Post by BT on Mar 4, 2006 8:49:00 GMT -5
Outdoors group takes aim to eliminate crossbow
Friday, February 17, 2006
D'Arcy Egan
Cleveland Plain Dealer Columnist
Outdoorsmen who hunt and fish are a study in diversity. Some prowl the
woods and fields or head to the target range, while others splash the streams or ride the big waves. Bring them all together and anglers, hunters and shooters are a powerful army.
The United We Stand attitude does not apply to bowhunters.
The Pope & Young Club in Chatfield, Minn. - keepers of archery hunting
records - created the North American Bowhunting Coalition last summer. One
of the group's main missions is to eliminate the crossbow. Signing on to
that position statement were 72 bowhunting organizations and archery
tackle makers. The NABC labeled crossbow hunters as substandard sportsmen and the crossbow as too easy to shoot.
The real reasons are far more basic.
Sales of compound bows, the vertical bow and arrow dominating deer hunting
for decades, are not as brisk. Just as importantly, compound bowhunters
don't want to share their turf with what has become a crowd of crossbow
hunters.
The vast majority of anti-crossbow archers don't hunt with old-fashioned
stick and string, or even a somewhat more modern recurve bow. They hunt
with a sophisticated compound bow bristling with wheels and pulleys allowing
them to easily hold an arrow at full draw. Many will use a release - with a
trigger - so arrows fly straight and true.
Ohio celebrates its 30th year of crossbow deer hunting in 2006. The
crossbow season has provided hunting opportunities for tens of thousands of Buckeye sportsmen, especially gun hunters who wanted more than a weeklong deer season. Last year, Ohio vertical bow hunters killed 24,897 deer. Crossbow hunters killed 43 percent more, tagging 35,729.
The crossbow isn't a magic weapon, but it does appeal to young and old
hunters and women who don't have the strength to draw a hunting compound
bow. Its range is just as limited as a traditional, recurve or compound
bow.
All bowhunters must be good hunters to get close to a wary white-tailed
deer, as well as marksmen in order to make a killing shot.
Bickering bowhunters do little to protect their sport. It is a reason the
biggest of the anti-hunting groups have specifically targeted bow hunting.
In the 1990s, too many sportsmen turned their backs on a call to arms to
support dove hunting legislation in Ohio. A large number of sportsmen who
never hunted the small birds saw no reason to go to bat for the sportsmen
who did.
Those supporting the dove hunting legislation earned a big victory against
financially strong foes, just as sportsmen battling anti-trapping
legislation did in the 1970s. With all Buckeye sportsmen putting up a
united front, it would have been a much easier fight.
For hunting and fishing to thrive, outdoors-minded folks must work
together. There are too many people who fervently oppose hunting and trapping and would even slam the door on fishing.
The largest anti-hunting group in the world, the Humane Society of the
United States, has a $100 million annual budget and an army of attorneys
using litigation to thwart hunting. The most vocal is the People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has been distributing sensationalist
anti-fishing literature to America's school children this winter.
On the front lines to fight for the outdoor sports are the National Wild
Turkey Federation, Safari Club International, National Shooting Sports
Foundation and the Columbus-based U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance. Their budgets
pale in comparison to the Humane Society's, but those groups aggressively
battle to protect all phases of hunting, fishing and shooting, not just a
narrow slice of the outdoors.
They know if sportsmen of every stripe don't stand together, we're all
destined to lose.
Friday, February 17, 2006
D'Arcy Egan
Cleveland Plain Dealer Columnist
Outdoorsmen who hunt and fish are a study in diversity. Some prowl the
woods and fields or head to the target range, while others splash the streams or ride the big waves. Bring them all together and anglers, hunters and shooters are a powerful army.
The United We Stand attitude does not apply to bowhunters.
The Pope & Young Club in Chatfield, Minn. - keepers of archery hunting
records - created the North American Bowhunting Coalition last summer. One
of the group's main missions is to eliminate the crossbow. Signing on to
that position statement were 72 bowhunting organizations and archery
tackle makers. The NABC labeled crossbow hunters as substandard sportsmen and the crossbow as too easy to shoot.
The real reasons are far more basic.
Sales of compound bows, the vertical bow and arrow dominating deer hunting
for decades, are not as brisk. Just as importantly, compound bowhunters
don't want to share their turf with what has become a crowd of crossbow
hunters.
The vast majority of anti-crossbow archers don't hunt with old-fashioned
stick and string, or even a somewhat more modern recurve bow. They hunt
with a sophisticated compound bow bristling with wheels and pulleys allowing
them to easily hold an arrow at full draw. Many will use a release - with a
trigger - so arrows fly straight and true.
Ohio celebrates its 30th year of crossbow deer hunting in 2006. The
crossbow season has provided hunting opportunities for tens of thousands of Buckeye sportsmen, especially gun hunters who wanted more than a weeklong deer season. Last year, Ohio vertical bow hunters killed 24,897 deer. Crossbow hunters killed 43 percent more, tagging 35,729.
The crossbow isn't a magic weapon, but it does appeal to young and old
hunters and women who don't have the strength to draw a hunting compound
bow. Its range is just as limited as a traditional, recurve or compound
bow.
All bowhunters must be good hunters to get close to a wary white-tailed
deer, as well as marksmen in order to make a killing shot.
Bickering bowhunters do little to protect their sport. It is a reason the
biggest of the anti-hunting groups have specifically targeted bow hunting.
In the 1990s, too many sportsmen turned their backs on a call to arms to
support dove hunting legislation in Ohio. A large number of sportsmen who
never hunted the small birds saw no reason to go to bat for the sportsmen
who did.
Those supporting the dove hunting legislation earned a big victory against
financially strong foes, just as sportsmen battling anti-trapping
legislation did in the 1970s. With all Buckeye sportsmen putting up a
united front, it would have been a much easier fight.
For hunting and fishing to thrive, outdoors-minded folks must work
together. There are too many people who fervently oppose hunting and trapping and would even slam the door on fishing.
The largest anti-hunting group in the world, the Humane Society of the
United States, has a $100 million annual budget and an army of attorneys
using litigation to thwart hunting. The most vocal is the People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has been distributing sensationalist
anti-fishing literature to America's school children this winter.
On the front lines to fight for the outdoor sports are the National Wild
Turkey Federation, Safari Club International, National Shooting Sports
Foundation and the Columbus-based U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance. Their budgets
pale in comparison to the Humane Society's, but those groups aggressively
battle to protect all phases of hunting, fishing and shooting, not just a
narrow slice of the outdoors.
They know if sportsmen of every stripe don't stand together, we're all
destined to lose.
