By LARRY WOODY
Staff Writer
Until last season, hunting deer with crossbows had been illegal in Tennessee except for people with physical disabilities.
Last year, the law was changed to permit the use of crossbows by all archers,
and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency deer specialist Daryl Ratajczak said any initial negative reaction mostly has evaporated and hunter response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"We did a statewide
survey of outdoorsmen and one of the questions was whether they thought the use of crossbows had a negative impact on hunting," Ratajczak said. "Ninety-one percent said no."
About 90,000 Tennessee archers will take to the woods when the state's deer archery season opens Sept. 23.
By comparison, some 200,000 hunters annually participate in the deer gun seasons.
Last season Tennessee archers bagged 20,146 deer, 3,800 of which where taken with crossbows.
The previous season — when crossbows were not permitted — archers harvested 19,331 deer.
"The use of crossbows did not have a significant impact on the harvest ," Ratajczak said.
"A lot of the deer taken with crossbows would have been harvested by hunters using traditional bows."
Ratajczak said the TWRA supported the legalization of crossbows, "because it makes it possible for more people to hunt. A lot of hunters who technically are not physically disabled still may have trouble drawing a traditional hunting bow. Using a crossbow makes it possible for them to continue hunting."
Some feel that a crossbow is more accurate — especially for less-practiced bow hunters — resulting in surer shots and cleaner kills.
If the crossbow has so many positives and no negatives, why was it banned?
"It was mostly a matter of tradition," Ratajczak said. "Traditions are hard to change."
Veteran outdoorsman Gil Lackey, who hunts with a traditional bow, admitted he was initially biased against crossbows.
"I didn't like the idea at first," he said. "I thought it would give too much advantage to the crossbow hunter. I have since come around. I have some older friends who loved bow-hunting but had to give it up because their bodies just couldn't manage the bow poundage.
"Now they have a chance to do what they love again. Using a crossbow still requires getting close enough to the deer for a good shot, so it qualifies as ethical in my book."
Staff Writer
Until last season, hunting deer with crossbows had been illegal in Tennessee except for people with physical disabilities.
Last year, the law was changed to permit the use of crossbows by all archers,
and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency deer specialist Daryl Ratajczak said any initial negative reaction mostly has evaporated and hunter response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"We did a statewide
survey of outdoorsmen and one of the questions was whether they thought the use of crossbows had a negative impact on hunting," Ratajczak said. "Ninety-one percent said no."
About 90,000 Tennessee archers will take to the woods when the state's deer archery season opens Sept. 23.
By comparison, some 200,000 hunters annually participate in the deer gun seasons.
Last season Tennessee archers bagged 20,146 deer, 3,800 of which where taken with crossbows.
The previous season — when crossbows were not permitted — archers harvested 19,331 deer.
"The use of crossbows did not have a significant impact on the harvest ," Ratajczak said.
"A lot of the deer taken with crossbows would have been harvested by hunters using traditional bows."
Ratajczak said the TWRA supported the legalization of crossbows, "because it makes it possible for more people to hunt. A lot of hunters who technically are not physically disabled still may have trouble drawing a traditional hunting bow. Using a crossbow makes it possible for them to continue hunting."
Some feel that a crossbow is more accurate — especially for less-practiced bow hunters — resulting in surer shots and cleaner kills.
If the crossbow has so many positives and no negatives, why was it banned?
"It was mostly a matter of tradition," Ratajczak said. "Traditions are hard to change."
Veteran outdoorsman Gil Lackey, who hunts with a traditional bow, admitted he was initially biased against crossbows.
"I didn't like the idea at first," he said. "I thought it would give too much advantage to the crossbow hunter. I have since come around. I have some older friends who loved bow-hunting but had to give it up because their bodies just couldn't manage the bow poundage.
"Now they have a chance to do what they love again. Using a crossbow still requires getting close enough to the deer for a good shot, so it qualifies as ethical in my book."
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