I have been informed that you are pushing for the expansion of the use of the crossbow in Missouri to more than the handicapped. This is just plain wrong.
Archery season was meant to be a primitive equipment sport from the start. Then the Allen compound bow came on the scene and was allowed to be used as a bow. No one ever thought the compound bow would evolve from the original Allen (piece of junk) to the state it has today when it was first allowed.
When the archery season was first opened, tagging an archery deer was a very big deal requiring much effort, and dedication to the sport. Now with the aid of a high let-off compound bow, Hi-Vis sights, etc., anyone willing to spend a reasonable amount of time in the woods can tag a deer with a compound bow with very little practice required.
The crossbow was allowed to be used by the handicapped so that they could hunt during the archery season. I do not have a major problem with the handicapped using a crossbow. I do however have a major problem with the lazy being allowed to use one to hunt with during the archery season.
Why not allow muzzleloaders to be used as well? A crossbow is closer to a 50-yard range muzzleloader than a real bow. I was talking with a handicapped shooter the other day who has been tuning his cross bow, and has his scope all dialed in, ready to go. He is planning on filling all his archery tags this year.
I also have a real problem with inline muzzle loaders. They are not primitive weapons at all. A bolt action rifle with a scope using pellets for powder, a saboted pistol bullet instead of a patched ball, and a 209 shotgun primer instead of a flint or percussion cap is not a primitive weapon by any stretch of the imagination.
The intent of a primitive weapons season was to allow dedicated hunters a longer and separate season to use this primitive equipment to hunt with. The crossbow and the inline muzzleloader are NOT primitive weapons PERIOD.

Bob Roach, President
Big Piney Sportsman’s Club
Houston, MO

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Crossbows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.