Has anybody on here ever done bowfishing? Im big into bow hunting and have always been interested in bowfishing. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with it i know you have to obv keep the fish you kill but i dont mind keeping a couple because i will always eat what i kill.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:55 pm

Back in the day i used to do it all the time. I would shoot carp monster goldfish and snapping turtles. It was fun at the time but we kind of lost interest but it is definitely good pratice for instinctual shooting. Plus all the looks people would gives us were priceless

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:16 pm

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:13 pm

It is a wasteful practice..I don't have a problem with hunting. You wanna kill something to eat it, good on ya.

You wanna kill something for no reason and toss it back in the river your an ignorant fool. The "we use it for fertilizer" excuse is crap as well. It means you kill it to throw it away. As I said, wasteful practice typically cluttered in ignorance.

Why not bow"fish" trout? O yeah because they aren't trash fish..or how about Bass with a bow? None of them are native to our state anyway...as I said, the practice is based in ignorance that it is ok to "cull" trash species cause they are just invasive and destroying the water. In fact most people who use that as an excuse have no idea what these fish even do to the ecosystem, they simply go on what they've been told


The other problem I have with it is, it isn't fishing. Period. Your using a bow, it is hunting and should be monitored via hunting rules. You cannot shoot a bow along the road or in someone's backyard while hunting, no reason you should be able too just because you label it fishing.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:15 pm

He said he would eat what he shot. Also in regards to shooting a bow along a road or in someones backyard you can legally do that with land owner permission. Or if in the water you don't need permission as its a public water way.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:28 pm

blackstonecarp

It is a wasteful practice..I don't have a problem with hunting. You wanna kill something to eat it, good on ya.

You wanna kill something for no reason and toss it back in the river your an ignorant fool. The "we use it for fertilizer" excuse is crap as well. It means you kill it to throw it away. As I said, wasteful practice typically cluttered in ignorance.

Why not bow"fish" trout? O yeah because they aren't trash fish..or how about Bass with a bow? None of them are native to our state anyway...as I said, the practice is based in ignorance that it is ok to "cull" trash species cause they are just invasive and destroying the water. In fact most people who use that as an excuse have no idea what these fish even do to the ecosystem, they simply go on what they've been told


The other problem I have with it is, it isn't fishing. Period. Your using a bow, it is hunting and should be monitored via hunting rules. You cannot shoot a bow along the road or in someone's backyard while hunting, no reason you should be able too just because you label it fishing.



I would not shoot anyfish i would not eat i dont believe in random killing of an animal for no reason people who just kill for no reason are (excuse my language) but ignorant a**holes its the same thing as poaching. I didnt mean to raise anger in this at all as i said anything i shoot i would not waste trust me my dad raised me a lot better than that. (never kill anything you are not willing to eat)

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:36 pm

You're not raising anger my statements are generalized. 99% of bow "fishermen" do not eat what they shoot. You can claim otherwise but I have my doubts, simply because of the edibility of wild caught carp, specifically of any size. Small fish are not bad out of clean water, anything reaching 10 pounds plus out of most of the waters in the state..well does not taste very good...trust me.

However,as a general rule of thumb, the vast majority of bow "fishers" do not eat carp. They shoot them and toss them back in with massive holes in them..claiming that they are just feeding the turtles. Lol. Trust me again as I have had this conversation, many many times. The second best is using at fertilizer..sure sure.

Also you cannot shoot a bow by the road. You can hunt on land owned by someone else with permission, sure..however when you cruise on a boat, 15 feet from a lake side house you do not have permission to fire off shots toward the house, nor would the vast majority ask every owner on said lake. Also same as above, you cannot hunt in open water 15 feet, 25 feet or hell even 100 feet from someone's house or roads etc. Just because it is public water does not mean it is any different then land based rules.

The problem is that it is classified as "fishing" so none of the hunting regulations about discharging weapons count for the practice which is idiotic in my opinion. I have watched people discharge bows less then 5 feet from joggers on the tow path at River Bend Farm..if they were hunting that would be illegal.

Last edited by blackstonecarp on Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:02 pm

In fact, I have had one person ask me..the best part is he is an instructor on Bow hunting safety for the state...if I thought the Carp lived after he shot them. Cause , he said, sometimes they come off the arrow..

Really? I guess if you simply winged em they might live, sure..however if you put an arrow clear through them then tore it back out..puncturing intestines, air-bladder etc etc..well you tell me if you think they live.

And this guy taught bow hunting safety. Common sense dictates shooting anything with a bow will kill it, most of the time. If not immediately, then sometime shortly down the road.

Which leads me to my other problem with it. The practice is based in ignorance. Why allow it for a few species of fish? I mean, carp, eels catfish? Just does not make sense to allow it for only a few and not all. Of course people would seriously have a problem if folks were trying to kill large mouth bass during spawn though eh?

Not to mention our fishing regulations specify no snagging of fish or dynamite for that matter..but you can shoot them with a bow and drag em in that way. I mean c'mon.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:06 pm

blackstonecarp

In fact, I have had one person ask me..the best part is he is an instructor on Bow hunting safety for the state...if I thought the Carp lived after he shot them. Cause , he said, sometimes they come off the arrow..

Really? I guess if you simply winged em they might live, sure..however if you put an arrow clear through them then tore it back out..puncturing intestines, air-bladder etc etc..well you tell me if you think they live.

And this guy taught bow hunting safety. Common sense dictates shooting anything with a bow will kill it, most of the time. If not immediately, then sometime shortly down the road.

Which leads me to my other problem with it. The practice is based in ignorance. Why allow it for a few species of fish? I mean, carp, eels catfish? Just does not make sense to allow it for only a few and not all. Of course people would seriously have a problem if folks were trying to kill large mouth bass during spawn though eh?




Im also not gonna be shooting carp im going down south on vacation and im gonna be going for redfish which are delicious. It seems like a lot of hostility. Again im not gonna be killing fish for shits and giggles sorry i brought up the subject.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:12 pm

Why be sorry?

I am against ignorant practices. If you do it within the laws I cannot stop you, however since you brought it up I see no reason not to voice my opinion. As I stated in my first post, you wanna hunt something to eat it good on ya. My opinions on the rest are generalized to the fact that it isn't covered under hunting and the majority are not doing it for food.

I am speaking strictly for this state as this is MAfishfinder, what you do elsewhere does not concern me outside of my general opinion on the matter.

On that note, you did not mention species but Prov did so I simply go with that..as also the majority of bowfishing is for carp, especially in this state.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:15 pm

There is already talk of Bowhunters in Uxbridge and Northbridge on the Blackstone, wityh NO luck thank god. Sorry Very touchie subject for most Carp fisherman, myself included. A camera shoots just as well most times.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:23 pm

Again i wouldnt be going for carp yet it keeps getting brought up

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:25 pm

prov1

Back in the day i used to do it all the time. I would shoot carp monster goldfish and snapping turtles. It was fun at the time but we kind of lost interest but it is definitely good pratice for instinctual shooting. Plus all the looks people would gives us were priceless



not trying to start sh1t with you so take this in stride but shooting snapping turtles is a real dick head thing to do and im pretty sure illegal

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:36 pm

bassinbrooksy

prov1

Back in the day i used to do it all the time. I would shoot carp monster goldfish and snapping turtles. It was fun at the time but we kind of lost interest but it is definitely good pratice for instinctual shooting. Plus all the looks people would gives us were priceless



not trying to start sh1t with you so take this in stride but shooting snapping turtles is a real dick head thing to do and im pretty sure illegal




Thats actually false you can legally hunt snapping turtles as long as you have a hunting license there is no bag limit and its open season from jan. 1 to dec. 31. With a minimum carapace width of 6 inches

Not that i agree with it at all unless your gonna actually eat it then its a scumbag thing to do

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:45 pm

muskiebigfish

There is already talk of Bowhunters in Uxbridge and Northbridge on the Blackstone, wityh NO luck thank god. Sorry Very touchie subject for most Carp fisherman, myself included. A camera shoots just as well most times.



Considering they are just shooting blind it is no wonder. It may well be the person I mentioned above. He and a few others tend to frequent that area.

As I stated the carp keep coming up because it is the predominate reason people bow "fish" in this state, considering you asked here and not say Louisiana this is the sort of replies you will get.

Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:46 pm

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