Texas Archery/Bowhunting Uprage Update

The giant beast remained in the shadows of the impenetrable cedar thickets for a long, long time. The prettiest, and dare I say, deadliest bowhunter in America was poised to kill nearby, and displayed the patience and stealth that identifies experienced, dedicated bowhunters everywhere.

Eventually the huge bull Scimitar Horn Oryx made its last move into bowrange, the dainty pink bow was lifted cautiously into position, and with near motionless grace, Shemane effortlessly pulled back her arrow and sent it square into the pumpstation of the 600+ pound African antelope, burying her pink arrow to the fletching.

Dead.

Her simple compound bow had a mushy draw weight of 35 pounds. I had accomplished the same feat as well recently with my girly-man 45 pound bow, also penetrating all the hard meat, muscle, sinew and ribcage bone of this formidable creature like it was butter.

My hunting buddy Joe had finally had enough with his 70 pound bow, failing to draw it back more than once after long, muscle defeating vigils on stand, the same self-inflicted malady that I have heard of over and over and over again and again, even witnessing it on hunting TV shows by experienced bowhunters.

Hello!! Anybody paying attention here?

Well I am very, very happy to report that Joe, and many hundreds of bowhunters across America, and thank God finally here at home in Texas, are waking up to the self-inflicted silliness of the over-bowing dilemma that has gone on for far too long, and had actually been getting worse over the years.

The tried and true bowhunters’ mantra of “shoot the heaviest bow you can shoot accurately and comfortably” is finally hitting home; Comfortably being the key operative here.

My home of Texas, America’s #1 hunting state, is still rated dead last when it comes to bowhunting participation per hunting license sold, but momentum is increasing as more and more Texans and Texas’ archery shops begin to realize two critical realities; #1-you just can’t borrow someone else’s bow to try bowhunting properly, and #2-you must get a bow maxed out at a draw weight you can pull back with no obtrusive effort whatsoever, which means drawing back without lifting the bow above the horizontal line of sight. Period, case closed, it’s over rover.

When I brought the 45 pound minimum draw weight law to Governor Perry’s attention and informed him that it was still on the books from the 1960’s, he asked what I thought the minimum draw weight should be. With the most polite and respectful tone to my voice I could muster, I said, “With all due respect governor, it is none of your business. It should be the same minimum for the hunting age in Texas; none. It is a personal, family choice, not to be meddled with by bureaucrats who have no knowledge of the issue.”

As America’s best governor and a die-hard bowhunter himself, the great man immediately understood my explanation of kinetic energy delivery with current technology, my extensive personal hands-on experiences with light weight bows, and the inescapable facts regarding other states with no minimum draw weight regulations.

Viola!! Texas leaped into the future those many years ago.

It is beyond me why some guys continue to roll their eyes and snort-wheeze when I tell them how Shemane kills everything with 35 pound draw weight and I and many others bring home the backstraps consistently with 40-50 pounds. It is all mystery to me, unless one still believes in the macho nonsense that I guess still exists out there.

If you can gracefully draw 100 pounds, have at it. Whatever that graceful draw weight is for you, that is the draw weight you should shoot and enjoy. Godbless you all.

But we must all be honest here. As I travel across America for rock-n-roll adventure or hunting fun, my daily meetings with gungho bowhunters in every state reveal way too many tales of woe and heartbreak from way too many bowhunters who have destroyed their shoulders and rotator cuffs, or worse, continue to spook game unnecessarily as they struggle, hump and grunt their heavy bows back, creating the worse conditions possible to accurately hit a non-alarmed critter.

Conversely, I also get emotional tales of joyfulness to the contrary, like my Email flooded daily with happy stories from young, old, male and female bowhunters alike who rejoice their newfound deadliness with a light weight graceful bow. They are elated with the dramatically improved accuracy and increased archery fun, and the deadliest hunting seasons of their lives, all directly attributable to their new easy to draw bows.

So spread the good word Texas and America! More bowhunters are better than fewer bowhunters. More family hours of outdoor recreation are better than zombie indoor goofball electronic game time. More hunters are better than fewer hunters! More backstraps are better than less backstraps! More conservationists are better than less conservationists! More gun owners are better than less gun owners! More bows and arrows sold are better than fewer. More we the people votes from the good American outdoor family lifestyle are better than the anti-American votes from the other side. More shooting sports fun is a better attraction to more and younger enthusiasts than the alternative. More easy to shoot bows will attract more people to this incredibly exciting mystical flight of the arrow adventure to cleanse more souls that need cleansing.

Try it, you will love it.

TF&G Staff

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