That would be awesome. I know it's hot, but I would love to kill one in velvet. That actually might not even be early enough for velvet depending on which part of the state.

So how many of yall consider a 4 week head start an advantage to bow hunters who say they want a bigger challenge? Just saying! Lets manage the heard with Seasons and bag limits and not weapons (also know as tool of harvest)!

I hate people.

I dont think it's an advantage cause I have no desire to hunt that time of year, but do agree set the season, hunt as you please by any method and everyone will be happy.

Actually it's a shame that the Dept has attempted to make anyone happy. That's not their job.

I haven't read through the thread, but this was the thinking of the dcnr back in the day when they started having a bow season and then expanded it. Bow season provides hunters with many more opportunities to hunt, while having very little effect on the resource. It is one of those win-win scenarios that don't happen often.

The AL ML season was about money.

I don't know when AL started the archery season, but I know we had one in the early 60s and I don't think it was due to lobbying by any group. It just made sense to let people have the opportunity to hunt when there was very little chance most were gonna kill anything. Younger folks may not believe this, but there was a time when the department used common sense in setting seasons, and money wasn't the driving factor in everything.

It took a skilled hunter to kill a deer in AL with a recurve or longbow in 1963. The equipment was nothing like we have today, and most places didn't have many deer. I mentioned 1963 because that was the first time I ever heard of anyone killing a deer with a bow. All of us kids were absolutely in awe of the guy who did it. Most grown men in our area had never killed a deer, and this guy killed one with a bow.

I always felt like special weapon seasons existed to promote the use of a particular weapon. You know to insure that these more tradition weapons and the skills needed to use them wouldn't fade away. Because lets face it you could accomplish all your game management goals with modern guns by lengthening or shortening the season or by increasing or decreasing bag limits if that is all you cared about. To me I always looked at the extra days in the woods as a reward for mastering a specific skill like shooting a bow.