Archery and crossbow time of year
Here in Pennsylvania the laws for hunting with a crossbow have opened up new territory for hunters. Many people have stayed away from archery season for physical reasons. It takes more energy to bull a bow back and fire it, and hit what you are aiming at than simply bringing your Winchester Model 70 30/06 and taking a 100-600yd shot and then taking a sip from your coffee mug. I have to admit that I have found Archery to be fun if you have someone to help set you up, but it takes far more patience than some people have to be efficient. The only real drawback I have even seen to archery is that there are more bad shots in archery than I see with rifles and it’s not pretty to watch a wounded animal walk off and die and sometimes not be recovered. Pennsyvania has a deer problem. As a matter of fact, it has a huge problem. There are a declining number of people going out and hunting every year, but the number of car accidents has been inceasing.
It has now been about 2yrs since crossbows have been allowed for hunting by the general hunting community and the are more likely out selling the standard compoun bows you use to see in hunting stores. If you are familiar with using a rifle, it’s going to be an easy transition to using a crossbow. The ability to use an optic with a calibrated bullet drop is going to make those 50yd shots pretty easy compared to using a compound bow. I still think they need to change the rules and loosen things up even more to try and curb the deer population, but this new change was welcomed. Having a good pair of binoculars with you on you next hunting trip will help you scout out more territory and give you the edge in observing your surroundings. The things to think about are how much weight you are carrying and being practical when it comes to magnification. Anything above 4x and below 10x is recommended.
While many in the tactical community have been learning that magnification does not increase your effectiveness is close quarters combat, it can actually hinder you, some are finding out that using a rifle scope to monitor movement, whether it’s for hunting, military or law enforcement purposes is not really a good idea. Field of view is very important for tracking movement because a 50mm objective on a rifle scope stands out like a sore thumb, weighs a lot and might actually be set at too high of a magnification that you will most likely miss any potential threat. It’s really almost like watching the stars at night with only one eye open and trying to spot shooting stars.