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Cross Bows in Iowa....? I hope not

BINGO BINGO BINGO!
IRONIC part is both loneranger and myself moved from MI to Iowa. For me, a huge part to do with the hunting here. In short- MI is a chatostrophic joke for hunting. The epitome of ruining a resource from $, politics, special interests, etc. Iowa is a special & delicate place. Keep it that way. Don't follow the paths of states like MI or PA. Great stuff above, well thought out and backed up, all of it!!!
 
crossbows for the disabled ,maybe elderly say 60 years old.
the problem I see it is we are are own worst enemy,bowhunters buying
extra doe tags,gun groups pounding the small bucks,year after year.
I dont think we will rebound in our area.just to much pressure.

jm2c

kp
 
Sorry I lied one more thot. I moved here because of my wife's family. I could stop deer hunting tomarrow. I keep it up because I like pitting my brain against a wild animal 3 wks a year. Which is what you do in Bow hunting,,and which you also do with a crossbow. I also like venison and getting some food by my ownhands. I garden and grow fruit for this reason too, but I could quit killing deer. Michigan has too large a population. In many respects Iowa does too. Use of crossbows there has not changed that. My next move might be to Idaho, Not because of hunting, but because of the wide open spaces and the mountains. Idaho has the largest wilderness area outside of Alaska!
 
Sligh1 said:
BINGO BINGO BINGO!
IRONIC part is both loneranger and myself moved from MI to Iowa. For me, a huge part to do with the hunting here. In short- MI is a chatostrophic joke for hunting. The epitome of ruining a resource from $, politics, special interests, etc. Iowa is a special & delicate place. Keep it that way. Don't follow the paths of states like MI or PA. Great stuff above, well thought out and backed up, all of it!!!
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As a hunter here in Michigan I agree with you that Michigan does not compare to Iowa in terms of quality hunting. No arguement there.

As a bowhunter I would also agree with the idea that I'm not a huge fan of crossbows for the general public and was not super thrilled when they were opened up here in Michigan.

I do however think it is a bit misleading to imply that crossbows are a leading contributor to making Michigan worse than Iowa. Michigan has been at a level well below Iowa (and several other midwest states) for as long as I can remember and well before crossbows were ever discussed. Factors such as hunting pressure, habitat and hunter mentality (to name a few simple reasons, there are many more) have "doomed" Michigan far more than the introduction of crossbows ever could.

In fact, I would argue that hunting (referring to big buck hunting) has gotten better in the years since crossbows were introduced. Why? Well it has nothing to do with crossbows. It has to do with a change in the culture and mindset of much of the hunting population.

I don't have any harvest numbers for Michigan pre and post crossbow introduction but from my personal standpoint.......it hasn't made much, if any difference, in my hunting experience. Again, I am not a big fan of them and don't see them as true "archery" equipment but I can't point to any particular negative impact they've had on my personal hunting.
 
loneranger said:
Try a CrossBow sometime. Ya might become a fan?
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My dad and father inlaw both use them and I have shot them both several times. Shooting them is more fun than taking out the garbage but that's about as far as it goes for me. They do nothing for me and I would way, way rather shoot my compound.

Again, I'm not really a fan of them in the archery season but I also don't go around looking down at those who use them. To each their own but for me, I'm sticking with a compound.
 
Hunt with what you like and fill your tag. Kills me everyone on hear complaining about their deer being shit by everyone out there. First of all quit buying and filling all those extra tags. I've bought two doe tags since they started selling them and never filled them. When it started I told my hunting buddies they were foolish for shooting so many each year along with 30 to 40 predation tags. Now guess who wants to hunt with me on my property? My dad shoots a crossbow and to be honest I don't care for it, but if one of my kids would like too so what. Buy your tag fill it or not and be done. Also there's still private property to hunt, if you can't find someone and get to know them (means show your face) other than deer season you'd be surprised how many places you could have, if not your probably an ass. This used to be a great site now over time the more I read all I see is greed.
 
Also there's still private property to hunt, if you can't find someone and get to know them (means show your face) other than deer season you'd be surprised how many places you could have, if not your probably an ass. This used to be a great site now over time the more I read all I see is greed.[/QUOTE]


Pretty broad statement. Not every area is the same. Pretty hard to get and keep hunting permission in my area. Have lost most farms over the years to leasing but most landowners have family, friends, and plenty of people asking but only allow a few guys or just one. No amount of friendly banter can change that. Some farms will give permission but then they do to anyone. I wish it were easy as you say. Also after following the thread and don't think that many guys are saying crossbows are junk and to outlaw them. Just leave them out of bow season. I for one don't care if they are allowed gun season. Can't see myself buying one but it would give an option to those that want to hunt the gun season but don't want the boom of guns on their own property. Seasons need to be separated. States where you can gun hunt the rut have far less mature deer. That is the best thing about Iowa and makes it so great. Its bow only.
 
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Elliotcreek said:
Hunt with what you like and fill your tag. Kills me everyone on hear complaining about their deer being shit by everyone out there. First of all quit buying and filling all those extra tags. I've bought two doe tags since they started selling them and never filled them. When it started I told my hunting buddies they were foolish for shooting so many each year along with 30 to 40 predation tags. Now guess who wants to hunt with me on my property? My dad shoots a crossbow and to be honest I don't care for it, but if one of my kids would like too so what. Buy your tag fill it or not and be done. Also there's still private property to hunt, if you can't find someone and get to know them (means show your face) other than deer season you'd be surprised how many places you could have, if not your probably an ass. This used to be a great site now over time the more I read all I see is greed.
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I'll be honest, statements like yours above, bolded, get under my skin. IMO, this is still a great site and just because there is some disagreement between hunters as to how many, where, how, when, etc, deer get shot, does NOT make it NOT a great site. (Sorry for the double negative.)

I am not sure where you some of you live, but disagreement(conflict) is present in every walk of life and in every corner of the world. To have an open discussion where differing points of view are expressed and critiqued is not a bad thing IMO, it is simply normal life. I do not support name calling and ridicule, etc, but it is pure fantasy to think that everyone is going to have the same opinion about everything.

I also do not see it as greedy that some have strong opinions on what is best overall for the management of the state deer herd. Realize that at least a few people posting on this topic are really not personally impacted by a regulation change very much, if at all. It's just that they see the overall negative impact to rest of the state and the great majority of all hunters and they recognize and care about the situation enough to share their perspective and advice.

BTW, if these bad actors were just greedy, they would remain silent and let the deer herd/hunting in the rest of the state crater...and then buy more ground cheaply at the end of that run and manage a large enough area personally that it really doesn't matter what foolish laws the state comes in with. Whether or not you agree with them is one matter, but greedy they are not.

Also, since you, among others have used the word "greedy" to describe others, I would challenge you, and the others that have made the same claim, to identify who you think is greedy and why, and then support those assertions with facts, not opinions. I know a couple of the other "greedy" hunters that are posting in this thread and they commonly allow others to hunt on their land...for free, to stay in their cabins, etc.

Just because someone else has a different opinion than you does not make them greedy, or bad, or whatever.
 
I just want to be clear, which if any of these statements is true?


So far crossbows are allowed in the Late Season, but next year MAY be allowed in the archery season.

or

So far crossbows are allowed in the Late Season, but next year they WILL be allowed in the archery season.

or

So far crossbows are allowed in the Late Season, but I AM AFRAID they will be allowed at some time in the future.
 
I am afraid. I just wish we had some say. I think its good as it is. If they get to where it really is on the table to change I could accept it if it was voted in by hunters I suppose. Be interesting to see a real survey of hunters across the state even so I am strongly opposed to allowing it in the archery season.
 
If you go by past history in Iowa, chances are very slim that crossbows will be allowed during the main archery season. I assume the IBA will fight crossbows in November, and so far they have been very successful getting what they want.
 
I find it hard to believe that this thread has gone on this long, but it does show how self righous and self serving people on both sides of this issue can be, myself included. I currently use a crossbow and enjoy hunting with it just as I enjoyed hunting with a compound and recurve and hand made stickbows. Deer hunting is something I simply enjoy, be it with a cap lock Hawkin, a Knight inline, a Remington 1100, or now the crossbow. I don't hunt BIG BUCKS or just the lowly doe "skin heads", I just hunt deer. I did not make the decision to go to the crossbow either lightly of out of greed, but rather from my love of hunting and my respect for the deer that I hunt.

I didn't go to the crossbow because I am lazy, or greedy, or lacking in skills, I did it because I am getting old and because of an issue with prostate cancer that proably will limit my time to maybe a couple of more years. As for skills I feel that I use the same skills that I have learned and used successfuly over the last 40 plus years of hunting with a pretty long list of weapons. With the crossbow I still use most of the same stands that I used with the stickbows and recurve and muzzle loaders or shotguns, many of which have been in the same place for almost 20 years, and killed deer in about the same places as well.

The last shot I made at a deer with a recurve was a very near miss that went just under her belly but it was also too far back if it had hit her. I do not want to wound a deer because I can't make a good ethical shot due to the fact that my shoulders won't allow me to practice enough to be positive of an accurate arrow every time I release one. I read the post about the 35 lb bow and know that people do kill deer with that every year but it is not for me. In order to kill a deer with a 35lb bow it would require a perfect shot and placement each and every time. How many time on here do we hear about good experenced hunters with the proper equipment that have hit a deer, they feel in a good spot, that can't find it or are asking for help? This is with equipment that can possibly turn a marginal hit into a dead deer, but there is no way that can happen with very low draw weight and low kinetic energy bows. How many more wounded or lost deer would there be if this became common practice instead of those same hunters using a crossbow to kill instead of wounding deer.

I am truly undecided if crossbows should be allowed for the general public during the entire archery season. On one hand I really don't have a dog in the fight because I already enjoy that privlage, but I do have concerns. My concerns are not because I don't think crossbows are archery, or too much like a gun, or because it might allow thousands of hunters to flood the archery season and kill too many bucks. My main concern is that many new comers will feel that crossbows are like guns and believe all the carp about making 100 plus yard shots the first time that they pick up a crossbow. I have heard many bow hunters telling how they stuck a nice deer but couldn't find it so they were just buying more arrows so they can try again for the second or third time. If these type of hunters pick up a cross(gun)bow and now attempt 75 or 90 yard shots to only wound and loose deer that could become a big problem. As of right now the general bowhunters can only use a crossbow during the late bow season or ML season and I think that it will stay that way for a few years. Perhaps if it does change to the full archery season, maybe a special crossbow license should be adapted that would include some kind of proffency test like many cities do for urban hunts. That might discourage many of the "lets just jump on the band wagon" lazy hunters who wouldn't feel that it was worth the effort. I do think that legalized crossbows will be approved at some time in the future so we need to embrace it and figure out some kind of workable compromise while we still can.:D

In closing I want to thank those of you who feel that those of us in the antique class or with disabilities like loneranger and me and several others should be allowed to use crossbows. At least for me this greatly increases my quality of life and keeps me trudging out to my deer stands in the fall. A quote my wife gave me says " life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain" This crossbow hunting is my dance leasons for now!!:)
 
Lmfao at the comment about crossbows during shotgun only....... That's the stupidest thing I read. A crossbow is a bow the shoots a bolt/arrow...... Why the hell would I want to risk my life with the orange army and there guns when I would be shooting a bow/crossbow..... And for the statements all of above are correct. We will see crossbows during all of archery season. Scheels has been selling the shit out of them and now small local shops are stocking up. I talked to a guy who has been selling bows for over 35 years and he said all his normal hoyt shooters have now ordered there crossbows through him. It's a matter of months and we will be seeing them more and more in the woods during archery.
 
I'm not crazy about allowing crossbows into the archery season, and don't use one myself. I do however like the idea of compound bow companies competing in price with the crossbows. I for one started bowhunting many years ago before compound bows. I enjoyed great success with traditional equipment, and was reluctant to buy into the compound craze. I eventually did with the Martin Cougar Magnum, and was seriously hooked. No more instinctive shooting etc., but my effective kill zone doubled. Now a good compound bow setup to hunt will easily set you back $1500. I've gone back to the traditional equipment several years ago. I'm getting older, and my eyes couldn't see the darn pins in the first or last light. Certainly wasn't worth carrying a $1500 piece of equipment that limited my hunting abilities. I enjoy bowhunting as much today as I did when I first started. If it will take another platform to bring the cost of compound bows down, I'm all for it. Bowhunting is bowhunting. Who cares how you kill your deer anymore! I used to hunt with a Thomson Center Hawkins with open sites and round balls. You couldn't use conical bullets or scopes. Now look at what they call primitive weapons for muzzleloader season!
 
I have watched this thread on and off, but have not read every post. I am not 100% sure but it seems that almost everyone arguing for cross bows to be included for everyone in archery season are already using one legally?
That leads me to this question. Do you guys really care that much that cross bows are included in regular archery , or are you more concerned with other hunters that you perceive to be looking down on you for the use of a "lesser" weapon than a vertical bow? Maybe you hope that if everyone gets to use one that more people will learn how challenging a cross bow really is?
I would venture to guess that most hunters who are using a cross bow due to a disability or injury are enduring a greater challenge in the woods than your average 20 to 40 something guy in perfect health with a $1500 compound bow set up (that's me). I guess I see no reason to change the way things currently are, I have a hard time envisioning an improved deer season for the general hunter due to adding cross bows beyond there current allowed use.
 
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