Agree with this very strongly and I can see how some people take your comments in different ways. As a public land hunter, I do stress that other hunters will make the core area I hunt their own. I get concerned that 5 minutes before shooting light someone will come walking by my stand area when I have been in the tree for 45 minutes before light. No hunter likes that feeling. Just feels like all the hard work you put in and excitement of the hunt gets spoiled a bit. Over the years I have also come to accept that I do not own the animals nor the land. So, I cross my fingers and hope no one finds and loves my favorite spots. I do not get worked up over equipment or gear. I'm happy with what I can afford and don't feel the need to over spend to keep up with others. In the same sense, if you can afford X,Y, Z...I'm happy for you. I rarely care how others hunt unless it is illegal...like poaching. This year, I will continue to hunt on my own terms. Hunt where I enjoy, in areas that challenge me, and shoot at what pushes my adrenaline enough to release.
It wasn't that long ago that Compound bows were going to "ruin" the sport of bow hunting. If you had any real life experience or knowledge past your own limited understanding of hunting you would know that more responsible hunters is a good thing. No matter what tool they use. People that believe that crossbow hunting doesn't belong in archery season need to explain why? Modern compound bows are just as accurate and fast as today's middle of the road crossbows. Modern compound bows have people killing deer at 45 yards over food plots every year! The chance for a follow up shot with most crossbows is 0% while I've had multiple opportunities to take follow up shots with my compound bow. If your main problem is that you can mount a scope to a crossbow then why don't you say that? Allowing crossbow hunters to hunt during archery season will not ruin archery season. Ask for optic limitations, require iron sights or no magnification. But don't eliminate the entire tool. I'm no liberal and I enjoy the thought of the "good old days" as much as the next red blooded conservative, but wake up! Crossbows are here to stay and we need to embrace the hunters that wield them. We need to fist bump when things go right, and put a hand on the shoulder when things go wrong. Now, I'm gonna go get my air-bow and practice. Carry on everyone.
I agree with this statement. Responsible bowhunters are good for the sport of bowhunting. Responsible gun hunters are god for the sport of gun hunting. Responsible crossbow hunters are good for the sport of crossbow hunting. Sure. No problem. Its not bowhunting. I can only mainly speak to the state I hunt and our statutes and regulations and legal definitions. Because crossbow hunting is not bowhunting, WI created a separate crossbow license and separate season and separate registration for those guys so as not to mess with the roughly 80 year old archery deer season. WI has bowhunting and it has crossbow hunting and the two are clearly defined in legal definition. The two are cleanly separated as they should be because they are two different activities with clearly different weapons. When the crossbow season was created, nobody knew how long that season should be. The gun season had an established season length, as did bowhunting. Without any knowledge of usage rate and success rates and impacts on the resource, the legislation that created the crossbow season was worded that for the first few years (so data could be gathered) the crossbow season would take place while bowhunting was taking place. Now that a few seasons have taken place and the data is in, the WI DNR can show that not only does the crossbower have a higher success rate killing bucks than bowhunters do (something everybody anticipated) but the crossbower has a higher success rate killing buck than even gun deer hunters. Because of this clean separation of bowhunting and crossbowing, WI has the ability to now adjust the duration of the crossbow season without negative impacts to bowhunting. The resolutions to shorten the crossbow season have advanced the first two hurdles. My father’s resolution to shorten the crossbow season has advanced and will likely result in a shortened crossbow season starting next year. This is thanks to the clean separation of bowhunting and crossbowing. States that lumped crossbowing into a season that bowhunting is taking place lost the ability to capture the impacts of crossbows. Because that would not be a factual statement. At no point do I consider “accessories” as the issue. WI saw to that. Because of forethought and a total separation of the two different activities, you are correct, crossbow hunting will not have negative impacts on actual bowhunting in WI. Nobody I know is suggesting elimination of crossbow hunting. Just proper regulation and management of that weapon and its season (while not negatively impacting bowhunting.) I am a supporter of the crossbower and his sport. I wish them well in what they do. I happen to be a bowhunter and have no interest in taking up a new sport. Who knows, at some point, due to age or disability, I may have to quit the sport of bowhunting and take up the sport of crossbow hunting. My grandfather and Uncle are not able to be bowhunters and I think its good that they have crossbow hunting to fall back on. Im not anti crossbow. I support their ability to hunt with their weapon in their season. Bowhunting is alive and well in WI. I think the future of the sport of crossbow hunting in WI is bright as well.
Same activity, different weapon. I thought the objective of hunting was to harvest an animal. How can humanely harvesting an animal hurt bowhunting? What is the Negative impact of crossbows on bowhunting? They kill deer a different way, and somehow you feel that the deer they kill with their crossbow you have more right to because you hunt with a different weapon? That's quite elitist of you. Yawn... again same activity, different tool. You have posted no proof that crossbow hunting negatively impacts archery season. Just conjecture. You post statistics that crossbow hunting has a higher rate of success, but fail to explain how a higher rate of success negatively impacts archery season. Gun hunting is loud and pressures the deer greatly. This would be a negative impact on archery season. The crossbow hunters I've met are just like bowhunters. They scout, they prep, they are careful with their scent. They sit for hours in a stand or blind like I do. They do the same things.... The deer walking around public land are not your deer anymore than they are my deer. The deer walking around on private land do not belong to the land owner but the the people of the state. You do not have any more right to the animal with your compound bow than your neighbor with his crossbow. I wish you the best of luck this archery season and I hope you someday realize your bias is misplaced. Until then we'll have to agree to disagree.
Not according to our statutes and regulations. We have archery deer hunting and we have crossbow hunting. Just like we separated gun deer hunting and ml hunting from other forms of hunting. All are regulated differently. The objective of bowhunting is do as you describe and doing so with a bow and arrow. The objective of firearms hunting is do as you describe and doing so with a firearm. The objective of crossbow hunting is do as you describe and doing so with a crossbow and bolt. In WI there is none as they are regulated separately. This way, any and all changes to crossbowing as written in statute wont have negative impacts to the sport of bowhunting. None of what you just posted is accurate. What you posted was an assumption and speculation on your part and does not represent what I wrote or what I expressed. Thankfully due to the clean separation of the two sports, we will keep it that way. The proper working of the statutes insures crossbows cant and wont negatively impact the sport of bowhunting in our state. At no time did I claim that the higher buck kill success rates of the crossbower has a negative impact on bowhunting. That is because we have the two sorts separated to insure neither negatively impacts the other. Yes, crossbow hunting takes place in WI at the same time bowhunting is taking place. Gun deer hunting, small game, turkey, predator hunting and lots of other activities also take place at a time bowhunting is taking place in our state. There is a lot of overlap of seasons. Each has a time and a place and sometimes they overlap. Nor did I claim they are. Nor did I ever claim they do. Nor did I claim I do. I wish both the bowhunter and the crossbower well in their sport. I also wish the gun deer hunter and the turkey hunter well. Like you I support the crossbower and want them to enjoy their sport and I never want what they are doing to negatively impact the sport of bowhunting. I also do not want the sport of bowhunting to negatively impact the sport of crossbow hunting.
But this is bowhunting.com and the deerhunting contest here allows the entry of crossbows to the contest. How can this be?
Probably because the Bowhunting.com staff doesn't have a severe case of cranial-rectal fusion when it comes to the subject of crossbows being considered archery equipment. Virginiashadow is right. Hunting (and life in general, for that matter) are much more enjoyable when you stop worrying about what other people are doing or how they are doing it.
You do realize that state legislators are people no different than you or me and can be grossly misinformed about things... This is a classic example of arriving at a solution without encountering a problem. Your bias is leading you to believe for reasons you have yet to explain that crossbowers will have a negative impact on archery season. This is pure conjecture. At one time, margarine was illegal in Wisconsin. This was legislation. Are you saying that that was correct? It was a statute on the books as law. So it must be correct right. Margarine should still be illegal in your state. If you are basing the foundation of your argument that there are statutes (aka laws) about separating crossbow and compound bow season. Then why do laws change? If they are correct and absolute? I'm sure margarine in some way hurts the sale of butter way more than you could ever prove that crossbows hurt archery season. So, would it be right to make margarine manufacturers limit their sales to only half of the state? or maybe they can only sell margarine 6 months out of the year?! OR maybe we just let the people decide what they want to buy and maybe both can coexist together... You gave no other reason.... So logically I concluded that this was the "meat" of your argument. If you have other statistics you would like to share to back up your statements go for it.
Correct. There were a lot of dedicated sportsmen that spent a great deal of time crafting the language for the new crossbow season WI created. They did so with the animals in mind and other sports in mind so yes, there is a place for concerning one's self with what other do and how they do it if we are to allow everybody a place and season and weapon to hunt with. Some people I know quite well continue to concern themselves with the future of the sport of bowhunting and are working to ensure the long and heathy life of bowhunting while working to set the correct duration of the new crossbow season.
