Crossbow usage up in MI. Good or bad for us?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Bob with the 2+ month long, screwed up rut we have up here do you suppose a Sept 1st opener would jeopardize fawns living after momma gets shot earlier? Heck some aren't even born until July when momma gets pregnant in late December or January. I like cooler weather and probably would never head out in September, but I would still support a longer season all the same.

[Mojostick]

No. It's screwed up buck/doe ratio in some area's that can cause late dropped fawns.
This is where APR's should help.

If anything, we shouldn't protect late dropped fawns, since the late dropped fawns will be what comes into heat later in the rut, thus continuing an endless cycle of late ruts/late drops. We'd be better off to shoot as many late dropped fawns as possible and then hope a bad winter takes the rest, to set things back to right.

A September season makes it easy to identify button bucks from a young doe, so less buttons will get killed if you fill an antlerless tag in Sept. vs waiting until December.

One must also keep in mind that hunters in KY, OH and WI deal with any fawn issue and it's much hotter in OH and KY in Sept. than it is here, yet their hunters at least get the option to bowhunt in Sept. While afternoon sits would be warm, a mid-Sept morning hunt could be very pleasant.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I've often thought about ways to shorten the rut up. Your right, taking out late drops (with crossbows....that was a joke) is really the only way. Both my kids shot late born doe fawns for their first deer. It took them a minute to understand the reasoning behind it. Once it sank in they felt like they did the rest of the herd a responsible favor, in which they did! Plus they drag soooo easy!

[Mojostick]

You did the right thing. Many hunters have a "Bambi-complex" about shooting a small fawn. The truth is, they are the very deer some locations need targeted, along with more mature does.
If we get even a normal winter let alone a harsh one, if there's lots of small fawns that don't make it until the next spring, all that means is they took some much needed food from those that were always going to make it. And all that means is the whole herd suffers. So go shoot a small fawn, enjoy the tenderness of the steaks and never think twice about it.

[Wetfeet]

Hate to dig up this thread but one reason states are redefining archery to include modern trigger type weapons (crossbows) is the NRA. They pumped money into our legislature here in WI, and now in 2014 non archers will be in the woods in Sept.  They claim that it is to defend hunting rights in general. I have disputed their claim everytime they try to get me to renew my membership. Somehow allowing someone to harvest a deer in the archery season with a crossbow is a 1st amendment issue. Our DNR has sold out.

[Wetfeet]

*2nd amendment,  my apologies America