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Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:33 pm
by BackWoodsHunter
To those that vote no across the board on xbows even for seniors I will kindly tell you where to put your opinion but its not forum appropriate. My 74yr old grandpa is my hunting buddy and if not for an xbow I would spend a lot more time in the woods each fall alone and he would spend a lot more time in front of the news channels on satelite tv. I think there comes a point when a persons body just won't let them do certain things and certain muscles just don't work anymore. Those people, the ones who paved the way for the sport and contributed to the funding of the dnr and conservation projects, should now be deprived of their priveleges in the outdoors? Screw you! :evil:

I don't think just anyone should be allowed to hunt with crossbows but I wouldn't mind the young youth and the elderly and the disabled to be allowed to use them.

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:09 pm
by G3s
Brandon wrote: I disagree on the distances able to shoot, a xbow can go MUCH farther and WAAAAAAAY faster. Your 2011 bow doesnt have ANYTHING on a xbow!



In my opinion its an effort to get more hunters... which is good I guess, everyone cries about how we loose hunters...


Dont take this wrong...I am not calling you out specifically. However, I have stood side by side todays modern cross bows and shot against them with my bow. From first hand experience I can promise you that my bow is as fast, and far more accurate than those I shot against. I dont buy the fact that a cross bow is your answer to shooting deer a 100 yards with archery tackle...that simply is not the case. I think there is a huge misconception that cross bows are far better than they are.

I feel you nailed it with your 2nd comment......it is an effort to get more hunters...that is a great thing!!!

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:50 pm
by Uncle Lou
I think us hunters need to really pay attention to our position and responses on this topic. The crossbow has been a great tool for the antis. They know it is a lightning rod issue and they are trying to divide us.


I use a crossbow since they went legal in MI. I use it because I am having a freaking blast with it. Check this out. I made a little low profile snow camo blind stuck it to my crossbow and slipped around the marsh on my belly trying to kill coyotes this winter, funnest goosegg I got in a while.

Second pic in the bush, if I had my snow pants in the pic you would be dead before you saw me, I know cool poop.

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Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:00 pm
by Hodag Hunter
BackWoodsHunter wrote:To those that vote no across the board on xbows even for seniors I will kindly tell you where to put your opinion but its not forum appropriate. My 74yr old grandpa is my hunting buddy and if not for an xbow I would spend a lot more time in the woods each fall alone and he would spend a lot more time in front of the news channels on satelite tv. I think there comes a point when a persons body just won't let them do certain things and certain muscles just don't work anymore. Those people, the ones who paved the way for the sport and contributed to the funding of the dnr and conservation projects, should now be deprived of their priveleges in the outdoors? Screw you! :evil:

I don't think just anyone should be allowed to hunt with crossbows but I wouldn't mind the young youth and the elderly and the disabled to be allowed to use them.


I should have been clear, leave the season and rules for crossbows the way it is. Ok for the older folks.

My old man is fighting it till the last day he can.....He's only 61 but has (2) 100% replacement knees and shot shoulder. He carries some kind of permit that allows him to do all sorts of things in the woods and lakes, including shoot a x-bow but he chosses not to until he no longer can draw a bow back. (he uses non of the privileges except drive his wheeler on state land to drag a deer out, the sole reason for applying for the permit)

He used to shoot 70lbs with an old 50% let-off bow until I bought him a gift certificate to buy a new bow with better let-off. He's at 50lbs draw now and doesn't know how long he can keep going. Only shoots 4 or 5 arrows during practice and starts popping ibprofen......dreds the day he has to shoot a x-bow but still a heck of a lot better than not going in the woods at all.

If it takes a crossbow to get a "hunter" to join archery, i say tough luck, pick up a bow and go hunting. If the individual can't draw because of a handicap, or old age is creeping up, why then a x-bow permit is a great option.

My 2 cents.....

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:08 pm
by BackWoodsHunter
My comments are not directed at any one person. I am saying in general I think crossbows have their place but I don't think everyone needs to have the right to use them. I would be really bummed out if gramps couldn't hunt anymore because thye decided to get rid of xbows all together. Not pointing fingers at you Hodag or anyone else who disagrees!

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:28 pm
by matson123
Black Squirrel wrote:I would like to see it similar to what it is now, but with different age restrictions. I would like it for youths, 16 and under and adults 50 and older. That is the only way I would vote for it. Also, I am not really for another season, if they close down regular bow season. I don't know how you could run them at the same time, because it would be too easy to cheat.


I like this idea!!!!

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:29 pm
by matson123
Dewey wrote:Anybody see the latest in crossbows??
They now have a cocking mechanism that uses a Co2 cartridge to automatically draw back. There is no place in the archery season for this! :evil:
Check it out...................
http://www.parkerbows.com/pb/2007/cross ... ilsku=1109


we'll I agree with you here. But... your earlier response "Those that are for X-bows must also be for the proposed 16 day gun season from last year and the use of rifles throughout the state since to these people it's about hunter recruitment and making the actual harvest of a deer easier. Crickets......." misses me (and I assume most on here) as for me it is bow, bow, bow!!!

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:17 pm
by RaisedByWolves
i guess i'm not a fan of everyone being able to use one, but i wouldn't mind if they lowered the minimum age to 50/ let kids 10-16 use them. If that was ever the case, i would also like to see the minimum bow poundage raised to 35 or 40lbs. Not that 30# won't kill a deer ethically at a 23+" draw length, but i set up bows for a living and when I set-up a young kid with a 19" draw and 30# to go hunting i sort of feel sorry for the deer, just my opinion.

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:19 pm
by BackWoodsHunter
thought 40lbs was the minimum has it always been 30?

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:27 pm
by RaisedByWolves
BackWoodsHunter wrote:thought 40lbs was the minimum has it always been 30?

i know it has been the last 6 or 7 years, not sure exactly how long though.

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:10 pm
by lungbuster
Everyone is entitled to thier opinion and that's what makes this forum and country great. I would however like to ask each and everyone of those that say xbows are cheating or that they are not bows, to shoot next to a skilled crossbow hunter and see who wins. I have shot with x bow hunters and that contraption ain't all everyone seems to think it is. 8-)

My reasoning for allowing them is this, I have been trying to get my family more involved in hunting. My eleven year old wants to deer hunt , but bow only, and she cannot pull the required draw weight of 30lbs. someone said with the high let off's anyone can shoot the minimum, if that were the case then why are there older hunters unable to pull the weight? just because it has an 80% let off doesn't mean you don't have to pull through that 30lbs. to get there. I might have a personal agenda in that I also know it would get my wife out bow hunting more as she does not have the time to practice with her compound like she should and I would rather she make a clean kill with a x bow than a wounding disaster with her compound.
As to the statement that the crossbow companies are out to make money.......well duh they are a business just like the compound, traditional bow and gun manufacturers. They are all out to make money. I'm sorry but I have seen that comment before and it is just backward thinking that the x bow companies are any different than the others, IT's BUSINESS, YOU MAKE MONEY OR YOU GO AWAY........I just don't see why people are so vehemently against them, if it gets more people to enjoy and support our sport how is it hurting it? Are all the deer going to get killed with x bows not likely, will the kill ratio's between gun and bow hunters go up? Maybe, but that is a good thing for those that want the DNR to see that bow hunting is a viable management tool and it should not be messed with as far as season dates go (btw that is another of the anti xbow propaganda, that the DNR is currently trying to shorten our bow season and by allowing x bows it would make it easier for them to do so) :roll: .
Not one point against has been made that holds any water,I think it boils down to change. People hate change and because **some** bowhunters have an elitist attitude, similiar to **some** fly fisherman, they feel x bows are inferior and cheating, well there are some traditional bow hunters that feel the same way about our compound bows, should we take them from the hunting tools as well just because some elitists call them cheating and inferior. Think about this from all points not just what you've heard or read somewhere, do the research and find out for yourself how x bows will impact hunting in Wi. I would bet once you know all the facts you might think differently about the whole issue.

And lastly before I off everyone on the other side of the fence, Uncle Lou has a very good and valid point when he said the anti hunters are all for us in fighting about the x bow issue. It pits hunter against hunter and that is thier goal to divide and conquer and they don't play by the rules so i wouldn't be surprised if it was anti's that keep trying to bring the issue to the front.

As for me, I will most likely never use a x bow but I have absolutely no problem allowing someone that would like to hunt with one hunting my land (should the law pass) just because they don't have to draw to shoot doesn't mean they are guaranteed to kill a deer everytime out, they still have to KNOW HOW TO HUNT. Besides when was the last time you were busted while drawing? For me it's been at least 5 years since I can honestly say the deer busted me while drawing................Bash them all you like as it is your right, but remember they are a hunting tool just like any other and there are enough people that enjoy them that you should not be so judgmental about them unless you've tried one. ;)

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 10:22 pm
by Wrinkleneck
Well said Lungbuster!!

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:44 pm
by Hodag Hunter
RaisedByWolves wrote:i guess i'm not a fan of everyone being able to use one, but i wouldn't mind if they lowered the minimum age to 50/ let kids 10-16 use them. If that was ever the case, i would also like to see the minimum bow poundage raised to 35 or 40lbs. Not that 30# won't kill a deer ethically at a 23+" draw length, but i set up bows for a living and when I set-up a young kid with a 19" draw and 30# to go hunting i sort of feel sorry for the deer, just my opinion.


Why do you feel sorry for the deer? because they're dead? ;)

30lbs and short arrows (19"+/-) are a deadly combo........seen complete passthrus on deer shot in the ribcage.

30lbs and 29" arrows may not get a passthru, but trust me plenty to kill a deer.

Low poundage (or kinetic energy) use a cut on contact broadhead.

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:07 am
by Hodag Hunter
Lung makes some good points about having his wife and kids join hunting and that's not a bad thing at all, but exactly my point.

No offense Lung, but you just illistrated how a bunch of folks will or could take up archery if x-bows are legal, and for my own selfish reasons this is why I am against it. It's not because it's a more deadly weapon than a compound, a cross bow is easier to shoot.

The public land where I hunt isn't too bad for bowhunting pressure but a zoo during rifle season......if just 1 in 10 rifle hunters try x-bow hunting it will more than double the hunting pressure by me during archery season.

Lung, my wife and kids all hunt deer with a compound bow to some degree. Wife never shot a bow until she met me.....she is not a die-hard hunter but has since shot (3) deer and (1) bear with her bow. If you knew my wife :roll: :lol: , you would never guess she could have done it.

As for your daughter, there are plenty of great compounds on the market with low poundage and short draws that adjust as she grows. My son started shooting something like 12lbs when he was 6( was shooting low poundage recurves since he was 3) and in that same summer he was up close to 20lbs. By the next summer we started off lowering the poundage again and after working his "bow strength" back, he was in the upper 20 lb range pushing 30lbs by summer ends. I wouldn't be concered if your daughter can't pull 30lbs back right now.....would be surprised if she could. But after shooting a while kids muscles seem to react fast and wouldn't be surprised after a summer of shooting she could be at the 30lbs or real close to it. Good luck, it's great hunting with kids.

Re: Crossbow - April 11th! Your thoughts?

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:58 am
by Brandon
g3'S wrote:
Brandon wrote: I disagree on the distances able to shoot, a xbow can go MUCH farther and WAAAAAAAY faster. Your 2011 bow doesnt have ANYTHING on a xbow!



In my opinion its an effort to get more hunters... which is good I guess, everyone cries about how we loose hunters...


Dont take this wrong...I am not calling you out specifically. However, I have stood side by side todays modern cross bows and shot against them with my bow. From first hand experience I can promise you that my bow is as fast, and far more accurate than those I shot against. I dont buy the fact that a cross bow is your answer to shooting deer a 100 yards with archery tackle...that simply is not the case. I think there is a huge misconception that cross bows are far better than they are.

I feel you nailed it with your 2nd comment......it is an effort to get more hunters...that is a great thing!!!


I dont take anything on a forum wrong, dont have to worry about that with me. Im open to all opinions, however Ive done my research as well and I to have stood my side by side, and Ill say it again... it doesnt compare... its more like a gun. I would invite you to read an article that sums up my opinions that I gathered from seeing this bow.... side by side with my 2010 Quest G5 Primal. Of coure an older xbow with a sub par shooter will loose everytime against us diehards at the range with our compounds,... BUT i warn you... the technology IS here now, and it WILL expand MORE when they go legal and there will be 100 yeard shots every single season. NO deer in a field is safe. This is only the beginning is most states, but the companies will make faster xbows every year, jiust like compounds.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/article ... view-1.php