Thanks to all who share this forum; it's really nice to be able to talk to hunters who don't "bash" a person for using a crossbow; I must admit when hunting other states, I do use on occassion a compound bow but here at home {Arkansas} use nothing but a crossbow; it's just so sad that others hunters who finds out a person hunts with a crossbow puts them down and makes them feel as though they are something less because they use a x-bow;
I am glad now that the surrounding states around me are letting the use of x-bows without restrictions that no longer will I use anything but my x-bow and will continue to come to this forum and look forward to reading what the others hunters who shares the love of the outdoors and crossbows are doing without the "bashing"; once again, thanks to all;
Just wanted to say.................
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
Just wanted to say.................
Hunt hard, respect what you hunt and waste no meat;
cross bow
I had to go to the cross bow because due to a couple of accidents and a surgery or two there wasn't enough back and shoulder muscles for my 70# compound. I was never very good with the compound but with the excalibur I think I am as good with the crossbow as I was with the 12 gauge with slugs, at least out to 60 or 70 yards. I got a crankaroo last fall after the last surgery. I may not have to use it now but my daughters and grandchildren will be able to cock the cross bow with ease. I really enjoy this forum and the wonderful people that make it so interesting. Enjoy the outdoors but be very safe. Stupidity only takes a second, getting over it can take a life time. Been there, done that. 
Excalibur Exomax and Arctic Cat 400 auto. Life don't get much better than that.
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Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
Hey, Arkbow ...
This is a good forum, and a good bunch of contributors. It's the only forum I've participated in for more than a few weeks!
As to using the crossbow just because you like it and want to, you'll have to steel yourself against the "bashers." Be courteous and polite and go about your business. They are foolish, and they aren't your friends, so don't worry about what they think.
It's a fact of life that not everyone in the world will like you or what you do.
This past year I (with the help of others) succeeded in winning a battle to enact legislation making hunting and shooting from state-road-right-of-ways in this county illegal, and am subsequently hated by hundreds of lazy hunt-out-of-their-truck slobs whose idea of hunting is to drive around until they see a deer standing in someone's field, and then stop and shoot it from the road. They are livid, because now that will be illegal here.
That's just tough. Let them hate me. We did it legal, and because it was right. They lost, and they don't like it, and because I spearheaded the effort and represented it, they don't like me.
I don't care. They're foolish, and they're not my friends, and I'm not going to worry about what they think.
If everyone likes you, you don't stand for anything. The Bible says, "Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you." How true!
Use that crossbow with pride, walk tall and look folks in the eye. Be you.
This is a good forum, and a good bunch of contributors. It's the only forum I've participated in for more than a few weeks!
As to using the crossbow just because you like it and want to, you'll have to steel yourself against the "bashers." Be courteous and polite and go about your business. They are foolish, and they aren't your friends, so don't worry about what they think.
It's a fact of life that not everyone in the world will like you or what you do.
This past year I (with the help of others) succeeded in winning a battle to enact legislation making hunting and shooting from state-road-right-of-ways in this county illegal, and am subsequently hated by hundreds of lazy hunt-out-of-their-truck slobs whose idea of hunting is to drive around until they see a deer standing in someone's field, and then stop and shoot it from the road. They are livid, because now that will be illegal here.
That's just tough. Let them hate me. We did it legal, and because it was right. They lost, and they don't like it, and because I spearheaded the effort and represented it, they don't like me.
I don't care. They're foolish, and they're not my friends, and I'm not going to worry about what they think.
If everyone likes you, you don't stand for anything. The Bible says, "Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you." How true!
Use that crossbow with pride, walk tall and look folks in the eye. Be you.
Grizz
When I went to one of the local archery shop to shoot an Excalibur I had pretty good service from one of the younger guys there. I had already done my research and knew what I wanted. I was asking questions and picking up the 10pts, but was really there for the Equinox that they were out of.
He was bias to crossbows, but he was good enough to say "you should really look at the Excal for the most for the money and less noise."
When I went back a few days later to see if they had gotten any Equinoxs in, they were still out so I ended up shooting the Exomax a few times.
When I was done shooting, I commented that I was sold on the Excalibur, the owners comment was "when you are done shooting it, is your wife going to use it?"
I simply handed him his crossbow and walked out.
I took my money elsewhere and ended up buying the Equinox, lumi scope and right stuff pack for well over a hundred less than what I would have spent in his store.
Tworr
He was bias to crossbows, but he was good enough to say "you should really look at the Excal for the most for the money and less noise."
When I went back a few days later to see if they had gotten any Equinoxs in, they were still out so I ended up shooting the Exomax a few times.
When I was done shooting, I commented that I was sold on the Excalibur, the owners comment was "when you are done shooting it, is your wife going to use it?"
I simply handed him his crossbow and walked out.
I took my money elsewhere and ended up buying the Equinox, lumi scope and right stuff pack for well over a hundred less than what I would have spent in his store.
Tworr
John Wade wrote:I don't mind at all if someone bashes cross bow hunting. Saves me time categorizing them on my Friend/Acquaintance/Idiot list.
jw
Guess the idiots think if you carry a crossbow you can just walk up to any critter in the outdoors and stick an arrow in it.
What really burns me is how many people will choose a compound just because it's more "macho" and pay no thought to accuracy or ethical hunting shots. I like to hunt. I like to be sure I can kill the game ethically (as in quickly with little suffering) when I pull the trigger or release the arrow. I love shooting my "traditional" bows, but the crossbow gets 95% of my deer hunting action. Not a matter of being able to slip closer or shoot with less motion (I've been "busted" with a crossbow as much or more than with a longbow). It's a matter of confidence! I can put 100% of my arrows in the kill zone with the crossbow with a clear shot. With the longbow that occasional "flier" that misses the target pops up in my mind when I pull the string as a deer approaches. Why take a chance?
(an example) -
This summer I was sticking arrows in a 6" target at 65 yards with my recurve. Three good hits in a row!
Then one sailed completely over the 3' high backstop.
Why take a chance on wounding a deer just to impress someone?
wabi
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Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
Hey, JH45Gun ...
I'm not condemning anyone anywhere else for doing anything. I don't care what other local governments allow in their areas of jurisdiction. That's for them to decide.
In Wisconsin, disabled hunters should do what the law allows them to do, and so should everyone else who lives there.
Disabled hunters were never the problem in Tyrrell County, and hence weren't the focus of the effort to ban hunting from the state-road right-of-ways in Tyrrell County. We had a problem with just the sort of characters I mentioned doing just what I said ... perfectly healthy guys who constantly cruised rural roads looking for deer they could shoot right out of their trucks. Not only did many of them continually shoot deer on posted land, but because of the lack of any laws governing hunting and the discharging firearms on the state right-of-way, these slobs considered every state road a "public hunting area." So, if you owned land bordering a state road (as I do), then these stuck-to-their-truck-seat bozos had an automatic ticket to poach your land. Dog hunters made the situation all the worse, because they would release hounds on the other side of properties bordered by state roads, then line up on the right-of-way opposite and gun deer down as they crossed the road (or in the field if they thought they could get by with it.)
I'm not condemning any legal hunting options in other states, counties, or areas, and am not at all concerned with what is allowed elsewhere. Such matters are for area governments to decide. My contention (and that of others) was that what was going on here should not have been legal in the first place, and that the lack of legislation concerning the same was creating a continual nuisance and hazard to property owners, hindering and endangering citizens engaged in free and lawful travel, and encouraging the repeated flagrant abuse of property rights. As it happened, a majority of upright tax-paying citizens in this county agreed, the most of whom were legitimate landowners as well.
As I said, we won this battle fair and square, by first addressing the issue with County Commissioners, then collecting valid signitures to a petition voicing our grievance, then lobbying for a bill to be placed before the NC legislature. Public meetings were held, the commissioners decided to ask the government for a law prohibiting these activities, and a bill was submitted by our local senator, considered by the house and senate, approved twice and subsequently ratified. On October 7th, the law that prohibits all hunting on or shooting from, on, or across state-road right-of-ways in Tyrrell County will finally be in force.
Here in North Carolina, I fully support all efforts to afford disabled hunters ample opportunity to take game, including the setting aside of designated public areas for their particular use, the provision of handicapped-access special stands reserved just for them, and their exemption from certain restrictive rules due to their disability. Were it a valid issue here, I would have no personal problem with disabled hunters hunting from vehicles, even on the state-road right-of-way, so long as no shooting is done down or across the right-of-way, and safety is strictly observed. If it is allowed in some other jurisdiction in question, that is no business of mine. That is for each area or region to decide according to the processes set in place to govern such matters.
As to hunting methods and condemnation, where it is legal to do so, if people want to ride around and shoot deer from their vehicles, then so be it. It isn't legal here anymore, and I'm glad. The people who have done it around here hardly deserve to be called "hunters" ... not even "shooters" ... for they aren't much good even at that. I've lost count of the dead deer I've found on this farm, and of the wounded deer I've finished off, all because of the "road warriors."
May their tribe decrease.
Just to put their kind in perspective, it is worthy of note that when they marshalled their own forces to object to possible legislation against their slovenly "hunting," they provided their own petition with signatures, proposing that things remain the same as they had always been. I was informed that they had been signing up babies and kids and tourists and old women and out-of-staters, as compared to our registered county voters with names and addresses. When told of this, the commissioners checked and found that indeed they had provided bogus names, inelligible names, and falsified names in support of their cause ... and that was the beginning of the end for them. They drove the final nail in their own lead-slinging, beer-swilling, redneck coffins. Sweet.
No doubt there are fine, upstanding people who like to hunt out of their trucks and shoot from public road right-of-ways.
I've just never known any around here.
I know, I know. Tell us how you really feel, Grizz, huh?
Good to let it all hang out once in a while ... but then, that's the kind of place this forum is, isn't it ... a place where we can say what we really think in a good and wholesome environment.
That's what this thread was about in the first place!
I'm not condemning anyone anywhere else for doing anything. I don't care what other local governments allow in their areas of jurisdiction. That's for them to decide.
In Wisconsin, disabled hunters should do what the law allows them to do, and so should everyone else who lives there.
Disabled hunters were never the problem in Tyrrell County, and hence weren't the focus of the effort to ban hunting from the state-road right-of-ways in Tyrrell County. We had a problem with just the sort of characters I mentioned doing just what I said ... perfectly healthy guys who constantly cruised rural roads looking for deer they could shoot right out of their trucks. Not only did many of them continually shoot deer on posted land, but because of the lack of any laws governing hunting and the discharging firearms on the state right-of-way, these slobs considered every state road a "public hunting area." So, if you owned land bordering a state road (as I do), then these stuck-to-their-truck-seat bozos had an automatic ticket to poach your land. Dog hunters made the situation all the worse, because they would release hounds on the other side of properties bordered by state roads, then line up on the right-of-way opposite and gun deer down as they crossed the road (or in the field if they thought they could get by with it.)
I'm not condemning any legal hunting options in other states, counties, or areas, and am not at all concerned with what is allowed elsewhere. Such matters are for area governments to decide. My contention (and that of others) was that what was going on here should not have been legal in the first place, and that the lack of legislation concerning the same was creating a continual nuisance and hazard to property owners, hindering and endangering citizens engaged in free and lawful travel, and encouraging the repeated flagrant abuse of property rights. As it happened, a majority of upright tax-paying citizens in this county agreed, the most of whom were legitimate landowners as well.
As I said, we won this battle fair and square, by first addressing the issue with County Commissioners, then collecting valid signitures to a petition voicing our grievance, then lobbying for a bill to be placed before the NC legislature. Public meetings were held, the commissioners decided to ask the government for a law prohibiting these activities, and a bill was submitted by our local senator, considered by the house and senate, approved twice and subsequently ratified. On October 7th, the law that prohibits all hunting on or shooting from, on, or across state-road right-of-ways in Tyrrell County will finally be in force.
Here in North Carolina, I fully support all efforts to afford disabled hunters ample opportunity to take game, including the setting aside of designated public areas for their particular use, the provision of handicapped-access special stands reserved just for them, and their exemption from certain restrictive rules due to their disability. Were it a valid issue here, I would have no personal problem with disabled hunters hunting from vehicles, even on the state-road right-of-way, so long as no shooting is done down or across the right-of-way, and safety is strictly observed. If it is allowed in some other jurisdiction in question, that is no business of mine. That is for each area or region to decide according to the processes set in place to govern such matters.
As to hunting methods and condemnation, where it is legal to do so, if people want to ride around and shoot deer from their vehicles, then so be it. It isn't legal here anymore, and I'm glad. The people who have done it around here hardly deserve to be called "hunters" ... not even "shooters" ... for they aren't much good even at that. I've lost count of the dead deer I've found on this farm, and of the wounded deer I've finished off, all because of the "road warriors."
May their tribe decrease.
Just to put their kind in perspective, it is worthy of note that when they marshalled their own forces to object to possible legislation against their slovenly "hunting," they provided their own petition with signatures, proposing that things remain the same as they had always been. I was informed that they had been signing up babies and kids and tourists and old women and out-of-staters, as compared to our registered county voters with names and addresses. When told of this, the commissioners checked and found that indeed they had provided bogus names, inelligible names, and falsified names in support of their cause ... and that was the beginning of the end for them. They drove the final nail in their own lead-slinging, beer-swilling, redneck coffins. Sweet.
No doubt there are fine, upstanding people who like to hunt out of their trucks and shoot from public road right-of-ways.
I've just never known any around here.
I know, I know. Tell us how you really feel, Grizz, huh?
Good to let it all hang out once in a while ... but then, that's the kind of place this forum is, isn't it ... a place where we can say what we really think in a good and wholesome environment.
That's what this thread was about in the first place!
Last edited by Grizzly Adam on Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Grizz
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exocet200hunter
- Posts: 195
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:55 pm
- Location: Chatham-Kent ,Ontario
Well, I'll be honest !!! When I was shooting compound wich I still do on occasion, I as'well looked at crossbow hunter's in a different perspective. I alway's thought of it as cheating till I myself was injured and had to hunt with one for a year. Let me tell you - I love it, and probely will never go back to shooting compound for hunting. Why ? people ask me - well it's easy, I'm an ethical hunter who think's of filling my freezer for food first then taking a trophy to hang on my wall and with a x-bow I feel more comfortable taking a shot that I know will be a kill shot then I would a bow, most of the crossbow's are faster " since I have a short draw length". I feel more comfortable with yardage, and I feel I have the upper advantage at time's knowing I don't have to hold a bow back for 5min if I get spotted.
In a way I find less of an error with a x-bow then I do with a compoundbow.Don't get me wrong that's only little sum of hunting you still have shot placement, mental, and stealth, when hunting. I just personally feel more comfortable when hunting with a x-bow.
In a way I find less of an error with a x-bow then I do with a compoundbow.Don't get me wrong that's only little sum of hunting you still have shot placement, mental, and stealth, when hunting. I just personally feel more comfortable when hunting with a x-bow.
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raydaughety
- Posts: 2411
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:32 am
- Location: North Carolina
Here we go, I don't think that anyone could possibly understand what Grizz is talking about unless they witnessed the act itself. Now let me say this. I hunt with hounds myself but the club that I'm in doesn't have a paved road for miles. It is illegal to hunt from, shoot down, or shoot across a state maintained road in the county that I hunt in and we respect and obey the law. For us, it's a tradition that has been enjoyed for generations. The sound of a pack of hounds coming from afar will make your knees tremble. The closer they get, the faster your heart beats and the dryer your mouth becomes. I do enjoy it. But, there are many that take it too far. The kind that Grizz is talking about. The lifted 4x4, ( why I don't know because they stay on the pavement ) the high rise dogbox on the back and the 10' high cb antenna growing through the roof. I've seen em take their hats off and stop traffic because the hounds were getting close and then scream profanities at the citizen when they do get to pass by as if the citizen had committed the crime 
. I could go on and on but Grizz has done a wonderful job describing these kind. Grizz, congratulations on your victory and let's pray that the local law enforcement is successful in stopping these activities. As for me, I'll get in my lift Dodge 4x4 and challenge the back roads of the club until I get to a creek cross, then walk down the creek a little and sit and wait for the cry of the hounds and the sight of a buck sneaking up the edge of the creek like I've been doing all my life. The right way Sorry if I took this thread in a different direction.
. I could go on and on but Grizz has done a wonderful job describing these kind. Grizz, congratulations on your victory and let's pray that the local law enforcement is successful in stopping these activities. As for me, I'll get in my lift Dodge 4x4 and challenge the back roads of the club until I get to a creek cross, then walk down the creek a little and sit and wait for the cry of the hounds and the sight of a buck sneaking up the edge of the creek like I've been doing all my life. The right way Sorry if I took this thread in a different direction.God Bless !!!!!!!!!
Ray
Ray
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Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
JH45Gun ... No problem! I didn't think you were disagreeing, and even if you did, that would be OK. No offense intended, and none taken. Everyone thinks differently about things ... I was just explaining the situation in a little deeper detail so you and anyone else who cared would understand better why we pushed for that legislation.
Honestly, it would be hard for me to make anyone who doesn't live here understand how bad the situation could be ... how disrespectful and abusive these "hunters" were.
Last year, one guy shooting from the road at a fleeing deer shot a backhoe with the operator in it (the bullet pierced the windshield in a direct line with his abdomen), then shot the truck the guy was loading, and kept on shooting ... in spite of being signalled repeatedly. He never did hit the deer.
Many of us were just plain fed up ... so we took action!
Counties in NC can make individual laws concerning hunting. When the issue of disabled hunters was mentioned in public discussion, everyone made it clear that no one has a problem with genuinely disabled hunters being exempted from the law, but so far as I know no one asked for a specific provision. I know many counties in NC allow disabled hunters to hunt from their vehicle with a permit, but only when they are completely off the road. I support such legislation.
Ray, I'm with you on dog hunting. I think it's a fine old tradition, and I appreciate it's lawful and proper practice. I stand behind dog hunters in upholding their right to hunt with hounds. Don't do it myself (don't have any), but I used to coon hunt, and I do love to hear hounds too.
It's true that dog hunters were some of the worst offenders here, but I don't think of that as a reflection in general. As you noted, it's just some of them that get all the press ... the bad press!
If we took this thread in a different direction, I apologize ... but not overmuch. I think this is what makes the Excal forum great. We can speak freely here, because we are among cyber-friends ... just as you two are mine. Most forums aren't like that. I'm glad this one is!
I didn't think you were disagreeing, and even if you did, that would be OK. No offense intended, and none taken. Everyone thinks differently about things ... I was just explaining the situation in a little deeper detail so you and anyone else who cared would understand better why we pushed for that legislation.Honestly, it would be hard for me to make anyone who doesn't live here understand how bad the situation could be ... how disrespectful and abusive these "hunters" were.
Last year, one guy shooting from the road at a fleeing deer shot a backhoe with the operator in it (the bullet pierced the windshield in a direct line with his abdomen), then shot the truck the guy was loading, and kept on shooting ... in spite of being signalled repeatedly. He never did hit the deer.
Many of us were just plain fed up ... so we took action!
Counties in NC can make individual laws concerning hunting. When the issue of disabled hunters was mentioned in public discussion, everyone made it clear that no one has a problem with genuinely disabled hunters being exempted from the law, but so far as I know no one asked for a specific provision. I know many counties in NC allow disabled hunters to hunt from their vehicle with a permit, but only when they are completely off the road. I support such legislation.
Ray, I'm with you on dog hunting.
I think it's a fine old tradition, and I appreciate it's lawful and proper practice. I stand behind dog hunters in upholding their right to hunt with hounds. Don't do it myself (don't have any), but I used to coon hunt, and I do love to hear hounds too. It's true that dog hunters were some of the worst offenders here, but I don't think of that as a reflection in general. As you noted, it's just some of them that get all the press ... the bad press!
If we took this thread in a different direction, I apologize ... but not overmuch. I think this is what makes the Excal forum great. We can speak freely here, because we are among cyber-friends ... just as you two are mine. Most forums aren't like that. I'm glad this one is!
Grizz