I'm with you, open the season to year round, make bag limit unlimited and any method you want.

Trouble is I don't think it would knock back the herd. Just not enough people with the desire for whatever reason to shoot a deer.

Pafoxman, I agree with your premise. A crossbow is not archery "tackle". But I don't hate them. I'm especially glad that they're keeping older hunters in the woods, and getting younger hunters out during the fall. I'd like to see them regulated as a separate season, because I agree with you, a scoped crossbow with a trigger instead of drawing a string back in the moment is not archery. Here's some more food for thought. Based on my observation, I think that including crossbows in the general archery season may actually decrease the number of deer killed. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out. With 7 weeks of season and mostly favorable weather, a guy can wait on a buck bascially as long as they want to and keep passing does. Eventually, they'll kill a buck with their crossbow. Less and less people processing their own meat, so they take it to an expensive processor and pay out the ears. And 1 buck fills the freezer. Why go out in rifle season when it's snowing and blowing and kill another doe? There's days during rifle season where you only hear a few shots. That's not the way it used to be. Anyways, that's my observation.

"Might as well use a gun"
If they would allow it I would !
Always been more about " Subsistence" than a "Purist".
Type.of hunter

No one countered your argument because NO ONE CARES.

One thing that hasn't been pointed out enough is that there are definitely a certain percentage of compound killed deer every year that would NOT have been killed with a crossbow. One of the best bucks I have taken with a compound approach from behind me and was never going to come to the front of my stand. I had to face the tree to shoot. No way I would have had room with a crossbow to shoot facing my tree. I've hunted with both. They each have their plus and minus.

I just looked through our regs. It seems we can now only kill 6 a hunter in the state. Unless Its urban deer dones or state park hunts and refugee hunts. those dont count. We used to be able to travel around the state and shoot the limit of anterless for each county. I think it was changed this year. Back when I was doing some shooting and not just taking the kids some years I was tagging 14 plus.

Amazing I addressed you. Want to limit x bow to a special seasion. OK no problem But it needs to be x bow only and not vertical bows allowed. Should restrict archery gear during firearms and black powder seasion as well.


The problem is you want and like to be able to hunt your way all seasion in every seasion. Start talking about limiting that and you are not happy. One of those all about me and my way individuals.

The long bow hinting season was already available to everyone, now you want to further reduce seasons because of expanded weapon choice, this is exactly my argument for not putting xbows in archery season...

Dang, that sucks. Why did they lower the limit? Too many deer harvested?

Guess y’all will have to start hunting urban deer or by a beef or two to raise.

He ain't been on since he started and then quit this hate thread after getting all the push back. He might need the jumbo-size tube.

Or he just needs to learn not to hate on folks for using their legal weapon of choice to kill deer with.

When the topic starts with Who Hates in the first two words, the line in the sand has already been drawn. Anyone thinks todays compound bow is that hard to shoot get a grip. my son shoots out to a hundred yard with his compound everyday. I can pick his bow up today and shoot respectable groups out to 40 yards. I love my crossbow they have legal in Ohio for over 50 years. get over it. I am also putting my 2023 crossbow harvest in the Buckeye Big Buck Record book this year. Hate that! Owe did I mention he was was killed in the middle of the rut at less than 10 yards. He didn't go 20. Hate that!

Heck yeah.

Congrats on the big deer from 2023 and getting him in the big buck record book!

That’s awesome.

My Uncle hunted with some pf the N Ohio guys.
Their buck management goals/tactics
were bass ackwards than Pa today.
Wheel bows were just getting popular.
The tools change.
Our need to gripe, remains the same.

Absolutely Sir.

My point is the anti x bow guys love hunting all 3 months of deer season.bow, gun, black powder. But if you flip the script and say anything about limiting their methods/season of hunting they get their feeling hurt.. Limit others methods/season they are all for but don't limit mine..
Maybe that time my explanation was clear enough? Sometimes when I explain things it makes since to me but other still dont understand what im saying. A lot of people get frustrated and thein the other person not understanding is to dumb to get it. But in fact if someone is not understanding what im explaining im the one failing to explain it in a way it clicks for them.

Well, I'm going out Sept 13th with my cross bow and taking the first deer, I see.

I was picking up what you were laying down PF. Made sense to me.

Heck yeah! Good luck

Funny how everyone draws the purity line exactly where their gear ends. Stricter than me? You’re a fanatic. Looser than me? You’re a cheater.

To keep my conscience clean, I’ve gone fully primitive. I hunt only with:
– A bow gnawed from a tree branch, strung with critter intestines.
– A knife I personally forged in the fires of Mordor before I let Sauron take over the plant.

And when that was called “cheating,” I went purist for the next three seasons: leaping from treetops and finishing deer with my bare teeth. No hypocrisy here.

My point was everyone could of hunted 3 months already, they just didn't want to spend a few mins a week practicing.

We are a one deer limit in most of the state and bucks only in some of that. There's already tremendous pressure on the resource, next year rifles will be legal state wide which will add additional pressure. The legislator didn't have to add even more pressure with xbows.

I've had 3 calls this year asking to lease my land for hunting, maybe 1 call total in 10 years before that. The legislator added enough pressure on the resource to the point that the only realistic way to succeed (locally) is to buy or lease land. No longer can a kid get a $50 bow at the flea market and hunt in realitive peace with a chance of success, now they also need to lease some land. I guess it's worth it because now the boomers can get a crossbow and hunt without having to practice...