2 replies to this topic

[buckeye dan]

Crossbows legalized soon in N.B., sort of

When Minister of Natural Resources Wally Stiles announced to the New Brunswick Wildlife Federation's annual meeting last weekend that crossbows would become legal hunting tools in New Brunswick, he drew a standing ovation.

And rightly so. The decision, which will come into force next year, puts New Brunswick sportsmen and outfitters (not to mention the retailers who cater to them) on an equal footing with almost every other jurisdiction in North America. So bully for you, minister, and thanks!

But it seems the department has succumbed to pressure from bow hunters, who represent the tiniest minority of hunters in this province, by mandating that crossbows will only be allowed during the regular gun season, not during bow season.

That leaves many of us who are considering investing in crossbows scratching our heads.

It's not hard to see why bowhunters don't want crossbows during "their" season. As it stands, they get an extra three weeks of deer hunting, all to themselves. If I was a bowhunter, I might argue against allowing crossbows into my own exclusive deer season as well. So congratulations to New Brunswick bow hunters who have somehow managed to out-lobby the other 95-plus per cent of deer hunters in this province.

But that still doesn't make it the right thing to do.

Bowhunters argue that allowing crossbows into the early bow season will fill the woods with hunters who have no experience with crossbows. That's just silly. Every year new hunters, with bows and with firearms, take to the woods, and all of them have to take training courses ad nauseum in order to be licensed to do so. Crossbow hunters will be no different. I can't recall the last fatality during a deer season in this province, and I doubt there's ever been a single one during bow season. New Brunswick deer hunters are about as safe as any on the continent and safer than most. The statistics prove it.

As well, anyone who has checked out crossbows that are suited to deer hunting knows very well these things cost between $800 and $2,000, and even more if you want to spend the money, countering any notion that thousands of hunters are going to rush out and spend that kind of dough just to add a few weeks to their deer season. Few could afford to do so.

New Brunswick's deer population is fragile right now, on that there can be no argument. The notion that adding crossbows to bow season would harm the deer herd, however, is speculative at best and nonsense at worst. In Nova Scotia, vertical bows and crossbows claimed about 400 deer last year. With about 50,000 deer in New Brunswick's forests and with crossbows being brand new to hunting in this province, it is unlikely that even that many deer would be taken out of the herd by both types of bow hunters, since the up-take on crossbows will be slow at first, though admittedly crossbows are being sold in stores, with some success, already.

Some vertical-bow hunters claim crossbows offer an unfair advantage. Gee, one would think a gun does as well. But anyway, as far as I can research, modern compound bows are far more capable deer killers than crossbows. I'm no expert and I'm only just learning about the two types of hunting tools with an eye towards taking up one or the other, but as far as I can see, a crossbow's effective range is about 40 yards maximum for most. That's not an advantage over a vertical bow by any stretch of the imagination.

And in competitions, archers with vertical bows routinely mop the floor with crossbow marksmen.

I have no doubt this little diatribe is going to rile a great many bowhunters' feathers, which is not the intention at all. You guys got your way, fair and square, so more power to you. Those of us who disagree have only to do the same thing as you girls and guys did, convince the department that there is a better, more fair way of regulating crossbows.

A crossbow season in New Brunswick is a fantastic idea. And if my information is correct - and this remains to be officially announced - it seems crossbows will be allowed for all legal species, too - another example of forward thinking for which congratulations are in order to the minister and his advisors, as well as to the NBWF which first recommended these measures.

The reasoning behind not allowing crossbows during bow season, however, runs counter to the NBWF's suggestion and is odd indeed. It prompts many New Brunswick outdoors men and women to wonder how such a small minority of hunters in this province managed to exert such sway over a decision that could have done so much for so many, but instead caters to the very few.

If the DNR thinks New Brunswick hunters are, in meaningful numbers, going to give up their efficient and expensive deer rifles to invest big money in crossbows for what is already this province's most challenging and frustrating hunting season, they are simply mistaken.

* Jim Foster is a Times & Transcript reporter and an avid outdoorsman. His column appears Thursdays and Fridays.

Source: http://timestranscri...article/1019507

[buckeye dan]

N.B. gov't faces many wildlife, fish issues
Published Tuesday February 1st, 2011

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Something else that was on the docket of the previous government is  changes to the Game Act that would allow hunters to use a crossbow. Yet,  so far official government sources have not indicated that this would  or could be in place for the 2011 fall season. There is also some  controversy as to whether or not crossbows will be allowed during the  archery season, or only allowed during the firearm season.

There  is a perception by rifle using hunters that a crossbow when equipped  with a scope sight is much easier to aim with and hit with as compared  with using a bow, yet when equipped with more recent aiming aids users  of the bow claim equal ability to hit the target.

If the  government limits crossbow users to the firearm season it's likely that  only a very small number of hunters will make the switch. Yet, if  allowed it's equally likely that relatively large numbers will take up  the crossbow. Of course this may not sit well with current bow hunters,  as the net result will be considerable competition for deer they  previously had pretty much to themselves.

We note however that a  crossbow complete with scope sight can cost $800 or more, and is not at  all that easy to carry through thick woods. Also noted is that on many  of the hunting shows on television that hunting with either a bow or a  crossbow has shared almost equal billing with hunts where a rifle was  used. For years those in this province that hunt with a muzzleloading  rifle have requested a special season for black powder users much like  the current archery season.

Yet so far it has not happened  although in several other provinces there is such a season, at least in  certain areas. For example, in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario where  there is a high density of both people and deer, hunters there have a  deer season where only a muzzleloader or a shotgun loaded with slugs can  be used. Nova Scotia also has a special muzzleloader-only hunt that was  held last fall from Oct. 18-23 in the Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area  and the Liscomb Game Sanctuary.

Source: http://timestranscri...article/1376033

[Hoosier Hunter]

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"If the DNR thinks New Brunswick hunters are, in meaningful numbers, going to give up their efficient and expensive deer rifles to invest big money in crossbows for what is already this province's most challenging and frustrating hunting season, they are simply mistaken.'

Bingo!!

Waste of time even putting crossbows in a firearm season.

Surveys in Indiana showed that only 5% of the state's bowhunters continue to use their bows during the firearm seasons and they already have bows to hunt with.