Bow kill numbers
Contributors to this thread:West Virginia
From: Babysaph
09-Feb-19
Does anyone know if the bowkill numbers have jumped up since crossbows have been allowed0?
From: David Mitchell
09-Feb-19
I think crossbow kills have exceeded bow kills and no doubt a lot of those were once guys who shot bows. Easier always draws a crowd.
From: hoppies56
09-Feb-19
Babysaph, What i read from dnr , bow kills where up 1.6 % over 2017 , but 3 % lower than 5 year average.
From: sundaynwv
10-Feb-19
The answer is no.
From: Babysaph
10-Feb-19
Well then we won't have a reduction in the crossbow season. Remember it was added to kill deer
From: Babysaph
10-Feb-19
If crossbow kills have exceeded regular bow kills then we are losing bowhunters at an alarming rate if the total bowkill is down.,
From: hoppies56
10-Feb-19
Yes we lost some bow hunters As hunting population has older Some have gone to crossbows other dont bowhunt anymore. and most will agree some young people dont hunt period. We are losing all hunters and that whats alarming !!
From: hookman
10-Feb-19
As we all know bow hunting is not easy, there is a lot of prep and work involved. As the hunting population gets older they are naturally going to slow down and take some easier ways to hunt. The young people are naturally lazy, they would rather kill something on videos and have someone wait on them hand and foot. Don’t get me wrong I know some fantastic young people that are becoming great hunters, I’m talking about the majority.
From: Babysaph
10-Feb-19
Agreed Hookman. Well said. It is hard work. I love it though.
From: JayD
11-Feb-19
Bow Kill numbers have dropped - crossbow kills I believe have increased each year. So the category for bows and crossbows combined has not seen much of an increase. I could be wrong in this but i think in most states where crossbows have been allowed - they are the pretty much the only weapon to see consistent increased kills. I am only going off of articles I have read in saying that so maybe it could be wrong.
From everything I have seen it is not so much the concern with how many deer in general that is killed by crossbows which is the concern but how many bucks are killed.
As for kids being lazy - maybe some but not the majority. Just way more stuff for them to do. And things have changed so much when we were kids - I would have laughed at ya if someone suggested to me to return a nice fish I caught back to the water instead of putting it on the table! And now all you see on TV are hunters killing monster bucks when that is not the norm then new hunters go out - and lets face what we see on TV is not the norm.
From: Babysaph
11-Feb-19
Well if the cross and regular bow kills havnt increased in Wv then the DNR will not limit the crossbows. They want dead deer. Your right lots of young hunters expect to kill big deer and when they don't they quit. Most have never squirrel or rabbit hunted and worked their way up.
