It was about the money after all.
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2010/08/reaction_to_michigans_decision.html mlive.com
Reaction to Michigan's decision to ditch study and relax crossbow use rules a mixed bag
Published: Sunday, August 29, 2010, 7:20 AM Updated: Sunday, August 29, 2010, 8:43 PM
Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press
Grayson Wilson crossbowGrand Rapids Press File PhotoGrayson Wilson, owner of Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison, cheers the changes to the state's crossbow use rules.
A recent state decision to relax crossbow use rules and forgo a three-year study about the impact of their use has hunters either angry or elated.
Critics say the state's Natural Resources Commission let politics get in the way of good science.
"We are very disappointed they didn't finish the study," said Bruce Levey, president of the Michigan Bowhunters Association. "They made a commitment to doing one so they could make an informed and intelligent decision. Their credibility was on the line and they just didn't care."
State officials say change was pushed by the crossbow industry and Safari Club International. A legislative change also was being threatened. Advocates claim that relaxing the rules will benefit hunter recruitment.
The Natural Resources Commission approved new rules at its August meeting. The rules:
* Lower the legal age to use crossbows from 12 to 10.
* Allow crossbows to be used by any legal hunter during all archery and firearm seasons except during the late archery and muzzleloading seasons in the Upper Peninsula.
* Allow modified bows where crossbows are legal.
* Eliminate the 340-foot per second velocity cap.
* Eliminate the three-year sunset.
* Allow for a temporary crossbow permit for hunters with temporary disabilities.
The commission approved the state's first limited crossbow season in 2009 despite concerns raised by MBHA. Its members feared that the archery season would be overrun by gun hunters.
Levey and others claimed that the crossbow's short learning curve and higher kill rate (than other bows) could skew the deer kill and result in a shorter archery season. The NRC approved the limited season last year and a three-year study to examine crossbow hunting success rates and kill statistics.
Crossbow users were required to get a free crossbow stamp when they purchased their hunting license. That registration would provide researchers with people that could be surveyed for the study.
"We wanted the crossbow stamp to track participation and harvest," said Brent Rudolph, the state's deer program manger with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. "Although everyone was supposed to have the stamp, we found that only 60 percent of the people who hunted with crossbows had it."
Rudolph said an estimated 56,916 hunters used crossbows during the 2009 season. They harvested 24,882 deer. Their success rate with crossbows was 36 percent, considerably higher than the regular archer's average of 25 percent, according to Levey.
"We did see an increase in archery participation, and the crossbow probably had something to do with it," Rudolph said. "We had about 20,000 more than the year before, which might have been because of crossbows, but we don't know.
"We see bumps from year to year, and the long-term trend has been one decline. But 20,000 is probably larger than we've seen."
Rudolph said the higher success and participation rate does nothing to jeopardize the herd or the season given the long-term decline in archery hunting. There were nearly 400,000 archers in the mid-1990s. The number dropped to 285,508 in 2008 and climbed back to 305,332 in 2009.
Grayson Wilson, owner of Outdoorsmen Pro Shop in Jenison, is glad about the rule change.
"I think its a great idea. It encourages participation. I thought the original ruling was a little silly," said Wilson, a board member for the West Michigan bowhunters chapter of Safari Club International.
Dave Nyberg, legislative staffer for Michigan United Conservation Clubs, said his membership was split, but MUCC had issued a resolution urging the NRC to "stick to its guns" and complete the three-year study.
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"Crossbows has always been a contentious issue," Nyberg said. "Our members said the NRC should collect data for three years, and when they turned around after one year, that had some folks concerned.
"We can still collect data and see if there is an adverse impact. No one knows at this point and we have no conclusions.
"But we are moving on and putting the issue behind us.
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Topic: A bitter pill--more crossbows in Michigan (Read 3473 times)
