statewide muzzle loader tag. We are seeing more people coming from the city and tying up land of their relatives just so they can hunt it every 2 or 3 years for 2.5 weeks during rifle season. Things are changing for the worse. More private is being leased up. More land would be tied up for crossbows should they be allowed here. Sadly like stated... a lot would be gung ho to buy one when they are first allowed but would lose interest. Tying up land in the process. Rifle hunters are already complaining there should be a lottery draw for bow since they have to wait 2 - 3 years to draw a rifle tag. Throwing crossbow in the archery season isn't going to help that. Those are my concerns. Before any one says I am only thinking about me. Wrong !! I am not worried. I will have private to hunt until I die. I am thinking of the young and future hunters that will have a very tough time finding access to land... which is the biggest problem and my biggest concern. Without access, no one is hunting whether they use rifle, bow, muzzle loader or a fancy new crossbow. They will all collect dust. I have a feeling ND will be one of the last states to allow them just for those reasons. I am still sitting on the fence whether they should be allowed or not. I just don't know what the right answer is to tell you the truth. Tim
Once people figure out that a crossbows effective range is no greater than a compound, the newbies will lose interest. I've talked to a few people that have it in there head that it's a 100 yd. weapon. Once they figure out it isn't, they lost interest. SCFox
I'm a little confused by this in relation to the earlier posts. The only reason you are using your crossbow is because you don't have to cock it or you consider it a shortcut? Also if you have had many legal deer present you with shots and could have killed them how much better odds do you need? I know that with winter there is less cover so I can see how your odds of getting picked off while moving could go up but other than that.....I guess what I'm asking is when you have hunted the late season in the past and taken deer with your crossbow do you feel like you could not have killed them with your other bows?
I think personal opinions are pretty important on a forum. With that said adding different weapons or seasons for crossbows opens the door for future weapons and seasons. Do you believe it would be fine to use a harpoon? The slingbow ok? What about a rifle that shoots a carbon arrow and a broadhead. The future arguement will be it is for the sake of the elderly and the children and the handicap. Once the foot is in the door, maybe it would open up to all? Have you seen this before? I think some people could careless about the crossbow, but worry about ruining the heritage of bowhunting with future choices made off of these precedents.
How worried were they with compounds? Harpoon? Slingbow? Claymores? Where's Vito with the sky is falling chicken All I'm saying is many states have made these changes and have had them in place for years without a Ray Gun season being proposed.
NEW613 the short answer is I have better odds with the CB. Late season on the PUBLIC land I hunt changes everything. The deer I saw earlier in the season were not disturbed animals like they are now after 2 days of shotgun hunting. I use the CB during late season because of its distinct advantage, ie not having to draw, having a scope ect. And yes, the scope is an advantage because it has light gathering properties that allow you to shoot a little later than you could with a compound. I don't think the word "shortcut" really applies, because you're still going through all the motions that you would if you were hunting with a compound. Walking to your stand site, climbing the tree, and most of all waiting. The not having to draw at that crutial time is the MAIN advantage with a CB.
All true, but also all poor arguments why people should favor the vertical bow over the horizontal. By all accounts vertical bows are not as efficient as crossbows and thus result in more wounded and lost game animals due to the situations you described. If I wanted to make a pro-crossbow argument, this would all be very helpful testimonials from a vertical bow user. Reliable and consistent - a good weapon for hunting! When that opinion is voiced to sway public opinion and the opinion of the lawmakers who create hunting regulations then yes, it is forcing your view on others. I know plenty of people who take ridiculous shots with compound bows. Stupid people are going to do stupid things no matter weapon you put in their hand. And unfortunately, being stupid isn't illegal (yet).
I do love the "slippery slope" arguments. What next, heat seeking broadheads with poison tips?!!?! Robots that sit in your treestand and shoot deer for you? Trail cameras that shoot tranquilizer darts and disable deer so you can kill them later?? So far as I've heard nobody is beating down the DNR's doors with requests to use harpoons, sling bows or carbon arrow rifles. Time change. The world changes. You either change along with it or fade away. It's a simple fact of reality.
Well of course you didn't...it wouldn't be very ninja like if you saw them. But they are there in droves and have been ever since VA legalized the crossbow for everyone a few years ago. Good luck out there!
