Crossbows Now Legal for Deer Hunting for All Ages

[kcatto]

wow...cool topic and great responses.... Got some people not only talking, but all riled up as well.....

This is my kind of thread.....

Seriously though, I personally understand both sides of the argument... Since my pops is an excalibur dealer and he never touched a gun when he hunted with his stick and string... This was the way I was raised....

Ok this is really good for the crossbow dealers in this state.....
Believe it or not this is wonderful news for archery itself in this state....
People that can handle a rifle... can for the most part handle a crossbow....
So it is the best gateway tool to get more rifle hunters introduced to archery and ultimately more arrows in the air.... The more arrows that are flying the stronger the archery lobby gets.... which is good for all hunters in general....

Now I personally have three excaliburs in my closet still in the boxes and they have never been set up or anything... I do not have any interest, I prefer one of my recurves, and my self made arrows....

I am hoping some of these crossbow hunters enjoy the added time in the hunting season so much from archery enough to stick around and learn to shoot stick and string....

 

[ElkStalkR]

Why not end archery season, have a 3 1/2 month rifle season. More oppurtunity, right? You could still hunt with a bow, right?

Because OK's deer herd could most likely not withstand that amount of harvest. If it could withstand rifle pressure for that long, I would have no problem doing just that.

Basically if the science is there showing that renewable resource Z can withstand X amount of pressure/harvest/utilization. Go for it! Its a public renewable resource and deserves to be utilized at its fullest potential.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

The funny part about all this is that my right shoulder, though it still pops back and forth a bit, has largely healed (maybe 70% over its prior state), due to resting it, and weight training. Mainly the rest, I think. So now I'm thinking of getting another Liberty bow or one of those tiny PSEs, and using it instead of the crossbow (or one of several compounds I have now).

 

[RidgeHunter]

If it could withstand rifle pressure for that long, I would have no problem doing just that.

Of course not, you live in Nebraska!

The herd couldn't withstand it? Here's what you do! 13 inch inside spread limit with 4 points to a side, one buck per year. IIRC, most deer killed are yearling bucks. Adjust the doe limits accordingly.

Now we are getting somewhere! Spread limits and a 1 buck limit means we'd grow the big bucks and at the same time reduce the harvest to sustainable numbers, 3 1/2 month rifle season means hunting ops could sell yuppies the chance to sit in a box a watch for them every weekend for 3 months straight.

A 3 1/2 month rifle season would be awesome! Especially for those of us in the most heavily hunted counties of the state. We'd always have plenty of hunting buddies, invited or not! Shhhh....can't wear blaze orange, we beeing vewwy vewwy sneaky. Hunting deers on other peoples land is like hunting wabbits. Be vewwy vewwy sneaky.

Over a decade on the same place with an average of 30+ nights in a tent, I can tell you when gunshots at night are heard and when the trespassers are seen. Hint: It's not bow season. 40 years for the landowner, during rifle he hunts trespassers more than deer. Rifle season is fun for a while, but after the second weekend of hearing jacklighters shoot deer at night at seeing trespassers we are about ready for it to go.

The day we lose archery season is the day I either wrestle with my conscience about bowhunting illegally out of season or I buy a bird dog and give it up. I bowhunt because I like the calm of bowseason, not because I like my bow. Same for most everyone else I know.

Again, just my opinion. There is more to hunting that "just a resource". We wouldn't have so many regulations if it was "just a resource". More opportunity for people with money and/or huge tracts of land could mean less oppurtunity for public land hunters and people on small acreages in the eastern half of the state.

 

[ElkStalkR]

Of course not, you live in Nebraska!

Yep, live in Nebraska. Wouldn't care if they did it here either. Still come back home and deer hunt a couple times of year.

Didn't say anything about outlawing archery and making you an outlaw, just that I have no problem with rifles being expanded.

Rest assured all public resources are just as regulated as hunting/widlife is. Ask anybody in the energy or water game.

Obviously a greatly expanded rifle season would have a negative effect on our deer herd even by your own admissions. As you mentioned we would have to significantly reduce bag limit. 1 buck a year maybe with some sort of spread/point rule and maybe a doe or two.

Texas (who everybody points too) has a real deer problem. Many of thier counties have a 3 month rifle season in which you can kill 5 deer a year (no more than 2 maybe bucks), and they still don't kill enough. Can Oklahoma say that about any of thier counties? Probably not. Thats what I meant by expanding rifle season. Expand it and keep the limits the same, IF the herd could withstand the harvest.

Don't get too worked up, their is no real threat of this happening in Okie anytime soon, as I don't believe we have the deer density to support it.

 

[RidgeHunter]

Don't get too worked up, their is no real threat of this happening in Okie anytime soon, as I don't believe we have the deer density to support it.

I'm not worked up. Just trying to get people to think about things they may not have thought about before. Just like you are doing. This was a repost thread anyways, might as well have some dialogue.

As far as it happening soon, expanding gun season was on the informal agenda and kicked around at meetings last winter. I know some committee members and legislators have expressed interest in it in the past, and my general mistrust of people wearing suits leads me to believe there may be an ulterior motive for it.

Any major expansion of gun season will increase lease prices and the people who lose their leases will cause a rise in public land pressure. I would bet money on it.

To give hunter B oppurtunity, you often have to take it from hunter A.

With a 3 1/2 month archery season now including x-bows, 9 day muzzleloader season, 16 day rifle season, youth gun season and holiday gun antlerless season, comparatively low lease prices, a good amount of public land and good controlled hunt system, we are doing pretty good on oppurtunity.

By the way, 69 days to go![Broken External Image]

 

[AllOut]

Multiple advantages. First off, aiming with a scope over pin sights, which makes me more accurate. Secondly, I'm shooting from a sitting position, so I'm more stable than shooting from a standing position. I don't have to draw in front of game. However, a compound can accomplish the same thing when hunting from a blind.

Point is, shoot what you like, but don't begrudge others for doing the same. Recurve guys resisted compounds the same way compound guys are resisting xbow hunters. Recurve purists still argue that compound shooters are taking the easy route with cams, trigger release, 80% let off, stabilizers, mounted rangefinders the list goes on. An xbow has advantages over a compound just like a compound has advantages over a recurve. It's the evolution of hunting gear and there will always be elitists.

Im not trying to begrudge or resist xbows... hell i may barrow one to whack a doe for the fun of it!
But we went over this before here and it really bugs me... Why do people has this misunderstanding that xbows are far more advanced and better than a compound? There is nothng about an Xbow that is superior, not faster, not more accurate, less penitration and wont shoot any further. As for hunting I shoot sitting down with my compound almost allways and drawing a bow isnt any worse than having to swing a big xbow around to aim and not to mention trying to shoot any longer distance without a rest. The only thing that is better is that they are easier to be proficiant with and that is the problem i have with them. I shoot my bow almost everyday if possible even in the off season and a 2-3 inch group at 40-50 yards is not a problem but like i said i practice my but off with it. Now anyone can go to Bass Pro buy a xbow climb up a stand put the cross hairs on a deer at 40 and kill it.... isnt bow hunting supposed to be about the challange of the mastering the bow and the gratification of hard work and practice paying itself off, I feel that xbows kind of take that away from it.
Now as for getting more people in the woods, I think u may see a few more early in the year but it takes a different type of person to to what we do and to put that type of dedication into it. I think those fair weather hunters will show up the first few weekends and realize that even with an xbow its not easy and they will soon be on the couch where they belong.

 

[ElkStalkR]

isnt bow hunting supposed to be about the challange of the mastering the bow and the gratification of hard work and practice paying itself off, I feel that xbows kind of take that away from it.


Now as for getting more people in the woods, I think u may see a few more early in the year but it takes a different type of person to to what we do and to put that type of dedication into it. I think those fair weather hunters will show up the first few weekends and realize that even with an xbow its not easy and they will soon be on the couch where they belong.

For you maybe, yes, that's what bowhunting is, but not for everybody.

I do agree with you though. There will be a percentage of people that race out, buy an xbow, and realize..............damn this actually takes TIME. You are still forced to get within bow range even with an xbow. Many may not realize this, but they will soon learn.

 

[dennishoddy]

For you maybe, yes, that's what bowhunting is, but not for everybody.

I do agree with you though. There will be a percentage of people that race out, buy an xbow, and realize..............damn this actually takes TIME. You are still forced to get within bow range even with an xbow. Many may not realize this, but they will soon learn.

Ever try to still hunt a deer with a crossbow? I know I have, and a vertical bow is much easier. Just another disadvantage to a crossbow.

I read a report that pretty much answers some of the questions on here about expanded hunting opportunities.
It was awhile back, and it was either S. Carolina or Alabama, that put a 120 day gun season on deer. A lot of the hunters expressed the same concern being talked about in this thread, of putting too much pressure on the herd.
They ran the study for three or four years, and what they came out with, was that the harvest pretty much stayed the same, and most hunters spent the same number of days in the field as they did on their 16 day season.
The deer harvested per hunter was pretty much the same during the 120 day season vs the 16 day. Hunters only need/want so much venison in their freezer, and they only take so many.
Another thing they found out that the 120 day season almost eliminated the crowds on public ground, as not everybody felt the need to get out at the same time. Opening day was busy, but the hunter numbers quickly fell off to a comfortable few. Public land hunters were the most in favor of it.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Interesting, Dennis, and thank you.

How about, a 3.5 month 'rifle' season, except that Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays are bow, xbow, and primitive** only. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of any week, you can use anything you want.

**Primitive being like Colorado: No scopes, no pelletized powder, no saboted bullets, and no smokeless powder.