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[buckeye dan]

Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009
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Hit or miss

If you have not already done so, when you purchase your 2009-2010 hunting license and look through the 96-page Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest, you will notice at least five references to the legalization of crossbows.


Missy Milikin, owner of Skip’s Sport Shop in Grayling, Mich., holds a crossbow that is legal for hunting in Michigan. When and where crossbows are legal for hunting in Pennsylvania has become a confusing issue for the state’s sportsmen as the PGC’s board of commissioners have flipped-flopped on the highly-debated issue several times over the last year.

You will also notice four full-page advertisements for four different brands of crossbows. There is by far more crossbow advertising in the digest than any other type.

So the die is cast — crossbows are in for the sixweek Oct. 3-Nov. 14 archery deer season as well as the two-day Nov. 18-19 archery bear season.

Well, maybe not. At the 11th hour, or more like 11:45, it seems that the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s board of commissioners has changed its mind again. On Thursday, the commissioners gave preliminary approval to regulatory changes that would, if approved at a subsequent meeting and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, restrict the use of crossbows for the upcoming fall hunting seasons. This will be the fourth proposed change in archery regulations in just nine months.

The new proposed change would limit the use of crossbows by non-disabled hunters to the first two weeks of archery deer season, rather than allow them for the entire six-week season. Under the proposal given preliminary approval, any archery license-holding hunter could use a crossbow during the first two weeks of the statewide early archery deer season, Oct. 3-16. Only disabled hunters with a permit to use a crossbow could use them for the remainder of the early archery season, as well as all of the late archery season.

Crossbows would continue to be legal for all deer seasons, including the early and late archery seasons, in Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C and 5D. Only those with a disabled person permit to use a crossbow could use a crossbow during the two-day archery bear season.
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Lastly, crossbows could be used by any muzzleloader license-holding hunter in both the October antlerless muzzleloader season (Oct.17-24) and the late flintlock muzzleloader season (Dec. 26-Jan. 9).

How could so many changes take place in such an abbreviated time? The short answer: This has been a controversial topic and the composition of the board of commissioners has changed. For a detailed look, we can review the history.

Recent crossbow history

At the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s October 2008 meeting, the commissioners voted 5 to 2 to give preliminary approval for the expanded use of crossbows statewide during the regular deer archery season and the short archery bear season. Commissioners Russ Schleiden, of Centre Hall, Dan Hill, Greg Isabella, Roxane Palone and Dave Schreffler voted for the change; and commissioners Tom Boop and Jay Delaney voted no. Ron Weaner, of Adams County, was absent.

Hill resigned from the board in December.

In January 2009, the commissioners voted 4 to 3 to give final approval to the crossbow measure, but with new provisions added.

The first new provision outlawed the use of magnifying telescopic sights with crossbows by anyone, including the disabled. Still legal are the red-dot sights that do not magnify. The second amendment added a “sunset clause” to the regulatory change. Under that provision, a future board will have to vote on the measure again before June 30, 2012. The third change removed the lawful use of crossbows during the October muzzleloader or late flintlock muzzleloader deer seasons.

Schleiden, Palone and Isabella again voted for crossbows. It was reported that Schreffler, Bedford County, would only side with the inclusion of crossbows if magnifying scopes were banned. Ron Weaner, who had been absent in October, sided with Boop and Delaney and voted no.

Such a fuss was created over the banning of magnifying scopes for even the disabled that commissioners used a rare between-meetings notational vote to roll back the ban on crossbow scopes. That vote occurred via telephone on March 5.

As expected, the PGC commissioners gave final approval to the crossbow changes at their April 2009, meeting.

Due to the expiration of their terms, Schleiden and Palone — two of the biggest supporters of legalized crossbows during the regular archery season — were not present at last week’s meeting. That set the stage for Weaner to propose the most recent change that would limit general crossbow use to the opening two weeks of the archery season.

Boop, Schreffler and Delaney voted with Weaner. Those voting against the proposal were Board president Isabella and newly-seated commissioners David Putnam, of Centre Hall, and Robert Schlemmer, of Export, Westmoreland County. There is still one vacancy on the eight-member board.

President of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania, Wes Waldron, was happy with the board’s decision.

“Of course the UBP is pleased with the commissioners’ decision,” Waldron said. “It satisfies our concerns for the resource and still allows for a general-use crossbow opportunity. We just hope that the commissioners’ concerns do not wane before the final vote in October.”

Enter yet another possible change — House Bill 965, which was discussed last week at the House Game and Fisheries Committee meeting and voted out of committee. The bill, if passed in both the House and Senate and signed by the governor, would define crossbows as bows and would probably take the controversial issue out of commissioner’ hands.

Waldron did not like this turn of events.

“Instead of busying themselves with finding ways to get the state budget passed, House members of the Game and Fisheries Committee found time to once again try to do the PGC’s job of wildlife management,” Waldron said.

It is unclear whether there is enough time for the commissioners to formalize the latest change before the start of the October 2009 archery season. The hunting digest has already been printed, stating that crossbows are allowed for the entire sixweek archery season. It could be a law enforcement nightmare. However, Waldron thinks that the change could happen.

In my opinion, flip-flopping by the commissioners has gone too far this time. Hunters will not know when and where they can use crossbows until October. I hope that they soon get the crossbow issue ironed out so that hunters can make plans and purchases based on a certain future. As for the legislature, once again I think that they should keep out of the fray.

Mark Nale, who lives in the Bald Eagle Valley, is a member of the PA Outdoor Writers Association. He can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com.

Source: http://www.centredai...ry/1393271.html