Number of bowhunters
Ohio
Would like to know how many license sold in your state are vertical bow vs crossbow. What numbers or percent. Thanks for any info.
Ohio doesn't sell deer tags based on weapon used. The tag you buy is good for all legal weapons. So no real way of telling. You may get an idea which has a higher success rate in the harvest results. DANNY
Archery licenses in Illinois are not weapon-specific. Preliminary data indicate that 15% of the animals killed by use of archery equipment were taken with crossbows; 1.1% with traditional (recurve & longbow, combined); and about 84% with compound bows, in 2016-17. Tom
The kill has gone up since letting x-bows in the archery season.they used to be for handicap use only.
Boxcall- when did the report of kills going up?
Are you aware that crossbows have been allowed in the general archery season in Ohio since 1976? Is this where you are getting your statement from?
They were legal in the general archery season several years before a release was legal without being handicapped.
I was an OBA member when the xbow was brought in.it was fought against .I don't have it in print,but it was for handicap use and I think a permit was needed.I'll try to find harvest data
In 1989 the cross bow harvest exceeded the vertical bow harvest and has remained so according to a letter posted by mike tonklovich.
Box Call in reference to your comment that the kill has gone up since letting crossbows in the Archery season. So has the numbers for the deer herd since 1976. Now the ODNR is doing what it can to control the deer herd in hand. From the sounds of the rules changes in the last couple of years, reduced bag limit, it is managing to do just that. DANNY
In general terms: The archery kill percentage of the overall yearly deer kill has continued to increase over decades. Archery used to be an adjunct to the main deer kill method which was modern firearms. Over time archery has made huge gains and now comprises about half of the state's kill. This didn't happen by accident. Archery grew on a national scale, and Ohio promoted the archery season. The introduction of the crossbow in the '70s added another component & weapon to entice hunters to use the archery season.
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Over decades the deer herd has expanded in area and numbers. Archery has too. Crossbows are part of archery season here. Obviously the crossbow kill has increased over time.
What a lot of guys don't really know? The percentage of archery kill in Ohio is greater for crossbows than standard archery tackle. It took over 10 years to happen. Today the crossbow is THE archery weapon of Ohio in terms of majority success, and it continues to widen the gap.
On a personal level, I don't spend any time worrying about crossbows now. I never thought they belonged. Then again, there are lots of things around me that I don't think belong...in terms of human behavior. I can't turn the clock backwards. The crossbow is staying until something replaces it and then guys will go nuts (again) predicting the downfall and demise of hunting.
Kevin Dill you wrote ( The crossbow is staying until something replaces it and then guys will go nuts (again) predicting the downfall and demise of hunting.)
I am just wondering how many crossbow hunters will be complaining about this downfall.
I remember traditional saying the same thing about compounds and I hear other states who are going or thinking of going to crossbows that it is the end as they know it all from compound and traditional hunters.
Kelly...I suppose the answer to that will be a matter of how much of a departure the next round of weapons represents to those who wouldn't have them. The Airbow is possibly a good example. I can imagine the crossbow industry either fighting them or being forced to switch gears and build them. It's pretty much like mobile phones in my mind. The technology keeps advancing and every manufacturer has to pedal fast and hard to compete...or die like BlackBerry. When you and I were kids our parents had corded rotary phones and maybe a party line. How far has tech moved us from that?
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My point forever...has been that bowhunting (or more appropriately, the weapons used to hunt during archery seasons) WILL continue to evolve, change and advance into the future. If your grandfather could look at the internet today and then look at modern archery hunters gearing up...what would he say and think? It won't change a thing because we demand constant advancements everywhere. The few of us who still think bowhunting should be a short-range, low-odds, high-commitment, and less about gear...more about the man are in the definite minority. We all know the drive to make this sport easier (politicians would say "approachable") is what produced aluminum arrows, screw-in heads, glass-backed bows, compounds, a thousand options, crossbows, the Airbow. It's not going to stop ever. I don't like some of it but to me it's like group destiny. The group is going down that road, but thankfully I can take a different path. I can also do it without blaming every person who goes with the group or uses things I wouldn't like for myself.
The crossbow has not proven to be detrimental to Ohio's deer herd or our bowhunting opportunities. It pains me to say it but the Airbow probably wouldn't be detrimental either in reality, considering its use would be managed. I don't think either one really belongs in bow season though. I also thought Obama shouldn't be in the White House. As time goes on we seem to be losing our identity, and archery hunters are now often viewed as more tech-dependent/tech-oriented than conventional firearms hunters. Isn't that fascinating?
Slingshot Bow with a release :') as long as it pulls 40lbs here in Ohio. DANNY
As already said theres not way of knowing how many deer tags went to crossbow guys but I can tell you our bot kill is usually around 39000 and crossbow kill around 49000. Ohio has enough deer that it doesn't hurt our seasons. It was a little effect on limits but not enough to bother anyone. Our limit is still generous.
