Hunting With a Crossbow

I would love to hunt deer with a crossbow during the regular archery season, but the state I live in doesn’t allow it. Currently there are 21 states that allow crossbows during the regular archery season and others are slowly, begrudgingly, moving that direction.

Why do so many states limit the ability of hunters to use a crossbow during the regular seasons? That’s a good questions and I’m sure each state has their own reasons, but in the end it really comes down to change. Nobody likes change.

Hunters that use traditional as well as compound bows have had little competition in the woods during their special bow seasons. While the number of archery hunters grows each year in some parts of the country, the population of these individuals is still relatively small when compared to the number of hunters that use firearms.

Now consider adding another group of individuals to the program that never had access to that season before and even though the numbers will still be relatively low, the perception is that the woods will be crawling with hunters that have weapons capable of killing accurately at great distances without any practice. This notion leads to intense lobbying of the powers that create the regulations as well as loads of chat room discussions and letters-to-the-editor. Those that currently take advantage of the archery season sure don’t want another bunch of hunters in the woods. 

Firearms hunters don’t like the idea of adding another demographic to the hunt that get to take to the deer cover earlier. This will mean fewer deer during the gun season because those killer crossbows will take all the biggest and best before the gun hunters get to them.

The poor crossbow hunter. It seems that even though crossbows are not that much more efficient than compound bows, the crossbow gets tossed into the realm of misconception that it is more deadly and accurate than a compound bow. I agree that it takes some practice to be consistent with a standard bow over a crossbow, but any weapon used to hunt game should get some practice time, even shotgun and rifles. It’s just a lazy hunter that doesn’t put some polish on their shooting skills before a season begins. And so what if the crossbow is a bit more deadly and accurate. This means cleaner kills, and that should be what every hunter strives for.

Of course the data is in. The states that have legalized crossbows during the archery season see about an additional six to nine thousand bowhunters take to the woods. The amount of deer harvested during the archery season goes up as well, but it barely adds a percent to the overall numbers that are killed. 

In the outdoor sports there will always be elitists. Those that think they are at the top of the ladder and everyone else below, trying to climb past them, just deserves a boot in the mouth to knock them back down. But those vying for position on the top best be careful. I’m old enough to remember when archery hunters were looked down on and castigated for losing lots of wounded animals and messing up the hunt for the riflemen. It won’t hurt to increase the size of the fraternity and adding crossbow hunting to the regular archery season would open up economic opportunity for archers as well as bolster their lobbying power. From the records it seems these are the results in the states where crossbows are legal and I predict it’s just a matter of time before all 50 states see the benefits of expanding the program. I myself, can hardly wait.