Crossbow Threat to Archery Seasons

[NebraskaWhitetail]

Our local archery club ran the statement below in its most-recent newsletter. It deals with what seems to be a significant issue facing bowhunters in the United States and something that everyone should be aware of. Perhaps this letter has already been posted here on the site. If it has, please accept my apologies for the repetition. I didn't see the topic posted in a cursory glance over the posts here in the IBA Forum.

Here is the text of the statement:

On April 17-18, 2005, representatives of the State, National, and Canadian bowhunting organizations met in Springfield, Missouri, at the National Bowhunting Summit to share information and unite to protect the future of bowhunting.

We universally consider the intrusion of crossbows into archery seasons as the most imminent and critical threat to the future of bowhunting as we know it. We are in unanimous agreement that crossbows are not bows and have no place in archery seasons, except where already allowed for the physically disabled.

We agreed that bowhunting, like most other sports, needs to have a leadership organization to set standards and limits that insure and protect its future. Historically, the archery manufacturers and their leaders took on some of that responsibility and put the best interest of bowhunting before their own.

After reviewing your Position Statement About Crossbows and learning of other activities to undermine our bow seasons, it appears that this time we can’t depend on the ATA to help us in this battle against crossbows as bows. In fact, it is now clear that, in large part, it has been the effort of our own ATA that we have been fighting against. It is bitterly disappointing to realize that we may have to spend large portions of our individual and collective resources to defeat those that we had actually expected to be leaders in protecting our sport and heritage.

We find it difficult to understand how the interest of a non-archery product can control the Archery Trade Association, especially when that product threatens to displace or destroy most of what your industry and our sport were built upon.

In our opinion, your stated position is clearly no in the best interest of bowhunting. Given that, and to avoid more potential conflicts that will hurt us all, we respectfully request that ATA instead take a leadership role in clearly disassociating crossbows from conventional archery equipment and absolutely opposing the future intrusion of crossbows into any bowhunting season.

Please consider this carefully and understand that, with or without the ATA, we will, together with our members and responsible bowhunters everywhere, take action on every front to protect the integrity of bowhunting. Thank you.

Sincerely, Bowhunters Associations of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.

 

[glasgowm]

Here we go again.

Check out this page http://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=97161&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=2&vc=1 and read the post near the bottom of page 2 by SplitG3, and the posts by me, glasgom, on the 3rd page.

What in the world makes crossbows "the most imminent and critical threat to the future of bowhunting as we know it."

Maybe it's just the last 4 words that really concern people. "as we know it." JMHO

Matthew

 

[Shredder]

That is the first I had seen of the article...thanks for posting.

 

[ElkHunter]

After the Bowhunter Summit was held in Springfield a new coalition was formed.NBC,National Bowhunter Coalition at last count there were 52 bowhunter organazitions to form this group.They are speared headed by the P&Y Club. At this time all the groups are state bowhunting org. but are looking to branch out with corp., companies and any other supporters who feel that the crossbow doesn't belong in the archery season.
There is strong split between the ATA,crossbow manufacturers, and the NBC, on the whole crossbow issue.
The next meeting of the NBC will be Aug. 6 & 7 in Chatfield Mn.This whole gaint can of worms is just getting started and I think will get pretty ugly before the dust settles. Within the week they should have out the new official letter,to better state their thoughts and ideas.

I can give you the results of the survey I took.

205 responses. Most from Iowa, but not all and lot of IBA members, but mainly just concerned bowhunters.

Crossbow in archery season
10 yes
190 no

Crossbow own season?
10 yes
148 no

Add CB to Black powder season
44 yes
98 no

CB in regular gun season
34 yes
108 no

Leave CB as weapon for phy. challenged only
170 yes
12 no

Discussion with DNR
102 yes
34 no

Don't mean to start a us against them, I just think everyone should know what is happening on the national level.

 

[Critter]

Thanks for the update Randy. Without knowing a whole heck of a lot about the ATA and their involvement with crossbows, I can only "assume" their defense to crossbow enthusiasts is probably driven by currency. I could be way off here, but I'm guessing they don't want to piss off the people who are spending the money on the crossbow equipment? How far off am I Randy?
CRITR

 

[NebraskaWhitetail]

Those are interesting statistics.

I'm trying to see things from both points of view.

One of the issues seems to be the idea of whether or not crossbows are archery equipment. Most bowhunters would say "No, they aren't." Most states (and P&Y) agree, unless you are physically disabled. In that situation they become valid archery equipment.

Personally I think crossbows fall somewhere in between archery equipment and firearms. They are a hybrid of technologies. Does that mean they deserve their own season? Maybe, or maybe not.

Some people have stated that for non-disabled hunters, using a crossbow offers the hunter no technolgical advantage (shorter effective range and lesser accuracy, etc.) The larger issue seems to be are crossbows archery equipment and should they be given equal status with "traditional" bowhunting equipment?

Are crossbows a threat to bowhunting as we know it? Didn't this debate occur before when compound bows were introduced and the recurve and longbow hunters felt threated by them? Perhaps that is an unfair comparison, but worth considering.

I honestly don't have opinion one way or another on this issue. In the end we will need to find a way where we, as fellow hunters, can share in the greater joy which is hunting regardless of what technology or equipment we choose to use.

 

[ElkHunter]

Critr,
In this day and age everything is currency driven. My personal opinion is the ATA is trying to be as non committal as possible. Which is a very slippery slope to be on.They state "all we want is the most opportunities for archery to the greatest number of people".

 

[bowmaker]

Elk Hunter
First let me say that I appreciate the things that the IBA does and what it stands for, and all the work that people like you do on a volinteer basis. How ever to reach an unnanamous conclusion that cross bows are the most imminate threat to bow hunting has got to be a bit of a streach. No one has voiced exactly what that threat is. Will current bow hunters throw away their Matthews bows because they are so crude and inefficent? Will the bow season be over ran with new cross bow hunters leaving no room for real bow hunters? I just don't see what the threat is. What happened to all the other issues facing bow hunters, like land availability, numbers of NR tags and their cost, CWD, poaching, and state legislators not letting the DNR do what they know best how to do?
I'm old enough to remember a lot of the changes that have came along and "threatened" hunting as we know it. For example compound bows, bow sights, releases, carbon arrows, rifled slug barrels, inline muzzle loaders, elevated tree stands, and tons of others that we all accept and use unthinkingly. How can any one of us say that a cross bow is less "traditional" than a compound bow? Not that I have anything against them but the only thing traditional about them is that they shoot an arrow by means of stored energy in the bow limbs just like a cross bow. If you want to use the traditional term use it for longbows and recurves with out sights and wooden arrows please.
Almost all current bow seasons were set in the pre compound bow era and were established because of the additional challange of the equipment of that time. By the same reasoning used for the cross bow argument shouldn't we decrease these seasons because of the hightened efficency of modern compounds? These coumpounds definatley give an unfair advantage over traditional bow hunters, and might need their own season.
I can see one clear way to lessen the fears of the cross bows taking over. Create a season for them and limit the number of tags just like we do with the early muzzle loader season. Make the tag one of 2 any sex tags available to hunters, so that there won't be more trophy deer killed because of the extra season.
I think that the most serous threat to bow hunting is the fighting amoung our selves and the miss information given to groups like PETA that talk about unfair advantages and wounding innocent animals and such things that go on with all the bickering. This is the same thing that threatens all hunting not just bow hunting. Lets get real and look at the whole picture and not just the small section of the November rut period PLEASE. Thanks again for the chance to express just some of my many and varied opinions.

 

[ElkHunter]

Bowmaker,
Was just trying to let people know what was going on, the post about the Bowhunter Summit was something that needed a little more information posted about it. I do know there are several states that are fighting the CB issue. Could it become a problem? Oh yea, but the biggest threat, I doubt it.Can think of 4 or 5 bigger problems here in Iowa.If the issue ever comes up to put the CB in the archery season here in Ia. I'm sure we would feel very threatened. People in Tn. will tell you they feel that way, their DNR just included the CB into the archery season and La. could be the next one.Depending on what state your from you can see the various opinions.Whatever the hot topic or issue is in your home state that will always be the most threatening at that point in time. Looking at the survey most everyone has a STRONG opinion, not many people on the fence with the CB issue.
I try really hard to keep my personal opinion out of anything that can be considered IBA policy or stance, but if the membership states this is what they believe in, so be it.

In a perfect world all hunting groups would get along and we could crush the anti movement, but this isn't a fairy tale. So the battles will continue, it's a fact of life, sad but true.

 

[bowmaker]

Elk Hunter
Thanks for the reply. I didn't think that you were doing anything wrong and I agree that people should know what is going on behind the the argument. I guess my main thing is I can't see where the threat is. What are bow hunters afraid of, and how can we help? I see that the strong feelings are against the cross bows but no one has really given a compelling reason why or what might be lost by allowing them for hunting. Keep up the good work for the IBA and keeping us on here informed of different issues. Thanks.

 

[Ghost]

[ QUOTE ]
I see that the strong feelings are against the cross bows but no one has really given a compelling reason why or what might be lost by allowing them for hunting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bowmaker,

I think for the most part everyone of us is a little self serving when it comes to bowhunting. Many people are feeling the pinch for land access and feeling crowded out in their hunting areas. This may make them feel like they don't want further competition for land access or available hunting areas.

IMO this is the biggest fear of putting the cross bow into the regular archery season.

Joe hunter #1 and all of his gun hunting buddies that have never archery hunted before, hear of the new regulation allowing cross bows in the regular archery season. They have a discussion about how easy it is to just pull the trigger and they all decide to take up bowhunting with a cross bow. They may even decide to "push" some ground together each weekend.

Let me say, I have gun hunted and bow hunted for the last 26 years, and furthermore, I am all for hunter recruitment and passing on our tradition for others to enjoy.

The fear that I see in most bowhunters minds is that this would bring on a new wave of hunters competing for land access.

In other words, the fear is strickly selfish. Now that may not be the compelling reason you were looking for.....but it is a concern.

 

[glasgowm]

Very good post Ghost. I think you are right that this is the primary fear. Unfortunately, the fear of losing land and the desire to introduce new people to the sport, are at odds with eachother. If we selfishly (myself included here) are motivated by fear of losing land, we may talk a good line about introducing more people to hunting but when the rubber meets the road and there is legislation that could truely do that, we fall back to our fears.

Matthew

 

[ElkHunter]

I recieved from Bowhunter Coalition.Some time back Ky. DNR decided to add CB to archery season and now have backed off.
Last several posts have been dead on, nice to see people sharing thoughts and ideas without getting in each others face.

I'll post the letter,pay close attention to the last couple sentences.

>IMMEDIATE RELEASE (800) 852-0942
>Frankfort, KY - Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Interim
>Commissioner Dr. Jon Gassett will inform the Fish and Wildlife Commission
>at its quarterly meeting Friday that the March decision to expand the 2005
>crossbow season will be temporarily set aside.
>“We want additional time to further explore the social implications of
>lengthening the season parameters during which hunters may use crossbows to
>take deer and wild turkey,” said Gassett. “In accordance with the
>regulatory process, I plan to remove language from the proposed regulation
>that expands the crossbow season for the 2005 season.
>“We want to use this year to gather additional data and take a closer look
>at the user side of the issue,” he said.
>The nine-member Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted at its March
>quarterly meeting to allow hunters desiring to take deer and wild turkey
>with a crossbow to do so throughout the archery season.
>“A number of sportsmen and women questioned the proposed regulation as to
>whether allowing persons to use crossbows throughout the entire season
>might be too aggressive and might result in user conflict,” said Gassett.
>“Public input is an important part of this process.
>“This Commission’s long-practiced philosophy has been to provide and
>increase recreational opportunity for hunters and anglers whenever the
>resource can sustain it,” said Gassett. “We have clear data that indicate
>allowing crossbow hunters to hunt throughout the archery season poses no
>biological threat to our white-tailed deer or wild turkeys. This is a
>social issue about shared use.”

 

[bowmaker]

Gentlemen
Again thank you for the replies. I must say that I am proud that you guys have stepped up and admited your feelings and insights on this question. I have belived all along that the debate really had very little to do with the cross bows themselves but was much deeper. You are right we are some what selfish when it comes to our hunting lands and the competition for them. Perhaps by creating a seperate season and limiting the numbers that competition could be spread out and not hurt so much. I know that a lot of bow hunters were against the early muzzle loader season at first but now have accepted it as a way of life and hunting is just as good as ever. Even though some people think I am very opinonated I really try to look for equal ground and ways that we can all get along and enjoy what we have. I am not a cross bow fan but I don't beleive that we should be labeling them as the major threat to hunting. Again thanks for sharing your feelings.

 

[Rackaddict]

What are the harvest percentages for crossbows versus compound bows? Anyone know? The archery success rates average about 15-17% according to the information I have seen in the past. Do you think they would be any higher for a crossbow?

I only know of two people who use a crossbow to hunt and they are both elderly men. Both will tell you they long for the days they could hunt with their traditional bows. No one that I know of argues against the elderly or disabled hunter using a crossbow and I understand that is not the point of the dicussion.

I don't see the crossbow as the number one threat to bowhunting. Obviously there are much more urgent and pressing issues to address in the bowhunting world.

I don't think there are that many people who would want to hunt with a crossbow if they didn't have to due to a disability. I may be wrong about that. I can certainly understand the concern if there were large numbers of people petitioning the DNR to hunt with a crossbow that are not current hunters but to this point I have never heard of that being true.

According to the latest information, the average age of the hunter is increasing while total numbers of hunters are decreasing. Is the ATA seeing this as a way to generate more interest in hunting to preserve the sport? Maybe it is just the almighty dollar. I haven't read anything yet that explains the motivation for their position.

I'm not taking any side on the issue. Just wondering about the realistic impact it would make with the percentage of harvests and addition of hunters.