Reasons for disallowing bowhunting during deer gun seasons?

[elknutz]

I would worry that the legislators in my goofy state would ultimately decide that there was no need for separate seasons.  If bow hunters had no problem being out with gun hunters, why have them seperate.

[RonD]

On the Dahomey NWR where I hunt in the Mississippi Delta bows are not legal weapons during the gun season. I asked why since it seems to be the only NWR in Mississippi that doesn't allow bows during the gun season. The answer I recieved was simply that "gun hunters cannot hunt during the bow season, therefore bows cannot be used during the gun season." They say it is a fairness issue. This year is the first year that we are allowed to hunt small game with bow and arrow with the restriction that broad heads cannot be used, only points. Since it is legal to hunt hogs during any season with a weapon legal for that season it is impossible to hunt hogs during the small game season since broadheads cannot be used. Can you imagine shooting a hog with a judo point?

[Mike Lee]

I am from Illinois and would also like to use my bow instead of a firearm. I bought the tag but bows are not listed as legal for firearm season.

[Jim Rocole]

Ken
I may be wrong but I believe you can use a bow during gun season in the CWD zones as long as you are wearing blaze orange. We can also bow hunt during the youth gun hunt or any of the doe only weekends as long as the orange is worn. Seems like a double standard but that wouldn't be that unusual for our DNR.

[Bill Turner]

Could it be that they made concessions to allow a bowhunting only season, which keeps the gun hunters out of the woods at that time, so they feel obligated to keep bowhunters out during the 9 day gun season? Just a thought.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Originally posted by Missouri Bowman:
Missouri is kind of backwards too. You can bowhunt during gun, but you have to buy a gun tag. I've been hoping they would change it and let you use an unfilled bow tag. Yes and you have to wear the orange.

The reason   they do not want people filling bow tags during Rifle season is due to the fact that many people will claim rifle killed deer as bow killed deer. If you have formal registration stations, most workers dont look close enough to tell, nor do they usually care.

I think you should use the tag corresponding to the season. regardless of Hunting apparatus.

As far as rifle hunting during archery season?  well the law should be as such; to allow hunting with a lesser weapon therefore muzzle loading would be allowed during rifle but not bow.  Bow hunting would be allowed during Rifle and muzzle loading. Rifle hunting will only be allowed during rifle season and therefor as long as the appropriate licenses is obtained for the season with greater firearm power.

I think (this is only a guess) often Rules are old and follow traditions hence the ban on archery during Rifle. Sometimes states do not examine the reasoning behind the laws, so they stand based on traditions and are enforced.

[Bowwild]

Having retired from a career in state wildlife agencies (IN, KS, MO, and KY) I can tell you Bill Turner is pretty close to the common reason for not allowing bowhunters in the gun season. More and more states are changing this regulation to allow the bowhunter in the gun season but as this thread notes, some still don't.  

In states that don't allow it the gun hunters object to sharing the field with bowhunters who, in the gun hunters' opinion already have plenty of days. They wrongly think the bowhunter will simply stay home .... wrong, many of us just pick up the long range equipment and go to the field with 2-3 months of scouting behind us. As a rule, we do very well.

Of course the failure of this logic (and part of the way this was overturned in IN many years ago) is if a bowhunter isn't allowed in the gun season with his bow, many of these bowhunters will use fireamrs instead. Ask a gun hunter, which is more "competitive" a bowhunter with a firearm or a bowhunter with a bow? Most would admit they'd rather be sharing the deer woods with a 20-yard shooting bowhunter than a 100+ yard firearms hunter if they thought about it.

These separatist types of regulations are, to be frank, relics of an old-school era which the agency doesn't want to address for fear of upsetting the status quo.

[Bowwild]

I don't mean this to sound harsh but some bowhunters like (but won't admit it) these regulations becaue they aren't forced to "choose" to bowhunt or rifle hunt...the state makes them do it.

[wapiti792]

I am a bowhunter in IL...in the state with no consealed carry law and paranoia regarding firearms at the state level. The state with that kind of nutty logic WANTS me to have a firearm in my hands 10 days out of the year instead of my bow.

I would gladly use my traditional bows during gun season if I could. I buy a firearm deer tag every year and wear hunter orange when I hunt, but I sometimes forget my fiream...on purpose.

[wingnut]

Most of it has to do with resource allocation.  Some states allocate a given part of the annual harvest to each of the user groups.  In states with seperate tags and seasons this is huge.  In others it is very clouded.

I'd say that if you attend wildlife commission meetings and listen you will find this type of logic.

Mike

[traditionalman]

Ohio is no bowhunting durning gun season and for good reason. Too many people hunting with a gun and shooting anything that likes like a deer and moves. You must wear hunter orange and a lot of it to be legal. Still people get shot every year. A  lot of hunters but not too many people want you on their land anymore so most are forced to go to public hunting area or State Parks. Both are over run with hunters.

Old saying don't bring a bow to a gun fight!!!

[Dusty Nethery]

"I already get 3-months-plus to bowhunt here in IL, and I wouldn't feel right about taking a gun tag away from someone else (who may only hunt with a gun) just so I can hunt two more weekends with my bow."

This is an issue I have thought about also. However, in my county I know of nobody who is denied a firearm tag. In years past, I applied as late as the third lottery, and still received the tags for which I applied.

Also, although the season is open for 3+ months I work M-F so the weekends are all I have to hunt, aside from my two weeks of vacation I save for hunting every year. So, because I choose to hunt with a bow, I am losing 4 days every year because of the firearm season, two of which are during the rut!

What would be wrong if the bow tags were valid throughout the firearm season? They allow it for the muzzleloader and two late-winter seasons. Deer numbers are extremely high, so why not allow a large number of people, who typically sit-out the firearm season, to attempt to take another deer or two?

Dusty

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Dusty,

I'm in the same boat as you regarding my work schedule. Unless I take vacation time, weekends are the only time I can hunt. While on the surface I understand your point about using bowhunting during gun season with archery tags, there's another side to it.

Bowhunters here freak out on an annual basis over the possibility of more gun hunting days, yet they want to bowhunt during existing gun seasons. For some, there's no give and take: it's all take and take. And one of these days the DNR is going to get tired of bowhunters crying that they ONLY get 100+ hunting days to themselves.

[Boom Stick]

Originally posted by bamboo:
how does holding a gun in your hands make you ANY safer than holding bow?do you plan on returning fire?

Great point.

[finkm1]

After reading some of the posts we have a good deal here in Michigan. We can buy a combination license. Which has 2 kill tags. It can be used during bow, gun and black powder seasons.During bow season you can shoot two bucks but the second or restricted tag has to be used for a buck with 4 antler points on 1 side. You also use both tags for does during the archery season. Gun season you have to follow the gun rules. Both tags are for antlered deer only. Hunter orange is required.The hunter can only harvest two deer with the combo license.

[GingivitisKahn]

Originally posted by traditionalman:
Ohio is no bowhunting durning gun season and for good reason. Too many people hunting with a gun and shooting anything that likes like a deer and moves. You must wear hunter orange and a lot of it to be legal. Still people get shot every year. A  lot of hunters but not too many people want you on their land anymore so most are forced to go to public hunting area or State Parks. Both are over run with hunters.

Old saying don't bring a bow to a gun fight!!!

1. That's not accurate.  You can hunt with your bow during gun season (  http://ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/regulations/hunting_deer.aspx#equipment  - read the middle bit) and

2. That logic is silly anyway - we are out there to hunt deer, not gun hunters.

[waknstak IL]

Dusty, I don't understand how my willingness to use a longbow instead of my muzzleloader to fill my firearm tag would hurt anyone either. The only thing I've ever been able to think of is that they are afraid that bowhunters would be more likely to not wear their orange. Although stupid as it sounds I've seen gun hunters do it on a lot of occasions.

[Don Stokes]

In Missouri, you can hunt with a bow during the muzzleloader season with your archery license, and you don't have to wear orange, although the muzzleloader hunters do. But like Missouri Bowman said, to hunt with a bow in the regular rifle season, you have to buy the rifle season license and wear orange. The logic is obscure.

[hawkeye n pa]

I've bowhunted during "gun season" for close 40 years here in PA.   I wear the required fl. orange and have had no problems.  

Well except for the strange looks and have been told to hide that thing a couple of times "the warden is around the corner",  "Or was that you I heard shooting?"

Good luck in getting the regulation changed.

Jeff

[Ken Babicky]

Thanks everyone for offering the your opinions. For the most part these are all things that have floated through my head at times and I was just interested to find out what everyone thought potential reasons may be. I knew on this site that just about everyone would use their bow if they could. I was also interested to see if any former DNR types would respond, which they did, and their responses were more related to what I personally suspected.

Jim Ricole, I also believe you are correct regarding the CWD zones and legal weapons. I know I didn't specify but my question was referring more in general to the other areas.

I'd be happy to share the woods with guns, compounds, wear the legal clothing, etc. and use whatever tag I needed to use if I could carry my bow... I have no problem with any of that. I also can't complain, we do have a much longer continuous bow season in WI than many other areas in the country so I have to be greatful for that.


Thanks everyone.