Tell me about cross bows

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Okie4570

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There’s this thing called a gun. And this thing called gun season

So do you shoot a match lock or a flintlock during muzzle loader or a lever gun with open sights during firearms season? Or do you cheat and use scopes and caps and primers and water proof ammo? Hand made long bow during archery season or a cheater compound bow with sights with 80% let off, and a release?
 

nich018

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I once was a Ranger at Thunderbird and personally would not hunt there because the deer are pretty tame. Not much sport in shooting one that is not afraid of people. That being said, they are going to die anyway when they get 6-7 years old, so harvesting an older one with 10 points or so, would be a different story. LOL


Absolutely hit the nail on the head!! So true. FIL used to hunt there w/crossbow. It had a crank to pull back.
 

Rollpin

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So do you shoot a match lock or a flintlock during muzzle loader or a lever gun with open sights during firearms season? Or do you cheat and use scopes and caps and primers and water proof ammo? Hand made long bow during archery season or a cheater compound bow with sights with 80% let off, and a release?

A crossbow is certainly advantageous over a compound or trad bow. Very little experience or skill puts a shooter at the extreme end of a regular bow’s range very quickly. They’d be better off in ML or rifle season. Unsure about the rest of the West, but in CO, the crossbow is considered a rifle and disallowed during archery season. While I disagree with much of CO’s take on things, I agree with their official stance on crossbows.

Archery season is a long time.

On archery talk’s forum it always devolves to the exception as a point of argument: the infirm or elderly. But the reality is all it has done is open the door of archery season to the lazy. If someone is truly unable to pull a regular bow, they need to either go to gun season or, if it were possible, get an exception from the state with a legit doctor note. But for heathy men and women to jump on the bandwagon does nothing good.
 

Okie4570

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A crossbow is certainly advantageous over a compound or trad bow. Very little experience or skill puts a shooter at the extreme end of a regular bow’s range very quickly. They’d be better off in ML or rifle season. Unsure about the rest of the West, but in CO, the crossbow is considered a rifle and disallowed during archery season. While I disagree with much of CO’s take on things, I agree with their official stance on crossbows.

Archery season is a long time.

On archery talk’s forum it always devolves to the exception as a point of argument: the infirm or elderly. But the reality is all it has done is open the door of archery season to the lazy. If someone is truly unable to pull a regular bow, they need to either go to gun season or, if it were possible, get an exception from the state with a legit doctor note. But for heathy men and women to jump on the bandwagon does nothing good.

It's opened the door for lots of kids to be able to deer hunt for 3.5 months in OK instead of just 3 weeks with rifle and/or ML. I think it's pretty crazy for folks to dog other folks for using a crossbow when they themselves hunt with inline scoped ML, nothing primitive about it, but it meets the definition of a ML, just as a crossbow meets the definition of archery equipment. If the ODWC would let me use an atlatl I do it in a heartbeat :)
 

Rollpin

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Ok, but again, kids are an exception; I never see anyone bemoaning kids or the elderly. I see people calling foul on the able bodied doing in a few days (accuracy and distance) what the rest of us archers have to spend all year practicing to even hope to achieve. Why should some able bodied man or woman be able to do it, if the point of accepting it is exception? It results in a lack of woodsmanship and effort. I don’t like muzzle loader either. Especially when their season is right in the middle of the Elk rut.
 

Gunbuffer

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So do you shoot a match lock or a flintlock during muzzle loader or a lever gun with open sights during firearms season? Or do you cheat and use scopes and caps and primers and water proof ammo? Hand made long bow during archery season or a cheater compound bow with sights with 80% let off, and a release?
Just a Recurve
 

ElkStalkR

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That is an entry level???? I would be doing good to afford something like this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/150-lb-Bla...rrows-180-80-50/302056291580?var=600852949039

Oh for sure their are cheaper crossbows to be had but they won’t be made in the USA. That means something to some people and some people could careless.

I won’t belittle anyone for whatever they decide to shoot and if that’s all you can afford then that’s all you can afford. Buy it and enjoy hunting with it.
 

ElkStalkR

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How long have these things been legal and how exactly have they effected your personal hunting?

I can’t believe people still moan about this. Guess you need something to complain about.

You don’t like it then petition to get it outlawed. Until then I’m gonna hunt with whatever is legal and the naysayers can find a bucket of sand and a hammer.

I’ve said this many times before but those “purist” who bad mouth others make no friends and when the public comes after their method of choice for being “cruel and inhumane” they may have a hard time finding any other hunters to defend them.
 

Okie4570

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Ok, but again, kids are an exception; I never see anyone bemoaning kids or the elderly. I see people calling foul on the able bodied doing in a few days (accuracy and distance) what the rest of us archers have to spend all year practicing to even hope to achieve. Why should some able bodied man or woman be able to do it, if the point of accepting it is exception? It results in a lack of woodsmanship and effort. I don’t like muzzle loader either. Especially when their season is right in the middle of the Elk rut.

I've made my own bows and killed deer with them, everyone should at some point if capable. That doesn't keep me from breaking out the crossbow or compound on occasion, and I don't think less of anyone else who does either. Unless it morally wrong to someone, if it's legal, go for it. I don't see any difference in woodsmanship between someone sitting in a ladder stand above a corn pile at 15y with a compound, sights, and release or doing the same with a crossbow. The only difference would be drawing your compound, which isn't that big of task to complete imo.

Now if you're talking about woodsmanship as in spot and stalk with a longbow vs a crossbow, I could see a crossbow advantage...........I'm guessing less than 1% of hunters at most spot and stalk whitetails with a bow of any kind. Mulies and elk are different of course.
 

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