I use a compound now. I have a spine implant that helps me walk. If I can't pull back a compound does that mean I can not hunt until rifle season, I think not. So what if some want to use a cross bow. If that tickles there fancy go for it. It's not breaking any laws.

What someone chooses to hunt with legally on their own land is their own business and I welcome them to the outdoors.

The way I see it is you have answered your own question. When the bows was just the original bow, bow hunting was very challenging. Then the compound was born. Now this was a different spin on flinging arrows. And with the technology we have today compounds are more lethal and user friendly. So with the compound being as it is, I see nothing wrong with the crossbow. It is still a quiet bow (no gunfire) and still has the general aility as that of the recurve, or compound bow. In short, there already too many rules on hunting IMO as it is. But where the pistol is concerned, November is for that. I have to agree with the man who sad if flinging a slingshot is legal fill your pockets with shot and go have a good time. lol

I have an old Fred Bear $150 special that I was chided for about a year ago for getting restrung at Bass Pro Shops by a well known "bow guru" here on the forum. I killed 2 deer and 6 hogs with it last season. If I had a crossbow I would have used that. I am with some of the others, if it is legal and get's me and the son and grandson on our place hunting legally, I am all for it. We own our place, I lease another place and have access to several spots, I don't care if the guy on the next place is throwing rocks at them as long as it is legal. I am so against archery shop snobs and their "I am the only one that can tune this, put a nock on, tie a d loop, etc that I refuse to go to anyplace that doesn't sell guns as well as sticks. Wake up, the "archery sport" is not that pure. It is all about high dollars sights and rests, carbon arrows, carbon limbs, whatever the archery companies can do to pry your hard earned $$$ out of your pocket.You want a "traditional" archer season? grab a willow limb and some gut and have at it.

I do hunt with my bow year round. I have two safes full of guns, however I believe challenge of the bow is outstanding.Heck I even fish with one, so there are some of us out here who are not in it for the early season advantage.

Well if you just want a yes/no/maybe then no. Me and the young man of the house will be hunting with our compounds. I don't have the time to practice enough with the recurve to trust myself on big game and the time it takes is too much to commit to for now.

I just had a long talk with my wife about what I expect out of her with the xbow she will be shooting....the only thing she seemed concerned with is that she will be walking in the DARK without a RIFLE and wanted to know what MAN came up with a dumb rule where you can't carry one during archery season! Can't wait for that morning so I can tell her over the radio that I saw a cpl herds of hogs, a cpl coyotes a rattle snake and a large bear on my way to the stand...lol, gonna be great.

My family just purchased our second crossbow this year, so yes we will be hunting with them this coming bow season.

For the record, all this elitism in the hunting community today is disturbing - we shouldn't discriminate one another for going against our own hunting views. If anything we should unite as a diverse group of outdoorsman, and work to fight against those who would take our rights away to enjoy this great sport.

Believe me people, all this arguing amongst ourselves will only bite us in the butt in the end. "United We Stand, Divided We Fall..."

Crossbows have been around since the middle ages also. I consider them Primative Weapons. Again, If its legal with the state, then people should be able to use it.

I'm totally against any new hunting laws that would discourage people from going hunting. If allowing people to use crossbows increases the number of hunting licenses sold, then I'm all for it. The hunting population has been declining year after year and I would like to see more new hunters to continue the tradition.

[quote=Dacotua
Crossbows have been around since the middle ages also. I consider them Primative Weapons. Again, If its legal with the state, then people should be able to use it.

I'm totally against any new hunting laws that would discourage people from going hunting. If allowing people to use crossbows increases the number of hunting licenses sold, then I'm all for it. The hunting population has been declining year after year and I would like to see more new hunters to continue the tradition.
[/quote]

I dont have a problem with others hunting with crossbows if its legal. However i disagree with your idea of primitive. A homemade crossbow like what they used in primitive times...yeah..but a store bought crossbow with composite materials, scopes and all the bells and whistles. Nope..i dont think thats any more primitive than a rifle or compound bow. But like i said this is only my opinion. I dont judge others by how they choose to hunt. I have good friends that hunt with compounds and it doesnt bother me. I hunt with a rifle too, but i have no interest in compound, crossbow or even any store bought recurves or longs. I will only bowhunt with handmade primitive bows i make myself. My views are.... if it wasnt handmade the primitive way..its not primitive.

Cheers

The problem with that line of thinking is that it has been brought up in some of our Liberal States. The result was very restrictive hunting laws.

I'm glad you enjoy making your own bows, its a art that takes a lot of time and patience to master. However, whether you use a homemade bow, compound bow, or a crossbow, you're probably using store purchased arrows and store bought broadheads.

Again I don't view anything wrong with using a Compound Bow or a Crossbow and I view them all a good thing for archery season (So long as you know your limits, (I hate people who think they are Robin Hood and take shots at deer at over 100 yards with any kind of bow.).

Again, like I said time and time again, if having crossbows in archery season opens up the field to more hunters, then it's a good thing. I want to see the amount of hunters increase, not decrease like it has. More people need to go to the woods and learn hunting and fishing rather than going to a grocery store. The more people who shun hunting, the more likely that these same people will push legislatures to ban hunting.

I absolutely agree with you. It is a good thing to continue having people involved in the sport of hunting. I plan to introduce my son/daughter to it when i have one. Thats why I say that I do not mind how others choose to hunt..as long as its legal. I do want to continue having hunting as a sport and do agree that there are way to many laws governing the way we hunt as well way to many laws on everything else we do.

As for the numbers of hunters increasing..I dont think that will likely happen reguardless of the legalizing of crossbows. It may spike a little, but probably wont every grow. We unfortunately live in an urban modernized society where convienece takes precedence over all other. That likely wont change ever with society and civilization continuing the way it is today...with technology, expansion, construction, and the depletion of our nations forests and open land. In fact its pretty likely that someday (not necessarily anytime in the near future, but possibly hundreds of years or more) hunting may become nearly non existent as the population of the nation and the planet continues to grow. New laws will likely be passed that prevent hunting in order to protect most species that will likely become endangered becaues of lack of habitat and pollution. Not because lawmakers are liberal, but because it may be the only way to prevent extinction (not from overhunting, but from depleting resources and space for the animals) Look what happened in the 1800s. Entire species of animals were completely enialated and others such as bison, black bears, grizzlys, wolves, and others were on the verge of extinction. They had to be protected due to the large numbers of hunters and trappers, and the open praries and mountains shrinking from civilizations expansion. History tends to repeat itself.

Today millions more people live in our nation, and no doubt in the next 100 years the population will increase by several millions or maybe even billions more. Private lands will be sold off into smaller plots...public lands the same. It already is happening today.

Just food for thought..this isnt meant to be an argument at all, just a viewpoint of what could, but not necessarilly might happen.

As for the arrow...No sir..i do not buy store bought arrows or broadheads. I make my own. The shafts i use either dogwood or chokecherry for the shafts. I cut the shoots in the colder months when the sap is low. Bundle them and hang them in my garrage to season, then peal and smooth them with some sandstone rocks from a riverbead (works like sandpaper) Then i straiten them with heat from coals on a campfire, use turkey feathers for fletching, sinew and hide glue to attatch them. The broadheads are made from old saw blades (circular, sawzall..etc) or other pieced of metal i can scrounge up. I am currently learning to knapp stone points and will likely eliminate steel altogether once i perfect the art enough to make it worth my time and not take hours upon hours for one point. I only have two commercially made points..and thats the zwicky judo glue on's...And they were given to me by my dad, so i use them instead of wasting them.

And for the record..i dont think im robin hood...LOL Thats funny. I dont take shots at more than 25 to 30 yards absolute max. I prefer 10 to 15. To me the fun is in the stalking and getting close to the animal without them knowing. An art that will undoubtadly take years to master, but I feel im pretty good at it so far.

This is a proverbial can of worms that tend to divide us......the brotherhood of outdoorsman that enjoy the sports of hunting and fishing....regardless of weapons, methods, tactics, etc.

We will ALL never agree on crossbows, compounds, recurve, mechanical vs. fixed broadheads, baiting, feeders, the definition of a trophy, fair chase vs. high fence and many more issues that cause us to get emotionally involved and take sides.....but, we must agree to disagree on some of these issues and respect others rights.

This kind of talk simply divides us all as hunters. We get enough grief and backlash from the anti's. No need to divide ourselves and aid in their efforts.

Nobody says you must hunt from a stand or blind, use a feeder, scents, camo, grunt calls, rattle antlers, hunt a high, low, or no fenced place, use a scoped rifle, muzzle loader, bow, crossbow, spear or rock. Choose whatever legal method floats your boat.

Stalk naked through the mesquite and prickly pear and use your bare hands if that's how you want to hunt. I won't belittle anyone for their chosen legal methods. We should all give each other the same courtesy.

agreed

I am one and have been one for 8 years. I also hunt with my compound bow too, but not at the same time. LOL Now I only hunt with either my crossbow or my compound bow. Once you harvest a deer or hog with one, you won't go back to a rifle, or at least that was how it was for me.

for every anti crossbow argument there should be some anal individual preaching Primitive...IE real Primitive archery to the compound crowd.
I'm for all legal and ethical mean s of hunting. More power to you. Bet back in medieval times when common man couldn't hunt but only poach deer and boar were falling to longbows and Crossbows long before the compound.

I think as long as it keeps people getting involved in the outdoors its crossbows are fine. I have a compounds an crossbow usually toward the end of the season I will finish out my tags with a crossbow...

X3 like you old farts with bad shoulders

I will be... I wonder how much of a difference it will make if one chooses to use a crossbow but DOESN'T HUNT DEER!!!

I'm not a deer hunter. But love to hunt Hogs year round with anything that launches a projectile.

Well, I was using a spear, then came....

"Bow and Arrow, so easy a caveman could do it.."

Heck, I remember the uproar when compounds were first being introduced. Some folks need to get over themselves...

I will be there with my Bowtech Strykeforce Crossbow cocked and locked! As a matter of fact, she's already cocked....all i have to do saturday morning is pull the trigger!

can't wait!

I will legally crossbow hunt this year during archery season. Since we can only kill does on our place during archery season or Thanksgiving weekend - I believe that any means to thin out the does is a good thing. I just haven't taken the time over the last few years to practice with my compound and didn't feel good about going out without the proper preparation - now I can get after the does.

JR

I purchased a Draw-Loc system for my bow 3 years ago because the state of Texas said I could. When you look at how my bow is set up it is just like a crossbow just without the rifle stock. I did not understand why the state allowed that and not a crossbow. Now the state has wised up and allowed crossbows. I think it is a great ruling. This will allow many other people hunt in a season that was previously not possible for them. I think everybody should enjoy the first weekend of bow season.

I think its funny how riled up everyone gets from this topic.

If you hunt with a compound bow then good for you and if you hunt with a crossbow than congratulations, you probably are ahead of the curve with the changing times.

Does anyone stop and think that this same argument went on when compound bows first came out? I'm sure you had the recurve shooters saying how the compound gave the hunter so much of an advantage and those people weren't real hunters. Now in todays time we have the crossbow , and yes as scary as it may be to you "die hard bow hunters" times might be changing and who knows maybe 20 years from now crossbows will be the norm.