SB 298 - Crossbow bill rears its ugly head

Are out during what should be primitive
Seasons designed to honor those who are willing to shoot more, practice more and and accept what is supposed to be a much lower success rate.
At what point in history is primitive? Cross bows have been on the landscape for thousands of years.

Archery purists fighting amongst hunters to put themselves on pedestals above others is one of the dumbest ways to erode hunters voices.
 
There is increased pressure, which leads to more harboring of elk early. There is a signifcqnt
Increase in people who
Are out during what should be primitive
Seasons designed to honor those who are willing to shoot more, practice more and and accept what is supposed to be a much lower success rate.

None of that happen. I can take a 12 year old kid who has never shot before and have him lethal to 80 yards in an hour with a cross bow.

Hell while we are at it might as well allow a 30/30, and other fire arms as the effective ranges are similar…
I don't see much difference between a modern compound and a crossbow.

No limit to the amount of technology and shit you can strap on a vertical dowel flinging device. Compound shooter never gave a second thought to the original intent of true archery seasons and find myself not really all that willing to listen to compounders whine about crossbows.

If the "archery" season is causing harboring, which I know is true, then shorten the mechanical dowel flinging device season by 2 weeks. Easy solution.
 
My issue with it is guys that claim to be disabled. I work with one he asked me if he could hunt with one since his is disabled from his time in the military and it hurts his shoulder to hold a bow. This same guy I have also seen in the gym doing dumbbell presses with 100s in each hand. To many guys would take advantage of it because they don’t wanna put the time in. A guy I grew up with in Oregon destroyed his shoulder on a sxs accident. Couple years later he was guiding someone from Mathews and that guy recommended he try a shooting a lefty. I wouldn’t be against certain people hunting with them they just need to be missing a limb or something of that nature
 
Be interested to see how they define disabled. I know of a guy who has been on work disability for a long time who put a lot of days and boot miles into a special draw elk tag recently. The ‘disability’ also doesn’t keep him from partying or going fishing, just working. Wonder if he would be allowed to use a crossbow during archery season? There will be people who take advantage of it, just like everything
 
Be interested to see how they define disabled. I know of a guy who has been on work disability for a long time who put a lot of days and boot miles into a special draw elk tag recently. The ‘disability’ also doesn’t keep him from partying or going fishing, just working. Wonder if he would be allowed to use a crossbow during archery season? There will be people who take advantage of it, just like everything
Just need a medical marijuana card to prove disability in MT right??
 
You should see the “disabled” people crossbow hunting in Arizona. It’s pathetic. Having a sore shoulder from pouring too much concrete and a note from a doctor is all it takes.

In a state like Montana where hunting is unlimited it’s just another thing stacked against the elk, not that that matters because OPPORTUNITY.
 
You should see the “disabled” people crossbow hunting in Arizona. It’s pathetic. Having a sore shoulder from pouring too much concrete and a note from a doctor is all it takes.

In a state like Montana where hunting is unlimited it’s just another thing stacked against the elk, not that that matters because OPPORTUNITY.
This is spot on. Doesn’t take much for a doctor to write a note these days for about anything. If you don’t see the slippery slope on allowing any more technology in hunting than you are truly out of it or like a bunch of you…you have a bone to pick towards a weapon type for various reasons
 
I don’t support crossbows, but I’m pretty sure I can shoot my compound just as well as most folks can shoot a crossbow.
Good for you. Can you draw it back and make the shot with an animal intently focused on you and on high alert? Can you shoot 450 fps to minimize the animals reaction to ensure the animal doesn’t jump the string? Can you clearly resolve your target in low light with an optically magnified scope? Just a few of the differences that make a difference in archery. A lot more goes into successful archery than shooting a stationary target at long distance accurately. Which by the way I can’t do.
 
Good for you. Can you draw it back and make the shot with an animal intently focused on you and on high alert? Can you shoot 450 fps to minimize the animals reaction to ensure the animal doesn’t jump the string? Can you clearly resolve your target in low light with an optically magnified scope? Just a few of the differences that make a difference in archery. A lot more goes into successful archery than shooting a stationary target at long distance accurately. Which by the way I can’t do.
What about take rest on a branch, bipod or even a tripod. Clearly they’re different and should be treated as such. Unfortunately the manufacturers have deep pockets to pay lobbyists and convince states they’re totally cool
 
I fully agree that allowing crossbows will be simply more pounds per square inch behind “The boot on the neck“ of wildlife.

That said, there’s a fair amount of evidence out there that shows crossbows are more effective than vertical compounds - but not by much. I think that is what makes this an interesting hill on which to make a stand. We’ve taken miles, and we’re gonna argue about the last few feet. To be clear, I don’t think that’s invalid, as a good premise from which to move forward evermore, particularly in my motherland of Montana, is we need to oppose anything that increases take and opportunity, even if only a little.

This article written by Patrick Durkin was interesting to me. Particularly these bullet points regarding his study out of Ohio


  • Compound bow archers released 1,015 shots and connected on 686, for 67.6 percent accuracy.
  • Crossbow archers released 719 shots and connected on 529, for 73.6 percent accuracy.
  • Traditional archers released 38 shots and connected on 22, for 57.9 percent accuracy.
  • Crossbow archers recovered 60 percent of deer they shot at, and didn’t recover 19 percent of deer they hit.
  • Compound archers recovered 56 percent of deer they shot at, and didn’t recover 17.7 percent of deer they hit.
  • Traditional archers recovered 40 percent of the deer they shot at, and didn’t recover 30 percent of deer they hit.
The amount of wound loss when it comes to bowhunting of any kind makes me wonder about it’s net-utility at all.

I’m a guy who started traditional bow hunting and now hunts with a compound. If I need to, I will be writing my representative in opposition to this bill. Though they no longer respond to me, and I think my voice is no longer effective to them.


 
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