Scooter

Help me out- My Realtree Hardwoods isn't good for where I'm at nowadays...

Lance, Deer can see blue. It is one of the few wavelengths they can process. I know with a rifle you don't HAVE to get close, but why not make it an easier shot?

Find Food, Find thick bedding areas. Then set up somewhere you can glass both. The bucks are starting to get a little antsy around the girls. Good luck! I am on that hunt too but in a different unit

I don't know about y'all but I'll be shopping for antlers on black friday...

This is what happens when country folk get their hands on technology...

I have a Bushnell Elite 3-9X40 and I'm good out to 300- ring the steel gong every time... It's all about the brightness and clarity- and thin crosshairs

I have the Flextone MIMIC... it's good for quiet stuff, but lacks volume. I built one from directions on another site- Radio Shack Special... It seems to work pretty darn good, but I haven't tested it out in the field yet. I just love being able to download free mp3 sequences!

I carry a long bow in the truck, a 9mm on my hip and sometimes a slug gun disassembled in my pack... In a pinch, I just have to get closer!

Sardines??? Blech! Not only do they lack common sense- they also lack taste buds! CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!!!

what's $21.75? It's my first time applying for a draw so I am not familiar

How do you increase the harvest simply by allowing crossbows? The harvest is controlled by the number of tags issued, not the method of take. For example: If you issue 100 archery tags for kaibab deer, and all 100 tag holders fill their tag with a regular bow- did the harvest increase? No. It's still 100 deer. They still will issue rifle tags and muzzleloader tags based on the animal population census. I agree that your chances of drawing a tag will decrease due to more applicants, but the opportunity to take an animal once you draw a tag is the same. You can't honestly say that crossbows are so unfairly deadly that it will decimate the population... That's just not true- and I challenge anyone to site ACTUAL FACTUAL data collected from any state's G&F department. That is the only way I'd buy into the outrage that crossbows create. I do NOT own a crossbow- I have no friends that own crossbows- I don't have the $$$ to buy a crossbow- and I hunt with a compound and a traditional longbow. I don't mind sharing the woods with crossbow hunters.

I think the rabbit could take him...

I also use a SINGLESHOT, but not as horty-torty as a Ruger #1... Nice buck and great story!!! I love the part about the lead and dust around the "suicide" buck.

This is the kind of stuff we need to make our children promise they will never do!

Well, if the crossbow was invented by the French then that changes my position completely!!! My only point was and still is: If an Archery tag is issued, who cares if the tag is filled with a crossbow or a longbow? Either way it's an animal taken by a string pushing an arrow going 150-400fps tipped with a broadhead! What difference does it make whether or not the launcher was vertical or horizontal? If there's only 50 tags, only 50 animals can be taken. Explain to me how 50 tags can somehow increase the harvest and decrease the opportunity. AZGFD issues tags for each area/hunt number on the pretense that they will all be filled, right? We've dipped into it a little on this thread but let's reiterate that crossbows are NOT really any better than a modern compound bow. Like I said before, it's an arrow traveling anywhere between 150-400fps tipped with a broadhead. Easier to shoot? You bet... But how many people bought compound bows when they came out because they were easier than recurves? This argument was had back then too- people said that compounds were unfair because every Tom, Richard, and Harry could hold them back for an hour if they wanted to... Sound familiar? What was their defense back then? Don't we STILL have the "let-off %" rule in the record books??? Just because I used a bow that has 80% let off, does that completely negate the chase? Stuff like this just bugs me. Too many whiners regulating everything and not enough shutting up and hunting. This is how it might look if all of the special interest hunters had their way: (so everyone has their own season untainted by other "evil" methods) Traditional Pointed-Stick season: Atlatl, Spear, Longbow or Recurve only, no sights, wooden arrows/spears with natural feathers only, no screw-in broadheads, and all hunters must wear an outer layer of animal derived clothing (i.e. leather, deerskin, buffalo hide, bearskin, coonskin caps, etc.) or no clothing at all (loincloth is acceptable and highly encouraged) Modern Pointed-Stick Season: Compound bow only, 65% maximum let off, may use bow sights (no artificially lighted pins, no electronic scopes or magnifying lenses may be used), only aluminum or carbon arrows, fixed-type broadheads with a minimum of 7/8" cutting diameter- no mechanical or barbed broadheads. Pointed-Stick season: Crossbow, Compound, Longbow or Recurve, Atlatl, Spear, with any projectile combination, any sight configuration with only one stipulation: Weapon must be capable of projecting the pointed stick continuously through the air more than 150 yards. See what I'm getting at? Every device that makes things easier has gotten the shifty eye from the previous generation- whether it's modern camo, treestands, ground blinds, trail cameras, optical sights, lenses on fiber optic sights, lighted pins, 80% let-off, mechanical broadheads, the list goes on and on and on... 20-50 years from now, they'll be debating hover-stands, thermal/laser sights and heat seeking-rocket assisted arrows!!! It's all about building a better mouse-trap. Crossbows are coming to an archery season near you, it's only a matter of time.

Nice job! I think y'all have inspired me to backpack my late November leftover hunt!!!

When I am glassing/stalking deer I only carry the 30-06sprg rifle with 7 rounds on the buttstock, the rest of that box in my pack, and my 9mm with two mags fully loaded.

So the main complaint is that allowing the use of crossbows during archery seasons will cause a sudden influx of applicants and thus reduce the odds of you drawing a tag. Okay, so on that same train of thought do you also consider every new archery hunter who applies for a tag (using a compound) as reducing your chances of drawing a tag? Kinda selfish if you ask me... Look, we have to encourage more folks to take up this sport/tradition- is that done by saying that we are already at capacity and there is no more room for anyone else to enjoy the same priveleges you have? Really, are you gonna know whether or not "your" tag was awarded to a seasoned crossbow hunter? or a 14 year old brand new hunter-ed graduate with a matthews Z7? or some 70 year old die-hard traditional longbow guy with 10 bonus points? It makes absolutely no difference who gets a tag... and when you are not drawn it will always be a disappointment. Question: What constitutes a "decent" deer hunt as Mr. Quimby stated??? I'm just curious as I have not been here long, and need to figure out what people are talking about...

I think you answered your own question with "they do it in Texas"....no offense but they also fence off all their deer and have turned hunting into a pastime for the uberrich. It's hard enough to get drawn for archery elk or kaibab deer without crossbows getting in the mix. Now if it just about a disabled guy getting a fair shot then that is a different story...same with small game - I am all for it, First off, Texas does not fence off ALL their deer... And if that is a gaff of High-Fence ranches, isn't there a few places right here in AZ that do that??? I personally don't like High Fence shooting (I refuse to call it hunting), but it is what it is and we live in a free country (for now). Second... on the "hard enough to get drawn" comment- You are afraid if they legalize crossbows during archery-only seasons, it will cause an influx of new applicants to the draw... thus reducing your odds, right? I would challenge that by asking if you really need to own a bow to apply for a tag? What if there were just a huge amount of new applicants who shot compounds, and your chances for being drawn were reduced that way- would that make you feel better somehow? Truth is, there are NOT a whole bunch of crossbow hunters chomping at the bit, drooling and frothing at their zombie-like mouths waiting to get into the archery-only draw. Where I came from in NY/PA people said the same things about inline muzzleloaders 15-20 years ago and look what happened... nothing. People argued that if you allow any muzzleloaders to have a scope on them, it would decimate the deer population and look what happened... nothing. Needless regulation lobbying by "special interest" hunting groups have really cost sportsmen their god-given freedom to choose what means they prefer to hunt with. Lastly, any state that allows baiting for deer is really splitting hairs when it comes to "manner-of-take" rules... That's something that needs to get addressed before you start telling people how long their arrows need to be in my opinion.

Why is everyone so afraid of crossbows during archery season??? They do it in Texas... I have known alot of guys who shoot and hunt with crossbows- and those things are no more/less effective in an average persons hands than any modern compound bow is in well-trained hands. Do you think they can accurately sling a bolt more than 100 yards??? My compound bow can, heck my recurve can... but I sure can't! It's time to stop the needless manner-of-take regulations... Two seasons are all that are necessary- one for bullets, one for pointy sticks. Get the Government out of our lives wherever possible. It costs the sportsmen-taxpayers (license derived revenue) millions of $$$ to do stupid research projects and town hall meetings on these issues... maybe we could just save the money and the trouble. Really, do you care whether or not a guy shoots his ONE deer per calendar year with a Matthews, or a Barnett? I don't give a flying flip~

That's why I prefer to use 12 gauge slugs. They are cheap- and at 50 yards who cares what brand they are??? Of course I am just kidding... I would re-sight in the morning, skip the morning hunt bro you owe it to the animal

Whatever method you use, you still only get one deer per calendar year... so does it really matter how the deer gets killed? As long as it is dispatched quickly, who cares what it was doing seconds before?

I have found that I can live/exist solely on water, asprin, multivitamins, beef/deer jerky, trail-mix, fruit snacks/gummy bears/worms, and pistachios (a must have) for at least a week... hey some people just don't need all the creature comforts. I can fit all that in a backpack and none of it requires cooking or refrigeration!

That's what I call "cost effective" hunting/shooting! Congrats

Almost every other state allows night hunting for coyotes. I can't believe this state is just getting around to it! Good thing y'all don't have a feral hog problem, yet...