The question over at KentuckyHunting.net was this:

How many of you deer hunters will get a xbow if they extend the xbow season for the full bow season? Just wondering if it would change anyones mind. A yes or no will do…no bashing please.

Funny you ask that question. I’ve been close to purchasing one for a couple of years now.

Yes. In fact, it is a resounding yes. The main reason I don’t is because of the window between the end of ML season and the start of Modern Weapon season. There is a couple weeks in there where crossbow is out, but archery is in.

I am a bowhunter of 25 years. I turn 50 in a month. My right shoulder is starting to go. Last year, I started feeling it back in August. I stopped shooting immediately. However, the shoulder got worse and I had pain and loss of movement for months. I did not stop feeling pain until Christmas. I am hoping that I have given it enough rest, and I am going to start pulling again this month. If I have any trouble at all, I’m hanging it up– maybe for good.

Three things will affect my decision.

First, I’ve been unable to practice in my own back yard for several years. My local government in town passed an ordinance making it illegal. My neighbor put me on notice that he was going to have me arrested if I continued practicing. I was not causing him harm, he just thought it was wrong that I hunt deer. It is no longer feesable to practice every night. If I want to shoot, I have to drive 15 miles to a range. I went from being a dead-eye to a marginal shot as a result, and it really just isn’t as much fun anymore.

Second: My shoulder. I have way to much fun shooting them with a rifle to worry much about losing a chance at shooting them with a bow. This is all probably due to the first problem.

Third: This is not a complaint about KY’s archery or other seasons. It is just the way it is. In my neck of the woods, it is fairly useless to hunt deer in September. I scout, squirrel hunt with the kids, do a lot of things, but the deer stay off my ridge in September, and don’t come up until early October. Then I have one weekend of bow, then comes Yute season, then come ML Season. Then I have two weekends of bow and the Modern Weapons season comes in and my freezer is filled by Thanksgiving. All told, I have three weekends to hunt with a bow.

At this point, I can’t really say I am disabled. I’m only disabled if I try to hunt with a bow. Right now, my shoulder is just fine.

There is really no sense in doing all that work for three weekends a year. On the other hand, if KY liberalized the crossbow season and worked it so it was concurrent with archery like they do in Ohio, I could buy a crossbow and probably nail a nice doe. I might even try going out in December and sitting on the stand when normally my freezer suit would be restricting my movement with the bow. Even if KY just liberalized crossbow on private property, I would be happy. As it is, I am probably going to hang up my bow and use those three weekends to try my hand at photography.

For those of you who are diehard archers, I am with you guys. I was flinging arrows for years before I even got a deer in my sights. Those first few seasons were strictly run on faith and love of the sport. I also came of age in bowhunting when we still believed crossbows shot like rifles. However, it is time to see that:

1) The herd is getting to a size and density that you no longer need all that preferential treatment to get a deer. Maybe as a step along the way, they could be liberalized on private land, and give landowners the choice.
2) The crossbow is not such an evil thing. It is not the unfair advantage we all thought. I hunted for half my career in Ohio and I never once met up with a crossbowman in the woods. They just are not all that popular a weapon. The last time I shot one I was unimpressed with it out past thirty yards.
3) Hunters are getting fewer and older. If we do not accomodate that somehow, it is going to nothing but hurt us in the long run.

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