steve863

Yeah, that is how I understand the law also. So in reality the law does absolutely nothing. It won't effect bowhunters during archery season at all, and I can't imagine any gun hunters swapping a gun for a crossbow. This law has ZERO effect on anything. This law does many things actually. 1 - Gets the proverbial foot in the door for x-bows. It wont be long before they are put where they belong, in archery season. 2 - Opens up the opportunity for more people to hunt bow only zones during gun seasons. 3 - Give another option for late ML/bow season (now ML/X-Bow/Bow) for those that dont ML hunt and have a tough time drawing a bow in such cold weather. I love how the anti-crossbow crowd is trying to completely minimize this. : For your information, I am NOT anti-crossbow. I think they should allow crossbows during bow season. Having them legal only during gun season is quite ridiculous and does absolutely nothing. I can guarantee you that there will be mighty few who hunt with them during the regular season. And there will be awful few who will now become hunters for the first time just because crossbows are legal during gun season. Isn't bowhunting already allowed in many archery only zones during gun season? Where does it say that crossbows will now be allowed in these areas? If they are not allowed during bow season anywhere, we can't assume that they will now be legal in archery only zones.

What they should have done was made crossbows legal to kill ANY buck during the gun season in the AR zones. That would get some folks complaining, that's for sure! LOL

Yeah, that is how I understand the law also. So in reality the law does absolutely nothing. It won't effect bowhunters during archery season at all, and I can't imagine any gun hunters swapping a gun for a crossbow. This law has ZERO effect on anything.

Lines are already starting to build in front of sporting goods stores where the gun hunters will now be purchasing crossbows so that they could kill off all the deer that the bowhunters think they are entitled to! LOL

No need to pay for it. Having you, Hunter and Fairgame dazzle me with your biological brilliance is all the pay I need! LOL

Any deer I shoot is a nice deer to me. So are you saying that bragging sized deer are the only deer one should be allowed to shoot? That is YOUR opinion and surely not that of the DEC or the majority of hunters out there.

I hunt in Delaware county for your information, and they tried to implement AR's there last year. It was of course got shot down. I hope that the letter I wrote to the DEC against it at least HELPED in shooting it down!

And this is why 7 out of 10 male deer killed in NYS were either fawns or yearlings. Funny how steve has to attack everyone in every thread who likes to practice QDM / AR or who are in favor of an AR. So you poor souls think that I am attacking you? First you cry that we kill off your yearlings and then you say we are attacking you? Again, tough noogans! The licenses we purchase don't say that yearlings are off limits, EVEN in the AR areas. Like some of those bucks that get shot in those areas with 3 points on one side aren't yearlings? Maybe you guys ought to become better hunters and then you will see more and bigger deer! LOL

OK, then the REAL question here is whether or not his retirement might have been a forced one?? LOL

I am happy if I fill a tag or two of the deer hunting license I paid for. If I hunted hard and didn't fill any tags, well, then that's just a part of hunting. I surely didn't pay for the tags to just look and wave at the deer and let them pass so YOU can hopefully shoot them in a year or two when they measure up to YOUR numbers. Tough noogans on that one!!

Dick Henry, the guy who wrote the artice, is a recently retired big game biologist from the DEC. He knows his stuff. Then I reckon he wasn't the one who wrote the official DEC statement saying that AR's are NOT biologically necessary??

So if one shoots a deer that they thought would definitely go over 120 and after the measuring turns out that he is under that, what happens then? Disappointment? I think hunters who are happy with whatever they might kill and don't worry themselves whether or not any deer they kill will measure up to any particular score are the happiest hunters of all. For the rest of you it's only a numbers game.

You got that right! An article from the Hudson Valley QDMA that antler restrictions are a good thing. Now that's a good unbiased organization if I ever saw one. LOL

I HOPE what you say is true.

I go out specifically for turkeys a couple of weekends every October. I love hunting them in the fall even more than in the spring since you can hunt all day and kill any bird you want. For me it beats bowhunting deer hands down. I got tired of just LOOKING at deer out of bow range when the odds are better that I will get a shot at some turkeys with a shotgun! Like others have mentioned, if you bust up a flock that might be out of range you are most likely in for some action after you start to call.

What on earth is the difference if he is 120 or 135? He is obviously a really good buck and anyone who would get him should be more than happy with him. This obsession hunters have these days with scores is simply mind boggling.

So you say you are hunting your stands near the property lines and can see other hunters on their stands on the adjoining property? This sounds a bit odd and I surely wouldn't enjoy this kind of hunting. So lets say the deer happens to be walking right on the property line. Who will shoot? Both of you? And you will be sending bullets towards each other also? Not a very safe or good situation which ever way you look at it in my opinion.

Yes, I've seen it also on the bigger properties. It's like when they say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I guess some hunters like to set up near the property lines to have a good look? Nothing surprises me when it comes to hunters actually. I have seen more than my share of shenanigans over the years.

I think with people hunting on smaller and smaller parcels of land these issues are coming up very often. Heck, some people hunt on such small parcels that they are close to property lines even if they set up their stands smack in the middle of their property. How about all those suburban hunters who hunt in Westchester and Long Island? They hunt in peoples backyards where the next property is like 30 yards away in any direction you look.

I rarely if ever sit the whole day. Most people will get bored, cold, etc. sitting the whole day and chances of not spotting a deer even if it was in the vicinity increase when one isn't alert enough. Some people these days pass their time by reading, playing games on their cell phones or listening to i-pods which I personally think is silly. I have heard a whole mess of deer before I ever saw them so having my ears plugged up or my attention on some silly game would surely have made me not see those deer. For me at least it works to get out of the woods for a while, have lunch, take a quick nap, and then be refreshed again for the afternoon hunt. I hunt a good sized parcel of land so I can also do some still hunting if I want. So I sometimes do this before or after my hunt sessions to help break the monotony.

I don't own a BP pistol so I really can't help you there. Getting back to your traumatic event, I am afraid that is just a part of hunting. Even though modern bows are far from primitive weapons, the bowseason is supposed to be a primitive style hunting season, so the situation you experienced will sooner or later definitely come up. One needs to understand that, I guess.

No, it is not legal to carry any sort of firearm while bowhunting. Cutting it's throat was and is your only option.

I think I paid like $99 for my supersportsman license this year. I think it's a bargain. People spend more each month for I-phones, cable TV, cigarettes, booze and all sorts of other garbage. $99 for the privilege to hunt anytime I want during the various seasons really is a drop in the bucket in the scheme of things.

No it doesn't go up every year. Yes, last year it did go up, but it was at least 6 years or so before that license costs went up last. And they did not go up again this year either.

So tell me, what does allowing the 1.5 to live do other than potentially give him a bigger rack for you guys to put on your walls? Does it really help the herd like most of you guys claim or is it benefitting YOU guys more than it is the deer?? Not being a wise guy here, only asking a simple question. The same genetics are spread whether the buck breeds at 1.5 or 5.5 so what are the advantages for the deer? I surely can't see any and the DEC has also come to the same conclusion it seems, so quite simply our points are more valid than yours in this discussion.