Free: Contests & Raffles.
There is Rifle and Muzzys and then there is Compound and Traditional
gj, I like your style man, you bring up some great points. Kudos.
If the tradional crowd would like more opportunities separate from the rest of the archery community, thats fine with me. But whats to keep folks who just want to join for sake of the extended season, or excellent draw odds from dilluting the tradition as a whole in a few years?
This all sounds too complicated to me. I'd rather have the state go to permit only hunting for deer and elk. Then we wouldn't have to squabble over who gets the longest seasons and the best times. Just apply for the permit you want and if you get it, that's when and where you hunt. If you don't get it, you just don't hunt that year.
Actually nothing is complicated because nothing has been proposed.
gj, I like your style man, you bring up some great points and are obviously a very accomplished bowhunter. Kudos. I love SHOOTING archery tackle both traditional and compound. The simplicity of traditional, the form work, the fingers on the string etc.. I also love the power of a compound, the technology, the gadgets, the nock busting at 40+ yards, less lost arrows. But I LIVE to BOWHUNT! I currently carry a highly advanced bow comprised of aluminum, strings, cables, and cams, not " training wheels" in the woods and make no apologies for it. Im very profficient in the use of said equipment and strive to constantly become more so through diligent practice. May I ever change my mind and hunt with a stick and string SURE. And will devote the same amount of due diligence to being as proficient as possible with that weapon as well adopting certain limitations that come with it. But a special permit, or extended season has never and WILL never play a role in my decision to do so. Every hunter needs to know his/her limitations self imposed or otherwise. How many guys would choose to hunt rifle over bow if the seasons were reversed? How about if the Rifle season was half as crowded? Muzzleloader same thing. I know several rifle guys who punch tags every year, They shoot alot. They scout alot. They hunt hard. They don't cry about how short the season is, or that the rut is over, cuz they get it done. But more and more I hear guys at the shop or run into guys in the woods saying stuff along the lines of " finally switchin over to archery, just to crowded during rifle". Or "man i've only had this new bow a month but im cuttin 12's at 50 yard most of the time, should be ready to go!" Then the same guy bragging about a 65 yard shot uphill that "spined" him while he was watching the hunter. My point is given reasonable seasons and expectations with a given weapon guys who kill chit, will kill chit, or will pass up opportunitys to kill chit. Wannabes will always cry about how short the season was, how the other guys got a better season than us, we need more permits for OUR weapon of choice. Twigs that deflect arrows dont care if the arrow is carbon, aluminum, or cedar. They dont care whether it was launched from a lovingly crafted bow, or one milled out of a block of alluminum by a machine; whether it was going 200 or 300 fps. Animals that jump your string causing poor hits or misses honestly could care less as well. If you think an alerted buck cant hear your whisper quiet 55 lb longbow, or wont be able to duck out of the way of your screaming 320 fps carbon shaft launched by your pretty month old baby, your decieving yourself. I agree with many posts here compounds are intrinsically easier to SHOOT, but HUNTING ethically and profficiently with them is far from the gimme many people make them out to be. And until the come up with a bow that breaks the sound barrier or legalize crossbows or locking mechanisms, the biggest drawbacks to hunting with them will remain the same. If the tradional crowd would like more opportunities separate from the rest of the archery community, thats fine with me. But whats to keep folks who just want to join for sake of the extended season, or excellent draw odds from dilluting the tradition as a whole in a few years?
