The word "CROSSBOW", What is it......

[moxie1884]

The word "CROSSBOW", What is it about that word which makes almost every one who belongs to a state archery or bow hunter association, need a prescription of a strong dose of valium or prozac? 

I was a traditionalist and could be very opposed to the compound bow because of all the ease there is built in to it for shooting.   What would happen if the compound bow was taken out of the archer season?

[fasteddie]

I guess i'd be shooting a recurve . My oldest son sold his Compound and went to a recurve to make hunting more challanging . Maybe I would follow in his footsteps ..............

[JOEL]

what is it  about crossbow users always  wanting to push the issue?

[coach]

The way I look at it.....Its a tool use for hunting.
 
Some people will give you the old  bla bla bla, its not being traditional...or some crazy bushwacker will take a shot at a deer 245 yards away...more wounded animals....(whatever)
Then they say its too fast...goes to far....you aim like a gun....
To me, its just like blackpowder.  The original blackpowder only went 60-90 yards with a round ball.
Now....you can shoot at 200 yards. Its like shooting a rifle single shot.
 
Its a money thing thing.  The more product....the better.
 
 
I hunt with a recurve, compound, crossbow, shotgun, rifle, and muzzleloader.
 
There's crazy people everywhere.   I'm one of them.....WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH[:D]
 
People don't like them.....that's cool.......all the have to do is say so....they just shouldn't give
any unreasonable or unreal statistic. 

[Everyday Hunter]

I don't have any exposure to crossbows, but I will have some within the next month. I tend to agree with coach that it is just another tool. I don't see why anyone except the absolute purist (traditional longbow or recurve user) would complain about them.

Maybe I'll have more thoughts after I am exposed to them.

Steve

[MDV WI hunter]

I think it also has to do with the "C" word - change.  In WI, 2008 was the first year they made the entire state rifle "legal".  Wow, what an uproar about safety and the yahoos and such.  Well, after everything was all said and done, 2008 was once again a very safe season and one of the best on record for gun related fatalities.  Of the very unfortunate fatalities, most were careless mistakes getting up and down from treestands.
 
I'm neither for nor against, I choose to use a compound bow and a rifle.  To each his own....

[coach]

What ever your using, hunters should keep something in mind.
 
If you get the same adrenaline rush, heart pounded excitment, so thrill you can barely breath, by shooting a bow, crossbow...or rifle....Then Your playing the game right.

[Squirrelhawker]

ORIGINAL: JOEL

what is it  about crossbow users always  wanting to push the issue?

Not pushing, so much as promoting and defending our right to use the implement of our choice in the face of blatant elitism and discrimination from the very people who should standing by us.

[Squirrelhawker]

Should we ever get our heads out of someplace south of our belly buttons, and the CB becomes a legal hunting tool in NY, we will see many positive developments.

But one in particular I predict will be this:

We will see the CB function as all methods do for many, in that they become stepping stones as we move through the various phases of our hunting careers.
As I and many other hunter ed instructors do we illustrate how the hunter can go through many phases- not all phases for everyone and not all in the same way but the journey is different for every hunter.

In the beginning it is for many, about shooting. Then as time goes on about being successful in terms of bag limits, and then sooner or later it comes down to method. As a lad I hunted small game with a shotgun. And then gravitated to squirrels with a .22 As for deer I now hunt deer with all legal implements in NY- shotgun, bow, and rifle.(I do not posses a handgun permit) There was a time I wouldn't have considered anything but the modern slug gun. I have increased my enjoyment because it became more than meat that I was after. After many twists in my outdoor journey I now hunt small game exclusively with a red-tailed hawk as a licensed falconer. It is for me the epitome of "method based hunting"

All that to say this. My journey is different from yours and the guy down the road. I think we will see the CB for many, to be another path on the journey. Some will love it their whole lives. Some will pass. Others I believe, will stumble onto the joys of other forms of archery- the recurve and the compound. Whatever the reason(s) it must be supported by the rest of the hunting community. Not doing so makes a mockery of what we all hold dear.

Any hunter not supporting the CB that also hunts with muzzleloader, consider how you would feel if a small number of loud, elitist smoke pole guys started yelling at you for using conicals, sabots and fiber optic sights. And tried to enact legislation to stop you?

[NWPAHunter]

Maybe scoped rifles should be outlawed as well....
How about rangefinders and scent killer?????
Heres a good one...lets outlaw food plots after all it just seems to be a glorified bait pile if you ask me......
 
This was all meat to be sarcastic.. We are all hunters regardless of our choice of killing tool. We need to be standing together instead of argueing of who gets the better advantage...Noone is telling you that you have to use one...But If you want to level the playing field buy one too...Otherwise SHUTUP AND HUNT!!!!