Chevy

I considered trying a decoy this year but all the feedback I got from people who tried this strategy was negative. There are also alot of doe in the area so I expect they would bust my set up first. I'll stick to grunting, rattling, and good stand set up locations.

My buck archery target in my back yard already had its butt kicked twice. I had to take the antlers off it. I would say we are in the early stages of the rut.

sticks and stone will break my bones but your names will never hurt me.

Why are the pro xgun guys always making personal attacks, and name calling?

What if I get my buck on 10/16 but no DMP. I would not be able to participate in the regular season. One buck for archery and one for regular season works fine in my opinion.

Deer drives should not be legal on public land in my opinion. #1 its not safe because you are pushing through and into other people you don't even know are there plus they don't know a drive is comming their way. #2 it's not fair to the guy who climbed the mountain only to have his day ruined by a deer drive on opening day.

Thanks. I just read that thread. Not much practical advice in it. Maybe the decoy is just for tv shows in Iowa. I have alot of doe in the area so maybe a decoy is not the best thing to do since the does will surely check it out an blow me in.

Has anyone had any luck hunting mature bucks during the rut with decoys? I have a stand in a hedge row with a golden rod field in between the hedge row and standing corn. I have seen bucks running doe in the field and the corn and need to lure them over to my location. I thought a buck decoy might do the trick but I have never used one before. Any do and don'ts from experience would be appreciated. Who make the best buck decoy assuming its a buck decoy I need and not a doe decoy?

Correct. DMP's will be less for gunhunters, more pressure in the archery woods means more nocturnal deer at the start of gun season, plus less deer available to the gun hunter since the archery take will likely double (look at Ohio) if the crossgun is allowed in archery season.

Its how I was brought up. I started bowhunting in the late 80's and recall my bowhunting education course at Sal's in Webster where we all practiced using a compound. My first bow was a compound and I never knew any different. Are you telling me I have been doing something wrong all these years or that I'm less of a hunter somehow?

Yes Upstater, the opportunists sense the door to the archery season has been cracked open and they are trying to take advantage with the crossgun. Something that strikes me as odd are that the three main proponents of the crossgun on this thread "claim" they would never use one but their posts take up half of this thread. I suspect they are not truely bowhunters, but opportunists. One opportunist actually claims the compound bow does not belong in archery season but still wants to further degrade the archery season with crossbows. Why would that be unless underneath it all they are just an opportunist trying to take advantage.

I'm not sure that is true because a spike can grow into a 160" ten point given time to grow which means the genetics of that spike were just fine.

I'm conflicted on this issue. I might be where Sam in now as a hunter (passing up small 8pters) but is took me a long while to get here with many spikes, fours and sixes under my belt as a young hunter. I couldn't imagine passing up a nice 4pt in my second year of deer hunting. 25 years later I can watch and enjoy as those deer pass by unscathed and wish everyone else did the same, but I realize that might not be fair.

Things in the 8W / 8T area have been pretty rough for quite a few years due to the liberal DMP's for consecutive years. Last year was especially bad and now the DEC gets the point. So bad our hunting cabin probably won't see much use as I have access to other areas DEC have not depleated. Too bad.

This is the type of guy crossguns will attract and why we fear for archery season. I love the sinister threats of future chaos.

Follow them to their vehicle, take a license plate number.

Please give me a reason I can believe that a bowhunter would convert to crossbow if it were legal? Who said they would convert? Just add to the arsenal. All hunters dont go through life with blinders on. Yea right. You know a bunch of bow hunters that want to spend $1000 on a cross bow just to add it to their arsenal. and that is their reason for support. I just don't buy it. You dont buy that people would welcome the choice to be able to hunt with a variety of weapons? Pretty short sighted of you and dead wrong, but believe what you want. You keep selling that snake oil.

Please give me a reason I can believe that a bowhunter would convert to crossbow if it were legal? Who said they would convert? Just add to the arsenal. All hunters dont go through life with blinders on. Yea right. You know a bunch of bow hunters that want to spend $1000 on a cross bow just to add it to their arsenal. and that is their reason for support. I just don't buy it.

Sure there is a guy or two out there with a bad shoulder, but these contraptions hunt like a gun and the influx like seen in Ohio will be from gunners transitioning into archery season at which point it will no longer be archery season because we will be dealing with deer drives ect...

Please give me a reason I can believe that a bowhunter would convert to crossbow if it were legal? .Sounds like he did...the guy with the bad shoulder. My father had a muscle removed from his shoulder and he can no longer draw a bow. I know he would buy one. and have you ever tried to hold a flashlight with one hand and shoot with the other with a compound...it's damn near impossible...I am thinking it would be much easier with a crossbow...LOL...just thought I would beat you to it Chevy I asked for a reason a bowhunter would convert. If you read the post the guy with the bad shoulder was not a bow hunter any more due to the bad shoulder. He said he had a list of guys who would convert and I would like to know why!

Please give me a reason I can believe that a bowhunter would convert to crossbow if it were legal?

You can't really just have a survey to decide things. It would be like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coup. If asked, of course the gun hunters would vote yes to crossbows during archery season. It would just be an extension of gun season for them and the end of archery season for bowhunters. If you want a vote on crossbows during archery season it should only include those with a current archery license.

If it's not too hot, I have had good luck the first couple days of the archery season. The deer can be patterned and you are truely suprising them while in their natural patterns because they are not pressured yet. After the first weekend it slows a bit until rut activity gets them moving again.

People keep calling for an Oct.1 opener but they don't realize it would come with a big price. DEC is not going to just hand over additional time to archers with the same ease that they take it away from us. If we get an Oct.1st opener we will surely loose the last week of the season in November and that is not acceptable, at least to me. Frankly, I'm tired of the constant push to change everything i.e. crossbows, early ML, saturday opener, youth seasons ect ect...all this is taking away from the fun of looking forward to the up comming season. And I'm tired of all the fighting between hunting groups as they try to take a piece of archery season. I know I sound like a grumpy old guy but I'm not old...just grumpy.

I don't have time to teach you things you probably already know. It's called a bolt, I didn't make it up. Crossguns shoot bolts.