I don't, I was just hoping Bow4elk would read it and realize how retarded his post sounded.
Sorry. My comment was not clear and you're right, it sounded off base. I should have been more clear. It is my opinion/position that crossbows have no place in WA archery seasons. I'm sick of the Mfrs and ATA pushing crossbows as archery equipment. Archery is archery - a bow is a bow. A crossbow is a cross between a gun and a bow. It is "cocked" and not held at full draw by human energy. A crossbow fails to meet the definition of a bow, thus, it has no business being adopted as such. I'm not some stuffy elitist. I just think it's a different category of equipment. It's no different that the airlines asking you to sign a firearms release form when checking a bow - I refuse to do that. I'm not signing something that says my bow is a gun. [Yes, I've had to fight this point with several airlines!]
The Pope and Young Club has established the following standard definitions of bowhunting equipment.
I. Hunting Bow
A. A hunting bow for big game shall be a longbow, flat bow, recurve bow, compound bow or any combination of these designs meeting the following requirements and restrictions:
1. A device for launching an arrow, which derives its propulsive energy solely from the bending and recovery of two limbs.
2. The bow must be hand drawn by a single and direct, uninterrupted pulling action of the shooter. The bowstring must be moved from brace height to the full draw position by the muscle power of the shooter’s body. The energy used to propel the arrow shall not be derived from any other source such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or similar devices. These limitations shall not exclude the mechanical leverage advantage provided by eccentric wheels or cams so long as the available energy stored in the bent limbs of the bow is the sole result of a single, continuous, and direct pulling effort by the shooter.
3. The bow must be hand-held. One hand shall hold the bow and the other hand draw the bowstring. The bowstring must be moved and/or held at all points in the draw cycle entirely by the muscle power of the shooter until release. The bowstring must be released as a direct and conscious action of the shooter’s eiter relaxing the tension of the fingers or triggering the release action of a hand-held release aid.
4. The bow shall be no shorter than 30 inches.
B. Exceptions: Physically handicapped bowhunters shall be excepted from the requirements of holding or shooting the bow with their hands.
C. Exclusions:
1. The following shall not be considered a hunting bow:
a) A crossbow.
b) Any device with a gun-type stock or incorporating any device or mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter’s muscle power.
c) Electronic or battery-powered devices shall not be attached to a hunting bow.
d) No portion of the bow’s riser (handle) or any track, trough, channel or other device that attaches directly to the bow’s riser shall contact, support, and/or guide the arrow from a point rearward of the bow’s brace height.
D. Let-Off for Compound Bows:
1. Definition of let-off: That characteristic of a bow that results in a reduction of the force necessary to increase the draw length after the highest level of draw force has been reached. This is characteristic generally associated with, but not restricted to, compound bows.
2. The maximum let-off on a compound bow shall be measured at a point in the draw cycle after the peak draw weight has been attained. It shall be measured near the end of the draw cycle where the minimum holding force is reached. This point in the draw cycle on a compound bow is known as "the bottom of the valley."
3. Determination of the percent of let-off: The values of the peak draw force and the let-off force shall be used to calculate the percent of let-off. The peak force is the maximum force obtained during the draw cycle. The let-off force is the lowest force reached following the peak force during a single uninterrupted draw cycle. In all cases, both the highest and lowest force shall be read from a scale during a single and continual pull condition, without relaxation. This technique eliminates the introduction of hysteresis, which can distort the reading.
% Let-off = 100 X [(Peak Draw Force) - (Minimum Holding Force)] / (Peak Draw Force)
4. Effective January 1, 2004, animals taken with bows have nominal percent of let-off greater than 65 percent shall be listed with an asterisk (*) in the Records. It is recognized that variations in draw length and/or draw weight can affect the percent of let-off on compound bows. For these reasons minor variations in let-off are acceptable.
