Trad only season

[Gdpolk]

Honestly, I disagree.  I think a bow is a bow and bow seasons should be open to bowhunters.  That said, I also feel crossbows and airbows are more of an arrow launching rifle than a bow and should be legal to hunt during seasons where other weapons with stocks and optics are allowed.  I'm not for telling anyone that equipment that is ethical and effective isn't okay to use but I do feel when the technology has advanced to the point that it becomes so exponentially easier to harvest, that kind of defeats the purpose of an extended season for those willing to go with less efficient weapons.

[Friend]

Exemplary success may be achieved in many areas by collaboration at the local level.

Pool a sufficient number of trad guys in order to lease an appreciable size of quality ground.

Full trad-only season …all season …if permitted by local regulations

Both a realistic and an attainable objective that may be predicated on the self determination of this worthy endeavor.

[OkKeith]

Here in Oklahoma (and in other states where I have worked) there are already archery only hunting areas. They are most successfully used as "opportunity" management tools but can be effective in controlling deer populations along the urban/ rural interface.

While I was with the State Park Service here in Oklahoma I had a park that was several thousand wooded acres and held a lot of deer (a lot!). Even though the park property was all healthy woodlands and it was surrounded by mostly small farms and larger ranch property it sat entirely within the corporate city limits of the nearby college town. Before I came in, a group of bowhunters were successful in lobbying for an archery deer season on park property with appropriate boundaries away from normal use areas. This was accomplished solely through an organized group, working with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and (fortunately) some open minded city officials. If the initial push had been for a Traditional Archery Only hunting opportunity, it would never have happened. There simply would not have been a critical mass of trad archers that could have moved the needle on the effort. It took ALL of the local bowhunters to get the plan formed, approved and adopted.

State Fish and Game Agencies are open to the idea of archery only areas but it would be a hard sell to get a traditional archery only designation. As managers of the greater interests for the state it would just not be feasible to favor such a small group. I think it would be fantastic to have but just not the "biggest bang for the buck" that government agencies have to consider.

As I said in an earlier post, we do have a Traditional Archery Only area in Oklahoma. It is on federal property at the McAlister Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) in the SE part of the state. This area is managed on a paradigm of extremely limited access and a highly controlled hunt regime. On the MCAAP tens of thousands of pounds of high explosives and ammunition are stored in earth covered bunkers all over the property, so archery only is probably the best idea (bullets flying where bombs are stored... bad idea). I think it was in the nineteen-seventies when it was decided that archery hunting would be allowed and traditional archery the only method. The hunt has turned into something very special because of the quality of deer that have been killed there. I have drawn in to the hunt a few times and shot some nice deer. I don't put in to it any more because its just such a PAIN in the backside to hunt it. It is VERY restrictive. You can not carry any device or materials that could cause a fire (bombs... remember). They do not allow individuals to drive in. You are assigned to a specific set of grid coordinates and can only hunt in that spot and must ride in with your assigned group. Expect TOTAL searches of all your gear at least twice a day. Security personnel have even been know to take arrows apart looking for matches and cigarettes hidden in the shafts (I am sure its because some knucklehead has tried to do just that). I have plenty of other places to hunt (not with NEAR that quality of deer though) and no one is wanting to strip search me.

Here is a link to a 2016 news report and a short article on hunting at the MCAAP.
https://www.newson6.com/story/33642409/bow-hunters-find-challenge-at-mcalester-army-ammunition-plant

OkKeith

[mj seratt]

My wife and I have been to McAlester two times for the tournament.  We never applied for the hunt, due to the distances and dates involved.  We live in West Tennessee, which is quite a ways from Oklahoma.  We loved going there, especially going on the "Velvet Tours".  We saw and photographed some tremendous bucks.  Easily the largest I've seen in a lifetime of whitetail hunting.  The heat was brutal.  One day, our SUV was parked under a shade tree, and the temp on our truck read 111 degrees.  Still, I'd go again, given the chance.
P.S.  We decided that the Velvet Tour should be re-named the B.O.tour, as it was a bus full of deer hunters who had been out all day in the 111 degree heat. 

Murray

[wapitishooter]

Unfortunately don't think will it will ever happen. Hunting seasons are just like everything else majority driven and money driven.

[Kevin Dill]

I don’t believe it will ever happen for a very logical reason. Imagine if seasons and states could be carved up for all the various special interest groups of hunters who would demand their own places and times to hunt.

[Pine]

2X on that  ^^^^

[McDave]

Of course I would like to have a trad only season, just like I would like to have a veterans only weekend in Yosemite, or any other thing where I could enjoy more of what I want to do without having to compete with a lot of other people who want to do the same thing.  But from a use of resources and public safety standpoint, I think the only thing that can be justified is one season where weapons are allowed that would make it dangerous to be lurking around the woods in camouflage, and a separate season where the only weapons allowed are those where it would be reasonably safe to be in the woods in camouflage. 

[Red Beastmaster]

All of my hunting is done with traditional bows. I only hunt and shoot with other trad bowhunters. It's been that way for many years for me.

I like what I do and surround myself with like minded buddies. I've enjoyed trad only seasons for a long time.

Our bow season here in PA has morphed into something totally unrecognizable. X-guns, inlines, jr/sr rifle, youth this and that, all crammed into October. Our bow deer season has become a joke. Our group has adapted and found areas to avoid most of the intrusions.

[Blackstick]

It would be nice if everyone had to do it my way, but honestly, I'm not bothered by the way anyone else hunts. For the most part, I also hunt public land.

[Wudstix]

Expect TOTAL searches of all your gear at least twice a day. Security personnel have even been know to take arrows apart looking for matches and cigarettes hidden in the shafts (I am sure its because some knucklehead has tried to do just that). I have plenty of other places to hunt (not with NEAR that quality of deer though) and no one is wanting to strip search me.

Here is a link to a 2016 news report and a short article on hunting at the MCAAP.
https://www.newson6.com/story/33642409/bow-hunters-find-challenge-at-mcalester-army-ammunition-plant

OkKeith

That could add a bit of flare to the hunting day!!!!  I hunt Camp Bullis in San Antonio and it has restrictions, as well.  This year they went to No Feeders, because they are trying to get a handle on the hog problem.  So it is just spot and stalk or sit and wait.  Really adds to the challenge.  Texas brush and rocky ground make it fun!!! 

[trad_bowhunter1965]

I hunt with my brother and he uses a Compound bow and I am fine with it this last season he killed his deer opening day I spent the next 16 days hunting had a blast. I hunt with trad gear for my own personal reason and that is all about the adventure and Journey. I do think that there's too much technology and at some point can or will impact our bow seasons. Crossbows and Airbow should only be allowed in bow seasons if you are a disabled hunter. 

[Wudstix]

Disability should be a physical and just sleep apnea!!!  Or  bad ankles.

[OkKeith]

Oklahoma defines "Archery Equipment" as:

•Bow: Any compound bow of 30 pounds or more draw weight; any recurve, longbow or self-bow of 40 pounds or more draw weight. Hand-held releases are legal. Devices that permit a bow to be held mechanically at full or partial draw are allowed.
•Broadheads: Arrows and/or bolts must be fitted with hunting type points not less than 7/8 inches wide, including mechanical broad- heads meeting this width requirement when fully open.
•Crossbows: Minimum of 100 pounds draw weight and equipped with safety devices. Bolts must be a minimum of 14 inches in length. Leverage gaining devices are legal.

No language allowing for air propelled arrows. Are there any states that include air propelled arrows in their legal means of taking?

OkKeith

[KentuckyWolf]

Not that I know of....not yet. However, wait till manufacturers start waving money around FW/DNR commissioners.

[kennym]

Here's a thought, say they carve the fall into special seasons for different weapons.

Right now I can hunt from Sep 15 til Jan 15 except rifle season.

If they split it into 4 or 5 seasons, do I end up with 2 or 3 weeks for trad season?

I wouldn't be liking that much, I buy a rifle tag and hunt in that season too... with my longbow.

[Ronnie Newell]

Oklahoma defines "Archery Equipment" as:

•Bow: Any compound bow of 30 pounds or more draw weight; any recurve, longbow or self-bow of 40 pounds or more draw weight. Hand-held releases are legal. Devices that permit a bow to be held mechanically at full or partial draw are allowed.
•Broadheads: Arrows and/or bolts must be fitted with hunting type points not less than 7/8 inches wide, including mechanical broad- heads meeting this width requirement when fully open.
•Crossbows: Minimum of 100 pounds draw weight and equipped with safety devices. Bolts must be a minimum of 14 inches in length. Leverage gaining devices are legal.

No language allowing for air propelled arrows. Are there any states that include air propelled arrows in their legal means of taking?

OkKeith

To answer OK's question..

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[Roy from Pa]

From Kennym...Here's a thought, say they carve the fall into special seasons for different weapons.

Right now I can hunt from Sep 15 til Jan 15 except rifle season.

If they split it into 4 or 5 seasons, do I end up with 2 or 3 weeks for trad season?

I wouldn't be liking that much, I buy a rifle tag and hunt in that season too... with my longbow.

Exactly, Kenny.

We trad guys are a minority in hunting, last I heard the majority wins the vote..

I never even see a darn bow hunter when I'm out bow hunting, so why do I need a special season for my trad bow?

Hunt and let others hunt as they wish.

[OkKeith]

Ronnie-

From what I can find on the TPW website it's still a non-issue.

"Arrow guns may not be used to hunt deer or turkey during archery season."

I only did a quick search but that's what I found.

OkKeith

[Ronnie Newell]

 Well I don't know then Kieth. What I posted there is straight out of my new Texas Parks &Wildlife magazine that I subscribe to as I have for years as Texas is where I'm from and where I hunt most of the time. That article is what upset me enough to bring up this subject in the first place. It really doesn't matter anyway does it. It is what it is. Just amazes me that people apparently have such poor reading comprehension that they misconstrue the whole meaning of things that people post about on here. Alleged educated people.I suppose that's just one of the common problems of online forums.