Like it or not, xbows will eventually be coming to most every state just as surely as Social Security will become insolvent.
The point of "a xbow isn't a bow" isn't the point with state game agencies. The hunter demographics and deer densities/disease threat are what is driving xbows into more seasons. And hunter demographics and deer densities/disease threat numbers aren't good for keeping commonly accepted "regular" archery seasons "pure".
The bogeyman that shadowy insurance executives or shadowy xbow manufactures are setting policy in some smokefilled back room are a fantasy and hurtful to finding real life solutions. It's a sidetrack from some hunters that take us away from the reality, not towards how we deal with the future.
Deer hunter numbers are declining, with no increase envisioned. In fact, steeper declines are expected. Hunter average age is getting older and older, with the outlook of fewer and fewer young hunter replacement. Over 50% of deer hunters are age 41 or older. More and more people live in urban area's and more people are fragmenting woodlots with sub-rural sprawl. Both result in less hunting overall.
For example, a very hunter oriented state like Michigan has lost 22% of our deer hunters since 1998. Nationally, we lost over over 1,000,000 deer hunters since the 1990's.
The average work week has gone from roughly 40 hrs in the late 1960's-early 70's to roughly 50 hrs a week today.
Polls show that recreation requiring physical activity has declined in popularity. Reading was the #1 activity at 35% and watching TV was 2nd favorite at 21%.
Worse yet, more and more of todays youth consider texting their favorite activity. So much so, many kids don't even apply for drivers licenses when they turn 16. Why drive when the internet provides you with contact with all your friends? When I was a kid, everyone couldn't wait for the day they got their drivers license when they turned 16.
Couple that with deer management issues. Growing herds and now disease threat. As CWD creeps, look for states to do whatever possible to kill more deer. States that produce livestock will not tolerate large deer herds kept large to satisfy recreational deer hunters.
A big reason Michigan wanted to allow more xbows was because the office that dealt with handicap permit applications was getting overrun. As the babyboomers age, they were projecting that 30% of the bowhunters could be applying for a permit in future years. At that point, why not legalize them was part of the thinking.
In Michigan's first year with the xbow, we didn't lose bowhunting license sales as we have over the last decade, but instead we gained 20,000 in archery hunters. If you don't think other state game agencies losing hunters don't sit up at that news, one is inserting his ears into the sand, below sea level.
But with all this said, I'm not pro-xbow for all. However, I am a realist and pragmatist. And by being a realist, I say we bowhunters need to think about real ways to get something additional for us, instead of possibly losing it all.
Don't forget, if you don't like xbows, state game agencies could someday abolish separate archery seasons and may have all weapons "deer season". So instead of your neighbor using a xbow in October, in 10-15 years he may be sitting with his .300 Weatherby.
The poison pen comes in the form of those giving advice that we somehow win by using the old strategies that have usually been losers. Like with WWI trench warfare, after the first 3 waves of men all get mowed down before getting 10' of from the top of the wall on a charge, it's time to think of another plan instead of sending out yet another wave.
Not that "just say no" isn't noble, it is. But that strategy will result in many states having a degraded "regular" archery season and trad bowhunters will have gained nothing and have only lost.
Think in terms of the huge gains in muzzleloader season popularity. But in order to do so, one must recall that the first major production inline ML, the MK-85, only came about because states began creating special ML seasons and the number of hunters grew enough to support such a product. If states had never created special ML seasons, there'd be no production inlines and the number of hunters using flintlocks and hammer percussion rifles in regular firearms season would be a small fraction of those using trad bows in regular archery seasons.
It was special muzzleloader seasons that spurred that growth. If ML's can have special season dates, then why not trad bows?
Plain and simple, if one wants to increase participation in deer hunters using trad bows, then advocating for season "trad only" season dates is the best way to do that.
Now, I'm not so sure a lot of current trad bowhunters want a big new crop of bowhunters using trad gear. I think some are happy with the group they're used to. Obviously, I'm sure my suggestions anger some here.
I speak from proven results. I owned a successful fly fishing store in northern Michigan for over a decade. Using such counter-intuitive idea's brought us to be the 2nd biggest St. Croix rod dealer in the Midwest. Conventional thinking often gets only conventional results.
If you want to see trad bow participation jump in a state like Michigan, offer a 2 week long trad bow season in early September. Open it to any deer. (I'd also suggest allowing traditional sidelock muzzleloaders with patch and ball for antlerless deer only).
The result would be that many compound guys that always had interest in trad bows would buy one. But the bigger result would be, many would enjoy using trad bows so much in that special trad season, that they'd end up continuing to use trad bows once regular season came around.
Don't forget, today deer hunters hunt for fun and recreation. Trad bows are more fun. Most use compounds now because it's just what you do. Using a longbow never even dawns on the majority.
Sure trad bows require practice and many will gravitate back to the compound, but many others won't.
If we keep with conventional strategies, in 20 years, we'll end up with far less deer hunters and far more of those left using xbows.
Below is a good read and should worry everyone...
Expert: Decline in hunting numbers real concern
Hunters have been the backbone of the conservation movement in the United States.
But hunting numbers are on the decline.
Robert Holsman, associate professor of wildlife at UW-Stevens Point, says that while the decline is a unquestionably a concern to hunters, to some, the relevant question is: "So what?"
"We all ought to be concerned about it because hunters have carried the mantle of conservation in this country," Holsman said. "It isn't just that they are representing their self-interests, but hunting promotes conservation and an environmental concern. We need to do things that maintain that link."
It is easy for skeptics to view the concern as self-serving, since a variety of entities -- state and federal government agencies, foundations and manufacturers, for instance - benefit financially from such an arrangement.
"But, the bottom line is that it is about maintaining that important link to stewardship," Holsman said.
Make no mistake, hunters have funded the nation's conservation programs. License money and special stamps fund wildlife management, law enforcement and research programs, and help buy wetlands and adjacent nesting habitat used by all types of wildlife.
The federal excise taxes on sporting arms and ammunition fund state wildlife management and research programs.
Hunters such as such as Teddy Roosevelt, J.N. "Ding" Darling, and Aldo Leopold have been stalwarts of the conservation movement.
Yet, hunter numbers are declining.
"If this decline would be a wildlife species, we'd be asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put it on the Endangered Species list," Holsman said recently.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports show there were 19.1 million hunters in 1975. That number declined to 12.5 million in 2006 and by 2025 the number is projected to be 9.1 million.
Nationally the participation rate in hunting is about 1 out of every 20 people. The largest declines by state include Rhode Island (59 percent), California (38 percent) and Iowa (26 percent), the report said.
From 2001 to 2006, the number of small game hunters is down 12 percent in the U.S. and migratory bird hunters are down 22 percent. This is relevant because small game hunting is often the avenue of introduction for many lifelong hunters.
In Wisconsin, according to hunting license sales, about 92 percent of hunters pursue deer, 32 percent stalk small game, 22 percent await wild turkey and 11 percent eye migratory birds. Wisconsin ranked fifth in the sale of hunting licenses in 2005 (with 713,610 licenses sold) behind Texas and Pennsylvania (1 million each) and Michigan (789,244).
Holsman said explanations for the decline in license sales normally include increasing urbanization, demographic changes (people getting older), barriers (especially access to private land) and competition from other forms of entertainment/recreation.
The sleeping giant here is competition. People say they just don't have the time -- heck, they don't have any less time than they ever did, but people just choose to utilize it differently these days.
Holsman hopes it's just a lack of awareness and opportunity.
"We must be more inclusive. It is the right thing to do and we must make hunting more relevant to more people," he said.
Topic: New York Crossbow Threat (Read 6435 times)
