Is Hunting with a Crossbow, really bowhunting?
 

Posed a question the other day and was wondering if others are of the same opinion.

Is Hunting with a Crossbow, really bowhunting? I personally do not believe so! What dod you think?

Yes it is.

Hunting yes, Bowhunting NO, hope it stays were its only legal in general season and primitive

Certainly as much as "primitive" weapons are primitive.....

Primitive ok, but bows dont have triggers.

Or scopes!

It's crossbow hunting .
Cat

Yes they do. A mechanical release is the same as a trigger.

You may need a bigger spoon to stir the pot with!

Modern bows have huge let-offs and are fired with a trigger. They also have some pretty nice sights which in the right hands can out shoot a crossbow and have more range.

No...no it's not.

LC

Crossbows are not bows
 

True dat!
Crossbows don't belong in the bow season.

^^^ Yup!

Can a 7-8 year old shoot a legal hunting bow accurately to 50m? Can a 7-8 year old shoot a x-bow accurately to 50m?

Heck I'll let them DRAW his/her bow with a release too!

LC

I would love to hear your explanation for this one Lefty. Not trying to get confrontational at all, but I'm a compound bow hunter for many moons now and I have shot hundreds of different mechanical releases, all of which had that little metal tab that stuck out from the side. And when you depressed it, the bow went off....sounds an awful lot like a trigger to me.

This is how I see it:

If you hold it like a rifle, if it resembles a rifle, if you put a scope on top of it like a rifle, if you squeeze a trigger like you do a rifle, and it you hold it on the horizontal like you do a rifle, then it is not a bow.l

About range, I have been told that a crossbow's effective range is up to 40 yards, not sure it that if true, but my effective range with my bow is way further then that! :bad_boys_20:

Difference is you have to draw and hold weight before release....can you do it one handed?

A rifle trigger is not the same as a release....what about a back tension/hinge/thumb are they the same too?

Can you cock a compound bow and leave it indefinitely? Can you lay on your back and shoot it between your legs? :)

They are different :)

They may serve the same purpose I'll give you that but they are different....you never realize you forgot your trigger for your xbow at home when you get to your tree stand.

Why do disabled folks apply to hunt with a xbow in archery seasons?....because it's easier and they are unable to draw a regular bow!

LC

That's funny...
 

:bad_boys_20::bad_boys_20:

Maybe, i am not a bow hunter but that just doesn't pass the sniff test for me.
Interesting debate though. I Like the idea that persons with disabilities who are unable to draw a bow can use them in bow season.

I agree I have no issue if folks have an injury or disability....they can already do that now.

LC

Awesome thread. More fodder for the anti's.

"Look at these stupid idiots, they can't even agree amongst themselves what is hunting"

Hunting is hunting is hunting. As long as you are doing it in a legal, ethical manner, are properly licensed, have permission while accessing private land and follow the rules and regulations- it's hunting.

I'm sick of other hunters attacking one another over their preferred method in the field. It doesn't matter if you're a guy who backpacks for elk into the mountains or the guy driving his truck "heater hunting" for deer with an elderly Grandparent/parent or your little kids who can't handle the November cold.

Is hunting with a crossbow bow hunting? Who cares, it's legal and some people cannot draw a compound bow due to medical/range of motion issues but still want the added challenge of having to get close.

Again, more fodder for the anti's. Eventually we're going to lose our sport because of idiocy like this.

I never said it wasn't hunting...why no rifles allowed during archery only? Different seasons for different weapons....no issue there.

LC

In keeping with the AO style..

I'll get it in before someone else does.

Anybody that hunts with a crossbow is not a real hunter.. There yah go..

Touche LC, of course it's hunting! Should be restricted to rifle season though, unless it's a handicapped person use it, no issues for that.

This has been hashed out and decided long ago.... It's like the Quebec separation it won't go away.

Why they put those questions about xbows in the survey is beyond me.

LC

They are called releases .. same thing.

Talking moose thought it was restricted to rifle season......

Crossbows
 

It's not the release or trigger that matters, what does matter is a bow needs to be drawn back before firing and this creates....wait for it.....MOVEMENT! Yes, that's right folks you don't have to move before shooting the crossbow and that's a huge advantage...so much so that the hunters in this province have voted to have the crossbow kept in the rifle season- where it belongs.

Now let's move along....

Its crossbow hunting. But compound bow hunting is also compound bow hunting and really cant be lumped in with traditional bow hunting. Id be fine with crossbows being lumped into archery. For no other reason than I cant justify to myself that Im any more special or talented shooting my compound than a guy shooting his crossbow when you compare yourself to guys that hunt with traditional bows. Also, because who cares if a guy hunts with a crossbow in archery season? If tag numbers don't fluctuate with the transfer of crossbows to archery seasons then whats the big deal?