nannyslayer
New Member
Funny how things go sometimes. Right now I have a crossbow permit filled out and signed by my doctor. I have done a lot of research about this and just feel it is time for me to move on with this issue. My shoulders just aren't very comfortable shooting even my old recurve of 42 pounds any more and I tried shooting my compound from the early 80s. It was 60 pounds with 65 percent let off and energy wheels instead of big cams. The string loop and release and peep sight and fiber optic sight pins made it much more accurate than my recurve or long bows but still was difficult to shoot much and I couldn't get it drawn and held and shot with out bumping the sides or window frame of the portable blind I was trying to use. Because I am approaching that 65 age my wife thinks that I shouldn't be climbing trees or ladders any more, so I have to use some kind of blind.
Research has shown me that while it isn't difficult to hit targets accurately at 40 or 50 yards, that almost all crossbow hunters restrict their shots to about 30 or 35 yards much like I have done with the stickbows. The noise and twang really can cause a deer to react, just watch some videos. If crossbows were allowed I don't believe for a minute that there would be a huge influx of new hunters just because they could use a crossbow. None of the other states that allow them have experienced any of that. Just like the silly season allowing rifles to be used hunting antlerless deer didn't cause a great increase of hunters just because of the novelty of it. The same thing would happen with crossbows.
For those of you who are convinced that crossbows are evil and way to easy to use think about this. Draw locks for compound bows have been legal for several years in Iowa so why aren't people complaining about them? I personally think that compound bows that have 85% or even 90% let-off should not be used and all the modern advances in sights and releases and ultra high arrow speeds just make using a compound bow just too easy and doesn't require nearly as much practice to stay proficient as my old recurve does. If you want to shoot a 90lb bow to get more speed and energy then you should be drawing and holding 90lbs just like Fred Bear or Howard Hill did cause that is what real bow hunters did.
My point is if a hunter wants or needs to use a crossbow who are we to say NO you aren't as good or ethical a bow hunter as I am with my high speed decked out compound bow. That is not the case and I would challenge any of you to put down the compound and take up a longbow to enhance your own difficulty before you pass judgement on some of us who see a need for a weapon that will give us some of the same advantages that you have over the longbow users. None of us have that right.:way:
I agree. I had to use a crossbow for a season awhile back do to a shoulder injury. They are big, awkward, loud, and do not have the distance that my compound bow has. If people are upset about them, and feel as they give someone a huge advantage over a compound bow, I dare them to pick one up and use if for a while. They kind of suck when you are used to using a compound.
But we shouldn't limit people if that is their choice that they choose to use as a weapon.
I laughed and laughed at a guy in an archery shop this past fall complaining about crossbows. Then I saw him take out his top line hoyt bow, decked out with every little thing you could imagine, and then he was bragging on how he was having 2 inch groups at 60 yards......... yet he didn't like the idea of a kid or a woman using a crossbow to get out during archery season........