Bow hunters should avoid infighting
The final deer harvest numbers are in for the 2017’18 Wisconsin hunting seasons.
Where some see progress, others see desecration and impending doom.
And I’m only talking about the bow data.
For the first time in Wisconsin, hunters using crossbows last fall killed more deer than those using vertical bows, according to harvest data from the Department of Natural Resources.
Therein lies the rub, with many long-time bowhunters crying foul over changes they say put them at a disadvantage and “cheapen” the sport.
Crossbow users, who continue to grow in number,
point to last season as a positive milestone.
The final data show the total crossbow kill was 47,228 deer, while archers (using compound bows, recurves and stick bows) registered 45,166.
Hunters using crossbows took 27,406 bucks and 19,822 antlerless deer this season, while archers registered 25,808 bucks and 19,358 antlerless.
The updated data, which included kills made in Metro zones through the end of January, were posted Monday on the DNR’s website.
While last season was the first in which crossbow users killed more deer than vertical bow users, it wasn’t a surprise.
Since a 2013 state law change allowed the use of crossbows by all legal hunters, regardless of age or disability, this milestone was coming. It was just a matter of when.
Over the last four years, the crossbow deer harvest in Wisconsin has gone from 26,891 deer (15,768 bucks and 11,123 antlerless) in 2014-’15, to 34,094 (20,594 and 13,500) in 2015-’16, to 39,776 (23,562 and 16,214) in 2016-’17 to 47,086 (27,371 and 19,715) this season.
Meanwhile, the number of deer killed with vertical bows declined from 54,810 (30,433 and 24,377) in 2014-’15, 53,004 (31,229 and 21,775) in 2015-’16, 48,272 (28,172 and 20,100) in 2016-’17 and 45,034 (25,783 and 19,251) this year.
License sales have followed the same trajectories for the two categories. Crossbow licenses increased from 69,022 in 2016-’17 to 82,660 this year (through Jan. 11), according to DNR records,
And archery licenses declined from 166,161 in 2016-’17 to 152,186 this year.
Data from Michigan and Ohio, where crossbows have been allowed for all hunters for more than a decade, suggest the use of vertical and horizontal bows in Wisconsin will continue on the same trend until they even out at about 50-50.
Despite the predicted nature of the changes, they have been especially difficult for vertical bow organizations to accept.
“We aren’t against crossbows, but we think they give crossbow users an unfair advantage,” said Mike Brust, president of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association. “We’d like to see a level playing field.”
Brust pointed to crossbow manufacturers who are advertising 1 minute of angle accuracy at 100 yards with their products.
Meanwhile, crossbow advocates see the 2013 law change and subsequent results as progress.
“In an era of declining deer hunting license sales, crossbows are a bright spot,” said Alan Schimelpfenig of Jackson, former president of the Wisconsin Crossbow Federation. “We are the equipment of choice for many young, smaller and older hunters. We are keeping hunters in the field longer.”
Schimelphenig said his hunting group includes people who use crossbows, compounds and stick bows.
“It’s been a big benefit socially because now the entire group can hunt together for the entire season,” Schimelphenig said. “Why would you want to curtail anyone’s season? We need to be encouraging hunting and uniting hunters, not putting up barriers.”
Unfortunately, an advisory question has been placed on the 2018 Spring Hearings ballot by the Natural Resources Board that is already having the effect of dividing hunters.
It asks: “Do you support the DNR adjusting the length of the crossbow season, for
those that are not disabled or elderly, to better reflect harvest success rates of bucks similar to the gun season and archery season?”
The question erroneously states “the data is in” when the DNR is still in the process of conducting its first survey to better understand the success rates and preferences of participants in the various bow seasons. It’s not yet known, for example, how many conservation patron license holders use crossbows or vertical bows without killing a deer.
In the preamble to its question, the NRB makes a premature claim that the odds of crossbow users “harvesting a buck are approaching approximately 50% greater than those of either gun hunters or bowhunters in their respective seasons. This imbalance and the increased harvest of bucks before the traditional gun season has created frustration, concern and a further breakdown of Wisconsin’s deer hunting traditions.”
The bias in the NRB’s question is clear: it wants attendees to vote for a shorter crossbow season.
Another shortcoming: Voters don’t know how much the crossbow season would be “adjusted.” One day? One week? One month?
The question is only advisory, of course.
Those with ample perspective and a clear head when it comes to Wisconsin deer hunting issues have seen these sort of unfortunate squables before.
“I’m not getting riled up over it,” said Al Hofacker, 68, of Athelstane. “Crossbows have been, on the whole, a good thing. I think enough of the right people will recognize that.”
Hofacker, co-founder of Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine, recalled when compound bows and tree stands, both significant technological improvements over existing equipment, were introduced through the 1960s and ‘70s.
“There was foolish talk that those compounds were going to wipe out the deer herd in no time at all,” Hofacker said. “The same thing when tree stands were legalized in the 1970s, because ‘deer never look up.’ Both proved to be wrong.”
Hofacker said he knew quite a few female hunters who got into deer hunting because the state’s crossbow law was changed.
And then there’s this: The state’s deer herd is large and growing. The DNR needs people to get out and hunt. Crossbows help toward that goal, Hofacker said.
It’s helpful to heed such sage advice in times of discontent.
The Wisconsin bow hunting community should avoid the in-fighting and focus on the big picture — recruiting new hunters and keeping current ones in the field.