PEAX Equipment

Opening Day and Long Range Shooting

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I’m all for taking everything back to primitive. Trad bows, trad muzzleloaders, lever action rifles and no scopes. The “hunters” will sort themselves out really fast.
yeah, that will really cure the wounding game problem :rolleyes:. We would have a bunch of people who don't practice enough already out there using "traditional" equipment, that will really help things.

If we're going to do it why don't we take it all the way.....spears only? Seriously, that will really separate the hunters from the chaff.

Let's be honest here. It's not about technology, it's about ethics, about being a sportsman and knowing your capabilities. I have no problem with someone who has taken the time to learn long range shooting taking a 600+ shot in good conditions, 60 yard shot with a bow, etc. If they have spent the time to become proficient then who am I to tell them how to hunt or put restrictions on them.

Have any of you worked a range day at your local range during free public sight in days? I can't tell you the number of people I see/help who shoot once a year, shooting a 2" group at 100 yards off the bench and call it good. Expand that out to 200-400 yards ( not long distance ), with field conditions, and you have a lot of wounded game from these non long range hunters. Don't even get me started about those that shoot at moving game...which that subject never seems to get talked about. From the crew of people I shoot with, I'd rather have any of them take a 600-700 yard shot than 90% of the general hunters shooting a moving game.
 
yeah, that will really cure the wounding game problem :rolleyes:. We would have a bunch of people who don't practice enough already out there using "traditional" equipment, that will really help things.

If we're going to do it why don't we take it all the way.....spears only? Seriously, that will really separate the hunters from the chaff.

Let's be honest here. It's not about technology, it's about ethics, about being a sportsman and knowing your capabilities. I have no problem with someone who has taken the time to learn long range shooting taking a 600+ shot in good conditions, 60 yard shot with a bow, etc. If they have spent the time to become proficient then who am I to tell them how to hunt or put restrictions on them.

Have any of you worked a range day at your local range during free public sight in days? I can't tell you the number of people I see/help who shoot once a year, shooting a 2" group at 100 yards off the bench and call it good. Expand that out to 200-400 yards ( not long distance ), with field conditions, and you have a lot of wounded game from these non long range hunters. Don't even get me started about those that shoot at moving game...which that subject never seems to get talked about. From the crew of people I shoot with, I'd rather have any of them take a 600-700 yard shot than 90% of the general hunters shooting a moving game.
Hard to wound game when you can’t even get close enough to shoot at them…

It would also help the crowding issue on public land. As well as allow more animals to live longer because people couldn’t shoot cross canyon at a mule deer at 800 yards. Hell, at least the guy with a trad bow knows when he makes a poor shot at 20 yards. Some of these long range rifle guys don’t even bother to look if the animal doesn’t tip over in view.

I’m not anti long range rifles. I own a couple and have no problem using them. But technology is having a huge impact on hunting and I’d be just fine if we put some limits in place.
 
Hard to wound game when you can’t even get close enough to shoot at them…

It would also help the crowding issue on public land. As well as allow more animals to live longer because people couldn’t shoot cross canyon at a mule deer at 800 yards. Hell, at least the guy with a trad bow knows when he makes a poor shot at 20 yards. Some of these long range rifle guys don’t even bother to look if the animal doesn’t tip over in view.

I’m not anti long range rifles. I own a couple and have no problem using them. But technology is having a huge impact on hunting and I’d be just fine if we put some limits in place.
I think you're missing the point. You want limits on technology? Ok then, it goes like this....

Long range hunters have limits placed on them by "regular" distance hunters because it's not sporting or fair to the animal to shoot them at 800 yards
Regular distance hunters have limits placed on them by muzzleloader hunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 300 yards
Muzzleloader hunters have limits placed on them by bow hunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 150 yards
Bow hunters have limits placed on them by traditional bowhunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 70 yards
etc
etc
etc

Where does it stop and who gets to decide on what is ethical? To you or me a 700 yard shot isn't unethical, to someone else it is. That logic can be used no matter what weapon is used. Who is going to enforce these new rules? We can barely catch a poacher with the limited resources that are put in the field.

On the list of things hurting our game populations, this is way, way down on the list.

With that being said, what do you propose as limits and how do we enforce them?

By the way, how would you feel about someone not using a modern compound bow with no sight but taking a 120 yard shot at an elk? Is that still ok because they aren't using "technology"?
 
I think you're missing the point. You want limits on technology? Ok then, it goes like this....

Long range hunters have limits placed on them by "regular" distance hunters because it's not sporting or fair to the animal to shoot them at 800 yards
Regular distance hunters have limits placed on them by muzzleloader hunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 300 yards
Muzzleloader hunters have limits placed on them by bow hunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 150 yards
Bow hunters have limits placed on them by traditional bowhunters because it's not sporting to kill an animal at 70 yards
etc
etc
etc

Where does it stop and who gets to decide on what is ethical? To you or me a 700 yard shot isn't unethical, to someone else it is. That logic can be used no matter what weapon is used. Who is going to enforce these new rules? We can barely catch a poacher with the limited resources that are put in the field.

On the list of things hurting our game populations, this is way, way down on the list.

With that being said, what do you propose as limits and how do we enforce them?

By the way, how would you feel about someone not using a modern compound bow but taking a 120 yard shot at an elk? Is that still ok because they aren't using "technology"?
I told you the limits. The only way it’s enforceable is by making it all traditional.

You’re trying to make everything about ethics and being “ok”. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Right now I don’t care how far someone shoots if they are capable, and I’m not qualified to tell you if they are capable. My point is that we could improve a lot of hunting by making it more primitive. I guarantee Montana would have more mature mule deer.

As far as the game populations. I think you are 1000% wrong.

As far as the 120 yard bow shot…I don’t care if someone wants to launch one 120 yards with a trad bow. Their chances of hitting anything are so small that it wouldn’t have an impact. Again, I’m not talking about ethics.
 
I told you the limits. The only way it’s enforceable is by making it all traditional.

You’re trying to make everything about ethics and being “ok”. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Right now I don’t care how far someone shoots if they are capable, and I’m not qualified to tell you if they are capable. My point is that we could improve a lot of hunting by making it more primitive. I guarantee Montana would have more mature mule deer.

As far as the game populations. I think you are 1000% wrong.

As far as the 120 yard bow shot…I don’t care if someone wants to launch one 120 yards with a trad bow. Their chances of hitting anything are so small that it wouldn’t have an impact. Again, I’m not talking about ethics.
More primitive it is.....spears for everyone.

What is "primitive" to you?
 
I mean this with the upmost respect. Can you read? I answered this in my first post in this thread…
sorry, I see that now.

Ok, let's take trad bows. Are we going wooden arrows and flint or obsidian arrowheads?
 
sorry, I see that now.

Ok, let's take trad bows. Are we going wooden arrows and flint or obsidian arrowheads?
I’ll let the commission decide that. You’re getting too wrapped up in a comment that was made in jest that will never happen.
 
I’ll let the commission decide that. You’re getting too wrapped up in a comment that was made in jest that will never happen.
No, your point is that going traditional will help our game populations, overcrowding, and lessening the wounding of animals.

Overcrowding I could maybe see, some people would just give up if they couldn't hunt their current weapon. Game populations, maybe, but habitat and predation have a bigger impact than hunters ever will.

Wounding of game, not so sure on this one. People with modern scopes, sights, rangefinders, etc are wounding game at all distances right now. Put traditional equipment in their hands and I'm not so sure the wounding of animals is less.
 
"It takes very little to govern good people. Very little. And bad people can't be governed at all. Or if they could I never heard of it." - Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

I’m all for taking everything back to primitive. Trad bows, trad muzzleloaders, lever action rifles and no scopes. The “hunters” will sort themselves out really fast.
I’m all for taking everything back to primitive. Trad bows, trad muzzleloaders, lever action rifles and no scopes. The “hunters” will sort themselves out really fast.
Like the idea, but some would still take shots that they shouldn't even if they used rifles without scopes. We would have to get a lot closer, though.
 
I don’t care how good a shot someone is. There is a point where it’s simply not fair chase anymore. To me, that point is at about 300 yards. If I can’t get any closer than that my internal fair chase meter says, nope, you weren’t a good enough hunter today.

On that topic, am I the only sick of seeing big mule deer get shot at 400-600 yards? Seems like that’s all you see for high country mule deer hunts anymore.
 
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I don’t care how good a shot someone is. There is a point where it’s simply not fair chase anymore. To me, that point is at about 300 yards. If I can’t get any closer than that my internal fair chase meter says, nope, you weren’t a good enough hunter today.

On that topic, am I the only sick of seeing big mule deer get shot at 400-600 yards? Seems like that’s all you see for high country mule deer hunts anymore.
I have no problem with how you choose to hunt and the limitations you put on yourself but I do have a problem when people choose to tell others how they should hunt. Besides, I've had enough people trying to tell me what I can/can't/should do over the past 2 years and I'm pretty tired of it.

We have enough people trying to take away our hunting/gun rights and we'd be better off uniting as a group than all the petty fighting amongst ourselves.

Good luck to you this year.
 
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