Hello Everyone,
I put this on our Minnesota Trad forum but thought I'd share it here also.
Alright I'm going to throw my $1.02 cents in. The below is my opinion - and a strong one at that... I do not believe crossbows should be allowed into the archery season other than for disabled persons.
I was at the public meeting in Waseca, and I and others from my local archery club have been in coorespondence with the DNR. This crossbow use in the archery season deal is definately being driven by something other than real bowhunter retention as the DNR is stating.
The room had several DNR biologist types that I would guess are highly educated and experienced, but the one glaring thing that I took away from the meeting was that they were awful nervous and unsure of themselves on this subject. Something that you don't do if you are sure of your position and know what your saying is right. Personnaly I think they have a hard time supporting it themselves other than it is obvious that it is the company stand and they have to. The only supporting info for or against crossbows they had in thier presentation was a graph showing a decline of licenses sold somewhere around the age of 50, they kept pointing at it and acting like it was the smoking gun and if they passed this no one would quit bowhunting at any age. The truth is that people quit for many reasons when they get older...
Personnaly I believe that crossbows ARE NOT archery equipment - The way crossbows are loaded, aimed and fired are indicative of a firearm. They do not present the same challenges and intricacies that make archery unique. By being able to pre-draw and not having to draw the bow with an animal near, holding the draw waiting for an ethical shot, utilizing a firearm stock, utilizing a firearm trigger, increased range, etc. this makes a crossbow a completely different Non-Archery weapon. Crossbows are a great compliment to the firearms season and should remain there.
There are many outcomes I see if this is passed;
A significant weapons shift into the archery season - Meaning there will be numerous firearms hunters that will quit gun hunting and pick a crossbow up in favor of the warmer and longer bow season. There are 92,000 firearms hunters that would be able to switch seasons according to the DNR. I do not see overall (gun, bow and muzzleloader) hunter numbers increasing but just shifting all while decreaseing the quality of the hunt, decreasing hunter access and decreasing archery success for the 98,000 bowhunters of this state.
There will be decreased hunter access - to both private and public lands if this measure is passed. Land owners that currently allow archery hunters onto their lands will likely have a member(s) of their firearms parties convert over to a crossbow thus eliminating past access. State lands will have increased pressures that will prevent a quality and effective hunt. This measure will create yet another conflict amongst outdoors users by further overlapping activities. If the DNR truly wants to retain hunters – give outdoors people a place to hunt. Hunter access is the biggest problem facing all hunters.
In general, I do not believe that crossbow users that have been converted from firearms users will practice and become proficient and familiar with their weapons capabilities and limitations. I believe that they will act similar to many firearms hunters, site the gun in once and if it didn’t drop in it’s tracks they must have missed it. These actions would cast a poor light on archery as the negative impacts from the poor use of crossbows would now be directly related to true archery equipment. I believe that the crossbow users that are converted from firearms hunters in general will have higher game losses due to poor shot choices and/or subsequent follow up of shots taken.
I believe that including crossbows into the archery season would negatively impact my bowhunting heritage. The way and locations in which I traditionally bowhunt would be altered significantly and negatively by this intrusion. Archers are a passionate and dedicated group that thrive on the challenges that hunting with a bow and arrow present, the crossbow does not equal the values that this archer believes in.
The DNR already has a mechanism in place for disabled or injured persons to use a crossbow within the archery season. In fact there are 11,000 permits issued annually. It is generally accepted by both sides of the argument and seems reasonable to me as an archer. The recently reduced draw weight of bows to 30#’s also makes this additional intrusion unnecessary.
I feel that this is a back door tactic to get crossbows into a season that they do not belong. It appears to me that the DNR is trying to get its foot in the door under the guise of hunter retainage and age. If crossbow users truly want a season other than that with the firearms season, then they should be able to justify their use on their own. Crossbows should not ride in on the coat tails of archery hunters of the state of Minnesota that have proved themselves for decades and alter the traditions that they have experienced and earned.
I would encourage everyone to make your feeling known to the DNR no matter which side of the fence your on... If you don't put your dog in the fight then you can't complain later.
Thanks for listening - Bridog
Topic: MN DNR pushing Crossbows (Read 3225 times)
