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The MBA? Why not I say.

Yes, that is my opinion and I joined soon after I learned of their existence and I have no regrets nor complaints so, the other thread has me thinking, WHY do people decide to NOT join the MBA?

I'm not going to get all preachy here, I am just honestly curious to hear the reasons non-members have for the choice they have made. Maybe add a little of what you think the MBA can improve on as well.

This is NOT debate free because a good debate is not a bad thing, just keep it civil please.

My major complaints are as follows:

1. I spend too much money at the annual banquet.

2. Sometimes I get a sunburn at the Carp Safari.

Unless the MBA starts monitoring my spending and provides me with sunscreen or a nice umbrella, I might revoke my membership.

Steve

I will second what Steve said re the banquet spending! On the other hand, I have won some great prizes!

One thing I do know is folks were angry over the limited quota / bundling of the Eastern region. We were made to choose our weapons and I am furious that my main hunting buddy has not drawn for 3 consecutive years. This year is the first I have not. *albeit... we put in for archery as 2nd choice. I am of the opinion we do not take enough game to have this imposed on us, especially in light of being over objective annually and now shoulder seasons?!?

I would much rather remain a member and support all the good vs. quit over the one thing I disagree with.

I guess the MBA must be doing everything satisfactory other than free memberships?

I quit because they pushed for permits. F&G says there are too many elk, so I guess the most logical thing is to limit bow hunting and raise gun hunting.

Not a member currently because I let mine expire when times were tough, and have not made the effort to rejoin. Thanks for the reminder I think I will get on that. oz

I will never be a Member again .

dan thats two things we agree on, you must be getting old

There's some pretty good heads running the MBA. They have one of the best Lobbyists in Helena IMO. I'm not a member right now, because I'm a member of so many other groups that I missed re upping. I think I'll fix that shortly.

Shoots I was on the board and saw with my own eyes what goes on in the MBA And I will not ever support them again.

Bigdan, can you tell us what you saw that is prevents you from supporting them?

Yes Dan, let us know what went on, I was there too and as far as I know everything was above board and NOT as you are inferring. Please be specific and not generalize as it was all crap..

Steve you were not there most of the time you were on the board but not at many of the board meetings. When you took your job at Montana trad Archers you did not seam to have time to do both. When the Membership votes 62% to 38% to do one thing and the trad guys in the MBA get a second vote and the results come out the same Then the leaders in the MBA set on it for two years and did nothing. It was a waist of money to do the second vote. There are 45,000 bow hunters in Montana and only about 500 adult MBA members. As a board member I was never brought into the loop in the last year. When I ran for the board I had to write a resume for a election board to be voted if I could run for the board. Were last year a new board member just voted for him self at the MBA convention. and bang he's on the board no resume. or election committee.

Dan you are right I was not there for all board meetings in the last 5 years I have missed 3, Everyone who is nominated to the ballot is required to send in a resume, all did. We done away with that requirement at a board meeting, they just have to be approved by the nominations committee, This resume deal was initiated account we had a board member in years past who had some FWP violations and we thought this would cover our butts with the FWP and our credibility. We do have a write in spot on the ballot and in accordance to our by laws somebody can be elected by a write in ballot in a contested ballot the one with the most votes wins, The 2nd vote was called for at our annual membership meeting and you voted for it. The lighted nock issue was presented to the FWP at the next available time period and they declined. It was the MBA who developed the matrix questionnaire that will in all likelihood allow the lighted nock.

No I did not vote for it and some of the guys in the room were not MBA members and it was down quram vote that passed buy 4 votes and no one checked that the voters were MBA members. And one of a past leaders was a F&G law breaker . The MBA will never be true voice for the hunters in Montana tell they get Past the Long bows are us.

You 2nded the motion, I was surprised, either way we did the 2nd survey, got the info we needed from the membership and proceeded and now its b4 the FWP commission at the Feb, meeting

Steve that never happened When we came out of a board meeting every thing was Settled then it all blew up at the general meeting I was so mad I left the Convention about 3pm after I talked to several guys that were in the room and found out that 4 of them we not members but all planed on joining. The conventions used to be lots of fun. But now its lets get all the money in your pocket.

well you're right about it blowing up at the general membership meeting, the first survey we did asked about supporting all electronics in bowseason and that drew some fire from lots of people. So somebody made the motion to do a mail out ballot survey asking 2 specific questions, 1. do you support the lighted nock in bow season, and 2. do you support electronics mounted to your bow, the lighted nock had more in favor than opposed,, the electronics on the bow was the opposite. I was sure you 2nd the motion, so it carried. We did do the mail out ballot and had a pretty fair return, we submitted our results to the FWP and they told us they were not interested, We developed a matrix or a series of questions the Commission would ask of each new proposed piece of archery equipment somebody wanted to legalize. We submitted that to the commission and they adopted it and also voted to put the lighted nock on the agenda and out for public comment, it will be decided at the Feb. Commission meeting.

Terri & Jen were the leaders of comments from the floor and some ones brother. there is no way I would support anything they said. Like I told you I left the building And drove back to my place in the breaks. Then for the last year I got no emails about any MBA business This whole equipment thing came out of the dark to me when it was done and I got no chance at any input. Another thing is this cluster fuck draw lock that the MBA came up with is the most dangerous thing I have ever seen for a handicap person to try to bow hunt with. The small numbers of handicap hunters out there that has loss the use or one of there of there upper limbs should be able to use a crossbow able body should not. And lots of them lost there arms or use of them were fighting for are country

I just checked my MBA e mails for that time period and you were on all of them not sure why you didn't get the e mail but they seemed to be have sent to you. You and I talked on the phone several times about what was going on. I'm the one who encouraged you to re join the MBA and encouraged you to run for the board, I'm sorry to see you go,

Well I did not get one email all summer from the MBA I was in Landusky from June to November I have no phone there but I did have internet and my email address never changed. And I will never support anything that the MBA puts out and I'm not going to oppose any handicap use of a crossbow for any one missing or loss of use of an upper limb. for able body hunters never.

Sour grapes. So if MBA is "crap" and not worth supporting ... then just who is going to work as a recognized viable entity to protect archery hunting and particularly, the separate archery season?

you all by your self would be my gess

I am staying on as a member. There is a lot of good that has been done. Maybe there are some issues now and maybe I don't agree with everything but in the long run the good far outweighs the bad. I encourage everyone who picks up any kind of bow and enjoys our seasons to join. Division amongst ourselves.........the antis would love to see this thread.

I know of lots of people that would love to be part of an organization such as the MBA! The problem is the hipocriticle attitude of those members that think they should control all types of bowhunting. First of all, look at the website! You talk as if you only support traditional bowhunting because you say that is "Montana Tradition". The first thing you see on the website is an individual standing on a rock with the biggest, baddest compound bow ever built! You should be ashamed of yourself! Then you have the nerve to support legislation on a product (the draw loc system) which is dangerous (I know because I wasted my money on it). You should all be ashamed if you deny anyone the opportunity to be in the woods especially if it would be one of your own parents or disabled person or child because of your own greed! Instead of supporting these individuals and gaining positive membership within your ranks, you have chosen to deny the most precious thing that you enjoy (other than your family), to disabled people disgust me and many others. The denial of the use of crossbows for these people is the demise of your organization in the future! The threads have proven it. The legislature knows it and FWP knows it! Big Dan is right as well as many other members that have left your organization because of this greed. I believe that those of you that continue to deny others the same opportunity as you have are naïve. I am also disgusted by the getting old comments! You should be supporting anything that keeps these older hunters on your side! I don't know about you but if my father didn't teach me how to hunt and I teaching my children how to hunt, who would have taught you? You need these people! They make the best hunters ed. instructers because they have the time! They will without hesitation take your children hunting when you are too busy! They will go to the legislature when no one else is available and represent your organization! But when you crap on them, you lose them forever! Most of the time to other organizations that ACTUALLY CARE! Just think about it the next time that you push something that no longer includes them! Like Big Dan says "DO IT YOURSELF".

Sour grapes; axe to grind; special interest in crossbows ... I get it and applaud you for your advocacy. But don't illogically attempt to connect it to grandpas such as I mentoring and passing on the hunting legacy. It harms the expression of your opinion.

Expressing opinions here for or against probably isn't going to amount to diddly squat. I doubt if more than a dozen or so people even read these threads, but it's about the only place I know of to discuss issues. I believe people have reasons they believe are legitimate for either belonging or not belonging and I respect their decisions either way.

I agree, Tatonka. I just wish some of the reasons weren't so self-centered and narrow.

Sounds to me like you have a good reason to join and affect change.

If the draw loc is as bad as you say then this needs to be addressed. What crossbow are you using and how does it differ from the draw loc? I truly know nothing about it.

Do you have a video using it? Or is there one you could post a link to?

You are right tradmt, here is a picture of the drawloc. I can tell you that a good walk in the field or woods will change your mind about the safety of this outfit. Six or seven years ago I purchased an Excaliber crossbow hoping that the legislation would change. The crossbow has non compound limbs. It does have a scope which is lawful to have on any archery equipment in Montana. I don't think that it is necessary but it came with it. As an accessory it also has a hand crank for individuals that cannot draw that is held onto the back of the stock. I have never shot it and it still sits in the box. In Montana you cannot use it for anything unless you hunt during the gun season. This is ridiculous because of the weather conditions for disabled hunters. This past season I drew a coveted bull tag in the breaks (using up my 12 pts). I spent nearly $300.00 on the DrawLok. My son and hunted for one day only to pack up and go home. For those of you that have shot this equipment at targets, you may think it is the greatest thing ever! But, when you take it to the woods and expose it to tree limbs, brush on the ground and bouncing in rough terrain, it is one scary moment! The safety has a tendency to loosen because if it is too tight it won't go off. When it does loosen, it flips to the off position. This is easy to do because the bow has to be lying on the arrow side on the ground for it stay intact. Needless to say, the tag was wasted, points wasted, etc., etc.. As far as self centered! Ax to grind! Interest in crossbows! That is why YOU are losing membership! http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m561/MK11111/hickorycreek-2.jpg

You can use your crossbow in weapons restricted areas, some of which are open during the archery only season, and some of which are open before and after the rifle season.

Big Muley, those tree limbs and brush are a real pain I know maybe we should get a group together and cut all of the tree limbs off and for sure get rid of all the brush, I mean heck it would be nice if you had no inconveniences at all, I am mad at the MBA for not realizing this and promoting a brush cutting law so you could walk around and not have to worry about getting your bow caught up in that pesky brush or heaven forbid a tree limb,, And Wow the MBA trying to promote Bowhunting as a Montana Tradition regardless of the legal equipment you use. the nerve. You know I know a guy who would like to use his 30-06 during the archery season and that dam MBA fought against that too.

You spent 12 pts on a coveted archery breaks tag? Unless something has changed the odds of drawing 410 as a resident is pretty good. The guys I hunt with have yet to fail to draw the tag. Some units may differ some, but I know who I'd be mad at if I spent 12 pts to draw a tag that takes 0 pts.

Hmmmm, my buddy's Dad shot this bull in the breaks a few years ago with the aid of a draw lock.......he has shoulder and back problems up the wazoo. Anyhow, I looked at it back then but didn't shoot it. I don't remember him complaining about the same problems that you brought up. I think he said it certainly added some weight to his set up. I believe this was in unit 631, so maybe it isn't so brushy. His crew likes to hunt the sage brush flat stuff anyhow. You may want to give it more than one day next time as it's great hunting but I've never killed one out there that fast either.

Your right Big Dan, the MBA is it's own enemy! Their website talks about how much they are willing to help with disabled hunters! Wrong!

you can't help somebody who can't help himself

You guys that complain about single issues......get over it. We aren't going to agree on everything. I personally voted against lighted nocks, the association was strongly in support of them. Ok, got it. I'm moving on, and maybe I'll even use a lighted nock this year. Or wait, they disagreed with me!! how could they? I quit. Give me a break. There is NO other entity that is working to support archery seasons and maintain what we have in MT. We have it better then anywhere else. Look at the big picture. Get on board and have a say. Or just complain on this site amongst others who you probably have a lot more in common with then not.

Well said^^^^^^^

I had more than one issues the biggest one was Not receving any emails for 6months from the Mba when I was a board member.. If you don't shoot what they shoot the only want your money not your input.

Dan come on that is simply NOT TRUE, you were on every e mail I received and we talked about that, What you shoot is your decision and nobody really even gives a shit what it is. If we could deal with what is and quit chasing these fairies in the dust we might be able so save our hunting seasons and deal with reality

Well Steve I got nothing and I had the same email for the last 4 years you flat earth Bowhunters can keep your club I don't want nothing to do with you our the MBA I will never write a letter or send an email for anything the MBA supports. Its not hard to change one letter or number on and email. to make sure it does not go.

Well suit yourself Dan, and the next time you are out Bowhunting just keep in mind you're not hunting out of the goodness of someone's heart you are hunting because someone is standing in front of the Commission making a case against who ever is trying to degrade or delete your season, At any rate good luck this next year hope to see you around

Steve I have got to the time in my life I don't care I can go some were else to hunt if things get that bad or I can just do what I want to do I think Dr bob and I Are starting to be like book ends. You know were i'm at!

Right on Dan

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