Post by woodywilliams on Nov 1, 2005 12:44:24 GMT -5
www.starbeacon.com/?MC=SPORTS&NID=3&AID=10167
Archery season is in full swing and the rut is approaching fast. So why should I bring up such a controversial subject as crossbows?
Even though crossbows are legal during any deer hunting season in the state of Ohio, they still spawn a heated debate among archers.
I don’t know how well you’ve been paying attention to the kid’s pictures that have graced these pages, but several of them have taken their harvest with a crossbow.
I’ve had some comments and questions about the legality and ethics of the using crossbows. So I thought I’d address the issue with facts and maybe a little of "here’s my take on the issue."
Definition of bows
- Long bow - A device for firing arrows, consisting of a curved flexible piece of wood and a taut string fastened to the two ends. A hand drawn wooden bow. The earliest type of bow and often referred to as a traditional bow. A hand-drawn wooden bow held vertically and used especially by medieval English archers
- Re-curve bow - The re-curve bow is a variation of the long bow with limbs that curve backwards. The word re-curves meaning a reverse curvature near the tips of the limbs.
- Compound bow - A bow which has a system of cams or pulleys, cables, and a bowstring to shoot the arrow. The bow may also have instead a single or double cam design. The purpose of the cams is to increase the effective draw weight of the bow while allowing the archer to hold less draw weight when at the full draw length.
- Crossbow - A crossbow is a powerful bow that fires bolts: a medieval weapon, or its modern sports successor, consisting of a bow attached crosswise to a stock with a cranking mechanism and a trigger. A crossbow fires short heavy arrows called bolts or quarrels. A crossbow may have straight limbs or have a compound design with the limbs mounted horizontally on a stock. The arrows are fired with a release mechanism or a trigger usually incorporating a safety device that blocks the release of the trigger.
- Note - The effective range of a crossbow is no greater than that of any other bow.
The definitions above were obtained from several sources, Webster’s Dictionary, Ohio Hunter’s Education Manual and MSN Online Encarta Dictionary. I put them in for the purpose of comparison along with a widely accepted definition of exactly what each bow consists of. Now, lets see what the Pope & Young Club has to say about bows and their definitions of them, taken directly from their Web page, www.pope-younf.org. Keep in mind, we are discussing hunting here, not sport shooting, 3D or anything like that.
Pope & Young definitions:
Per their standards, "a hunting bow for big game shall be longbows, flat bow, re-curve bow, compound bow or any combination of these designs meeting the following requirements and restrictions:"
It is, "a device for launching an arrow, which derives its propulsive energy solely from the bending and recovery of two limbs."
According to them, "the bow must be hand drawn by a single and direct, uninterrupted pulling action of the shooter. The bowstring must be moved from brace height to the full draw position by the muscle power of the shooter’s body. The energy used to propel the arrow shall not be derived from any other source such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or similar devices. These limitations shall not exclude the mechanical leverage advantage provided by eccentric wheels or cams so long as the available energy stored in the bent limbs of the bow is the sole result of a single, continuous, and direct pulling effort by the shooter."
They go on to say, "The bow must be hand-held. One hand shall hold the bow and the other hand draw the bowstring. The bowstring must be moved and/or held at all points in the draw cycle entirely by the muscle power of the shooter until release. The bowstring must be released as a direct and conscious action of the shooter’s either relaxing the tension of the fingers or triggering the release action of a hand-held release aid."
They also go into a definition of what is not constituted as a hunting bow:
P & Y’s Bow Prohibitions:
The following shall not be considered a hunting bow:
- A crossbow - Wow, that’s right to the point
Any device with a gun-type stock or incorporating any device or mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter’s muscle power. That can mean only one or two items, a crossbow or the "Draw Lock"‚ for compound bows.
Electronic or battery-powered devices shall not be attached to a hunting bow.
I guess this means the type of mechanism attached to "crossbows" that helps the archer pull the 150 to 175 pounds of draw weight back on a "crossbow".
No portion of the bow’s riser (handle) or any track, trough, channel or other device that attaches directly to the bow’s riser shall contact, support, and/or guide the arrow from a point rearward of the bow’s brace height.
This obviously directs itself to the rail on which the bolt rests on a "crossbow".
- Comment - After this they go into other items such as let off for compound bows, hunting arrows and broadheads.
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I truly think that Pope & Young is an outstanding organization. They stand for a lot more than just bow hunting and trophy deer records.
But, they have long contended that crossbows are not a viable archery tool for hunting. They profess that they do not think they should be illegal but that you should not be allowed to use them during archery season. Gun season is ok but not archery.
Why this mindset still exists is beyond me. If you look back at the definitions you‚ll see that crossbows existed long before the modern day compound did, "a medieval weapon".
Is it because they at least look like a traditional bow? With all the bells and whistles you get and can add on today’s modern compound bow including the radical limb designs that seems to be a far throw.
- Fact - There are thousands of sportsmen and women out there who would love to try bow hunting but can’t because they can’t pull a covenantal bow back.
In Ohio, the minimum draw weight for compound and long bows is 40 pounds. If it were not for progressive thinking of our Department of Natural Resources many Ohioans would be sitting on the couch watching soap operas instead of being outside enjoying nature at it’s finest.
Ohio is one of the very few states that allow cross bows during the archery season. In fact there are only a total of 8 states that allow crossbows to be used during archery only season. There are another 18 states that allow crossbows to be used the gun season only.
- Fact - The Archery Trade Association (ATA) stated since the federal agencies recognize crossbows and their accessories as archery equipment through the Federal Archery Excise tax, so does the ATA. This is the largest entity out there representing archers and the equipment they use.
- Fact - The National Bowhunters Education Foundation (NBEF) has finally expanded its scope and thinking on crossbows. It recently released a 30 page booklet introducing crossbow hunters education to their coarse and published "Today’s Crossbow - An addendum to a Hunter Education or Bowhunter Education Course." Since 1979, when bowhunter education classes were first introduced, the NBEF had the same mindset as Pope & Young - no crossbows. This organization and their course is recognized world wide as the leader in bowhunting education.
- Fact - In the state of Ohio, the records speak for themselves whether or not crossbows are viable hunting implements or not. For the 2004-2005 season, here are the statistics:
- Antlered Deer Taken with a crossbow - 18,532, with a Vertical Bow: 12,490
- Antlerless Deer Taken with a crossbow - 17,197, with a Vertical bow: 12,407
- Ashtabula County Antler with a crossbow - 462, with a vertical bow: 265
- Ashtabula County Antlerless with a crossbow - 428, with a Vertical bow: 277
Statistics don’t lie. Crossbow hunters get more deer than vertical bow hunters.
- Fact - Wildlife agencies all over the United States are recognizing what Ohio has for a long time. The crossbow is a way to increase hunter participation and retention. It is also a statistically proven way to curb the ever increasing whitetail deer population.
- My Call - When I started instructing Bowhunter Education seven years ago there were only two states in the union that allowed crossbows during the archery season and Ohio was one of them, now it’s up to eight. It’s only a matter of time until the rest of them jump on the band wagon.
Fifteen years ago when I got back into bowhunting, what did I use? A 150-pound pull Horton Hunter.
What does my father, Tom Sunderlin, use at 78 years old? A 150-pound pull Horton Hunter that he bought 15 years ago. We have a matched set. You see, he bought mine for me as a birthday present. Although I seldom use it anymore, I will own it until the day I hopefully pass it on to a grandchild.
What did my daughter, Stacey, use when she started out at 10 years old? My Horton. Now, she has her own, a Horton Excalibur, 175-pound pull, with a Red Dot scope on it. She’s high tech!
What did Derek Kovach use to get his six-point buck on Oct. 1? A Horton Yukon SL.
What did Michael Gredence use to get his doe on Oct. 15 and his button buck the week before that? A Horton Magnum.
By the way, this isn’t an advertisement for Horton. There are other crossbows out there that are just as good, if not better, than Horton. Horton has just been around for a long time and they are relatively inexpensive.
So my final call on this is we should all take the attitude that "The Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine" has.
Their No. 1 rule in there mission statement is, "The Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of ALL forms of archery. Furthermore, we support ANY legal form of hunting with ANY legal weapon.
"United we stand, divided we fall."
The anti’s will pick us apart and attack our weakest link in the chain if we fight among ourselves.
So let’s stand together and, "Pass it on or, surely, it will pass on."
Archery season is in full swing and the rut is approaching fast. So why should I bring up such a controversial subject as crossbows?
Even though crossbows are legal during any deer hunting season in the state of Ohio, they still spawn a heated debate among archers.
I don’t know how well you’ve been paying attention to the kid’s pictures that have graced these pages, but several of them have taken their harvest with a crossbow.
I’ve had some comments and questions about the legality and ethics of the using crossbows. So I thought I’d address the issue with facts and maybe a little of "here’s my take on the issue."
Definition of bows
- Long bow - A device for firing arrows, consisting of a curved flexible piece of wood and a taut string fastened to the two ends. A hand drawn wooden bow. The earliest type of bow and often referred to as a traditional bow. A hand-drawn wooden bow held vertically and used especially by medieval English archers
- Re-curve bow - The re-curve bow is a variation of the long bow with limbs that curve backwards. The word re-curves meaning a reverse curvature near the tips of the limbs.
- Compound bow - A bow which has a system of cams or pulleys, cables, and a bowstring to shoot the arrow. The bow may also have instead a single or double cam design. The purpose of the cams is to increase the effective draw weight of the bow while allowing the archer to hold less draw weight when at the full draw length.
- Crossbow - A crossbow is a powerful bow that fires bolts: a medieval weapon, or its modern sports successor, consisting of a bow attached crosswise to a stock with a cranking mechanism and a trigger. A crossbow fires short heavy arrows called bolts or quarrels. A crossbow may have straight limbs or have a compound design with the limbs mounted horizontally on a stock. The arrows are fired with a release mechanism or a trigger usually incorporating a safety device that blocks the release of the trigger.
- Note - The effective range of a crossbow is no greater than that of any other bow.
The definitions above were obtained from several sources, Webster’s Dictionary, Ohio Hunter’s Education Manual and MSN Online Encarta Dictionary. I put them in for the purpose of comparison along with a widely accepted definition of exactly what each bow consists of. Now, lets see what the Pope & Young Club has to say about bows and their definitions of them, taken directly from their Web page, www.pope-younf.org. Keep in mind, we are discussing hunting here, not sport shooting, 3D or anything like that.
Pope & Young definitions:
Per their standards, "a hunting bow for big game shall be longbows, flat bow, re-curve bow, compound bow or any combination of these designs meeting the following requirements and restrictions:"
It is, "a device for launching an arrow, which derives its propulsive energy solely from the bending and recovery of two limbs."
According to them, "the bow must be hand drawn by a single and direct, uninterrupted pulling action of the shooter. The bowstring must be moved from brace height to the full draw position by the muscle power of the shooter’s body. The energy used to propel the arrow shall not be derived from any other source such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or similar devices. These limitations shall not exclude the mechanical leverage advantage provided by eccentric wheels or cams so long as the available energy stored in the bent limbs of the bow is the sole result of a single, continuous, and direct pulling effort by the shooter."
They go on to say, "The bow must be hand-held. One hand shall hold the bow and the other hand draw the bowstring. The bowstring must be moved and/or held at all points in the draw cycle entirely by the muscle power of the shooter until release. The bowstring must be released as a direct and conscious action of the shooter’s either relaxing the tension of the fingers or triggering the release action of a hand-held release aid."
They also go into a definition of what is not constituted as a hunting bow:
P & Y’s Bow Prohibitions:
The following shall not be considered a hunting bow:
- A crossbow - Wow, that’s right to the point
Any device with a gun-type stock or incorporating any device or mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter’s muscle power. That can mean only one or two items, a crossbow or the "Draw Lock"‚ for compound bows.
Electronic or battery-powered devices shall not be attached to a hunting bow.
I guess this means the type of mechanism attached to "crossbows" that helps the archer pull the 150 to 175 pounds of draw weight back on a "crossbow".
No portion of the bow’s riser (handle) or any track, trough, channel or other device that attaches directly to the bow’s riser shall contact, support, and/or guide the arrow from a point rearward of the bow’s brace height.
This obviously directs itself to the rail on which the bolt rests on a "crossbow".
- Comment - After this they go into other items such as let off for compound bows, hunting arrows and broadheads.
Star Beacon Advertisements
I truly think that Pope & Young is an outstanding organization. They stand for a lot more than just bow hunting and trophy deer records.
But, they have long contended that crossbows are not a viable archery tool for hunting. They profess that they do not think they should be illegal but that you should not be allowed to use them during archery season. Gun season is ok but not archery.
Why this mindset still exists is beyond me. If you look back at the definitions you‚ll see that crossbows existed long before the modern day compound did, "a medieval weapon".
Is it because they at least look like a traditional bow? With all the bells and whistles you get and can add on today’s modern compound bow including the radical limb designs that seems to be a far throw.
- Fact - There are thousands of sportsmen and women out there who would love to try bow hunting but can’t because they can’t pull a covenantal bow back.
In Ohio, the minimum draw weight for compound and long bows is 40 pounds. If it were not for progressive thinking of our Department of Natural Resources many Ohioans would be sitting on the couch watching soap operas instead of being outside enjoying nature at it’s finest.
Ohio is one of the very few states that allow cross bows during the archery season. In fact there are only a total of 8 states that allow crossbows to be used during archery only season. There are another 18 states that allow crossbows to be used the gun season only.
- Fact - The Archery Trade Association (ATA) stated since the federal agencies recognize crossbows and their accessories as archery equipment through the Federal Archery Excise tax, so does the ATA. This is the largest entity out there representing archers and the equipment they use.
- Fact - The National Bowhunters Education Foundation (NBEF) has finally expanded its scope and thinking on crossbows. It recently released a 30 page booklet introducing crossbow hunters education to their coarse and published "Today’s Crossbow - An addendum to a Hunter Education or Bowhunter Education Course." Since 1979, when bowhunter education classes were first introduced, the NBEF had the same mindset as Pope & Young - no crossbows. This organization and their course is recognized world wide as the leader in bowhunting education.
- Fact - In the state of Ohio, the records speak for themselves whether or not crossbows are viable hunting implements or not. For the 2004-2005 season, here are the statistics:
- Antlered Deer Taken with a crossbow - 18,532, with a Vertical Bow: 12,490
- Antlerless Deer Taken with a crossbow - 17,197, with a Vertical bow: 12,407
- Ashtabula County Antler with a crossbow - 462, with a vertical bow: 265
- Ashtabula County Antlerless with a crossbow - 428, with a Vertical bow: 277
Statistics don’t lie. Crossbow hunters get more deer than vertical bow hunters.
- Fact - Wildlife agencies all over the United States are recognizing what Ohio has for a long time. The crossbow is a way to increase hunter participation and retention. It is also a statistically proven way to curb the ever increasing whitetail deer population.
- My Call - When I started instructing Bowhunter Education seven years ago there were only two states in the union that allowed crossbows during the archery season and Ohio was one of them, now it’s up to eight. It’s only a matter of time until the rest of them jump on the band wagon.
Fifteen years ago when I got back into bowhunting, what did I use? A 150-pound pull Horton Hunter.
What does my father, Tom Sunderlin, use at 78 years old? A 150-pound pull Horton Hunter that he bought 15 years ago. We have a matched set. You see, he bought mine for me as a birthday present. Although I seldom use it anymore, I will own it until the day I hopefully pass it on to a grandchild.
What did my daughter, Stacey, use when she started out at 10 years old? My Horton. Now, she has her own, a Horton Excalibur, 175-pound pull, with a Red Dot scope on it. She’s high tech!
What did Derek Kovach use to get his six-point buck on Oct. 1? A Horton Yukon SL.
What did Michael Gredence use to get his doe on Oct. 15 and his button buck the week before that? A Horton Magnum.
By the way, this isn’t an advertisement for Horton. There are other crossbows out there that are just as good, if not better, than Horton. Horton has just been around for a long time and they are relatively inexpensive.
So my final call on this is we should all take the attitude that "The Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine" has.
Their No. 1 rule in there mission statement is, "The Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of ALL forms of archery. Furthermore, we support ANY legal form of hunting with ANY legal weapon.
"United we stand, divided we fall."
The anti’s will pick us apart and attack our weakest link in the chain if we fight among ourselves.
So let’s stand together and, "Pass it on or, surely, it will pass on."
