Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Shorten Crossbow Season (for some)in Wisconsin?

Honor? I'd hardy call it honor. lmao.

This improvement is closer to becoming a reality for the 2019 crossbow season.

What happened to 2018 speed racer???? 😁

Was it shortened?

I watched a guy from Wisconsin shoot and kill an antelope doe at 90+ yds. with a compound bow. I ranged it for him. I couldn't believe that he even attempted to make that shot. If I hadn't been there and seen it, I would never have believed it.

No, it was not shortened. I think it should be however. The buck kill rate for crossbow hunters are 2x what they are for rifle.

ihookem Why do you think it is that crossbow hunters are able to be so much more successful? Thanks for your time. Cheers NC

Because they can hunt in the rut and the weather is nicer so they're probably in the woods longer.

Tom got that correct. My yard had at least six different bucks passing through during late October and during November and after that, nothing but doe and fawns of the year pics on my game camera. Post rut hunting is tougher to hunt. Wisconsin kills more deer on the roads than most states get during their entire hunting seasons. Our Department of Natural Resources doesn't care how the deer get thinned down to manageable levels, just so they do. A scope sighted crossbow is little different than a rifle out to about 50 yards and is much easier to master than any compound bow. If you can't fill your freezer in Wisconsin with all the deer you want to during a four or five month bow/crossbow season, you need to take up another sport.

Yes, the crossbow bunch are taking a lot of deer before the gun hunters get their rifles to the range for practice. It is also thew way crossbow peole hunt. Many dont want to admit it but crossbow hunters were the older bunch that can't pull back a bow anymore so they sit in blinds, and many times over bait. Once that deer comes in to the corn and puts its head down to eat it is all over for that deer. Hunters even help themselves by putting a good size log in front of the bait so the deer cant see any movement . The other bunch of crossbow hunters just dont want to practice with a regular bow so a crossbow is it. A crossbow is at least 100fps faster than my bow. it has a scope most of the time. There is very little difference between a rifle and crossbow at bait pile ranges and they get to hunt the rut . By rifle season, (Nov. 23) this year the rut is mostly done and many of bucks , especially the young ones went off to freezer camp before the blaze orange boys even show up . Then they wonder where all the bucks went that were on their trail cams. We need to shorten the crossbow season and make the gun season earlier , but few Wisconsin hunters want to do that.

I don’t see any reason to make it shorter and I doubt it will be. Rifle season won’t be changed. It’s too etched in stone. There are not to many places where baiting is legal anymore in WI and I’m betting within 5 years, it won’t be legal at all.

We hunt in an area of WI that has a very low buck kill. We have 4 cameras spread out over a mile square. As far as I could tell there were 9 different bucks in that block. 3 were absolute slammers, real trophy’s. We saw 2 bucks during the season even though we had some on camera right up to the night before.

People get worked up when the DNR says people don’t know how to hunt...but they may be right.

Tommy, I think you just hit it on the head. I saw one other hunter in the woods this year after Sunday. You can't shoot a big buck if you're not in the woods. The gun season won't move earlier, WBH will throw a holy [bleep] fit, and make damn sure their bought and paid for Senators & Assemblymen follow suit.

Did it change this year?

Nothing changed other than WBH stooge on the NRB and his three amigos staged a coup on the CDAC Committees decisions on antlerless quotas in the northern zone. Arguably breaking open meeting laws and talking with their old pals then telling everyone they spoke with CDAC Chairmen to help make their decisions (which they actually contacted none of the CDACs). Typical political [bleep] show. Everybody wants science based decisions, as long as it's their "science". Poacher (Kulas) will be along shortly to defend his toadies I'm sure.

Well after reading the WI hunting regs (poacher ron, they're available on line now...look into it) it looks like we can crossbow hunt the rut again this year. No shortened season once again.

I am not against the crossbow hunt, especially when the older bowhunters(like me) start to lose muscle mass and injuries stack up making for an ineffective bow shot at times. I do not hunt crossbow, and enjoy my Mathews , HTR. I like seeing the surge in female hunters and I have not seen the massive effects on the buck population as one might see farther north. I am against the loss of those willing to put in the time to be consistent archers, though. That is sad and depressing to me. Most of the land around here is private and only so many have bow hunted in the past, so the surge in numbers around here I am not seeing. What I am concerned about is some are taking longer than normal shots at these deer which probably puts a few more wounded animals out there. Gun season has been dwindling here because the group that hunts is getting older and not that many young ones are taking up the slack. Too much college and internet taking up too much of their time!

Curious if it changed this year?

This will be available every year since it won't change. Right Ronald?

I will chime in. As a life long resident is southwest Wisconsin, I have seen changes in the deer seasons. Our numbers of deer are still up in my area but the numbers of big bucks has went back down. Earn a buck was the greatest thing for allowing bucks to live long enough to get big. It has been going down hill since the year of earn a buck, but with all the private land, some bucks still reach a decent size. I haven’t seen a lot of impact from crossbow in my area yet, but it might be a regional thing

I do not get out as often as I used to. One can pick up a ton of chatter at happy hour in cheeseheadville! What I have heard and learned is that there are much fewer actual bow hunters as it appears most are going to crossbow, around here anyway. Kind of fecking sad! I am pert near considered an old man of almost 63. I will shoot my HTR till they peel it from my arthritic hands!