The only reason I'm not THAT keen on making crossbows legal for young, non-disabled people is the fact that originally multiple deer seasons were made so that if a person wanted to put forth the time and effort it takes to hunt with something like a bow, they would be rewarded with less hunters afield and more hunting days, as well as places to hunt you cannot hunt with a rifle.
If we were just going for oppurtunity here, we could just use rifles for 3 1/2 months. Then we'd have a buttload of people in the woods all the time and all the downsides that go with that.
I have a bunch of old Guns and Ammo magazines from the 60's, the ads for bows say "Become a 2 season hunter, enjoy the fun of hunting unpressured game." That is what I like about bow season. After opening day of rifle in my area, It becomes rare to even see a deer until Christmas. Too many people, I hunt the must heavily hunted county in NE Oklahoma. I enjoy the absolute hell out of bow season and the low number of hunters.
It's not that I think I'm holier than crossbow users, it's that I'd be a little sad if it leads to having as many hunters in the woods during bow season as we do in rifle. Hopefully that won't happen. I'm all for more people hunting, but we can't just makes 3 1/2 months a "use anything you want season" just for the oppurtunity. If it's just a few compound users that switch out for a x-bow, that's their choice. I just hate to see the woods flooded with people who would never have put forth the effort to bow hunt before, when they were physically able. Selfish, but I'm being honest.
Some states have shown that their was not a huge difference in bow season hunter numbers when they legalised crossbows. I just hope that is the case here.
And no, I'm not ashamed to say what I said above. The reward for doing something most people would not put forth the effort to do was getting "your own" season. If it wasn't, there would be no such thing as bows season, only use whatever you want season.
There was a push for a really long rifle season last year too. People don't realize that the main people that would benefit are commercial hunting ops. They could book rifle hunt after rifle hunt every weekend, making huge money.....and they would buy up our land to do it. Leases would all but disappear and prices would skyrocket. See Texas. I think we will become Texas II in my lifetime, and our lease prices and land prices will double within 1-2 years of when we pass a 3 month rifle season. I'd bet on it.There are often major downsides to things that sound good on the surface, and you have to question why the lawmakers want them. Just my ramblings. I'm just glad I have private land to hunt, for now.
If we were just going for oppurtunity here, we could just use rifles for 3 1/2 months. Then we'd have a buttload of people in the woods all the time and all the downsides that go with that.
I have a bunch of old Guns and Ammo magazines from the 60's, the ads for bows say "Become a 2 season hunter, enjoy the fun of hunting unpressured game." That is what I like about bow season. After opening day of rifle in my area, It becomes rare to even see a deer until Christmas. Too many people, I hunt the must heavily hunted county in NE Oklahoma. I enjoy the absolute hell out of bow season and the low number of hunters.
It's not that I think I'm holier than crossbow users, it's that I'd be a little sad if it leads to having as many hunters in the woods during bow season as we do in rifle. Hopefully that won't happen. I'm all for more people hunting, but we can't just makes 3 1/2 months a "use anything you want season" just for the oppurtunity. If it's just a few compound users that switch out for a x-bow, that's their choice. I just hate to see the woods flooded with people who would never have put forth the effort to bow hunt before, when they were physically able. Selfish, but I'm being honest.
Some states have shown that their was not a huge difference in bow season hunter numbers when they legalised crossbows. I just hope that is the case here.
And no, I'm not ashamed to say what I said above. The reward for doing something most people would not put forth the effort to do was getting "your own" season. If it wasn't, there would be no such thing as bows season, only use whatever you want season.
There was a push for a really long rifle season last year too. People don't realize that the main people that would benefit are commercial hunting ops. They could book rifle hunt after rifle hunt every weekend, making huge money.....and they would buy up our land to do it. Leases would all but disappear and prices would skyrocket. See Texas. I think we will become Texas II in my lifetime, and our lease prices and land prices will double within 1-2 years of when we pass a 3 month rifle season. I'd bet on it.There are often major downsides to things that sound good on the surface, and you have to question why the lawmakers want them. Just my ramblings. I'm just glad I have private land to hunt, for now.