Are you serious? No crossbows on Wilderness Unlimited archery only ranches

[mattador96]

I contacted Wilderness Unlimited about possibly joining their club. The man told me how they have ranches all over the state full of pigs and deer. Up until this point I have used a guide at 650 per day for wild boar. He told me that some ranches are archery only and some of the other ranches are for firearms. I asked him about using my crossbow at the archery only properties. He said that crossbows ar NOt AllOWED on the archery only properties because they have had to many animals wounded and not recovered. He then said that it was OK for me to use my crossbow at the firearm property. So..it's ok to wound animals at the gun property but not the archery property. What's up with that?

 

[huntnbob]

isnt a crossbow considered the same as a rifle

 

[mattador96]

In California a crossbow is not considered archery equipment. That is important for animals that have seasons..such as deer. Wild pigs have no season here. That however is beside the point.

 

[jerryt]

The reason it is legal for you to use a crossbow on a rifle property during rifle season is because if you wound an animal you can follow up and pursue him with a rifle and finish the deal. I am a member of WU and I love the Archery only properties and if I started seeing cross bows in there I would not be happy. I don't have anything against the use of them, but it is not Archery Equipment.

 

[ltdann]

. I am a member of WU and I love the Archery only properties and if I started seeing cross bows in there I would not be happy. I don't have anything against the use of them, but it is not Archery Equipment.

Why wouldn't you be happy? I don't own a crossbow, but its my understanding that they don't shoot faster, nor further or are any more accurately than a bow. What's the issue?

 

[catchdog]

the issue is that CP bow hunters can pound there chest and say we have to draw our bow. and that makes it 100% harder to shoot a critter. we have to spend more time at the bow range all you have to do is sight in. all you crossbow guys have to do is pull a trigger. butt 95% of CP bow hunters pull a trigger too. so the issue is realy about the same old BS ( I AM BETTER THAN YOU )
i live in ohio and crossbows are archery equipment and this issue is talked about all the time.and this is the bs that is brought up over and over.
now to you trad bow hunters, you have some room to talk. you dont have every bell and whistel on your bow to make it easier.

 

[m57jager]

Well, wait a second. I don't think it is a better than thow attitude at all. Like you said the traditional guys are taking on a whole different beast. But for the X-force loaded bow types versus a crossbow there are definate advantages to the crossbow. A bow must be held in a outward position with one arm and no anchor for stability. A crossbow can be shouldered like a rifle. Much sturdier. A bow has a limited time to be at full draw because only the user holds it back unlike the mechanized help of a crossbow. You know how many hunters get busted every year when an archer pulls full draw. A bow has peep sights not a scope. Plus with a bolt half the length as an arrow I'd tend to think there are greater accuracy and distance issues. Maybe not, I don't know and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. I would tend to believe that the areas for bow only prohibit crossbows because of these advantages and thus giving the bow guys that only archery hunt a chance to hunt on a property that only has like pressures. The beautiful thing is that it is a private club that you can join if it suits you. I'm not a member, but it makes perfect sense to me to give the bow guys there own property to hunt on. Instead of getting upset, maybe you should join and work on getting bow and crossbow only properties set up so that you don't have to deal with the rifle guys pressuring the animals. Just my thoughts.

 

[catchdog]

not all crossbows have scopes on them, but yes most do. but at 50 yards or less is that a big deal. how many gun hunters get busted bringing their gun to their shoulder. a crossbow is front heavy and not so easy to be stabel with. most CP bow hunters i know can shoot longer range with better acccuracy than the average crossbow. yes a crossbow does have some advantages, but to think its a big night and day advantage is way off. with 80% let off you can hold the string back for a while. i have both and have hunted with both. with the crossbow you still have to know your range and know where the bolt will be at that range. they dont shoot like a rifle.

 

[jerryt]

Why wouldn't you be happy? I don't own a crossbow, but its my understanding that they don't shoot faster, nor further or are any more accurately than a bow. What's the issue?

Just because it is not Archery Equipment. The new ones are extremely accurate and they now shoot as fast as a bow, but they don't take nearly the skill to shoot. An accurately sighted cross bow with a scope on it is the same as shooting a 10/22. Not much to it. To stand there at full draw for two minutes with a bow while peering through a peep site and trying to hold your pin on the spot waiting for your prey to turn at the right angle is Archery hunting.

 

[mattador96]

Jerryt..have you personally shot a crossbow? I own 2 of them and have hunted with both of them. They are not like shooting a 22. The trajectory is nowhere near as flat. A range finder is a critical tool and so is practice.

 

[catchdog]

why are crossbows sold under archery equipment and not fire arms ?

 

[Live2hunt]

That WU guy is totally wrong!!........."No crossbow on WU archery only areas" is a rule set by the club. Rules are rules and if anyone want to be a member, they have to play by the rules. No exceptions!

 

[Mel Carter]

I think WU is just following state regs. Personally, I have never shot a crossbow, but I don't think its even close to "archery equipment". As some have mentioned, a crossbow has it's advantages over a bow. I know shooting a crossbow takes practice, just like shooting a rifle does. To be ethical, one should practice as much as possible not matter what your shooting. Shooting a bow, is much more difficult. Not only do you have to practice like anything else you shoot, you have to be consistent in many things in order to stay accurate like anchor point and form. I know cause this is one of my issues.

I do think crossbows have their place in the hunting world, just not with the archers.

Don't bash me, this is just my opinion :bag-on-head:

 

[catchdog]

m57jager,
if you dont think ego is a big part of it. read jerryts last post again. holding a 80% let off bow back ( all 12 pounds of pressure ) with your thumb anchored . then haveing to wait for the critter to walk into your pin while you look through your peep sight is archery hunting. soumds like ego to me. a crossbow weighs about 7 pounds and you have to hold it up and wait for the critter to give you the right shot too. plus you have to turn on your red dot scope and click the safety off.
people shoot CP bows cuz its easier than trad, bows. people shoot crossbows cuz its easier than CP bows or they have shoulder problems. all are archery and thats why some states its legal. and most all states its legal if you have shoulder problems.
Mel, thanks for your opinion, i wont bash you we all have one.
i will go along with live2hunt, rules are rules. so dont speed its the rules.

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

hey Mattador96 if u live close enough to Lake Sonoma u can hunt wild pigs there between november and march with a crossbow, all u have to do is register and pay only $20.00 insted of 1500.or 2000.00 and go hunting on property with alot of restrictions. i am almost done building my Barnett Qaud 400 with new top line apex 3 dot scope i will be useing at L.S. this season once i have it dialed in, if ya want to hook up let me know. i plan on hunting 3 differant styles this year for pigs, compound, trad recurve and crossbow. (don't be jelous) He! He!

other than that i love to shoot anything that is string actuated. i have many bows including the crossbow and fishing bow. its always exciting for me, i never get board shooting, i like to mix it up! have a great day!...tra

 

[Fugaloo]

Aside from the logistics of using a bow or a crossbow, which I believe the crossbow has a head and shoulders lead in advantage while hunting. You are taking the statement of one person representing WU in what capacity. Yes, he stated policy, but are his reasons for that policy truly the sentiment of WU. I know that they use their members for branching out to new hunters, but I wonder if the actual WU policy on crossbows is written for something besides wounded animal recovery.
There is tons of debate on this site alone about the interpretation of the law and there is plenty of ways to locate and read it verbatim. Before taking this one guys answer for why no crossbows are allowed, I would check with the actual leadership of WU. I would be more inclined to think that they just stay parallel to state laws, despite the lack of regs on pigs.

And....for 650 a day, taking a trip up here to Sonoma County and hunting with George Mavrakis (see other "Wild hog hunting" posts at the top of this forum) would cost you less and I can personally vouch that it is a great hunt. I think he normally charges $500 for an entire weekend.

And as a side note. I can't believe anybody could rationalize that a crossbow is not easier to hunt with than a compound bow. That's like saying a muzzleloader is not harder to hunt with than a center fire. They both fire bullets, but the limitations of a muzzle loader put a much bigger burden of skill on the shooter.

 

[catchdog]

alot of people choose ML over shotguns because the ML has more range and shoots more accurately. a shotgun is center fire. to compare a ML to a 30-06 not fare, to compare a ML to a shotgun with slugs. now thats fare close to compare the xbow to the CP bow. thats why states that dont allow rifles allow shotguns and ML.

 

[Jean]

Page 8, Section VI, paragraph j:

"...Crossbows are not allowed at any time on WU properties."

Thems the rules. Your interviewer was not as familiar with the rules for WU as he should have been.
Hope that is helpful to you.
Jean

 

[fireman1210]

That club is a joke, I have been a quest on several of these properties becasue I wanted to see what they had to offer before I purchased and I have to tell you that I was not impressed. I spoke with a guy on the phone and he said these areas were loaded with game which was not the case. Save your money.

 

[Shmave23]

alot of people choose ML over shotguns because the ML has more range and shoots more accurately. a shotgun is center fire. to compare a ML to a 30-06 not fare, to compare a ML to a shotgun with slugs. now thats fare close to compare the xbow to the CP bow. thats why states that dont allow rifles allow shotguns and ML.

Well maybe Jim Shockey with a ML is allot better than a shotgun with a slug. But I have a Remington 870 with an 18inch fully rifled barrel shootin sabot slugs and with open sights. I am puttin 5 shots all within 1 1/2 inch group at 100yards. So Im pretty comfortable shootin out to 150yrds with my shotgun and would say the same about most ML shooters. So ML to a Rifle is a good comparison. Sorry to get off target. WU has some great propertys it was a toss up between them and GRAM. I know WU has more archery only propertys than GRAM.

-Dave