If someone hunts with a crossbow, do you think they can call themselves bowhunters?

Let's see, no bullets, no powder, no primer so not rifle hunting; but there are strings and a short arrow (bolt) with fletchings and either a fixed broadhead or mechanical on end. Therefore, I consider it what TPWD does, archery hunting with a crossbow as opposed to compound or recurve bows.

I predict at least 5 pages and two weeks until this one dies.

This is how it goes as we near the season’s end, every single year.

Do you consider it bow hunting if you are using a compound bow? What is the functional difference between a crossbow and a compound bow with regard to the traditional recurve or simple bow?

I know what the bow purists will say, but isn't a cross bow simply a horizontal compound bow?

The rifle stock on a crossbow is the difference. it's not just a horizontal compound bow.



However, it is a form of Archery by definition.

yes. But I don't use one, to heavy to hike with

I could care less what label you put on it as long as it’s legal.

If you don't cut a piece of bois de arc, shape it, kill your own ducks, fletch your own homemade arrows, make a string with sinew from last year's kill, wax it with bee's wax that you collected yourself from wild bees, and knap your own broadheads, can you really call yourself a bowhunter?

I know.....I was just poking the thread a little...

This is my take on all things hunting....and said so multiple times on the HF thread recently.

If its legal, who cares. Just don't do illegal.

Anything beyond that is nothing more than virtue signaling

Absolutely. Same hunting rules apply as someone with a vertical bow. Bought my first bow over 45 years ago. It was a Bear Kodiak. Modern bows are no comparison to those bows we used back then. I had a friend that used a long bow years ago and acted like he was superior to other hunters using a compound. It`s just an ego thing. BTW, he never killed anything with his long bow and gave up bow hunting all together.

I’ll play. Until a crossbow is developed that’s both quiet and fast, it’s not a very effective way to shoot Texas deer.

I would argue that my 80 pound speed bow IS quiet, nearly as fast and powerful (moreso than some), more steady i the hand and far quicker to load and reload compared to most crossbows.

They are bowhunters.....but......

There are those that hunt with "stick & string" (longbow) - the hardest to hunt with

Then there are those that hunt with a compound bow - the next hardest to hunt with


And there are those that hunt with crossbows - the easiest to hunt with. Three groups, three different levels of convenience. I'm in my 50's, I like the crossbow. I did the first two types years ago.

who cares???

I mostly hunt with a 50 pound long bow because it’s the funnest not because it is the hardest. And i would rather tote the longbow than the compound on a long walk. But this time of year i take the compound, and all the advantage i can get. If i can get out at all

only real bowhunters do this.

Perfect answer

I'm a hunter. Period.

I own a longbow, a compound vertical bow, and a crossbow.

I own a percussion and an inline muzzleloader that has a scope and shoots smokeless powder.

I own semi-automatic pistols and six-shot revolvers.

I own bolt-action rifles, shotguns, and ARs.

All of which are capable of quickly killing deer and require a level of skill to do so. Who cares? I hunt.


P.S. I also own an electric, stick-burner, and a pellet smoker.

^You just might have more hunting crap than I do. (I'm strictly a rifle guy, but I sure have a lot of junk I carry to my box blind to sit and watch a corn feeder. I'm starting to re-discover the joys of a Thermos. )

i have the opinion that no one likes'

ALL hunting methods start and end on the same dates.

There you have it.