ElkHunter
Life Member
Kinda hard to believe
Crossbow expansion a hot topic
STUDY FINDS SUPPORT FOR LENGTHENING SEASON
By Art Lander Jr.
HERALD-LEADER OUTDOORS WRITER
A crossbow season expansion study by the Cornell University Survey Research Institute found overwhelming support from landowners and hunters for lengthening crossbow season for white-tailed deer and wild turkey in Kentucky.
"The survey results are compelling," said Jon Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, at Thursday evening's meeting of the Crossbow Advisory Panel.
The telephone survey of 360 landowners and 3,240 hunters, conducted between Aug. 16 and Oct.1, found that 63 percent of hunters and 58.7 percent of landowners supported expanding crossbow for deer from its current time frame (about 37 days) to run concurrently with archery season (about 135 days). Results were nearly identical for expanding crossbow season for wild turkey.
About one-quarter of the people surveyed, 23.8 percent of landowners, and 25.3 percent of hunters were opposed to expanding crossbow season, with 17.6 percent of landowners and 11.7 percent of hunters neither in favor nor opposed to the issue.
The Crossbow Advisory Panel, which is composed of representatives of statewide archery groups, local and regional sportsman's clubs, and national conservation organizations, was created to help the department make a decision on the issue.
The group couldn't reach a consensus but several alternatives to the concurrent season proposal were discussed, including no change in the current crossbow season time frame. "It's the advance of technology, the dilution of the traditions of archery that concerns us," said Mike Whelan, vice president of the United Bow Hunters of Kentucky.
A compromise proposal discussed by the Crossbow Advisory Panel members was starting crossbow season on Oct. 1, or opening day of modern firearms season for deer (second Saturday in November), with the season staying open through the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
Hopes are that expanding crossbow season for deer and wild turkey will provide more opportunity for hunters, sell more permits, and lead to the harvest of more antlerless deer.
But opponents like Jim Strader, host of an outdoors call-in show, believe expanding crossbow season will have a negative impact on the number of trophy antlered bucks available to hunters.
Crossbow expansion a hot topic
STUDY FINDS SUPPORT FOR LENGTHENING SEASON
By Art Lander Jr.
HERALD-LEADER OUTDOORS WRITER
A crossbow season expansion study by the Cornell University Survey Research Institute found overwhelming support from landowners and hunters for lengthening crossbow season for white-tailed deer and wild turkey in Kentucky.
"The survey results are compelling," said Jon Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, at Thursday evening's meeting of the Crossbow Advisory Panel.
The telephone survey of 360 landowners and 3,240 hunters, conducted between Aug. 16 and Oct.1, found that 63 percent of hunters and 58.7 percent of landowners supported expanding crossbow for deer from its current time frame (about 37 days) to run concurrently with archery season (about 135 days). Results were nearly identical for expanding crossbow season for wild turkey.
About one-quarter of the people surveyed, 23.8 percent of landowners, and 25.3 percent of hunters were opposed to expanding crossbow season, with 17.6 percent of landowners and 11.7 percent of hunters neither in favor nor opposed to the issue.
The Crossbow Advisory Panel, which is composed of representatives of statewide archery groups, local and regional sportsman's clubs, and national conservation organizations, was created to help the department make a decision on the issue.
The group couldn't reach a consensus but several alternatives to the concurrent season proposal were discussed, including no change in the current crossbow season time frame. "It's the advance of technology, the dilution of the traditions of archery that concerns us," said Mike Whelan, vice president of the United Bow Hunters of Kentucky.
A compromise proposal discussed by the Crossbow Advisory Panel members was starting crossbow season on Oct. 1, or opening day of modern firearms season for deer (second Saturday in November), with the season staying open through the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
Hopes are that expanding crossbow season for deer and wild turkey will provide more opportunity for hunters, sell more permits, and lead to the harvest of more antlerless deer.
But opponents like Jim Strader, host of an outdoors call-in show, believe expanding crossbow season will have a negative impact on the number of trophy antlered bucks available to hunters.
