Crossbow harvest represented 21%-76% of entire antlered archery harvest per county. So we have bow only counties with at least 21% crossbow kill of antlered deer?
Seems our harvest dynamics have shifted largely to archery and with a focus on crossbows.
Thoughts?
So are you saying strictly archery harvest for 2020 or are you talking about the archery/crossbow harvest?
As to the crossbow harvest percentages - where did you find those numbers ? I would love to see it. Not saying I don’t trust you - would just like to see the numbers.
Then did I read correctly that you are saying 21% crossbow kill in bow only counties? I never realized they could be used there when did that happen?
As to the last part of your post there on the harvest dynamics and how it has shifted - can you show the numbers you are using for this?
The muzzleloader harvest is way down overall and last year's harvest ranked 29th out of 36 years the muzzleloader season has existed in WV.
However, our archery season in 2020 was the 6th highest kill on record.
Crossbow harvest represented 21%-76% of entire antlered archery harvest per county. So we have bow only counties with at least 21% crossbow kill of antlered deer?
Seems our harvest dynamics have shifted largely to archery and with a focus on crossbows. So JAYD, when your muzzleloader is 29th of all time, buck gun is 39th, but archery is 6th highest on record. That is why I say maybe harvest dynamics have shifted.
Thoughts?
Not going to comment on your comments just express my thoughts.
I think the percentages can be a little misleading though - must admit I am not sure what they are trying to really prove with some of it in the big game bulletin.
So as to archery having 6th highest harvest on record - I would put an asterisk by that since crossbows make up 55% of the harvest - and archery and crossbows are suppose to be separate seasons. I totally agree with WVBA that they should not be included together.
I think with using the numbers and breaking it down by seasons it would be more informative to see the total deer harvest percentages as - gun 66%, crossbows 16%, archery 13% and muzzleloader 4%. I think this is a better representation of it JMO.
As to harvest dynamics shifting - oh I will agree with it but I think there are many reasons for that as well. I will list just a couple: first I think it was PA that did the study that said with the addition of crossbows - they saw that it really didn’t bring many new hunters in but more gun hunters took up hunting with the crossbow. Next I think voluntarily - hunters are becoming more selective - so those 2 seasons hunters who are successful with the bow or crossbow - are probably holding out for a bigger buck during rifle season. Just my thoughts - I am not saying I guarantee that is happening. I can think of a few more reasons but not going to lengthen this out anymore.
As to the shift of harvest dynamics - I think you still need to look at the overall percentages and see that guns still take an overwhelming majority of the harvest 66% of the total deer harvest and if you switch it to just bucks I believe the gun buck harvest makes up about 70% of the total buck harvest.
As to too many bucks being killed before the rut - just by looking at these numbers from the bulletin - well actually I will continue in another post - need to go look at something
So just by going by the numbers from the bulletin- the only bucks that should be killed before breeding seasons would be with the bow and crossbow. So when you combine the 2 it looks like they make up about 30% of the total buck kill. How much of that percentage is before breeding? I would think that at the very least 2 or 4 percent of them are killed after peak breeding - heck maybe more. So is 20 something percent of our buck harvest too many being killed before breeding? I would be interested to know what the data is on that. Haven’t some states had crossbows for years - wonder if there is any research there? In Ohio didn’t the archery/crossbow harvest surpass the gun harvest several years ago?
I still don’t know why the two are lumped together since they are separate seasons. I think someone dropped the ball on that decision.
