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Thread: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    14

    Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Hi everyone. Would appreciate your opinions on this matter:

    i am am a new hunter in Vancouver island area. Problem is my PAL is taking forever and I’m afraid of missing out on the season or most of it. It was received in May and still waiting. I’ve been told it could be another few months.

    I thought about starting with archery but with a young family at home, full time job, other commitments etc., I am afraid I don’t have the time to master archery. For fun maybe I would pick it up but for hunting... maybe in the future. So I thought maybe crossbow? Better than nothing I suppose and at least it would get me out there. Or, I could just look forward to the next season. What would you do/ recommend? From what I hear, lots of close range hunting can be done for deer in these parts and I have heard of many that hunt deer in this area with buckshot which is a bit closer to the max effective range of a cross bow, correct? Of course it would be a big stretch being new, I would have a lot of work to do on stalking, scouting, etc. Thoughts ?

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Tent city Victoria
    Posts
    3,562

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Crossbow is fine for deer but I’d spend a lot of time getting good at shooting. Nothing worse than wounding something because you didn’t take the time to practice

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Lower mainland
    Posts
    947

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    The last thing you want is to wound an animal as your first experience. You want your first experience to be a positive memory that will last your lifetime. In saying that, my opinion might be bias as I am not a fan of any type of bow/crossbow hunting. Nothing against anyone that does, it just isn't my thing. Hopefully you get your PAL soon and can enjoy the season. If not, next year will work IMO.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    689

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    I am in my second year of hunting and bought a nice Tenpoint crossbow this summer. Practiced a lot and boy are they accurate and a lot of fun to shoot. The thing I like, is they extend my hunting season on both ends; start hunting Sept 1 and can go well into December. Good luck!

  6. #5
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Victoria BC
    Posts
    832

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Find a friend with a PAL and a gun to loan you and go hunting with them ....

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Duncan
    Posts
    2,982

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    If you are only managing to scrounge up a weapon now then you are not ready for hunting yet, unless you happen to have a natural aptitude for shooting. The good news is that you don’t need a weapon or tags to go looking for animals. Is a crossbow a good choice for a new hunter? Sure but I would expect them to have a decent amount of practice with it before they even thought of taking a shot with one on an animal. But I’d say the same thing if it were a bow, rifle or shotgun.

    Where about s are you located?

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    In the bush near a lake
    Posts
    7,198

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Lots of kids in the US will start with a crossbow because there is no kick and no draw. There are lots of people who never hunt with a firearm in many provinces and states. It does not matter what weapon you start with as long as you take the time to educate yourself on ethical use and hunt within the weapons and your skill limitations

    BC is very rifle hunting dominant so don’t take those saying you should use a rifle first as speaking the gospel because this is not common opinion everywhere

    What I do recommend regardless what weapon you choose to start with is an experienced mentor. One whit experience hunting with the weapon you choose is best. Knowledge of how to react, shot placement, and tracking is way more important than the weapon you hunt with. A rifle is not a substitute for this

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    49.2 kms from 10U 687884E 5617178N
    Posts
    8,757

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    It's one thing to have a bad shot with a rifle, because usually there is enough tissue damage, not forgetting shock, to rendered the animal dead. Not always but most times. The shock from a crossbow bolt or an arrow is much lesser and does not impact the same as a bullet.

    Bolts and arrows travel at a significant slower speed and this has to be taken into consideration. An animal can travel significant distance so the shot fired at a lethal area probably is not going to hit where intended if the deer is walking and the deer bounds away with an arrow stuck in it's gut or rear end.

    Do you think that you could pass on taking a shot that is marginal? You would answer,"sure ." But in the excitement of a new hunter, I would say, "Nope!"

    Lacking the experience of archery hunting, lacking any experience using a crossbow (and crossbows are not as simple as they would seem, there are critical steps that one has to master, in other words, to be accomplished with safely using the weapon)

    I'm afraid that you are too late for this years's hunting season unless, as suggested by someone else, you get a mentor that will loan you a firearm and be at your side while you are in possession of his firearm.

    In the meantime, here is the BC CFO office number. 1-800-731-4000 extension 9530. Call them to see why you are being held up.

    I believe that they purposefully set aside new applications. This way they can "weed" those that are not genuinely wanting one, ones that applied whimsically. It is called the "test of time". If they don't hear from the respondent, then they file the request to some obscure place and eventually it gets "turfed" after some time has passed. There appears to be a secondary phase of wait and see and those respondents that frequently request an update suddenly get advanced. There is, however, the chance of being held up because of some third party delay due to insufficient information. You should ask why the delay. It seems to me to be getting to the extreme length of time that it should take,

    FWIW, I have over 6 decades in archery, from longbow to recurve to compound. Crossbows are new to me this year (@73) and I'm going hunt with it shortly. The vast majority of my kills have been with rifle.








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  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    14

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Thanks everyone for your input.
    Crisis averted as my PAL was approved this week

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    1,361

    Re: Is crossbow suitable for a new hunter? Vancouver island

    Make dam sure that you are using the right bolt and broad heads must be razor sharp, no target arrows or field points!!!

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