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I'm not judging the kid, he's only operating in the world that the we designed for him.

But I do think that the mindset of "shot on in his own private land" and "tell them what they can hunt with" is not a good one and I urge you to rethink that. The land is most definitely theirs, but nobody owns the deer. With this logic, who cares if the neighbor throws out 100 gallons of corn on their land? It's their private land, after all!

Its a magnificent animal and great for the kid but the kill type doesn't impress me. Point, shoot, and bag! Should be the crossbow slogan

Any time you see a graph with a meteoric rise like this, it's probably time to reevaluate things. Just like how we reevaluate doe tags based on harvest data.

I think the crossbow is especially effective in the big woods and that explains why Vilas county xbow kills are outpacing the state as a whole. Why? Because most rifle shots are fairly close range, so adding an extra 20 yards and going from 20-40 yard range is a very big deal. And while I don't totally agree with the "xbow is just as good as a rifle" statement, I think that argument holds a lot of water in places where rifle shots are rarely more than 50 yards.

And of course you don't need to actually draw for a crossbow, which is obviously an enormous advantage, even more so in places where it's thick an you don't see the deer coming until they are right in front of your face sizing up your treestand.

A bit off topic as it looks like this young man was in a well concealed permanent blind and his shot was 20 yards. If I encountered this father son in person, I would certainly congratulate the kid, but silently judge the dad. In fact I'm already judging him for buying his kid a $1000+ crossbow, hah!

In my mind, two ideas that stick are keeping crossbow users out of the woods around the prime time (maybe Oct 15- Nov 7 or something) or keeping the crossbow season but it burns your firearm tag.

Bow and arrow hunting will continue to decline in Wisconsin, and much of the US. Congratulations to this scoped crossbow hunter, nice deer!

I rarely run into a person during bow season on public, but this year I actually captured 3 different people on camera, and this was not on a trail or anything, but rather in fairly obvious pinch points to anyone who can read a map. All were toting crossbows. What really suprised me was the demographic, all men in the 35-50ish range. All three pics were that last weekend in October and first weekend in November.

Again, just an isolated data point, but to me who has almost captured no people on camera before rifle in years past, 0 to 3 people is a pretty big jump considering the cameras were not on walking trails but just in the woods. And these are crappy $25 cameras with a crappy range. So it's not unreasonable to assume there were a bunch of people walking around that I did not get on camera (I'm not TRYING to get people on camera, just wildlife)

Yes sir it is, no surprises here.

I can't imagine any reasonable person would shut that down...... crossbows during the whole month of October. I'd also like to see the muzzy season a bit longer as you stated (love shooting black powder), but would want more muzzle loader restrictions in place so they are at least somewhat "primitive" (no scopes, etc).

Granted I don't like the idea of two rifle bucks and your proposal solves for that.

As I said before we need to spend the next few months hammering the Dnr , politicians, & others hunters to change the Crossbow season to a 2 week hunt .

Start your E-Mails NOW.

Can someone explain this to me?

Realistically nothing being discussed here will ever gain traction or happen. Only those still living in fantasy land think crossbow season might be shortened without other deer hunting seasons being shortened along with it. That's one of the reasons hunters never get anywhere as a group, the loudest are usually the most ignorant.

That said, I am sure a cross bow is better for those who don’t have time to develop good skills with the bow. From this perspective there would be fewer wounded deer. That’s a good thing.

A gun-like bow during the rut feels like cheating relative to the past, but that’s my personal opinion.

I’d vote in favor of cross bows before Oct 15 and After Nov 15

If you asked me if WI would ever ban trail cams, I would say that is outlandish and would be so unpopular it would never happen. But take a look at AZ, "A 5-0 vote from the Arizona Game and Fish Department means trail cameras will no longer be legal in 2022."

My point is isn't about trail cams, my point is that "take-away" game and fish laws can certainly happen. I know it's not a perfect parallel, but I think it's an interesting example.

A bit closer to home, they actually enacted no-keeper-walleye until 2025 (?) on the Minocqua chain of lakes So drastic and unpopular things do happen!

https://www.bowhunter.com/editorial/arizona-total-ban-game-cameras/393949

Use what weapon you want there is plenty of opportunities, regular archery hunters were spoiled for too long, almost like an entitlement, they think it can’t be taken away.

RutnStrut, did you mean to say "Couldn't care less"? not "could care less"?

Then it will be crossbows when the airbow comes out and is legalized, get with it or get left behind.

Angus are you excited about YOUR next FREE money via the stimulus check if it happens? Any idea on when it might arrive as I'm sure you are up on that too.

There is a page on the Book of Faces called Wisconsin Bowhunters. (Not the Org.) and the Xbow users were posting their kills there and I told them to post their stuff on their own page this is a bowhunting page. The admin. messaged me and told me to stand down or be banned. I told him to change the name of the group then. Until then I will defend the sport for what it’s meant to be and you might as well ban me now. So far I’m still there. LOL

Nothing written in stone that archery has the longest season of any hunt. Be ready to be shortened.

Kinda like letting people fish during the wallet spawn if you can only use a cane pole.

You fellas crack me up

I laughed so hard reading this post. What is it 5 hours ?? Or 600 hours year? Also, you dont have time or want to spend money at a range but have time and money for Jim Beam? Funny how you come out of the dark after so long just to express your laughter for the guys who are passionate in the real sport of archery and then you explain exactly why you shoot one. I'm not even going to say anything more.

If this statement from trickle is true, why do a bunch of grown men get insanely jealous of a 14yr old kid?? Hmm kind of proofs the point that these chest thumpers only want the entitlement of having the big bucks to themselves so it is easier for them.

Guy 123 welcome, you will find more hypocrisy here than in DC.

Lazy archers thought they could spend a couple 100k, buy land, buy some fancy Muddy blind enclosed, spend some more money on bait plots all in an effort to consistently make harvesting a selfie buck that they can show off easy. Have numerous “shooter” bucks available close so they don’t need to work hard at finding one.

Now anyone with a few hundred dollars can buy a set up crossbow, learn to shoot it in a day and sit on a stump next to someone’s quarter million investment and kill “their” deer.

It’s almost comical if not so sad on what hunting has become.

Hate your neighbor week everyday.

There are a lot of sour grapes out there, but are to stuck in the past to accept change, as I see they will still haul a firearm around.

Stop fibbing, you wouldn't put the effort in to throw a rock at it. Used a Crossgun instead cause its easier than throwing a rock.

Oh and by the way. Check the yearly kill thread. CaptMike is always there. LOL

Actually yes I thought about that when I read it. Although not impossible for a 3.5 year old to be a 200" deer. It is very improbable.