So Glad to see this Board here on Archery Talk. I have been in Archery since 1962 both as a competitor and a hunter. I started before there was any such thing as a compound bow. Recurves were the Hi tech bow of the day. As Compound bows came onto the scene i fought tooth and nail against them. Us die hards figured you might as well be using a rifle instead of our 70, 80 and yes even 90 pound pull recurves. They weren't really Bows as we knew them and had no place in our world. We couldn't compete against them. But there popularity grew and guess what. I gave in and became one of those compound bow shooters and really grew to love it. Maybe it did have a place in our world afterall. We saw Archery grow by leaps and bounds because so many people were now able to shoot a bow because the physical charcteristics of the compound bow made it so much easier for people of all ages and genders to shoot. It became a very large draw for families and the older generation. My wife and i both became proficient enough to shoot in the the Big Las Vegas Indoor Tournament. I was able to take numerous big game animals with my compound hunting bow. It was much easier to go to full draw and hold only 50% until got a decent shot at your quarry. Then it went to 65% and then 85% and i understand there is even a 95% let off compound bow out there. I enjoyed it all, and all of a sudden the word Crossbow crept into our vocabulary. No way we all said thats not archery. Guess what, now i am a paraplegic and i can't shoot a compound bow anymore. Thank God for Crossbows! And guess what else, i draw my crossbow to shoot a projectile very much like the projectiles i shot out of my old Recurve bow and out of my old compound Bow and use the very same equipment and materials to make those projectiles. Afterall they are just short arrows. I wish i had not been so very biased those many years ago. Maybe i would have enjoyed the great out of doors that much more.
Now, i know all this sounds as if i am touting crossbows for just the disabled, but i am not, I am touting the freedom of choice for all of us, able bodied or not, who wish to enjoy the great sport of Archery without ridicule or chastisement. And as Rodney once said, "Can't we all just get along"
Fourway
Now, i know all this sounds as if i am touting crossbows for just the disabled, but i am not, I am touting the freedom of choice for all of us, able bodied or not, who wish to enjoy the great sport of Archery without ridicule or chastisement. And as Rodney once said, "Can't we all just get along"
Fourway
). I started bowhunting in the BC (before compound) days, too. I still love the stick & string method, but a bum shoulder has prevented serious hunting efforts with my longbow for several years now. I'm thankful I live in a state that classifies crossbows as "archery" and permits their use for all legal bowhunting (except federal migratory birds). I was able to buy a crossbow and go right on with my bowhunting when my shoulder gave out, and I found out quickly it's so similar to any other bowhunting equipment as far as ethical ranges that it's still the same excitment to outwit game. The crossbow has some advantages, and some disadvantages compared to vert bows, but it's still an arrow that does the killing, and the arrow still has the same limitations regardless of how we launch it!
