Wyoming Guys, question on 50# minimum for elk

NOT ALL WARDENS ARE PROFESSIONAL AND REASONABLE--NEVER -- NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING --
gAME wARDENS AREN'T GAME WARDENS --  THEY ARE pEOPLE wARDENS --   THINK ABOUT IT--  
nEVER FORGET YOUR RIGHTS--
wE ARE THE REAL PROTECTORS OF THE GAME--  
I always ask them -- what are the ten amendmanets to the bill of rights--   most only know two-- !   learn them - know them-- !
RT

[Bowwild]

This debate is exactly why I lead the elimination of minimum draw weights for bowhunting in Kentucky several years ago. I was in the perfect position to do this and it was EXTREMELY easy to change.

I despise unenforceable or unenforced regulations. Most officers do as well (I was a commissioned (but not trained) wildlife officer as well).

Bowhunters don't read regulations to educate themselves about what gear should be effective or not. They go to other sources (friends, books, forums, Bowhunter Ed, and best of all...experience). Bowhunters want to be successful. They want to make clean kills. They don't want to spend countless and even fruitless hours/days tracking a weakly hit animal.

These are the kinds of decisions that should be left to the hunter.

I'd rather have someone that knows his/her equipment and abilities in the hunting fields. That's far preferable than someone who rarely practices, can't tune equipment, and is hoping for a huge dose of "feel's right luck" when the time too shoot arrives. Those are the folks who's tale of the hunt start with something like, "I stuck two today...."

[ChuckC]

agreed

ChuckC

[Bob Moran]

Whoa!  No need to shout. I get it; the government is the enemy.

[ChuckC]

That's right, they are out to get you and spoil your day.
ChuckC

[gringol]

I also hear they like to kick puppies.

[jackdaw]

A paint pen can alter a bow. However, we are trying to ethically harvest an animal as large as an elk. I like the 50 pound designation so I believe as ethical archers we should try and stay at 50 pounds or above. If you truly draw 50 pounds or more with a lighter marked bow, then I believe I would definitely change it on my bow. End of problem.

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Interesting topic, I will be hunting elk in WY this fall, Lord willing, but with a 65# recurve so no worries there.  If questioned, I will have the warden draw the bow - absolutely no doubt it is way over 50#.  When I drew my NH moose tag a few years ago, I had to borrow a bow with at least 60# draw to be legal (from Tradganger Fletcher).  I have always been a game warden magnet, so I wasn't surprised when I came out of the swamp the first night and there were two wardens waiting for me at my truck.  They were impressed that anybody still hunts with a recurve and briefly looked at the limbs where the draw weight was listed, then checked my tags and wished me luck.  Visual check only.

Most of the game wardens I meet are decent people, with one exception in over 35 years of hunting.  One warden in Utah was so helpful that he shared his hotspots, which directly led to me killing my first elk, and we have hunted together several times in other states.