Traditional-Only Seasons or Hunts?

[Keefer]

   Maryland has added a Primitive season but it’s in February .

[DNewer]

Most states seperste blackpowder and rifle seasons. I could
Make a very good argument that the disparaging technology allowed in archery only seasons could easily be just as justified. When I listen to stickbow podcasts with compound guys claiming to make shots at 149 yards with a bow?  Not to mention the influx of crossbows. It’s a very easy argument to make. Most are to apathetic to make it however.

[Dave Lay]

Keefer, what equipment is allowed in Maryland’s primitive season ?

[Red Beastmaster]

I've always been against a trad only season.

Every compound and X-gun toting hunter you know will be ordering a Sage just to take part. The day after season ends will be the last time they touch it until next year.

I only hunt with stickbows. I only hunt with other stickbow hunters. I already have my traditional only season!

[Carpdaddy]

I hunt with a longbow only, don’t matter the season, don’t care what the next hunter does or uses, even if I’m hunting with them.  Just my 2cents.

[kennym]

What I could see happening is keep splitting the seasons, and pretty soon you have a week for tradbow hunting...

Right now I can hunt with my longbow Sep 15 thru Jan 15 (gotta buy a gun tag for the 11 days in Nov.) and I'm ok with that.

[Kevin Dill]

Completely and unequivocally against traditional archery seasons for the sake of giving traditional bowhunters their own time and/or place.

1. Doing that would establish a precedent for any other special interest weapons group to have 'their' exclusive season. I shouldn't have to list all the potentials, but some might be handguns, shoulder-bows, flinters and so on.

2. There would be an immediate influx of people toting entry-level 'qualifying' archery tackle so they could hunt the traditional season or location. I don't blame them, but it's an unintended consequence.

3. Any special season which is seen as taking away time or opportunities from other hunters will meet huge resistance and resentment from those hunters. Would we give up 7 days in November so the hardcore (name your group) could own the woods?

The Ohio example: We can bowhunt deer from late Sept into early February without interruption. How would a 'traditional only' season benefit us beyond forcing others to stay home? The only legit way to add in a traditional archery season here would be before or after the already-established general archery season. Ohio (the state) isn't going to take away any hunting opportunities from others unless it is a) necessary in terms of deer management, or b) profitable to the state in terms of revenue. Show the state proof of 'a' and 'b'....in numbers great enough to matter...and they'll maybe listen. Probably not. Traditional-only seasons (proposals) would be scrutinized hard and viewed as a potential Pandora's Box.

Lest you think I'm a heretic....I'd love to have the woods all to myself for a period. Maybe in certain states and with certain species it has a chance to happen. I would only support it if it made sense from a management perspective and didn't have the appearance of giving us a cub stake season....if you follow that analogy. I'm a bowhunter pure and simple, and I've never wanted to be segregated or differentiated from others because of my bow.

[LC]

I agree with Kevin totally.

Here in WV they have established a "Heritage Season" It comes in after all other big game seasons have closed. It starts AFTER the first of the year. You have to buy next years license early as our license goes from Jan 1st to December 31st. Personally I think it's a ploy to hopefully have more people buy their license earlier. They also encourage sportsman to buy their license before the year ends by holding raffles with prices which include Lifetime hunting license. Free stays at State owned lodges etc.

The four-day Mountaineer Heritage season will allow primitive weapons enthusiasts to continue big-game hunting into 2021. The season will be open to hunters who use flintlock or caplock rifles, recurve bows or longbows. The season runs from Jan. 14-17.

[MSU]

We had a traditional only season at one time, we got rid of it.

[Wild Bill MCP 808]

Pennsylvania and Maryland have primitive seasons - FYI

[Bowwild]

As usual, Mr. Dill nailed it.  A more reasonable and thoughtful fellow I've never "met". 

As a retired wildlife manager; IN, KS, MO, and retired in KY I fielded such queries over nearly a 30-year career.  To answer the OP's question, I recall Idaho had a two-week traditional-only season for some time. I don't know if it is still in place or how wide-spread or popular it was.

I do not like to split the ranks. I define the ranks as all hunters. Like others wrote above, I can hunt with my recurves from the 1st Sat. in September through Martin Luther King day in January.  I hunt private land because there is so very little public land in my state, or any state I've ever lived.  The only other people I see during the bow season are my son, daughter, and son-in-law.  What folks are using on the farms adjacent or near me is not my concern.

Finally, I would be very concerned that a traditional only season would highlight the relative unpopularity of our style of hunting and make us more irrelevant to some folks than we already are.

Personally, I would not hunt in a traditional-only season on principle.

[durp]

I have never seen a trad only season in my 67 years in idaho...if there was it was a well kept secret 

[A tag]

There were traditional hunts in Idaho. I remember when they first came out hearing tradition people complain about what that state called traditional. They had rules like you could only use wood arrows and no motorized vehicle could aid in your hunt to name a few. That’s right guys no ATV or pickup to transport you from camp to a hunting spot. Mostly I heard guys complain about having to shoot wood. A lot of people where not as traditional as they thought they where. Needless to say the hunts failed from lack of participation. We have long seasons here so I really didn’t see the need to have them anyway or seen any advantage to participating in one and leaving my favorite hunt areas. The rules didn’t bother me.

[Roy from Pa]

Well said guys...

[A tag]

To add let’s be really careful what we wish for. There has been many great points already on this thread showing pit falls to this idea.
I have see on other forms discussions on determining what a longbow is by definition. Everybody had there own idea of what a longbow is  and things turned into a crazy debate. Same thing goes for the word traditional or primitive everybody has there own line in the sand saying primitive or traditional stops here.
Most of us shoot modern longbows and recurves that have been refined over the years to add performance and shoot ability. Even with the selfbow guys many will use modern finishes and string materials to enhance there bows. Where would the states draw the line. Nobody wants to be left out and we all want to be included.
I shoot a hill style longbow and wood arrows, My  idea of a traditional or primitive hunt would be much different then a selfbow shooter , or a guy with a aluminum riser Super curve shooting carbons arrows. Someone is going to be mad about where the state draws the line.
Here is a good example of what could happen. A state could say, “ no rubber, metal, or foam can be attached to your bow”. Most modern longbow and recurve shooters have there quiver mounted to there bow. Depending on where the line is drawn that could happen. That would make a lot of people mad.
Let’s just be careful what we wish for guys as traditional as you think you are the state law makers could disagree and leave you in the modern archery season.

[DNewer]

Well I’ll say this. I certainly hope the few responses here on a trad Bowhunting dedicated forum do not represent the majority.  Arizona and other states are losing “Bowhunting” opportunities due to a high success rate.
Bill Starry noticed this back in the 1980s at MCAAP and implemented very simple weapons restrictions to curb the success rate while using modern (1980s) archery equipment. No sights, no release aids, longbows and recurves only.  That has worked for darn near 40 years now. And good luck drawing a tag. There’s about 250 tags per weekend and over 2,000 applications (last time I checked) for those….each weekend.   

Either curb the technology or curb the number of people hunting.

To say some of these responses I’ve read here, on Tradgang, are disheartening is quite an understatement.
Especially considering the numerous emails I have sent to Oregon  and Arizona game in fish asking them to consider a limited technology archery season when faced with the alternative of either eliminating general OTC tags for draw only or worse, eliminating those season dates all together.

I can also think back to a time whe. Some public land near the OKc metro area was being proposed to open up for archery season because of the high deer vehicle collisions. One city rep even proposed using a trad only bow season when faced with potential dangers or higher technology archery weapons. That proposal died. Largely due to apathy of trad hunters. If every person who applied for the MCAAP hunt sent a letter to the OKC council it may have passed and we would have more bowhunting. opportunities.

I mean some of the logic I’ve read here makes me ask
Why not eliminate weapon segregation all together?  Lol

[Sam McMichael]

Kevin Dill makes a lot of sense.

[A tag]

I don’t want to start a debate. Someone asked about Idahos traditional season and I just told you all of the complaints I heard from other longbow and recurve shooters that locally live here. I wanted to give some first hand information from locals who had opportunity to participate in a hunt like that. I never heard of one person that participated in that hunt or seen a reason to participate myself. I will leave this discussion up to you guys from here.

[durp]

A TAG...I for one appreciate the info you provided...Thank you 

[Kevin Dill]

One problem we sometimes have is understanding that one man’s negative is often another’s positive. We might see higher archery success rates as a bad thing. They could well be a net positive in the eyes of a state’s wildlife managers and planners. Also, most states are seeking to enhance opportunities for hunters instead of limiting them. Traditional archery is about as limiting as you can get in terms of percentage of hunters doing it. For most states these days there’s a definite emphasis on hunter recruitment and that typically means looking for ways to expand opportunities. No state wants to do anything which reduces hunter numbers and participation.

A better strategy than traditional archery seasons might be specific primitive weapons AREAS which would benefit from a reduced kill rate/ratio. But currently most of those areas are managed (for harvest) by simply limiting available tags or entry. Some of them track the ongoing harvest through hunt reports, and terminate the hunt when harvest objectives are met or exceeded. It’s no stretch to understand that state game managers or legislators are extremely unlikely to create or enact a special season or area which disenfranchises other hunters while favoring a very small special-interest group of hunters. Such a season would theoretically need to be the MOST logical solution to a perceived problem…and I mean as perceived by the state. If it even faintly appears to be something created to favor the aesthetic desires of stickbow guys it’s a total non-starter….you can bank on that.

I grew up in the BC era, and I knew a time when stick bows were the only bows. I also know most of us wouldn't be enjoying the long and liberal (in general) archery seasons we do, were it not for the popularization of archery hunting that came along with wheels and cables. We rode in on the modern archery tidal wave which happened in the '70s and '80s. Many of us used some of that equipment and it was a stepping stone in our development. I didn't shoot conventional gear to be different from others. I did it because it appealed to my absolute need to challenge myself. I never asked for or expected anything different from my wheel friends and brothers. And while I've always enjoyed my conventional tackle, I've consistently rejected exclusivity, segregation or recognition for using it. Maybe it's a bit like driving a classic automobile. You don't get your own road or day of the week. You drive your '68 Malibu with everyone else.

I probably can’t be more clear on one thing. I have never supported any effort to divide bowhunters and bowhunting according to the bow carried. I’m 100% against giving us (traditional equipment hunters) any type of exclusive special season or area based only on our aesthetic preferences. If it fits a state's management plan, that’s a different objective. But so far it appears that only a few states have tried it.

Finally: This is a good and worthy topic....one which often produces differing viewpoints. We can discuss and debate this like gentlemen without feeling offended. My thoughts and experiences are my own. Yours are, well...yours and I respect them.