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

Yep, it's just another type of bow. Another tool for the same job.

Just another tool to hunt! In Pennsylvania the so called "United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania" assured hunters the crossbow was the end of archery season as we know it! The woods would be full of slob hunters & poachers...the herd would be decimated and seasons would end! All of this with absolutely no facts to support this the UBP was just playing on hunters fear & lack of knowledge of the weapon. They just did not want to share THEIR woods/seasons with fellow hunters. None of the issues they cautioned hunters about EVER occurred. Archery season is a great time to be in the Pennsylvania woods. The inclusion of the crossbow into the Pennsylvania archery season has been a non issue.

I find the crossbow issue interesting from several angles.

As a young man, I defined myself as a bowhunter. I spent years learning the craft with a bare (no sight) recurve. My ego prevented me from even considering a crossbow until....shoulder surgery after I drew an Iowa archery tag. With a doctor's note, the Iowa DNR allowed me to use a crossbow. I did not like hunting with it due to the horizontal layout of the limbs and sold it after the hunt, but it did allow me to participate.

I'm now nearly old enough for social security and am not as comfortable in treestands and don't pull the bow as well. There may be a crossbow in my future. As the hunting population ages, there may be more of us making the choice of adapting (utilizing a crossbow) or leaving the sport. In fact, a bowhunting friend in church was showing me his crossbow trophy pics this morning.

The world is changing and as hunters we need to be less ridged and more adaptive to insure the future of our sport.

Sorry pete. You can't have it both ways. Wisconsin either pulled crossbows out of archery season because the kill percentage went up so much or, they produce more wounded deer. Which is it? Me personally, when I hear a person talk out of both sides of their mouth I just write it off to neither side really has any intelligencs behind it and I don't believe either side.

I hunt with both, but anymore I only shoot deer with the crossbow and I see no reason not to keep crossbows in the same season as any other bow. Here, like many other places, we have localized over populaions of deer. Firearms are not a good as good a tool to manage that over population as either a vertical bow or a crossbow. Of the four I killed this fall with the crossbow, I could have killed all with my No Cam. I killed my first deer with a bow about 1960, and I have killed a lot in the intervening years with all manner of guns and lately I have started killing a lot with the crossbow because where I live there are just way too many deer. I understand people making their own choices. I even understand people thinking they can make my decisions better than I can. I understand people who wish to have game managed to their advantage

I do not understand people who talk out of both sides of their mouth and don't have the sense to sort things out before they try to manage someone else's option. That goes beyond ignorance.

since you need to reread what I posted, Wisconsin is seriously deciding to change the rule on the use of the x-bow,rather it happens I don`t know ? x-bows and baiting in Wisconsin makes it very easy to kill deer for x-bow people. I have had both shoulders rebuilt and so when someone tells me there shoulders hurt they want a x-bow permit WTF ? your not a real true bowhunter this person just wants to hunt deer during the bow season with a x-bow the easier way.

Miles58 you should just use a x-bow , I on the other hand as a pole climber/powerlineman for 35 years working in all weather conditions and at my age of 65 with a few surgeries and a lot of pride I plan on still drawn a bow again and hunting bigger deer with horns with a drawn bow ,its just a pride thing for me to do it the hard way .

Killroy, I saw kids that never shot a crossbow put 2 arrows in the bullseye at 20 yds. It was on a rest however. Also, I will say , I am not against crossbows . The day will come when I need one or stop bow hunting. There is no doubt that with crossbow accuracy there are less wounded deer out there and more dead ones. In Wisconsin however, we will need to change things around to compensate for the very high harvest rate of crossbow hunters. The success rate for bucks with crossbows is higher than rifles. There are some easy ways to adjust. I bought a bow and a gun tag. I was allowed 6 doe tags and 2 buck tags. We could easily go down to one doe and one buck tag per license and most would never bat an eye. A doe for meat and hunt bucks just for fun. There is no reason for 6 doe tags and we can use our bow/doe tags for rifle too. I had 8 tags and used one, and that was ok with me. I mentioned some posts back I really pulled my rotator cuff pulling back on a buck on Nov. 7. It is still sore and weak. I can pull back my compound at 47 lbs. and thats all I need . Went right through the doe again this year. . . . . but hunting with crossbows over bait?? That is not hunting , that is waiting for a legal target to come by to shoot at. We could ban baiting and that would reduce the kill numbers by a lot. Seems noone knows how to hunt anymore and their skill in scouting is measured by how many times a week ya dump corn. I digress.

The connection is very bad tonight. I have attempted this response 4 times so far. This will be edited until I can get it properly posted. Stand by.

1) get my name right, or I will assume it is an intentional slight.
2) I took a 4point buck with a bent sapling, a bootlace, and a pocketknife. I did it with knowledge, skill, and patience I doubt you could match in your prime. And I did it at 7 yards. And you believe a crossbow makes me too deadly? Ridicules.
3) in my state, the bag limits and season dates vary every year due to herd size and biologists input. Not the whim of the average hunter. We get 1 buck. No matter how we take it, and between 3-7 (or so) does. The doe limits DO matter, more so than the buck limits, because it is the DOE LIMITS that determine next year's herd size, not the bucks. Does often have twins, and ever doe affects at least 2 and sometimes more deer, next year. Just like it takes one rooster, it only takes one buck, but every doe counts.
4)bag limits vary by location, and natural barrier, such as rivers. Ohio always has a higher bag limit where deer are hemmed in by the Ohio river.
5)hunting over bait is legal, and works, but will not produce your buck. (Perhaps a young stupid one, but nothing worth a mount) mainly because the bucks feed at night. The only real draw for him during the day is sex. He's traveling, and scent testing every doe he can find. He's not hanging out at the local feed pile. He's traveling miles sniffing the air for some whiff of a loose slut.
6) if your crossbow men are more accurate than your riflemen, what does that say of the accuracy of your riflemen? They CLEARLY have every advantage over your crossbow men. If you haven't figured it out yet, archery has a much longer season, than rifle. That's why the numbers are higher. We get roughly 4 months for arrows, and no more than 2 weeks for bullets. Usually less. Muzzleloader is a separate season.
7) a childhood rhyme comes to mind: "a man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still". You are not open to facts, you are just looking for justification of your opinion. Your prejudice is showing again, and it's becoming tiresome.
That child with a crossbow, will have a real skill, when he can get within that 20 yards of a live deer with his bench rest, until then...it's just practice.

killroy, when I was younger: I have witnesses watch me sneak up on a spike buck in a cut cornfield in the snow with just a bowie knife and I killed that buck,my father said I was crazy to try such a stunt but I did . am I the best hunter?, know but you try it and see if you can do it ? I also killed a deer with a arrow I made with a shaped and sharpened spoon too. also won the state freestyle class once. does that make me the man nope just shot well those days. > my family will learn the true bowhunter way by drawn a bow 1st . when a person feels he`s old or crippled ya go ahead and use a x-bow , but this old lineman ain`t say`n uncle yet !

Since you can't be bothered to get my name right, we're done talking.

I killed a deer with a fuggin rock. I don't tell that story to many because they just think I'm a liar. My dad however witnessed the act and likes to bring the story to light often at family get togethers. I also killed one with a smith and wesson model 34 .22LR kit gun. One with an old 45 lb Bear fiberglass recurve bow and cedar arrow. One with a load of #6 shot from a 12gauge shotgun. Several with various .22 rimfire rifles and 2 with a 5mm Remington magnum rimfire. I haven't killed one with my crossbow yet but only because I haven't hunted with it. Given that I can repeatedly put arrows in a 1" bullseye from 40 yards with it, I don't think it will be terribly difficult once I get around to it.

cool, I don`t like to tell any of those type of stories anymore you know why. but 22 mag was our kill gun

Come on Killroy, lighten up!!

old Killroy is just mad cause you out did him with a rock !

You've got me confused with somepone else. I never used a rock, but I did kill a few with only a pocket comb and rubber band.

> your right it was Blackheart, sorry

One thing is for sure, when it comes to allowing crossbows during the archery season.... No where does the the puzzie hurt develope as quick, or run as deep, as it does with a lot of folks from Wisconsin...

laffin

I thought that was my imagination.

The problem with that is those folks are never team players. Non team players can KMA. They are of no help to the sportsman or the future of it.

yes the x-bow is a harvest tool , it just does not belong in the long season for archery. x-bows are much easier to hunt with for anyone that`s why the handi-cap or old hunters uses a x-bow and yes the handi -cap and the old should get the whole entire bow season with a x-bow. But a healthy hunter should stop making excuses , being lazy and learn to shoot a drawn bow like a true bowhunter does,its a true pride thing in archery period.So man up and learn to use a drawn bow if your healthy, at my age of 65 years young both shoulders rebuilt,4 back surgeries,1 neck surgery, heart surgery and a lineman climbing poles for 35 years ,next fall I will be all healed up again and I will be drawn my Barnsdale Addiction bow again for archery season !

Again, the butt hurt is strong !

Go give Klueless a handy.