FYI... Spinner of Tales who is a member here is an outdoor writer and good friend. He has allowed me to place his recent article about crossbows here.. It appeared in his coluimn this week in the Brookville paper...

Quote :

Just so everyone knows where I’m coming from before I get into this, I started bow hunting years ago with a Bear Kodiak recurve. And I held steadfast to that tradition for a long time.  It was years after the introduction of the first compound bows before I could bring myself to buy or try one of them. My first bow was as bare as it gets no sight, no sight pins no let off it was all instinctive shooting then with cedar arrows fletched with turkey feathers. So because of my over forty years of bow hunting I think I can speak with a little authority on this subject. What kind of effect will crossbows have on hunting? In my humble opinion…Very little. They may get more hunters who for various reasons may not have been able to handle a compound bow out into the woods. If this happens it could be a good thing we do need more people to get involved in the sport of hunting. I have heard from many folks that the crossbows will increase poaching. I interviewed several WCO’s here in Pa. and In Ohio and none agreed with that idea. Rather in Ohio even after the crossbow was made legal the poaching incidents that were prosecuted involved the time old methods of road hunting and jack lighting with firearms. The officers I spoke with in Pa. agreed with this assessment also. In fact area WCO’s said that the major problem in our area last year was daylight road hunters. Could this suddenly change? It may but again I don’t think it will. Poachers are thieves in every sense of the word. They are opportunistic low life’s who will use the cheapest, quickest and most efficient method of dispatching their quarry as possible. In most cases cheap throw away small caliber rifles are used in the event they have to get rid of it quickly. I for one cannot see a poacher tossing a six hundred to thousand dollar crossbow in a ditch when escaping. I lived through the turmoil when the compound bow was introduced and many bow hunters thought compounds due to their ease of use would put an end to our sport. In fact most of the arguments I’m hearing now about the crossbows are the same as I heard then about compound bows. Gee! Unless I missed it nothing happened and I would bet many of those who were most bitterly against the compound bows then now own and hunt with one of the most up to date models equipped with all the latest bells and whistles.  I do not believe in jumping the gun, time will tell. I will however go on record by saying this, if it came down to my having to quit bow hunting because for whatever reason I could no longer use my compound would I quit? If the crossbow could give me a few more years of bow hunting I would buy one so fast it would make your head spin and I don’t care who likes it or who doesn’t. But that’s just my opinion and of course I am an opinionated, cantankerous old guy who loves his hunting and fishing and who firmly believes in enjoying the ride of life as much as possible.

Good read.  Thanks Doc.