MN CROSSBOW NOW LEGAL FOR ALL DURING ARCHERY SEASONS

[Cattleman]

Minnesota Legislatures passed the use of crossbow to everybody during archery season. Prior to this bill being passed into law you needed to be over 60 or had to be issued a special permit from DNR because of physical limitations.
Thoughts ?
I'm opposed just like i was when the passed the law to allow magnifying scopes on smoke poles back in 2017.

 

[djacker]

Thanks for sharing, my wife will hang up her compound now.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Now, it's time to watch everyone "who always wanted to be an archery hunter", become one. lol

It was the beginning of the end for archery hunting in PA. Thats a fact.

IMHO they have no place inside of an archery season for anyone without a disability.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

To be honest, doesn't cause me much heartache. I already shoot a compound which a traditional bow hunter would probably say is already cheating.

Feels like the same argument to me, compound bow hunters are mad at the advances that let a new technology into their season.

 

[Mallardsx2]

To be honest, doesn't cause me much heartache. I already shoot a compound which a traditional bow hunter would probably say is already cheating.

Feels like the same argument to me, compound bow hunters are mad at the advances that let a new technology into their season.

Seriously? You at least have to manually draw the bow and hold it. Plus, it takes skill to become proficient with it.

My 5-year-old neighbor kid could hit a pit plate with a crossbow at 50 yards their first shot.....

 

[Cattleman]

To be honest, doesn't cause me much heartache. I already shoot a compound which a traditional bow hunter would probably say is already cheating.

Feels like the same argument to me, compound bow hunters are mad at the advances that let a new technology into their season.

not quite apples to apples but i get your point. My buddies raven r500 shoots sub 3-4 moa @ 100 yards and basically anything 60 yards and under you can't aim a same bullseye unless you want to ruin all your bolts & out of the box it has a sub 2lb trigger. His 7 year old daughter is deadly with that thing out to 60-70 yards and i don't think any child could do that with a trad or compound bow.

 

[seeth07]

Shooting a deer at 60-100 yards with a crossbow however isn't actually something that should be done though and its the only heartache I have with making them legal. Both a compound bow and a crossbow are equally lethal and effective up to that rough 50 yard range depending on conditions, terrain, target, etc. Beyond that range though there are just so many variables including most importantly an animals senses to be able to react to the sound of the shot that you really aren't being ethical anymore taking those shots.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Seriously? You at least have to manually draw the bow and hold it. Plus, it takes skill to become proficient with it.

My 5-year-old neighbor kid could hit a pit plate with a crossbow at 50 yards their first shot.....

But think back to compound bows coming out and becoming legal. These same arguments were being made by those shooting recurves and long bows.

What used to be a 25yd shot with a recurve became 50yds with a compound, and now has become 75yds with a crossbow. Obviously numbers randomly thrown out but you get the point.


I see it as part of the progression of the sport. Just like Laser range finders, lighted nocks, mechanical broadheads, adjustable pin sights, peep sight, etc etc etc.


Ultimately, I think acceptance will continue until it is viewed in the same light as a compound

 

[schmalts]

Say goodbye to your buck quality level. Prepare for a rifle hunt with far less mature animals because they will be hit heavy during the archery season.

 

[Dave N]

Say goodbye to your buck quality level. Prepare for a rifle hunt with far less mature animals because they will be hit heavy during the archery season.

I need to ask a serious question and I respect your opinion on things. I can't see how things would drastically change as much as people claim. If there were to be maybe 1000 people who started or switched to crossbow hunting in a state (number pulled out of the air) and on average with a high number of 50 percent were successful, 500 deer would be killed. Let's say 75 percent of those wouldn't have been killed by "normal" archery equipment. 375 deer now killed "extra". We all know trophy animals are not easy to find so let's ponder 10 percent of the extra deer were trophy class. 38 deer, per year, per state. I know these numbers are made up, but I have to wonder just how far away from the truth they are. To wrap up this long post, are there any actual numbers from studies that show the difference between crossbow seasons and non? I hear a lot of doom and gloom is coming but don't see anything yet to support it.

 

[schmalts]

I need to ask a serious question and I respect your opinion on things. I can't see how things would drastically change as much as people claim. If there were to be maybe 1000 people who started or switched to crossbow hunting in a state (number pulled out of the air) and on average with a high number of 50 percent were successful, 500 deer would be killed. Let's say 75 percent of those wouldn't have been killed by "normal" archery equipment. 375 deer now killed "extra". We all know trophy animals are not easy to find so let's ponder 10 percent of the extra deer were trophy class. 38 deer, per year, per state. I know these numbers are made up, but I have to wonder just how far away from the truth they are. To wrap up this long post, are there any actual numbers from studies that show the difference between crossbow seasons and non? I hear a lot of doom and gloom is coming but don't see anything yet to support it.

Look up Wisconsin archery harvest success on the DNR website. They break it down by weapon type. Talk to any taxidermist in Wisconsin as a backup of when the biggest bucks are taken and with what weapon

 

[schmalts]

Wisconsin last year. Archery kill 37000. Crossbow 60000.

 

[schmalts]

Deer Statistics

dnr.wi.gov

The line on the chart that says new season structure is when crossbow was added for anyone. Now take archery and crossbow and combine both totals and tell me how your made up numbers compared

 

[seeth07]

@schmalts is dead on about WI. The two county deer councils near me are seriously talking about finding a way to limit the archery season due to crossbows having such an impact on the overall deer harvest, not just bucks. However, the impact on antlered deer is certainly being felt more than anterless.

 

[seeth07]

pre xbows, it was roughly 150k antlered deer taken per year from 2007 to 2013. The gun hunt numbers have stayed in the same ballpark - about 105k per year. But the archery season kills have gone from about 45k per year to about 60k. That's a lot of extra bucks dropping each year.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I hear a lot of doom and gloom is coming but don't see anything yet to support it.

You haven't been looking very hard. lol

 

[Mallardsx2]

The Pope and Young Club was founded to promote bowhunting and to record for posterity the outstanding examples of North American big game animals taken solely with the hunting bow.

For the purpose of the Pope and Young Club, a bow shall be defined as a longbow, recurve bow or compound bow that is hand-held and hand-drawn, and that has no mechanical device to enable the hunter to lock the bow at full or partial draw. Other than the energy stored by the drawn bow, no device to propel the arrow will be permitted.

Consequently, the Pope and Young Club does not consider the crossbow to be a hunting bow and will not accept any trophies collected by crossbow hunters. Further, the Pope and Young Club considers the use of crossbows during bowhunting seasons to be a serious threat to the future of bowhunting.

The Pope and Young Club therefore recommends the crossbow should not be considered for use in any bowhunting only season. Also, the Club strongly recommends that crossbow hunting be abolished from all existing bowhunting only seasons. We encourage all states and provinces which desire to allow use of crossbows for hunting big game, to require mandatory crossbow specific education, licensing, seasons and reporting requirements.


There is a reason that the P&Y club said this the way that they did.....

To be fair, I don't care if anyone hunts with a crossbow. I just don't want to see them hunting with one during archery season. They simply don't belong in Archery season IMHO.

 

[brushcreek]

good deal

 

[Steiny77]

Bought one several years ago thinking I'd use it for late archery season when it's really cold and difficult to draw a bow with all the clothing, etc.
Shot a couple deer with it and gave it away. Too darned easy far as I'm concerned, no thrill to arrow something with one, and not much sport to it.

Should have to be legit handicapped or at least 65 years of age to use one in archery season, otherwise use during firearms or muzzy season.

 

[djacker]

The state of MN doesn't care about the deer herd, they only see $ coming from more licenses purchased.