How to get the rest of archery season

[thefinks]

just this post and responses to it are reason enough why the crossbow has no buisness in the archery season at all. put it in the regular season where it belongs.

Spoken like a true genius...not. I do love guys like you that forget when the long bow guys felt the same way with your compound but that's different right..ahhh not. Some people just need to feel better than huh. I guess I better take my crossbow and hunt in almost every other state that wow let's you shoot any version of a compound vertical and horizontal. We all know that the additional millions of dollars that will be spent by law abiding crossbow hunters isn't needed here in NY either. Keep spewing nonsense.

just my 2 cents...

Crossbows here to stay period..waited long enough.

[jjb4900]

Spoken like a true genius...not. I do love guys like you that forget when the long bow guys felt the same way with your compound but that's different right..ahhh not. Some people just need to feel better than huh. I guess I better take my crossbow and hunt in almost every other state that wow let's you shoot any version of a compound vertical and horizontal. We all know that the additional millions of dollars that will be spent by law abiding crossbow hunters isn't needed here in NY either. Keep spewing nonsense.

just my 2 cents...

Crossbows here to stay period..waited long enough.

of course they have a place in archery season....in the hands of hunters who realize they have limitations as any other archery gear and respect that..when you get guys who say they are the end all to the limitations of what a bow can do is when you get people who have a problem with them...unless of course you have those "jesus" guided arrows, then nothing else matters.

[dbHunterNY]

When I took that shot, I guessed it to be about 50 yards. I didn't think that was too much of a stretch based on the extreme accuracy I had obtained at 40. My aim point was just below the spine, at the top of the lungs. Apparently the middle dot, on the Barnett stock sight that I used, was for 50 yards, as the bolt struck about 10" low, but right on left/right. The buck was absolutely fixed in position, posing like a tom turkey for a pair of un-bred does, and thus very firmly distracted. Everything about the shot was perfect except the range and I admit an error in judgement there.

I always limited my compound shots to 30 yards and I have had a few bad experiences wit "string jump" there. The only time I had those was when the buck or doe was alert, because I grunted or rattled him in or a glimpse of the draw was caught in the periforal vision. With a crossbow, the draw thing is obviously a non-issue. At beyond 50 yards, hearing the bow release is not likely. The odds of that buck "jumping" the arrow was as near zero as one could ever expect.

My biggest problem with the shot at that range with tat small crossbow was arrow penetration. On a broadside shot like that, pass thru should be the rule. 8 inches is sub-par. Someday I may upgrade to a faster, heavier draw model. Has anyone had any experience with one that would punch thru at 60 yards?. I would love it if I had opportunities for closer shots, but I didn't this year, and on the last day I could crossbow hunt, I was willing to go with a shot I figured I had better than 3/4 chance of making. Now that the freezer is near capacity after gun season, I will need to be at about 9/10 to take the shot. 40 yards and under will be the rule. A man has got to know his limitations. I have a pretty good idea of mine.

 

crossbows in general can be pretty loud I'm sure the deer will hear it at 50 yards under those conditions that would warrant a shot.  the whole lapse of judgment is forgivable as a one time mistake.  sounds like you've got that figured out and it won't happen again.  It is a big deal to take those types of risks.  we owe it to the living, breathing, game we pursue.  all that said congratulations on the buck.  I'm glad everything worked out for the better.  I'd have nothing against crossbows being legal throughout early season.  it's no different than using modern compounds versus traditional bows.  just remember when sharing the experience with others using one is definitely an advantage.

[thphm]

Ok after all of the BS on this thread, How many of you out in the woods hunting ( with no range finders ) can accurately tell the difference from 40 to 50 or 60 yards. Not to easy with a long or recurve or compound bow. The difference with most X bows they use a Scope and with some scopes you can judge the distance of the target. Been hunting with every thing legal in NYS  for 60 + years so do not try to BS the question.

[Five Seasons]

of course they have a place in archery season....in the hands of hunters who realize they have limitations as any other archery gear and respect that..when you get guys who say they are the end all to the limitations of what a bow can do is when you get people who have a problem with them...unless of course you have those "jesus" guided arrows, then nothing else matters.

The issue is that they're not a super weapon and the learning curve is small relative to a compound. I have heard stories of the guy who picks one up and heads into the woods. I realize that happens with a compound too but chances are you end up with more clean misses. I don't "worry" about poor shots from 90% of guys who picked up a crossbow last year. I worry about the gun hunter who didn't put in the time to understand the weapon and the limitations of archery before heading into the woods. Archery, whether it compound, recurve or crossbow is a whole new ballgame in many ways.

We should all be ambassadors for the sport and that's why I think some of us make it our business to discourage any form of unethical, reckless, illegal or dangerous hunting. The actions of our brothers do reflect how we all are viewed.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jjb4900]

Ok after all of the BS on this thread, How many of you out in the woods hunting ( with no range finders ) can accurately tell the difference from 40 to 50 or 60 yards. Not to easy with a long or recurve or compound bow. The difference with most X bows they use a Scope and with some scopes you can judge the distance of the target. Been hunting with every thing legal in NYS  for 60 + years so do not try to BS the question.

pretty simple, I pace off landmarks by foot prior to getting in stand.....all part of scouting, and I would hope if you've been hunting for 60+ years you have some type of method you use...and please, no BS......if you've been 10 yards off all these years in some of your shots you need more practice.

[thphm]

Ok you are still hunting or stalking a deer or what ever game animal ( not everyone hunts from e a tree stand ) and sits in one spot all day long.How do you judge your distance now.

[jjb4900]

Ok you are still hunting or stalking a deer or what ever game animal ( not everyone hunts from e a tree stand ) and sits in one spot all day long.How do you judge your distance now.

I don't stalk or still hunt with my bow, so can't answer that.....but I've been doing it long enough that I bet I can judge within 2-3 yards, but that's in ranges up to 30 yards....after that you've moved beyond what I consider archery hunting.

Edited January 23, 2015 by jjb4900

[wolc123]

Back to the original question, If anyone hears about any further relaxation of NY's former hard stance against the x-bow please post ASAP.   I need at least 6 months of regular practice, 20 - 40 shots/week with a compound, before I would feel comfortable taking a 30 yard shot at a deer with one of them.  A half hour total is plenty for me to feel comfortable at 40 yards with my x-bow.  I have yet to miss the bulls eye by much over an inch at that range or under anyhow.  Is it not amazing how much tighter of a group you can hold from a rest with a telescopic sight than off-hand with open sights?     Medical issues prevented me from any compound practice last spring and summer, but I am all healed up now, so I am ready to get back at it if I need to.   If I don't hear anything by April 15, I will start shooting the compound again. 

 

My main concern is filling some doe tags, as I was not able to do any of that last year and had to settle for my 2 bucks (1 x-bow, 1 rifle).  Except for the two young does that showed up at about 75 yards (+/- 20) to distract the buck in question here, the rest of the does and fawns vanished last season just when the crossbow became legal.  Maybe that's because the white oaks started dropping acorns heavy then.  The does and fawns are back in force now however.  Were it not for the excellent brakes and light weight of my new car, I would have surely nailed one or two on the drive to work yesterday.  They have cleaned up all of my remaining 3 acres of field-corn over the last couple weeks. It will just be a matter of time now before they start on the shrubs around the house.  

 

The only thing worse than pounding dents out of your fenders, watching your landscaping disappear over the winter, and holding onto unfilled antlerless tags, is doing it with an empty freezer.   At least I don't have to worry about that one thanks to a little "range underestimation" coupled with some help from up above (I just had to throw that one in for jjb, and because its the truth).  All I can do now is pray that the state loosens up and gives us them other 3-weeks this season, when 30 yard or under shots at antlerless deer should be plentiful.   They would save me a lot of practice time if they did it before tax-day.         

[Doc]

I need at least 6 months of regular practice, 20 - 40 shots/week with a compound, before I would feel comfortable taking a 30 yard shot at a deer with one of them.  A half hour total is plenty for me to feel comfortable at 40 yards with my x-bow.  I have yet to miss the bulls eye by much over an inch at that range or under anyhow.  Is it not amazing how much tighter of a group you can hold from a rest with a telescopic sight than off-hand with open sights?     Medical issues prevented me from any compound practice last spring and summer, but I am all healed up now, so I am ready to get back at it if I need to.   If I don't hear anything by April 15, I will start shooting the compound again. 

I would suggest that you simply plan on working out with the compound on April 15th regardless of what happens with crossbows. Don't look at using a bow during bow season as being some kind of penalty. 

[growalot]

 

Posted 23 January 2015 - 05:59 PM

Ok you are still hunting or stalking a deer or what ever game animal ( not everyone hunts from e a tree stand ) and sits in one spot all day long.How do you judge your distance now.

 

It takes a "natural eye" but even with out that, it's repetition...I have always hunted instinctive ..from recurve to compound and with beads sights on my guns....so having the ability to judge distance is a must and I practice that ..not with markers but pacing off and then just free shooting stumps...I also use a range finder when the opportunity arises.When I first sit down.  just to get an idea of the surroundings...hills ,dips  and even shadows can effect what translates to the brain through our vision. I'm by no means special. Many can and do this, successfully judge distances. They just know it takes time and work to hone that particular skill. That last sentance is where I have a problem with gun hunters picking up a cross bow and taking a few target shots then hitting the woods even with a scope...arrow flight is not the same as bullet...there is no outside influences on a guns firing machanism as there is on any bows string and limbs...

Equipment operators that are any good do the same thing...they have an eye for distance and grade that then gets fine tuned with measuring tools of the trade...

 

PS...to anyone new..I took both my deer last year with my crossbow..both close shots...and mainly because I saw few deer within legal light...

Edited February 22, 2015 by growalot

[wolc123]

I am very thankful for the two bucks I took at extreme range last season (59 yards with my x-bow, and approximately 300 yards with my rifle), as they may be the last I see for a while.  I just returned from snow-shoeing out back on our farm in Western NY and it don't look good for very many bucks making it thru this horrific winter.    The snow is so deep that deer are being forced onto the roads, where they are falling to vehicles in greater numbers than I saw during the rut.  It certainly didn't help things there that other hunters took the fewest deer locally last season as they did in any I can remember. I was wanting the crossbow early next archery season to concentrate on does, but the way it looks now, I will be best off letting them go and focus on just filling my buck tags again.    If I do get any antlerless tags next season, I will try and use them on button-bucks only.   We are going to need all the does we can get to make up for what may be the largest winter-kill in recorded history.  I read today that the February temperatures have been the lowest in 145 years.    I don't have too much trouble killing bucks with my compound, as they usually travel alone, and I only have to wait for one set of eyes to look away or pass behind a tree when I make the draw.   That don't work so well with groups of does, where eliminating the need to draw with all them eyes in close, would greatly multiply the effectiveness of the crossbow.              

[growalot]

What to say to that...something the guys here know I have rarely ever said. Where are your pictures and proof of all these winter kills...I live in the hills of western NY..snow in our area is deepest I've seen in years...yet not the deepest that have been seen.

[wooly]

Winter- kill...,lol!

 

[Doc]

I do wonder how the DEC gets a handle on winter kill. I mean everything is based on harvest numbers of the season just gone by, but what happens if those numbers are screwed with by a long, ugly winter that happens after all the numbers are tallied and massaged and written down. I really don't know. perhaps it will take a season or two to account for winter kill.

 

By the way, don't be looking for winter-kill in February. Most deer can make it this far even if they are in horrible shape. But come March and April time frame, if the winter stretches beyond normal, it could be a very nasty situation. It generally is a brutal winter, followed by a very prolonged winter after fat reserves are depleted that does in a bunch of them. With around 2 feet of snow that seems to be permanent, the deer are chewing through body fat reserves, with nothing available to replenish nutrition.

 

Time will tell.

[wolc123]

We saw two just like behind that Fed-ex truck on the way to church 5 miles away this morning.  One looked to be a large, but thin old buck that had dropped its antlers prior to the crash.   Like Doc says, those that starve won't show until late March or April so you will have to wait a while yet for off-road pictures.   There is no end in sight for the extreme freezing temps in the long-range weather predictions.    The one saving grace may be the bumper-crop of acorns we had last fall which will hopefully give the mature does enough reserve to deliver their fawns.   The antler-worshiping crowd may be in for some slim pickings next season however.   Only a small percentage of the bucks alive now will likely make it till summer.  Those that don't starve or get run-over will be easy pickings for the coyotes.       

[The_Real_TCIII]

Deer can handle deep snow as long as it doesn't get a crust on top, and as stated, it doesn't stretch out into April. They're built for it. The turkeys are screwed though

[growalot]

I Don't worry about the turkey here...between the pines and seeds from cones...all the swamps...with wild rose..grape...cattails..sumac..witch hazel..etc they have plenty of food..I know our streams have ice...but the water is still flowing and open near falls

[Doc]

Deer can handle deep snow as long as it doesn't get a crust on top, and as stated, it doesn't stretch out into April. They're built for it.

Well, maybe not always ..... lol.

[growalot]

I believe that was in Wisconsin a winter or so ago wasn't it?...Now those guys and our tug hill  get winters like this frequently...and mother nature seems to hold her own...and they(Wisconsin) have wolves...

Edited February 24, 2015 by growalot

[The_Real_TCIII]

Well, maybe not always ..... lol.

Michdeer.jpg

The only thing those deer have to fear is sharks. And maybe snowmobiles. We may have to protect them with a speed limit like the manatees and bass boats?

Edited February 24, 2015 by The_Real_TCIII

[BizCT]

Xbows in Westchester! Get it done, so I can start shooting some P&Y bucks!

[mike rossi]

Back to the original question, If anyone hears about any further relaxation of NY's former hard stance against the x-bow please post ASAP.   I need at least 6 months of regular practice, 20 - 40 shots/week with a compound, before I would feel comfortable taking a 30 yard shot at a deer with one of them.  A half hour total is plenty for me to feel comfortable at 40 yards with my x-bow.  I have yet to miss the bulls eye by much over an inch at that range or under anyhow.  Is it not amazing how much tighter of a group you can hold from a rest with a telescopic sight than off-hand with open sights?     Medical issues prevented me from any compound practice last spring and summer, but I am all healed up now, so I am ready to get back at it if I need to.   If I don't hear anything by April 15, I will start shooting the compound again. 

 

My main concern is filling some doe tags, as I was not able to do any of that last year and had to settle for my 2 bucks (1 x-bow, 1 rifle).  Except for the two young does that showed up at about 75 yards (+/- 20) to distract the buck in question here, the rest of the does and fawns vanished last season just when the crossbow became legal.  Maybe that's because the white oaks started dropping acorns heavy then.  The does and fawns are back in force now however.  Were it not for the excellent brakes and light weight of my new car, I would have surely nailed one or two on the drive to work yesterday.  They have cleaned up all of my remaining 3 acres of field-corn over the last couple weeks. It will just be a matter of time now before they start on the shrubs around the house.  

 

The only thing worse than pounding dents out of your fenders, watching your landscaping disappear over the winter, and holding onto unfilled antlerless tags, is doing it with an empty freezer.   At least I don't have to worry about that one thanks to a little "range underestimation" coupled with some help from up above (I just had to throw that one in for jjb, and because its the truth).  All I can do now is pray that the state loosens up and gives us them other 3-weeks this season, when 30 yard or under shots at antlerless deer should be plentiful.   They would save me a lot of practice time if they did it before tax-day.         

 

You have tried to bring this around to the original question like 4 times now - and the thread is 4 pages long and nothing about the topic you started. And it is a topic about passing hunting-related legislation,  I don't bow hunt or hunt deer, but I was interested in the ideas about forwarding hunting legislation by the crossbow affectionates - so I checked this thread  out and found NOTHING....

 

Perhaps I can join in and attack you to, but for knowledge, not spite, by asking you the question have you read ANYTHING I posted on here or viewed our three websites, blog, and social media? I think your answer might be found there. I am not posting this as some sort of promotion, I want to know, have you ever read our stuff, and why or why not? 

[wolc123]

I read a bunch of that stuff about dove hunting in NY and I would definitely be for it.   Keep up the fight and you will likely be successful as there is really no good reason not to hunt doves in NY.   The crossbow battle is not completely won yet and wont be until we get full inclusion.  I am thankful we got the peak-rut period at least, which enabled me to fill my buck tag.  As it turns out that was a blessing in disguise, with this mega-winter we are getting.  I am thankful now to have not killed any does with the crossbow last fall.  We are going to need all the pregnant does we can next spring to make up for what certainly looks like will be the largest winter-kill in modern times.  God works in mysterious ways, but he clearly runs the show and determines the final outcome.   Keep him on your side and you will get what you want, but not always right away.