I learned to bowhunt two seasons ago, with help from the great folks here at texashuntfish.com.  I live and hunt in counties which have antler restrictions (a great thing in my opinion, but that's another story).  I enjoy bowhunting because of the opportunity to harvest does, and because of the close encounters with deer.  As we all know, crossbows are legal for everyone this season.  I've argued mostly against this measure, and have at times been on the fence at best.

After 20+ years of driving heavy equipment at alcoa, my father can't pull a bow effectively. He has no upper limb disability, yet his shoulders ache when he has to hold the bow for awhile.  Because of this, he gave up on bowhunting very quickly. 

Yesterday, he decided to purchase a crossbow.  To my frustrated delight, the old man calls me to say I've got to help him sight it in so he can hunt Saturday on opening day.  Great, I say.. I've got to figure out how to work one of those damned things, and all while I've got to get my game face on for opening morning.  I'm comfortable with my level of bowshooting skill, but wouldn't consider myself a teacher, nor would I look forward to learning/teaching crossbow 101. 

There we sat, for about two hours in my mosquito infested back yard, also known as the clump of forest behind one of my bowstands, learning the ways of the crossbow.  After two hours of giving blood transfusions, while permanently traumatizing any deer within a quarter-mile radius, the professor had the pupil shooting the bull’s-eye at 35 yards. 

Dad will be hunting in one of my stands at another location tomorrow morning, and I have full confidence that should he see an animal, he’s got as good a shot of harvesting it as I do.  I believe the crossbow is easy to pick up for folks familiar with shooting a rifle, which is about a prerequisite to hunting as almost anything.  Today, I still prefer my bow as it’s very familiar to me, but there’s a good chance I’d harvest with a crossbow sometime

I have no issue with the law.  He is now as effective as I am, and I’m confident of my capabilities.   He has the authority to use a crossbow, and I do as well.  We’ve all the right to get out there and harvest a deer with the projectile of our choice.  Even as I write this journal, I got a call from a paranoid skeptic asking if it was legal for crossbow hunters to harvest does as bowhunters do.  The law is in place.  It’s opening season now for us all, let’s stop the whining now so we don’t spook the deer.

I do think that the parks and wildlife will see an upward trend of the harvest in bowseaon this year.  I hope they collect data and utilize the additional hunters to the benefit of us all.  This happens today, as we’ve got the largest deer herd in the USA, and I’m certainly proud of big Texas deer.  I saw the antler restrictions as a pain at once, but now enjoy the benefits of a better chance at both meat and quality bucks.  Here's hoping TPWD uses crossbows bring along a similar benefit.