Gov. FUKH signs crossbow legislation

FP1201

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Deer Hunters seem to hate competition: when someone comes up with an advantage, they piss & moan about it until they have the same edge or better...many of the same ones couldn't kill a Deer with a New Truck.
 
OwnTheRide

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FP1201 said:
Deer Hunters seem to hate competition: when someone comes up with an advantage, they piss & moan about it until they have the same edge or better...many of the same ones couldn't kill a Deer with a New Truck.
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I'm not a fan of the early seasons - bow, youngsters, etc. It's not about competition for me (I'm the world's least inspired, and possibly least successful, hunter).
 
JamieZ

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Changes to Crossbow Hunting Now in Effect

New for fall 2025, hunters in New York State may use a crossbow in the same seasons, places, and manner as a vertical bow for hunting deer and bear.

  • To hunt deer and bear with a crossbow during the bowhunting seasons, a hunter must have a hunting license and bowhunting privilege. To be eligible to purchase a bowhunting privilege, a hunter must have bowhunter education certification which is available through the online or in-person course.
  • Crossbows may be used wherever and whenever bowhunting occurs, including the archery only portions of Albany and Monroe counties and in Westchester and Suffolk counties. The minimum setback distance for discharge is 500’ in Westchester and Suffolk counties and 250’ in all other areas.
  • Crossbows must have a working trigger safety and a minimum peak draw weight of 100 pounds. There is no minimum limb width, no minimum length, and no maximum draw weight.
  • Additional answers to commonly asked questions are available: Crossbow Q & A (PDF)
 
camper4lyfe

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This doesn't change my opinion of her in the slightest, but it's a potential bonus for my son. He's only 12 and not strong enough for a compound, but this would allow him to get out during archery if he so chose.
 
Bustedknees

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camper4lyfe said:
I'm pretty sure you can use a muzzleloader during rifle season.
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My issue is that xbows are shooting 1" groups at 100 yards. They are much more accurate than the days of us hunting with smoothbore shotguns with slugs. Bow season is incredibly long. So, for us rifle and muzzle loader hunters we get the leftover, wounded, and spooked deer. Only in the Northern tier is there an early season for black powder, but it's only for one week. Southern tier offers up the very last week to muzzle loading.
 
Saltwater60

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This is stupid and essentially does nothing. The only benefit is that they removed the draw weight and limb limits. Outside of that nothing else really changed in the long run. You can use your crossbow a bit more maybe. Adding two weeks in bow season for crossbow is nice but not significant IMO
 
Saltwater60

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Bustedknees said:
My issue is that xbows are shooting 1" groups at 100 yards. They are much more accurate than the days of us hunting with smoothbore shotguns with slugs. Bow season is incredibly long. So, for us rifle and muzzle loader hunters we get the leftover, wounded, and spooked deer. Only in the Northern tier is there an early season for black powder, but it's only for one week. Southern tier offers up the very last week to muzzle loading.
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Makes sense. So buy a crossbow as they want you to do. Honestly I have one and they are kind of a hassle. Large, heavy, hard to draw without a tool. I’m not sure I’d buy another one but now with the limb restrictions removed for hunting maybe I’d consider a smaller lighter one.
 
Bustedknees

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FP1201 said:
Deer Hunters seem to hate competition: when someone comes up with an advantage, they piss & moan about it until they have the same edge or better...many of the same ones couldn't kill a Deer with a New Truck.
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Ask my wife. I did it with her SUV. And I also tend to put enough lead into the air, occasionally a buck runs into one.
 
S&W Fan

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Saltwater60 said:
It’s a small crumb at best
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Actually it’s much bigger than a small crumb. Up until this signing you could only use a crossbow with size, weight and limb length restrictions at the end of Archery season. Now, ALL the restrictions have been rescinded and you can now use a crossbow for the entire archery season. That’s big for a lot of current crossbow owners. Not to mention the new crossbow hunters that it will attract who were too lazy to learn how to shoot an actual bow.
 
Catskillkid

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Hunters imo, are their own worst enemy a lot of times. The fudds fighting about vertical bow vs crossbow vs rifle/shotgun vs muzzleloader are missing the bigger picture in my opinion. Let's be honest, hunting is mostly a dying sport, particularly in the Northeast. Opening up crossbows for the whole of archery season is not going to kill significantly more deer. What it might do (maybe) is get more young people interested in the sport. The bow/crossbow to gun pipeline is real imo. My first exposure to guns was via small game hunting. My take is that more people who get interested in hunting become second amendment advocates. That's a good thing for all of us, hunters and non-hunters alike.

But of course with a lot of folks (fudds really) it can't be like this. It's all about MY deer and MY trophy. Reminds me of my coworker who loves the fact that there are less hunters in the woods because it means more deer for him. Or even worse, one of my brothers who has said on multiple occasions he only cares about the guns he owns (a couple of rifles and shotguns and an old revolver) and doesn't care if the government bans all the rest.

And the archery course is not a big deal. I took it online a couple of years ago. Let it play in the background if it bothers you so much that you are forced to take it. It took me maybe two to three days tops to watch all the videos and pass the test (and I was taking my time doing it).
 
pjzwtl

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I always tell my sons use the best tool available for the task at hand.
I like to still hunt the ridge it can get fairly thick. I will gladly switch to my crossbow as it will be a better tool for the task until firearm opens up when I will switch again.

With that said horse face can still go F off far far away.
 
Saltwater60

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S&W Fan said:
Actually it’s much bigger than a small crumb. Up until this signing you could only use a crossbow with size, weight and limb length restrictions at the end of Archery season. Now, ALL the restrictions have been rescinded and you can now use a crossbow for the entire archery season. That’s big for a lot of current crossbow owners. Not to mention the new crossbow hunters that it will attract who were too lazy to learn how to shoot an actual bow.
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You could also use it all muzzleloader season. You had to buy muzzleloader license to use a crossbow prior to this. The limb size reduction is nice but won’t help me because I have a crossbow and won’t buy another one just because of this passage.
I would say crossbow hunters are the lowest numbered in the state and not sure this will change that much. I do like that I can crossbow hunt all of bow season but it’s not life changing.
I would be nice if they added air rifle to the big game approved list or if they allowed to you crossbow hunt in some additional locations. I wonder if they still consider a crossbow a muzzleloader because I always took that as they couldn’t be used within 500’ of an occupied dwelling but the new restrictions on using them in a few locations indicated to me that I could use them with 250’ of an occupied dwelling now or even possibly before this.
It gets really confusing at times and this does hopefully simplify it a bit.
 
Saltwater60

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Catskillkid said:
Hunters imo, are their own worst enemy a lot of times. The fudds fighting about vertical bow vs crossbow vs rifle/shotgun vs muzzleloader are missing the bigger picture in my opinion. Let's be honest, hunting is mostly a dying sport, particularly in the Northeast. Opening up crossbows for the whole of archery season is not going to kill significantly more deer. What it might do (maybe) is get more young people interested in the sport. The bow/crossbow to gun pipeline is real imo. My first exposure to guns was via small game hunting. My take is that more people who get interested in hunting become second amendment advocates. That's a good thing for all of us, hunters and non-hunters alike.

But of course with a lot of folks (fudds really) it can't be like this. It's all about MY deer and MY trophy. Reminds me of my coworker who loves the fact that there are less hunters in the woods because it means more deer for him. Or even worse, one of my brothers who has said on multiple occasions he only cares about the guns he owns (a couple of rifles and shotguns and an old revolver) and doesn't care if the government bans all the rest.

And the archery course is not a big deal. I took it online a couple of years ago. Let it play in the background if it bothers you so much that you are forced to take it. It took me maybe two to three days tops to watch all the videos and pass the test (and I was taking my time doing it).
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I agree with this almost completely. Not sure the crossbow thing will do much and they know it. I think they did this because they wanted to throw us a crumb and make it seem like they care about us for the upcoming election.
Many people I know only now hunt and many I know feel the lack of hunters allow them less deer. I agree because they don’t move around. Where I hunt is in a valley and it’s brushy. They sit there and bed down and no one pushes them to me.
 
JunkBoxFull

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Hmmmmmm, and election season is coming, throws a crumb at the peasants....
and now she thinks she is going to win a vote back by the hunting community.

FUKH - moo
 
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