The Outdoors

By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist

The state capital is busier than a bee hive on a warm July day. There are all kinds of bills floating around the capital these days and no one knows for sure which of these if any will gain traction.  One I have been following with curious interest is House File 2716. This bill would make it legal for any archery hunter of any age to use a cross bow during the entire archery season.

In the past you could use a cross bow if you were over 60 or could get a doctors note to say you could not utilize a normal compound bow. Many of you know what a cross bow is but those of you who do not, they are a form of archery equipment that allows you to load the bows with mechanical assistance and then it shoots a much smaller arrow called a bolt.

The crossbow has a trigger on it much like a traditional firearm.  They can also be fitted with the compound bow equivalent of a rifle scope. These bow hunting options/equipment are very advanced. In the past, shooting a traditional recurve bow or a modern compound bow took lots of practice and to some extend a higher level of physical strength. Archers would practice for hours in order to be proficient in making clean kill shots out to about 40 yards. Because there are fewer archery hunters than gun hunters, they get a very long season and, in many places, archers will receive an automatic permit to shoot a doe. In many deer units the firearms hunters have to enter a lottery for the chance to shoot a doe. In my area bow hunters get to hunt from Sept. 1st until Dec. 31st. Firearms hunters, on the other hand, get a 9-day season.

Hunting with traditional bow hunting equipment is by no means a sure thing. You need to get closer to the animal and be able to make good shots. In many cases the archer may have to bring the bow to full draw, like the ready to shoot position, and then be able to hold it there for extended periods of time allowing the deer to get within range without spotting the hunters movements. Most bow hunters I know also sit in an elevated stand in the open.  There is no shooting out of a cozy heated box stand if you use a bow.

The addition of cross bows to the archery season will change this sport a lot. The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association membership just had a vote and the majority decided to support the addition of cross bows for the archery season.

A cross bow is no rudimentary piece of equipment. I won a very inexpensive cross bow at a fire department raffle In Hayward, Wis., a few years back. I gave it to my brother. He mounted the included scope, a very cheap one I might add, and within 30 minutes he was consistently smoking a target at 55 yards. Cross bows certainly do extend the distances that good shots can be made by people of lower skill levels. You should still practice, but the inclusion of cross bows during the entire archery season will result in a much higher level of success with far less effort and energy required.

Their inclusion will do several things. One it will allow older hunters or those with some level of physical impairment to hunt longer into their older years. Hunter numbers have been on a steady decline so anything that can boost hunter numbers can be seen as a positive thing. It should also reduce the number of lost animals due to poor shot placement. Cross bows can make any archer better regardless of experience and will result in archery hunters becoming a more lethal predator.

I do believe that if this becomes law that you will have to see some changes in season lengths and possibly some antlerless permits reductions. If archers using cross bows harvest a much higher number of deer, then that additional harvest will have to be considered in management decisions into the future.

I don’t bow hunt but I do let bow hunters hunt on my private properties. I really don’t have a dog in this fight so I won’t say whether I am pro or con on the cross-bow issue. The one thing I do know is that over the past 20 years I have seen lots of changes in the way deer and other game is harvested. At one time the muzzle loader season had few participants and almost all the hunters used some pretty rudimentary equipment. Muzzle loaders today use 209 drop in primers, have rifled slug barrels and some of the best scope optics you can find. What started out as way to challenge the hunter and their skills seems to have moved in the “how can we make all things easier” direction.

I am not saying this is good or bad.  You could have the same conversation about modern fishing electronics. I spend my days behind a hunting dog that hasn’t changed much over the past 100 years and can shoot my dad’s 75-year-old single shot shotgun and still have a great time. How much technology you want to employ is up to each of use to decide as individuals. How much I choose and the level you choose is really nobody else’s business.

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If you have any questions, reach out to me at scottarall@gmail.com.