Laxadazial. I like that.

I don't have an issue if they are used during the rifle or muzzle loader season. I disagree with them used during archery season. They do not require the motion of drawing the bow when they prey is spotted. This is where "bow" hunters are at a disadvantage.

Yep that is why , for me anyway, practicing with a crossbow is way more time consuming than with a compound. If you do it the way one should then it is apain in the butt.

Lackadaisical*

Not much of an advantage when you consider blacked out pop ups and other great set ups. If your set up is correct then the deer wont spot your movement anyway. I have had both and I dont have the crossbow anymore for a reason. I never killed anything with it and I felt less competent with it than my compound. Maybe most folks dont feel the same but they are terribly off balanced and without a rest are pretty difficult to shoot. I wonder how many people that "think" it is cheating or somehow an advantage over vertical bows have actually shot one?

I think the crossbow was a great medieval weapon and if you're handicapped I think it's a great way to get to hunt during archery season. That said I'm not a fan of them being used during archery season. I think they are more comparable to the older black powder rifles and that is where I would put them (newer black powder are closer to centerfire and don't need a separate season IMHO) I know they are legal now but there are other rules that have changed I don't agree with as well. In the end it doesn't matter what I think it only matters that we obey the law. My .02

"Cheating"? Again, anything but your teeth, fingers and toes is in fact "cheating".

That said, if you're concerns with how others hunt, you might be a mother hen.

I don't care if you hunt with a Buick.

IMO great option for folks who don't have much time to be able to ethically extend their season...I never thought I'd get one but got drawn public hunt w crossbow. Killed 3 deer that trip and got drawn on another last year killed 2 deer. I like hunting with it, longbow, compound or rifle it no matter to me.

Yeah, it's amazing how much people worry about others. I also find it ironic that they bowhunt for the challenge, yet those crossbow hunters might interfere with their hunting.

Wait. Hoyt just released a newer, faster, better bow. I better go get one so I can make my bowhunting easier.

you really believe that raising a crossbow from your lap to your shoulder while sitting in a tree stand creates as much or more movement than drawing a bow, even while sitting? add in having to stand as most people do, or having to reach and take the bow off of a hanger, hook your release, find your sights.....

i have nothing against xbow hunting and am thinking again of going in with one opening weekend this year

As has PSE with their new Full Throttle at 370 fps at 70% letoff.
People seem to worry more about someone getting a deer before they do than the actual hunt itself. Both weapons require the same hunting skills and woodsmanship.

This is why I'm considering a crossbw, I have a torn shoulder that wont let me complete the pull of a traditional bow. I just like being in the woods as much as possible so this would give me another excuse

Ive always thought if you want to bow hunt to challenge yourself that's great, challenge yourself, doesn't mean you should get an exclusive season. The best thing about bow season to me is you get to shoot does in several counties that normally don't allow it without permits/mld etc.

Absolutely. My grandfather would wonder how men setting in box blinds with automatic corn feeders and pouring doe pee everywhere could worry about if the weapon they used was cheating. He hunted with dogs and someone decided that was cheating. Now those same people use every gadget they can create to cheat. Your weapon of choice is irrelevant IMO.

X2

Unless your physically challenged or very young, today's modern compound bows are not any more challenging than a crossbow. A crossbow has to be drawn. A compound bow has to be drawn. A crossbow is harder to draw than a compound bow. The only difference is a crossbow can be locked into a drawn position and though time consuming can be drawn with an aid of some sort. A light modern compound with 80% or more let off with a mechanical release can be held at full draw for a very long time. A crossbow is generally very loud compared to a compound bow creating additional hunting problems. In a pop up blind with shoot through windows or other concealed stand position neither offers any advantage over the other. Most compound shooters are hunting with much lighter arrows than years before. Most crossbow shooters are shooting heavier longer arrows for hunting than years before. There is very little effective kill range difference between the two. Ready to shoot package compound offerings are so easy to master now that new hunters can easily pick up a bow and master it. Because of this, the day before season types that want to pick up and sight in a bow to what they think good enough and without practice are just as common if not more common than new crossbow shooters. If one lists every benefits and handicaps they will find the vertical and horizontal bows balance out to near equal with a slight edge to the compound bow being more versatile than a crossbow and more effective in a wider range of hunting situations, thus overall less of a handicap over a crossbow. A modern compound bow and carbon arrows today compared to the compound bows we used to shoot just a few years ago like my old bear whitetail hunter or magnum hunter is like comparing a smokeless muzzleloader using sabots to a kentucky rifle with black powder shooting patched round balls. The technology has improved so much tht compounds are no longer as challenging to the average person as they once were. If one's purpose to hunt archery season is for a challenge or to master an ancient sport, The only true way to split it is to shoot a recurve or long bow or to hunt gun season with a bow or crossbow rather than a rifle. If it is only for extending the overall season and harvest additional deer during archery season, then the better management tool would be to move up to the modern compound bow or crossbow. Hunt with both a crossbow and compound bow for a few seasons and you will find by today's standards both are truly in the same class now. If you balance them between different situations, neither is more or less overall effective than the other.

I remember reading how hunters said the very same thing about telescopic sights that started appearing on rifles after WWII.

You might even find hunters today who feel that anything more than a long bow gives a hunter too much ease.

IMO, nothing has worked to divide the hunting community more than separate hunting seasons driven by manufacturers wanting to sell more equipment. If the decision were mine, there would be just one season that's open for all methods.

MLD. The great equalizer.

Use anything that is legal, the deer is your personal food or trophy! You will be the one to tell others how you got the deer on the wall, if you find it more rewarding to hunt one way over a different way, do it! The trophy is yours! That being said I seriously lost a lot of respect for a few people on this thread that think using a crossbow is even remotely as hard to kill a deer with than a compound bow. A bow forces you to move while a deer is close, if your even a decent hunter you should not be moving at all with a crossbow by the time the deer is in range. And at 400fps a bolt hits a deer almost simultaneously as the noise does at 25 yards, so that shenanigans comment about a crossbow being noisier is foolish. A compound is much noisier, arrow shaft being drawn, shoulder/joints cracking while drawing back, arm rubbing on your chest when you draw??? That being said, again, hunt with whatever you feel is going to put meat in your freezer ( if your a food hunter) and if your a trophy hunter, hunt with whatever you feel you will be proud of if you kill a wallhanger! My .02

I have never understood this thinking but on vacation so don't feel like arguing about it. It's a set-aside special season for those that want to take on the challenge. Bowhunters fought for and gained the set aside seasons. It was never meant to be an expanded general season.That's why the season is bow only. Crossbows are fine but they are not bows.

Nog how do you figure that a crossbow isnt a bow?

At least half the challenge of killing a big game animal with a bow is getting drawn undetected, drawing at the proper time so you don't have to let down, etc. A crossbow is not a bow. It is a close range rifle-like weapon that fires a bolt instead of a bullet.

Bowhunters are not happy about crossbows during bow season. And are downright livid about calls to extend an already 3 month long rifle season another month by taking bow season too.

I use a crossbow due to disability with my left arm (Polio). Allows me to extend my season. Hunted all year last year at my lease in Oklahoma, didn't want to buy the out of state gun license for 16 days only.

Got a lease in Texas this year so will probably hunt both archery and rifle this year.

No issue whatsoever with that. Use of a crossbow due to a disability was always allowed during bow season before general crossbow use was allowed.