Hold up a sec - is someone or anyone 100% sure that this is now the LAW here?!? The original link refers to a legislative session and a proposed senate bill - this one made it through?
If this is law now I guess i will have to go buy a TAC 15 upper now.
I called the ODWC today and the lady I spoke with said yes a bill had been Passed to allow crossbows during archery season.
I saw that. I really don't like it, personally. I really don't like how the bill originated and was pushed through, but what can you do.
I'm ALL for crossbow use by anybody that does not have the ability to draw a vertical bow. 100% for it.
However, I'm a young man, not disabled in any way. I have no physical problem preventing me from using a vertical bow during archery season. I would feel like like a lazy goober using one, being that I am fully able. A huge part of the fun I get from bowhunting is trying to make that huge, fairly rapid draw motion without being detected by the deer.
Archery season is supposed to be a challenge, being a 20-something in good shape, it just would not feel right for me to use a crossbow. JMO.
I just hope I remain healthy and physically able to use a vertical bow long into old age.
It doesn't really matter to me anymore. I'll still be in the woods with vertical bow anyways, getting busted like usual trying to draw back on those goofy critters. I'll also be taking my recurves out more and more as the years go by.
I'm ALL for crossbow use by anybody that does not have the ability to draw a vertical bow. 100% for it.
However, I'm a young man, not disabled in any way. I have no physical problem preventing me from using a vertical bow during archery season. I would feel like like a lazy goober using one, being that I am fully able. A huge part of the fun I get from bowhunting is trying to make that huge, fairly rapid draw motion without being detected by the deer.
Archery season is supposed to be a challenge, being a 20-something in good shape, it just would not feel right for me to use a crossbow. JMO.
I just hope I remain healthy and physically able to use a vertical bow long into old age.
It doesn't really matter to me anymore. I'll still be in the woods with vertical bow anyways, getting busted like usual trying to draw back on those goofy critters. I'll also be taking my recurves out more and more as the years go by.
Topics like this have been fodder for discussion since the beginning of time.
The rock throwing guys didn't like the slingshot folks, and the smooth bore rifle shooters said that it was criminal and unethical to use a rifled barrel in war.
The traditional bow folks screamed bloody murder when the compounds came out and many states passed laws to stop them back in the day.
Muzzle loader hunters that used sidelocks screamed unfair when when inlines were brought back in recent years, forgetting that inline muzzleloaders came before sidelocks.
With the poor steel of yester year, the inlines were dangerous, and were converted to side locks with massive plugs to keep them from taking the heads off of the shooters.
Obviously, nobody remembers the crossbow is using 2000 year old technology in its design.
You still have to get as close to the game as a longbow, or compound with the skills of a woodsman, move the crossbow to a shooting position, and take the shot with a weapon that is no faster than a compound.
Compound bows can use red dots, scopes, and whatever.
I'm proud that Okla has the foresight to see this.
Its about time.
The rock throwing guys didn't like the slingshot folks, and the smooth bore rifle shooters said that it was criminal and unethical to use a rifled barrel in war.
The traditional bow folks screamed bloody murder when the compounds came out and many states passed laws to stop them back in the day.
Muzzle loader hunters that used sidelocks screamed unfair when when inlines were brought back in recent years, forgetting that inline muzzleloaders came before sidelocks.
With the poor steel of yester year, the inlines were dangerous, and were converted to side locks with massive plugs to keep them from taking the heads off of the shooters.
Obviously, nobody remembers the crossbow is using 2000 year old technology in its design.
You still have to get as close to the game as a longbow, or compound with the skills of a woodsman, move the crossbow to a shooting position, and take the shot with a weapon that is no faster than a compound.
Compound bows can use red dots, scopes, and whatever.
I'm proud that Okla has the foresight to see this.
Its about time.
You may still have to get as close with a crossbow, but you don't have to draw the bow. How many people have been busted while drawing?
I like the challenge, that's why I switched to longbows and recurves. When I shot a compound I could draw while they were 50-60 yards out behind brush and wait until they got into range.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against crossbows or compounds, but I do think there is a big difference between drawing on an animal that's within 20 yards and using a bow that's already locked back.
I'd rather see a separate season for crossbows added, i.e. You can use a bow that you have to draw the whole season, then add locked bows, then add muzzleloaders, then rifles, etc...
I like the challenge, that's why I switched to longbows and recurves. When I shot a compound I could draw while they were 50-60 yards out behind brush and wait until they got into range.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against crossbows or compounds, but I do think there is a big difference between drawing on an animal that's within 20 yards and using a bow that's already locked back.
I'd rather see a separate season for crossbows added, i.e. You can use a bow that you have to draw the whole season, then add locked bows, then add muzzleloaders, then rifles, etc...
Some states have tried this. It just doesn't work.
Colo. banned scopes and rimfires. After the first year, they reverted back the same law.
You nailed it on the head, Dennis.
And lookit it guys, make no mistake about it, an xbow or string hold device most certainly gives you a marked advantage - NOT because it makes you more accurate necessarily (though it does a little bit potentially), but because of the all-important facts that (a) first and foremost, you no longer have to MOVE (draw) after you see the game - that's what's the most difficult about bow hunting is waiting for the game to look away or go behind brush so you can draw without being seen (or heard for that matter, if your bow squeaks or your arrow falls off the rest, etc.), and (b) you can hold without shaking as long as you need to, instead of just a minute or so. On my bow deer last year, I had held, and held, and held, and held - waiting for that deer to take just ONE more step. I was shaking like a madman due to muscle fatigue - luckily it was only a 13 yard shot and easy to make even shaking like that. Incredible advantage a crossbow is - but not really because of accuracy issues, or really even range issues. Yes it offers more range, but a good hunter can get the game to come by very close most of the time, with woodsmanship skills - setting up by trails, etc.
I suspect H&H may sell a LOT of those Tac-15s and Tac-10s in the next 6 months!
And lookit it guys, make no mistake about it, an xbow or string hold device most certainly gives you a marked advantage - NOT because it makes you more accurate necessarily (though it does a little bit potentially), but because of the all-important facts that (a) first and foremost, you no longer have to MOVE (draw) after you see the game - that's what's the most difficult about bow hunting is waiting for the game to look away or go behind brush so you can draw without being seen (or heard for that matter, if your bow squeaks or your arrow falls off the rest, etc.), and (b) you can hold without shaking as long as you need to, instead of just a minute or so. On my bow deer last year, I had held, and held, and held, and held - waiting for that deer to take just ONE more step. I was shaking like a madman due to muscle fatigue - luckily it was only a 13 yard shot and easy to make even shaking like that. Incredible advantage a crossbow is - but not really because of accuracy issues, or really even range issues. Yes it offers more range, but a good hunter can get the game to come by very close most of the time, with woodsmanship skills - setting up by trails, etc.
I suspect H&H may sell a LOT of those Tac-15s and Tac-10s in the next 6 months!
No offense intended, but, come on, with 80-85% let-off, at 70 lbs draw weight, a person is only holding 10.5-14 lbs at full draw!
I wonder how many people who insist that crossbows are too easy or somehow unfair have actually hunted with one???
I have been through MANY of these types of discussions and, when you finally cut through the BS, it ALWAYS comes down to the fact that the "primitive" folks don't want to share "their" season with more "modern" equipment, even when that "modern" equipment has virtually identical performance.
I guess it's all a moot point now since the law has changed.
PS: I whacked this guy last November with an Excalibur crossbow at 5 yards. Don't really think it would have mattered what type of bow I was shooting at 5 yards??
I wonder how many people who insist that crossbows are too easy or somehow unfair have actually hunted with one???
I have been through MANY of these types of discussions and, when you finally cut through the BS, it ALWAYS comes down to the fact that the "primitive" folks don't want to share "their" season with more "modern" equipment, even when that "modern" equipment has virtually identical performance.
I guess it's all a moot point now since the law has changed.
PS: I whacked this guy last November with an Excalibur crossbow at 5 yards. Don't really think it would have mattered what type of bow I was shooting at 5 yards??
Yes, but it's all relative, as they say - it's all a matter of degree. Sure, a compound is easy to hold with a major letoff. But (a) some of the older ones have a lot less (like the '99 Hoyt I was using last year) - 55%, 60%, 65%, etc., and (b) it still gets VERY hard to hold after a couple of minutes, and/or if you're older/weaker/female. It's all relative to your physical condition, the amount of letoff, and the time you 'need' to hold to wait for the game to step where you want.
A crossbow is much much MUCH easier to get game with than a bow - it's closer to a muzzleloader than a bow you have to draw, because aside from woodsmanship, not moving or making noise is 90% of the issue, and the draw makes you move.
Now don't confuse "easier" and "much easier", with "TOO easy" or "unfair" - those are different ideas. But the answer to your question is yes, plenty of people who have hunted with one make the judgment that they're easier. Whether those same people come to the conclusion that they're "too easy" or "unfair", I seriously doubt it, because if they think that way, they wouldn't be using one in the first place, because they'd consider it cheating.
Yes, you're exactly right! They don't want more people coming in and infringing on their exclusive season, where they act like and think they are Grizzly Adams.
There are degrees of improved performance. Don't think that I am espousing that this is a bad thing. I'm not. I like it. I want every advantage possible, personally, because I don't get to hunt that much, and hunting is HARD where I hunt deer (pressured/poachers, etc.).
Absolutely, yes - You bet it would, potentially. You didn't have to draw. That's by far and away the hardest part of bowhunting, aside from woodsmanship/getting close to the game. In fact, it's much more likely that being at 5 yards, that xbow gave you an even BIGGER advantage than had you shot it at say, 20 yards, because at 5 yards, it's really, REALLY hard to draw without getting busted. Nice deer, by the way.
Let's not kid ourselves. Xbows offer a *tremendous* advantage. But this is a good thing, as far as I am concerned, not a bad thing. I just don't care about having these 'traditional' seasons. I see the point of view of those that do, and don't blame them at all for thinking that way, but with the deer population exploding, I have no problem at all with this rule. I like it.
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