No replies to this topic

[buckeye dan]

Crossbow impact well established in other states
Sunday, July 12, 2009
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As Pennsylvania attempts to reinvent the crossbow wheel, it's prudent to see how crossbow hunting is working elsewhere.

Crossbows are legal for disabled or senior hunters in almost every state. They're legal in some capacity, in addition to disabled and senior use, in 31 states including Pennsylvania. Regulations differ, but some level of use is legal in five of six states adjacent to Pennsylvania (not in New York).

Where crossbows were legalized, hunting participation increased. Archery and crossbow hunting significantly impacted deer populations in urban areas were guns were banned, but the regulation of firearm deer hunting -- not archery or crossbow -- remained the controlling factor in managing deer populations.

Here are some examples.

Ohio: Crossbows have been legal since 1976. During the 2001-2002 season, the success rate of an estimated 88,000 vertical bow hunters was 19.8 percent, while the success rate of 106,000 crossbow hunters was 22.7 percent. In 2003-2004, 29,397 deer were taken with crossbows and 21,167 were taken with vertical equipment. During the 2004-2005 harvest, crossbow hunters accounted for 33,175 kills, vertical archers took 24,023 deer. In 2006-2007, hunters killed 237,316 deer: firearms 112,260, combined archery 67,912, bonus deer gun season 24,982, statewide muzzleloader 22,871, youth gun season 8,315, misc. 976. It's estimated that 30 percent of vertical archers also use crossbows.

Virginia: Crossbows were legalized for all deer hunters in 2005. By the 2008 season, an estimated 16-20 percent of vertical archers had switched to crossbows or were using vertical gear and crossbows. Virginia's combined 70,000 bow and crossbow hunters represent less than 30 percent of total deer hunters and harvest about 10 percent of the state's deer annually.

Tennessee: Crossbows are legal through the entire deer season. Total 2005-2006 harvest was 166,379: firearm 106,015, muzzleloader 33,935, traditional archery 16,346, crossbow 3,800, managed hunts/misc. 6,283.

Georgia: In the 2001-2002 season, 33 percent of deer hunters hunted with traditional archery equipment, 31 percent harvested a deer, and does made up 69 percent of the archery deer harvest. Crossbows were legalized in the 2002-2003 season and accounted for 12 percent of the archery harvest, 1 percent of the total harvest. In 2005-2006, 34 percent of deer hunters used combined archery equipment, 24 percent harvested a deer, does constituted 76 percent of the archery deer harvest, and crossbows accounted for 19.7 percent of the archery harvest, 2.5 of total harvest. In the 2006-2007 season 33 percent of deer hunters hunted with archery equipment, 26 percent harvested a deer, does constituted 72 percent of the archery deer harvest, and Georgia stopped tracking crossbow statistics separately, citing a lack of need.


Sources: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Bowhunting Preservation Alliance, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Barnett Crossbows.
John Hayes can be reached at jhayes@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1991.
First published on July 12, 2009 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gaze.../983377-358.stm