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When using the crossbow I have to pay attention to string stretch, scope calibration, breathing, leveling, attack angle, and distance as my shots are off hand. It is not that easy. Ask my friend who missed this season a doe at 26 yards, and 3 turkeys between 40 and 15 yards with his crossbow in 10 minutes . We thought there was something wrong with the weapon when in reality it was his adrenaline that steered his aim away from targets.

I hunt the public domain more than private and I can tell you that I seldom see hunters in the woods during the season after the first opening week. They come, place a stand, hunt a week, and then never return until it is time to remove the stands. Some even leave their stands up the entire year. It takes discipline and will power to get up early and hunt. Most run out of steam early regardless what weapon they use. In a way I am happy because I have the woods to myself, but I am also sad to witness the decline of an occupation which kept our ancestors alive and in touch with nature. Do you think it mattered to them if the stone axe or the stone spear or the stone tipped arrow killed the meat which fed them all?

BUT I also agree that a non archery Hunter can now stop at Cabela's on the way home from work on Thursday and can be hunting Saturday morning and calling himself a Bowhunter.

BUT we should not be bashing each other over it. Maybe disagree but not arguing.

NOTE: I am selling my Excalibur Matrix 380 black ops crossbow to finance the atlatl. Any takers please PM.

The bottom line, we're all hunters.

Why does no one hunt squirrels anymore? Why not geese? They make a fine meal and offer great hunting challenge. Why just deer? Because geese do not crash into cars and squirrels do not cause enough damage. That is why. Is CT forum #1 yet?

A bicycle wheel and a car wheel function on the same principle despite differences in size and materials used for building them. Is CT forum #1 yet?

I hunt my own 10 acres land, north of I-84, twice a year, turkeys and deer rut. The rest of my hunting is done on public land. I scout all the time from home using Google maps then confirming my findings in the field. I hunt at least 3-4 days a week; short hunts most of the time. This year I have seen deer on all my hunts except 4 days.

I helped track few deer shot with a crossbow having a sparse to non-existing blood trail only to find that the exit hole was plugged by fat/hair or organs. I never get that result shooting a 2 edge fixed blade from a compound or traditional bow.

Is CT forum #1 yet?

"Twenty-seven states now allow full inclusion of crossbows during archery season, largely based on the premise that these easier-to-shoot tools would recruit enough new bowhunters to reverse the trend of falling overall participation.

Yet that doesn’t seem to be happening. According to the most recent (2016) outdoor recreation survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hunter numbers fell by 16 percent from 2011, and the overall hunting participation rate is the lowest it’s been in 25 years. The total number of bowhunters declined 19 percent in the same time period—and Shelby believes the total has fallen even more since 2016."

What a hoot!

String guns, yeah, of course the infirmed should be allowed to hunt with them, just don't call it archery. Drawing and hand, or hand device, releasing is archery. Hunting has to do with either a stalk, or site selection for a blind or treestand. As an individual I would hunt 365days a year, but constrained as I am to follow the law, there is a need to distinguish differences, primarily for the safety of hunters, though I detest the wearing of orange.

A time for all of us to hunt with our weapons of choice is the issue. How about crossbows in all of February?

What a hoot! "

Yes it is. Just another focus point of entertainment. By your definition then compounds are in the same category as crossbows, NOT real bow hunting. All are hand drawn strings. The holding at full draw and limb orientation is the difference. Did I mention that I am selling for a good price an excellent Excalibur Matrix 380 black ops crossbow? Why am I defending the crossbow then? Well, because it launches an arrow using a string and it deserves recognition as an archery implement.

Is CT forum #1 yet?

And FF is Fairfield county. And was a comic post.

That said I can't believe the anti crossbow attitudes among this group! We're all hunters and we should be sticking together and supporting each other's rights to hunt! There are no less than ten to fifteen anti-hunting groups all gunning to ban hunting of all types. If they ever get their hands on the wounding rates and deer left to die by coyote caused but archery hunting they will ban all forms of bow hunting. Or at least try to on many fronts. So let's stop this nonsense and support each other as we're all hunters!

Oh and if you like all my hand maidens are taken but you can borrow a butler or two for the task at hand

My wife bought me my first xbow last Christmas after hearing me talk about it on the phone with friends. I've shot 5 deer with it since then and haven't touched my Mathews except for taking RI proficiency test to hunt a bow only spot. Sounds like you guys are bitter about not filling tags more then anything. Lousy hunting skills has nothing to do with the weapon of choice.

I shoot my compound and crossbow 2 weeks before season start to check tuning. That is practice enough for me to hit a golf ball target at 40 yards with ease. I shoot the recurve and longbow every day from 40 to 10 yards to keep myself tuned and on target inside an 8 inch paper plate.

Is CT forum #1 yet?

And for the one complaining that crossbows are lazy and easy. I’ve been bowhunting now for 40 years and these compounds with sights and parallel limbs and such are gravy to shoot compared to what we had even 20 years ago.

Brianc86 I wish you well and hope that someday you too will have matriculated through all the phases of hunting and will be able to reflect back on what an ass you really sound like when you speak of this subject.

Kudos and good luck to most of the rest of you guys!!

I defined archery as a hand drawn and hand, or hand device, release of the bow string.

Please read carefully as you drift into reality from that cosmic flux you are smoking.

I've been thinking of Steve with a crossbow. Sort of like the Jets letting Broadway Joe Namath back on the team with a catapult to launch the football.

tybars,

"freedom to complain" "less people bitching"

The U.S.Constitution you swore to defend upholds the freedom, but does not limit the bitching, therefore, you and everyone else are at liberty to ignore the latter.

Brianc86

"Get out an practice with that crossbow!!!"

Practice reduces the lifespan of a string that rides a rail with every shot, unlike a bow.

NOTE: I do not smoke. The cosmic flux reference was metaphorical.

A crossbow string IS drawn by HAND. It is released by HAND when trigger is pulled, just as a compound bow. Compound shooter holds string back on a 70 lbs bow with 80% lettoff, all 14 lbs of it, using back muscles. Crossbow shooters have a mechanical stop do the job of holding the string back. Similar to a spoke rim compared to a full metal rim. They both function as a wheel regardless of what force keeps them round shaped.

What puzzles me is how in the world someone who cannot pull 50 lbs on a compound string can pull, for example, the 130 lbs required to arm a 260lbs crossbow without using a hand crank. It is a mystery to me, as I can assure you it is harder to arm a crossbow than to pull back the string on a compound.

Talking about rock and stick got me thinking to use my flat bow with wooden arrows tipped with stone broadheads for next season. What a challenge it is going to be.

Is CT forum #1 yet? Anyone?

Once again this is all relative. Not all properties are created equal. I don’t put much stock in what deer are being posted. Except for Zack of course. He always gets huge bucks on stateland. Now he’s a real hunter!

As a side not I could not stop but notice how posts with negative connotation have a higher number of responses than posts with positive "boring" connotation; for example "What a disappointing morning" vs. "What a wonderful morning".

That’s pretty funny. When I took up muzzleloading (specifically to get away from the cartridge crowd), I went roundball because that’s what “muzzleloader” MEANT when the season was first authorized.

Ask me how I feel about scoped inlines.

So, Brian, with all your complaining about how unfair it is that you have to spend so much time practicing compared to a crossbow shooter...

What are YOU shooting???

LOL

That said, this almost makes the tick study threads look kind, positive and down right loving...

No fluff, no bluff, no cosmic origin, just me in a blink of time and space.

I would much rather shoot 60 yards with my matthews than my x bow any day of the week....

I hunt state land,,,,I sit in the same tree / spot with my x bow as my dxt.....not sure how on the days I am with my x bow I am lazy....

Crossbows should never have been legalized for public areas; on private property, shoot whatever you want or need to in order to kill cleanly, but public land gets so hammered that (JMO) increasing Hunter density for the extra 2 months just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

Trouble is that the state is using crossbows to manage the herd without (IMO) enough thought to managing the density of the Hunters.

I’m just dying to hear back from Brian as to what a person has to do to qualify as Worthy Of Participation in archery season???

Myself, all I can ask is the skill to make a clean kill and the self-discipline to hold out for a shot that’s. well within the individual’s Sure Thing capability.

But what do I know? I’m not even smart enough to own a compound!

I’ve been watching this string since it started. In fact, it’s the reason I set up an account.

I have a theory. This isn’t about bows vs crossbows but rather the “good people” influencing the DEEP.

I believe that the case is quietly being made behind closed doors that the population density of people in Connecticut is making firearm hunting unsafe and therefore obsolete. Couple this with the longer archery season, extended seasons south of 95, baiting and the legalization of cross bows and we can see where this is going.

Btw - I’m a newbie. Never shot a deer with a bow, crossbow or rifle but I love being in the woods in a stand with my bow or rifle.

Not meant to insult but a different perspective.

The main reason why the majority of people don’t want crossbows is because they don’t want the competition. That’s a fact, it’s sad and it’s extremely selfish.