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Crossbows legal for archery season

Wake up gang, changes are coming, but is it too late to stop it? Do you want to? This excerpt from last Friday's Advocate does not make clear the exact status, but read for yourself: "Another major change will add crossbows to the legal list of bow-and-arrow weapons allowed for use during archery seasons. Current regulations allow hunters 60 and older and disabled hunters to use crossbows. The new regulations allow all hunters to use crossbows during the legal seasons.

The LWFC will take public comment on these and all other proposed changes through the end of April, finalize the regulations packages in May, then ratify them in June." see full story at http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/outdoors/15438031.html

Better speak up soon if you do not agree to this change!

I support their use in archery season by disabled. Not sure about the age, maybe @ 65 yrs. I'm all in favor of persons with an injury, etc. being able to use them. OTOH, an argument which would enable Seniors to use them should be looked at more closely, because the same basis would seem to apply to women and youngsters (presumedly related to strength problems at a certain age for many).

Your wildlife department might want to look at the history of archery participation in Alabama and Georgia (after crossbow) before it makes the changes. In both cases, the crossbow added a bump in archery numbers for two years after legalization...then archery participation went into a freefall. In the case of Georgia, they have far less overall hunters today than they did before they legalized the crossbow. Alabama is closly following suit. In contrast, Mississippi's archery participation (without the crossbow) has been increasing during the same period.

The why's of this is unknown. Yet most people feel that the new crossbow users eventually understood that it wasn't a gun after all...and put them back into the closet after a year or so of trying it out. Given that bowhunters tend to be 90% plus against general crossbow legalization; it seems that that there is a "push back" against the state for disregarding their position in the matter. It has to be understood that 'bowhunters" are the *actual* users of the season who buy licenses. It would be niave for the state to assume that there is no negative reaction for upsetting so many people.

Crossbow legalization in the southeastern United States seems to have a different outcome that other parts of the country..as ample opportunity(outside the archery frameworks)creates an alternative to archery season participation.

String,

I agree with you. I plan on writing my views to the Commission, and could really use some documentation of the GA, AL, and MS results if you could provide it.

David, crossbow use by seniors and disabled is not the issue - that is allowed now. The question is whether they should be allowed by all hunters for the entire archery season.

Thanks for your views.

I've never gotten the whole anti-crossbow thing. Always sounds like a bunch of whiny children griping because they can't believe someone would have the audacity to use a crossbow and call themselves a (gasp) bowhunter. When challenged for a reason why they use ridiculous wounding rate numbers that shockingly resemble the overblown "statistics" used by anti-hunting groups against bowhunters in general.

To our bayou state crossbow brethren I say welcome.

I'm not anti-crossbow. They look like fun. I just prefer a bow only season. I feel I am allowed to have an opinion. Guess that makes me a whiny child.

I personally don't see anything wrong with it. At the very least wildlife and fisheries will get a good bump in money from more archery licenses being bought for a couple of years and after they loose interest I'll still be hunting with my bow. I don't know why Alabama and Georgia's numbers fell off but I'm not gonna through my bow in the closet and refuse to hunt just because they legalize crossbows.

"David, crossbow use by seniors and disabled is not the issue - that is allowed now. The question is whether they should be allowed by all hunters for the entire archery season."

I definitely would be against that.

Here are the numbers for Alabama:

2001-2002 55,400 2002-2003 67,200 (Crossbows legalized) 2003-2004 74,500 2004-2005 70,300 2005-2006 62,700

These are straight from the October 2006 Hunter Survey. If you need them from an official source contact Keith Guyse @ 334-242-3469.

Here are the published numbers for Georgia: Georgia Archery Hunters 2001 109008 2002 96721 2003 97392 (crossbows legalized) 2004 111682 2005 88667 2006 81050

Here is a link to the Mississippi numbers during the same time period:

http://mdwfp.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34932

Hmmm...the numbers posted differently than I entered them making them hard to read (and though the Mississippi address is correct, the link didn't work; you'll have enter it manuelly.

Still you have the info....

Bow seasons can only be considered fair when all sportsmen are given the same opportunity to participate. Crossbow usage for the elderly and physically challenged is paramount as it completes the circle of participation. The season is open to all licensed hunters...yet they have to make a decison whether to participate with the state's prescribed legal weapons. It's my belief that *choice* doesn't neccesarily extend to an individuals preference of weapon. As long as special seasons are to exist, it has to be understood that weapon restrictions are the basis of that season format. It's a legal weapon issue...not a personal issue.

I would assume that in Louisiana (as in Mississippi) your deer seasons are long and offer several months of "any weapon" type opportunity. Does anyone get short changed in your state? Are hunting seasons too short? At the end of the day, doesn't the state offer every hunter the special time and environment to hunt in a way that makes him/her happy?

I fail to see the validity of the entire crossbow debate as no one is denied the opportunity to hunt as you have it today. There are a few folks who complain and gripe that the season is not set up to their liking...yet those same people complain that the people who support your state approved and sponsored seasons are selfish. What are the bowhunters complaining about in your state? What are you asking for and what are you unhappy against? If your being accused of "whining" because a group of special interest people are DEMANDING change, then you should be proud to be labeled whiners. Archery only seasons were founded as set asides to offer more opportunity than could have been afforded with firearm seasons. At no time have those seasons been secure and many people have had to withstand the same arguments as you will be faced with. Yet if archery only seasons are to survive, then anything other than bows have to be opposed and bowhunters will have to fight to save the sport. Let's don't forget that after 35 years since the first state legalized crossbows (Ohio) that only about 12 states have legalized them for the archery season (some of those in only a portion of the archery season). Outside of the southeastern United States...the crossbow has found it a tough go. Even in the SE, the above posted numbers show that the crossbow has not been the solution that many wildlife agencies thought it would be. It just causes a great deal of hunter division and ill will. You will see that before this thread is finished. What a mess.

The real threat is that crossbows serve as a catalyst to a new age of thinking; one where "more participation/higher license sales" prevail. That's a thinking process that will never stop. If crossbows are legalized, you will find it very hard to close the door behind you because that argument holds true for any other future weapon inclusion!

The real issue is archery only season preservation. It's really not about the crossbow per se.

Best of luck in whatever your state decides to do. It's your issue and I will leave it to the sportsmen in your state to decide the best course for Lousiana.

I really dont see my shoulder and back lasting much longer..My Dr. is a Anti and w/not sighn a X-bow permit for me,This may make it easier for me to keep huntin w/a bow....I do agree about the trying the x bow out and then saving it..They only shoot 20-30 yards ,not the 100 like most new shooters think..LOL...I see it as good/bad....It w/help me sell a few more bows...I w/have to put a few X bows in stock,LOL>..

String,

Thanks for the info and your views. I welcome the views of others, including those who may favor the proposed change, especially if we can keep to the pros and cons rather than trading insults.

My view is that the longest, and earliest seasons have traditionally been reserved for those at a competitive disadvantage, so to speak. Thus, youth seasons come before rifle seasons. Archery seasons are first, because you have mininal chance unless deer approach within 40 yards. Even a youth can kill a deer at 100 yards. I don't own or use a longbow or recurve, but I could support giving traditional archers an early jump on the bow season due to the greater challenge. But I think it is clear that crossbows provide an advantage over vertical bows, primarily because they can be cocked before deer approach. We all know that many deer are spooked by the movement in drawing a bow.

So why should weapon with a clear advantage be allowed for the entire archery season? Would crossbow enthusiasts be willing to settle for being able to use them during muzzleloader seasons? Or are they strictly demanding their use for the entire archery season? Maybe a compromise is in order.

Tonight is the night for making your voices heard. I am not sure of the agenda, but there are public meetings on the hunting seasons in three locations - Monroe, New Iberia, and Pontchatoula. I already wrote the commisioners a letter on the subject.

March 11 2008-09 Hunting Season Public Meeting March 11 at 6 p.m. Monroe, ULM Campus Hemphill Aviation & Computer Science Bldg., Room 134

March 11 2008-09 Hunting Season Public Meeting March 11 at 6 p.m. New Iberia, Sliman Center 129 E. Main St.

March 11 2008-09 Hunting Season Public Meeting March 11 at 6 p.m. Ponchatoula, Ponchatoula High School Auditorium 19452 Highway 22 East

If the state wants to make more money, I am surprised that it doesn't create a separate season and license. I am talking about something similar to the muzzle loading season. A few of weeks scattered through out the existing hunting seasons.

Personally, it would not bother me at all if I shared a season with crossbow hunters. I don't think the number of hunters in the woods would increase that much, because most of them would probably crossover from the ranks of existing bow hunters.

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