Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting To the dark side / crossbow

The harvest rate is several times what a compound and traditional bows are. They are a lot like a shotgun with a slug barrel. The guy with a new crossbow was at the range. he was putting arrows in a 2" circle @ 50 yds. He had it on a rest. There is no comparison between that and a compound. It even had a 500 dollar scope tha illuminated. I didn't even think they were legal. It is going to change game harvest laws very soon with the higher harvest rate. I will say, there seems to be less wounded deer stories from crossbows. Wisconsin has to make changes. They need to make a separate season for them , or reduce the doe harvest to make up for the better efficiency of crossbows. Crossbows sales was up 5,000 from last year but down 9,000 traditional deer tags, and down 14,000 gun deer sale tags this year form last year. That being said, we may not have to reduce doe tags cause there are less hunters out there. . . . And I'm not against crossbows, they have their place for older guys and disabled. I am 55 and hurt my rotator real bad pulling back on a buck on Nov. 7. I was so cold and stiff I couldn't pull back the bow. Then I tried harder and pulled my rotator, so I try harder while the buck is standing there , chip shot if there ever was one and would almost for sure been a dead deer and would shave been my best buck in 10 years. I may have to go to e crossbow but I love my Mission Endeavor bow. I only have it at 47 lbs pull to boot. Took me a week just to be able to pull it back again. Went back out and drew back on s mailer buck on the last day of bow and was so happy I could do it I didn't even care I didn't get the deer. I have to say , I dont like it when I see 30 yr olds , a foot taller and 100 lbs bigger than me out there with a crossbow. This tells me they are capable , just too lazy to practice.

A good friend of mine is sponsored by Matthews. He'd consider a 2"circle at 50yards with a compound a simple task. I've watched him break arrows with more arrows. Good equipment helps, but it all boils down to the archer.

paper targets is different than live wild game in the mountains, its just not the same

I think your guilt over using a crossbow will soon vanish. Although I loved my compounds, I REALLY love my crossbows, and if I had to do it all over again would have used the crossbow from the get go. So nice not buying all the "junk" associated with compounds. Heck, they cost as much as a rifle, yet in a few short years you can't even sell them at a garage sale.

And both of my crossbows are Excaliburs. The simplicity and ruggedness second to none. Mine are both older models (Ibex and Vortex), but the extra weight and width are of no consequence to my hunting style. I just put on a Twilight DLX scope on the Ibex...what a difference. Makes me anxious for next year.

Ethical, functional tools.

"The guy with a new crossbow was at the range. he was putting arrows in a 2" circle @ 50 yds. " you set the parameters, friend.

There is no way I can hold 2" @ 50 yds. If I practiced every day cause I was representing a bow company I would be much better. After hanging drywall and taping and demoing all day I dont bother with shooting as much . Also , I always believed 50 yds was too far for a deer anyway . They start and stop so quick it is impossible to be sure of a clean hit. I never shot a deer past 20 yds with my bow and likely never will. This self emposed tough standard has made me a better hunter. Because of this , I get very close to deer. I like that ,, brings back the hunt in bow hunting. I guess I could go to 50 yds and practice. My brother In Law practices to 65 yds and is very good, but when the deer comes by , like this year a buck at 32 yds, he wounds them. They do jump the string. How they are that fast is a miracle. I dont know if a crossbow would be any better than a compound Im not sure they are faster or not. They are more accurate cause you can rest them and this guy had a scope to boot.

Well the postman made the delivery yesterday. I got the limbs bolted on and made sure everything is tight and secure. Didn't get a chance to shoot it yet but looking forward to it. It has the twilight Dlx illuminated scope on it. Supposed to shoot the 16 1/2 in bolts at 335 fps.
It's a sweet looking little broad head slinger. Bare it weighs under 6 lbs. Just 25 inches wide uncocked.
I'm thinking the critters will be just as dead as they would be with anything else!

1) neither could I, but my friend Bob is a bit of a perfectionist, you do not want to see his woodworking skills, (serious overkill)
2)when I was living in California, I spent a lot of time along the L.A. river, there is an archery range there with range markers and targets to 70yards, and I made full use of them. I will not take a shot at a living animal at more than @45yrds either. Again, a self set limit for the same reasons you mentioned.
3)a crossbow is better for reasons you did not list. I am most accurate with a compound set at 50lbs. But I do not always get a pass through, or even a second hole. And the arrow is the cork in the wine bottle. With a crossbow, I get a full pass through every time, 2 holes, no obstruction to a fast bleed out and a heavy (though short) blood trail. I will add no more than @10yards to my allowable crossbow range over a compound bow. Both weapons are capable of longer range, but not with this archer using them.
Of the two types of weapons, with similar range, and the same target animals, the crossbow is the more ethical choice. Of the one shot taken, it has the greater chance of a clean kill, a fast recovery, a shorter chase, and no property lines issues, due to an animal jumping a fence. I recover straight crossbow bolts in need of cleaning, instead of bent shafts and torn fletchings.

New member here... but not new to crossbow usage. Currently, I have two, and my wife also enjoys their usage for hunting or target shooting. I get amused reading all the + and - comments regarding crossbows. My sentiments on the subject revolve around four words... to each his own.

when people feel x-bows are part of the archery world and should be allowed in archery as a drawn bow ? well Wisconsin has tried allowing the x-bow in the regular bow season and now because x-bows are easier to use and easier to shoot farther away the kill percentage with a x-bow is very high in the Wisconsin archery season. Wisconsin may now change the rule on a x-bow during the archery season, that's why x-bows are just way easier its pre drawn,locked,and trigger releases the arrow its just not the same. as a old true bowhunter the x-bow is just may be to dark for me ? maybe when I am 75 years of age and more crippled ?

Ohio allows crossbow for anyone. It is full inclusion in archery season, where it belongs. We show no significant increase in deer numbers, no adverse effects. The one shot you take, is simply more likely to produce a clean kill.

maybe Wisconsin has more deer ? Wisconsin x-bow hunters were maybe once good bowhunters and now use a x-bow,don`t forget in Wisconsin baiting is legal also ? maybe Ohio bowhunters are trying to shoot bigger deer ? your post is not valid one minute you tell me you longbow bowhunt next minute you stick up with x-bows ?

From the ODNR website for 2017-2018 season summary:

"...The harvest total during the traditional statewide gun season was 72,509 deer, 2% more than the three-year average
(Table 2). Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Muskingum, Ashtabula, and Guernsey counties led the state in gun harvest (Table 3).
The bonus gun season harvest was 14,043 deer. Coshocton County hunters led the way, harvesting 505 deer during the
two-day season, with Tuscarawas (496), Ashtabula (482), Carroll (411), and Knox (381) counties rounding out the top
five.
Archers reported harvesting 79,352 deer,
about a 3% decline compared to the three-year
average (Table 2). Archers accounted for 43% of
the entire deer harvest, and for the fifth year in
a row, more deer were taken during archery
season than the week of gun season. By
comparison, just 15 years ago the archery
harvest only accounted for about 25% of the
annual harvest (Figure 4). This shift in the
harvest is likely due to the ever-increasing
interest and participation in archery hunting. In
1981, only one of three gun hunters also
bowhunted. This year, 70% of gun hunters also
hunted the archery season...."

Edit: archery as a whole is becoming more popular, also older hunters are now bow hunting, and senior permit prices are discounted or even free. More hunters than ever before, and permit numbers for out of state hunters hunting Ohio are rising. It ain't the bow, it's the number of archers.

does ohio allow baiting ? where is the statistics on x-bows verses recurve,longbows bows,compound bows ? Wisconsin has that comparison.

Yes, we can bait. I fact I have a couple of gravity feeders on my property. I collect acorns from in city and fill my feeders. As for type of bow, I don't think they even ask anymore. It's rifle, shotgun, or archery.
When they first allowed crossbow, they kept track of that stuff pretty closely, but found that it didn't really matter, because you still have to get into bow range, no matter what type of bow.

Feel free to do your own research, it's all public access info. Make yourself useful.

i dare say that the crossbow has greatly cut down on the wounded deer getting away. mine shoots like a slug gun out to 40 yards. while i hunted with a compound and even a recurve many years ago, i was never as confident or as good with them as i am with a crossbow. my only complaint here in PA is that i think the CB hunters take a real toll on the bucks early on. but thats not really a complaint so much as an observation.

Depends upon your local laws, of course, but here we get only one buck a year. No matter how it's taken. So If my one buck is taken with a crossbow, there are more chances come deer gun season for the gun hunters, because they are not in competition with me.

now where I have hunted I have seen more deer wounded and lost by rifle and x-bow hunters ,probably because some never practice much.i still believe true bowhunters only take good shots with there bow and to be honest percentage wise true bowhunters have learned a higher skill level of deer hunting than many who just pull the trigger during their hunt. I feel the x-bow is a harvest weapon but should be maybe in the muzzle loader season ?

Nope, you just contradicted yourself. Crossbow can not be easier, and no skill involved, while at the same time taking massive more deer and no range time. That's utter nonsense, (even if a bit exaggerated). Crossbow requires skill, practice, and the same woods skills and range time as traditional archery. Your prejudice is showing. It uses the same phyiscs, the same type of flight path, just a little further distance. The same flaws in technique or sharpness apply, just with more force.
It's the difference between getting hit by a truck or a motorcycle at 60mph, either way, your dead. The truck just has more follow through. You still have to be woods wise enough to get within range, and the deer will still jump the string, but has less time to react.
The English and the French fought with crossbow vs longbow and the longbow men slaughtered the crossbow men, because in that day, the crossbow was a short range, less effective weapon but easier to train troops to use. Longbowmen could stand out of crossbow range and make the sky black with arrows.
If history is any judge, it it the long bow that is "too deadly" and kicked out of bow season. (TIC)

Fellows ,

I can recall about 40 or so years ago archers screaming and protesting the use of compound bows for deer hunting in the archery season . Said it would decimated the heard .
I'm now knocking on the door of 70 and several conditions have given me a choice of crossbow or not hunting .
It's just another tool in the hunting bag.

MOST OF ALL - we as a group , hunters , cannot afford to fight among ourselves . The antis love it . !!!

Merry Christmas to all.

Soup