Testimony format for future....

I'm posting my rough draft for future use by others who will be called to testify on behalf of crossbows being allowed into an Archery season in their own states. The introduction is my own, so change that to fit your own introduction and explanation of experience level so they know who they are hearing.
Good Luck.

Good Afternoon and thank you for today. I have been waiting many years for this day. Let me introduce myself. I am ********. I am an avid archer who competes using a crossbow and a vertical bow. I am also a hunting and Bow fishing guide who has guided and recruited many who would otherwise, never have the opportunity or interest in our tradition of hunting and archery. My partner and myself are Butch and Wendys Hunting Adventures. We work with the SCI Dessert Chapter and the PVA to provide a hunting opportunity for those who need special attention and effort to be able and enjoy the outdoors in wheel chairs, our disabled veterans, and also, other special needs persons and children who are first time hunters that most will not work with in the hunting community. We also volunteer to work with TPWD each year at the Texas EXPO to introduce the general public to outdoors activities and we oversee and educate those by teaching them safety and shooting at the crossbow range. We work with the TPWD Hunters Education dept.
TPWD puts this event on each year, to help promote and recruite outdoors activities including our hunting and shooting heritage.

ARCHERY- the practice of using a bow or crossbow to shoot arrows. as defined in the dictionary of wikipedia and Merriam Webster.

BOW- A bow is not a bow without limbs. They bend with the draw and store energy.

PROJECTILE or ARROW- The projectile or arrow for ALL the various archery equipment consists of: a shaft, vanes or feathers, a nock, and a tip. Arrows are all propelled using the same exact energy source between all of the variety of archery equipment.

So, to compare the variety of archery equipment, all consists of limbs, with a string. Both Crossbow and Compound bow utilize a trigger, they all send a projectile using stored energy, under these collected definitions. The conclusion is that a Long Bow, A Recurve Bow, a Compound Bow and a Crossbow are all archery equipment. They all consists of limbs which store energy, they all have a string, and they all shoot a projectile called an arrow, the all have the same trajectory (distance). In other words, the shot distance is the same.
While hunting, the average shot distance on game is 20-40 yards for all the various bows. Hence, there is no advantage using a compound bow or a crossbow in a hunting situation.

Crossbows belong in Archery season as they are archery by all definitions and have been justified as such.
Crossbows are subject to the Federal Archery Excise Tax and are considered archery equipment by the IRS which in turn, contributes 10% of that total to the PITTMAN-ROBERTSON FUNDING PROGRAM collected from the archery industry.

TPWD considers Crossbows as archery equipment as determined by the language used. When Crossbows are recognized as archery equipment by the state of TEXAS legislation, TPWD will be able to bring additional income by classifiying it as such and sell an archery stamp to bring in yet more funds to the program for future efforts to recruit hunting, being it's our family tradition and in decline, conservation, and other various efforts. Our wildlife dept. needs and has publiclly requested more funding at this time.

The most recent improvement in bow design is the compound bow. Compounds are popular for two important reasons. Where a recurve gets harder to pull as you draw it further back, the compound bow reaches peak weight at 1/2 way through the draw, then LETS OFF or gets easier to pull toward the end and has a reduced holding weight at full draw. For this reason, it can be held at full draw longer for steady aim. Also, because of the let off, the peak weight of the bow is not immediately transferred to the arrow. Compound bows use or can legally use, triggers, stabilizers, bubble levels, drop away rests, peep sights and fiber optic pins, 80% let off at full draw, nocks and d-loops for ease of trigger use, and even a draw loc system that holds the string until released by a trigger.
This is not the same as for a long bow or a recurve bow which we call Traditional archery, but is the most popular amongst bow hunters utilizing the archery season. The compound bow is a whole new kind of weapon compared to the "Traditional" equipment.
In review, all bows have to be drawn. All bows use stored energy. All bows consist of limbs. All bows have a string. All bows send a projectile. All bows have a comparable trajectory. There is not one argument that would not allow, or reason to discriminate a crossbow to be legal for use during any archery season. It is ARCHERY EQUIPMENT by all definitions.
Please, do the right thing and pass HB968. The crossbow has allowed myself to promote and recruite hunters, and personally, it recruited myself into utilizing a vertical bow.
The reason most people do not pick up and use a vertical bow is they are very intimidating and predominantly for right handed shooters only until the past few years where very few left handed bows are now on the market. The next problem is the various individuals draw lengths. You can't just pick up any bow and shoot it.
Then, the various draw weights. So, in my personal experience, the compound bow is a weapon predominently used by 20-40 something right handed males. I'm obviously female and I'm left handed. I am discriminated against in the world of vertical bows. I picked up a crossbow because it was ambidextrious, and allowed me to archery hunt. I love archery. I would love to not be discriminated against by my own state legislation and be able to hunt during our archery season and recruite others to participate as well and have the opportunity to bring the tradition of archery hunting back to our youth and our families instead of sitting at home or in deer camp having to wait for the 20 to 40 year old family members to come in and tell us women kids and aging hunters what they experienced in the field.
Texas families need more opportunity to hunt together. If us mothers and grandmothers are hunting, you can bet the rest of the family , especially our youth, will be outdoors and not in the city, or in front of a TV or video game, or out in the streets getting into mischeif, and we can do it in mild weather without having rifles being shot all around us. We would have the same advantage then as other archery equipment users. Diversity always equals strength. It's why compound bows were allowed in archery season back in the late 70's and early 1980's while traditional archery shooters fought that new compound bow with all of it's advantages being allowed during their season. In hindsight of that fight, it promoted archery hunting and did not devistate any deer herds to date. With passage of this bill, it would help to insure our future to keep archery hunting strong.
Again I ask all of you personally, to please work to pass this bill. As TPWD says, "Life is better outside". God Bless Texas.

Before Michigan changed crossbow rules I thought it was impossible to make a difference. I was just sad and angry that rules were in place that would prevent me from archery hunting. I didn't even know there were people fighting to change the rules. How come? That information was not offered at the local sport shops. It wasn't in the sport section of our newspaper. It wasn't available when I bought all my hunting/fishing licenses. Maybe I just didn't know any people that were sad enough about their vertical bow limitations.

You have done a great service in showing what can be done by average people. Thank you!

Of course, it's largely because our Michigan economy is tanking and losing hunters is having a huge impact.

Still, I will do everything I can to save our hunting privileges and know that all things are possible. Posted Image