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You can't begin to draw that conclusion because 1 taxi figured almost 70% of his new business is from xbows.So that means 70% of the entire county has been xbows?

This is the stuff that annoys me..... I should go buy my wife an xgun and put her in a blind and let her poke a buck! I do have 2 xgunners on my property and both are due to physical limitations and age and both put in plenty of time doing it the right way in their lives so I don't rib them (too much that is...)

"Anybody with a beef or concern over the harvest need only direct their anger/concerns to the correct weapon and user group."

See ** — and be careful what you wish for.

Get in the woods to enjoy the hunt and stop worrying about what someone else is doing during their hunt.

Don't dislocate your shoulder rc patting yourself on the back. 2 years of separate tracking is window dressing and completely meaningless as far as xbows use going forward. xbows are not going away and any season limits will now be shared equally with vertical. I saw the Dnr live chat when the dnr guy responded to the 2 year xbow "probation" period in quotes(haha) Dnr loves xbows 1) more license revenue 2) more participation 3) more dead bucks. They would sell 2 million buck tags if they could.I see the xbow license/stamp going away in 2 years. The Dnr could care less whether a deer was taken with a 30 inch shaft or a 16 inch bolt.With on line registration next year I question how invested the dnr has become in how deer are harvested at all. here's an interesting read. Goes hand in hand with online registration imo.

Not unless it was by an act of the Legislature. The 2 year concurrent season was set by the Legislature then it is regulated separately by administrative rule. If the DNR decides to change the season, it would take 2 years to do so. So realistically, the season will run concurrent for 4 years.

Based on what transpired during the crossbow bill, I doubt the legislature is excited to readdress this issue any time soon.

I agree with November in that xbows aren't going anywhere. There will be so much money tied into them from the sales and license perspective that they will be entrenched into WI forever. The 2 year gig is pure window dressing.

Participation has been dropping for "real" bow hunters? No. Last year set an all-time record of 266,573 … that's double the number of archers from when I started in the mid-70s.

"There will be no need to alter the real bowhunting season because the data will show participation and harvest is and will continue to drop for real bowhunters. You dont shorten a season that is in decline"

Fact: 2013 all-time record licenses allowing archery deer hunting sold, 266,573.

Fact: 2012 archery buck kill of 45,988 breaks previous all-time record set in 1999.

Fact: Archery buck kill as a percentage of entire bow/gun buck kill has climbed significantly, from only one of every 30 bucks shot and tagged in the late 1960s to better than one of every three bucks registered in recent years. It was about one out of 13 in the late 70s, one out of seven in the late 80s and one out of five in the late 90s.

With a 20% decline already in archery tags sold this year and a success rate typically between 32-34%, your argument doesn't hold up. Well unless, the remaining 80% of archery hunter become masterful in their techniques and make up the difference. The remaining archery hunter would have to eclipse a 40% success rate to prove your point.

If I were a betting man(which I'm not), I would predict the same success rate for archery as in the past which also resembles the same success rate of gun hunters. Based on other state's crossbow success rates, I'd imagine that to be over 10% more than archery and gun.

Yes, the harvest during the archery and crossbow season will be higher this year but it is not due to archery hunters.

Success rates have remained fairly constant the last 20 years for archery and gun. When the crossbow rates show they're too successful and are taking more than their share of deer, this is when the 400K gun hunters will start to make waves.

As an archery hunter, I'll be with them with my pitchfork and torch:)

Much of that archery tag "decline" is crossbow users (those who qualified with disability or age) who now have to buy a separate license; that's the number that we'd have to add back in in order to make a fair comparison.

"what matters is 2014 and beyond as we will now know how many real bowhunters there are(and their kill) and how many xgunners their are(and their kill)."

And perhaps a paranoid bow hunter (who just so happen to also own three crossbows) also purchased a crossbow license this year so he could report any kills as crossbow? (as if one or two deer would impact the totals, but he's funny like that).

The Full Inclusion bill passed the Assembly unanimously. That bill was supported by the NRA, WWF, some SCI chapters, WBHA and several others. George Meyer told me prior to the bill even being drafted, he and the WWF supported full inclusion.

The Full Inclusion bill would have past the Senate probably by all but 2 votes

There is no one organization who was going to derail that freight train. Heck, no one could topple the NRA in more strict gun laws after the tragic school shooting at the Federal level. ANY change in the Full Inclusion bill was a major victory from the NRA.

Again, being blunt....EVERYONE supported full inclusion and was fighting for it, except WBH and SCI Bowhunters. WTA did not support the bill but were not very active.

A majority of the Senate jumped aboard requesting the bill to be heard by the committee, in fact, there was a request for it to bypass the committee and go straight to the floor for a vote. Only at the 11 hour we were able to amend it and that was because of a few legislators.

But you, glunker, rather fight a complete loser of a battle just to say so.

So once again, being blunt...... There was absolutely NO possible way to defeat the Full Inclusion bill. Come on, say it with me.....Absolutely no possible way, never ever, impossible way to defeat the full inclusion bill.

Personally, there is no "feel good" story in being a loser. The bill was amended to separate the weapons and season. It was the best outcome of a losing situation. What will happen next, who knows but to continue to bash an organization still fighting for the archery season is stupid, especially from a member.

Bluntly....Be happen with what you got, the outcome would not have been any better but it could have been a lot worse.

Not saying that's always the case, and certainly in time crossbows will gain steam. But with far fewer gun hunters than "back in the day" and without earn-a-buck and October antlerless hunts in farm country, at least, is it too far-fetched to believe the extra hunting effort may be needed for herd control?

Just asking, how are other states still able to fight full inclusion if WI was forced into this? Did money get pocketed for this to happen in WI and so quickly at that after having every public vote say No? Walker had the final say on the matter and he signed it in. It seems that he ignored the hunter's votes and went with the money.

Who's fighting and winning? Let me rephrase: What state of any significance is fighting and winning?

PA and MI had already fell, WI was the only large hunting state of any significance left.

You have to get off the pocketed money thing.

To blame Walker is silly. You have a WCC vote of 5K, big deal. Full inclusion was voted down by the WCC popular vote but lost at the county vote. The WCC went against the popular vote and supported full inclusion.

So you had a bipartisan bill, supported by the "public" (WCC), all the orgs(minus 3), passes in both committees, passed unanimously in the Assembly(twice) and the Senate(minus one vote). And you expect the governor not to sign the bill?

Sure are a lot of bowsiters so very upset at what transpired, yet I remember a lot of empty seats during the hearings.

I did not blame Walker but he did ignore the majority of the hunters. I only asked questions. I am still curious how MN an IL are able to elude full inclusion? Why isn't the NRA, SCI, etc, bullying them?

It still smells of money changing hands when you look at how quickly it happened and against all the public votes. But then again, government is never corrupt :).

I am not anti-xbow. I have lots of friends using them for various reasons. I don't use one. I'm just trying to understand all the wrinkles that brought it about.

I expect MN to fall next. The people from WCF already moved on, one to MN. No one is going to elude it forever.

Last year was not an election year, so legislation went thru. This is an election year and I fairly certain the NRA has circled the wagons for that.

The jump in technology from compound to crossbow is no different than the jump in technology was from longbow/recurve (which I also have) to compound. I have experienced both. The whitetail population has expanded greatly in the era of the compound. Even with its much enhanced range and accuracy for killing, and its effect on expanding the popularity of the sport, the population has increased. Peep site, optic sight, releases, kisser buttons, 300 plus FPS arrow speeds, 80% let off, stabilizers, modern compounds are high tech killing machines. What will the long term effect be in WI? We will have to wait and see.

""Crossbow won't even come close to bow kills."

In year #1. You are correct. You dont however mean that to be "forever". Thats why it was so smart to keep the two weapons seperate in terms of the ability to manage their seasons. "

NO They keep a running track themselves. Again you insert your liberal all knowing opinion to put down what others have found. The kill is also waaay down.

Why don't you come up to Northen Wis. and take a look at the population. Very sad we don't even have doe tags available.

I don't know Ashland County, so all I can do is look at data.

Definitely can see the harvest numbers are down from the glory days of the 90s and even from the very good numbers as recently as '07 (4,400+).

The weird thing is, the reported DOT vehicle/deer accidents in Ashland Co. have actually increased from just 33 in '08, 38 in '09, 39 in '10 and 77 in '11 to 92 in '12 and 89 last year. That's odd, considered the harvest last year didn't even hit 2,000.

""Definitely can see the harvest numbers are down from the glory days of the 90s and even from the very good numbers as recently as '07 (4,400+). ""You forgot to mention that was the start of the BIG doe massacre \!

"dc-acher "" The whitetail population has expanded greatly in the era of the compound. Even with its much enhanced range and accuracy for killing, and its effect on expanding the popularity of the sport, the population has increased""

Why don't you come up to Northen Wis. and take a look at the population. Very sad we don't even have doe tags available. "

The county's (and state's) all-time record kill came in 2000, when there was no EAB anywhere. Nearly 7,600 whitetails were shot by hunters in Ashland County that year.

Protecting antlerless deer from hunting in almost all the northern forest zone this season will help the population recover, a boost that could really take off if we don't have another extreme winter any time soon.

" Arrow, registration stations send stubs in regularly, so are you basing your count on a week or two?""

I see no wording that extrapolated it to the whole state. Now,,, one could go as far and say when pollsters do a poll they just take a sampling of the state and not poll every voter to see what may be the trend. I didn't even suggest that.

Your riding that horse awfully high.

My relatives have begun the switch. I do not hunt with them except for gun season. My father has had a crossbow for about 10 years due to being disabled. My uncle who hasn't shot a deer with his bow for probably 8 years, switch to a crossbow and shot a buck opening day. It will only be a short while until his son makes the switch. My father's wife now hunts with a crossbow. Spoke with by brother-in-law last night, he stated he needed a new bow and decided to switch. He also decided my 12 yr old nephew would start hunting with a crossbow. With that, his other two son's I'm sure will begin the same way.

Why? Easier. It's ironic to hear grown men sit and complain about "kids these days"....they need everything "right now" and their "entitlement"; video games, blah, blah, blah. Yet the same grown men go out and make the switch. Talk about "talking through both sides of your mouth'.

I am hoping to get pics of a ten year old that shot a nice buck with a crossbow this past weekend. When Dad was asked why the crossbow he stated it is easier.

I was in Cinncinati this week on business and sat next to a strapping 27 year old on the plane out of there in route to Minnesota. I showed him a book from Asbell on stalking etc He said he uses a compound once in a while but prefers the crossbow. I asked why?? He said easier...

Our friend started to explain my family's involvement with our local club and WBH. She then started to change her tune. She stated her husband was a diehard bowhunter but last year, he couldn't get his bow pulled back in time for a huge buck so he switched the family to crossbows. After realizing what she said, she started making excuses why they switched.

Funny, crossbow hunter's wives making excuses for crossbowing hunters.

If it's so easy, why are success rates only at 32-34%?

Actually, democrats expect deer to be given to them versus them earning a deer :).