fbpx

Crossbows: Myths and Facts, Part A

By Daniel James HendricksJanuary 26, 2015

LAST UPDATED: May 1st, 2015

          For two decades I have been embroiled in the crossbow controversy right to my squinty brown eyes.  Dragged into the fray by my mentor, big brother and dearest of friends, Ottie Snyder, I have traded countless volleys with other hunters who believe the crossbow should be left in the dark ages where it was a deadly weapon of war until the invention of gun powder made it an obsolete choice in the game of warfare, mayhem and destruction. 

          But like the bow and arrow, the crossbow has resurfaced as an effective, challenging method for harvesting big game animals in the sport of hunting.  Why vertical hunters have chosen to demonize the crossbow and invest so much effort into its exclusion is still a mystery to me, especially with the documentation that has been accumulated over the past 40+ years of legal crossbow seasons. 

The crossbow is just as dangerous as any high-powered hunting tool and requires good, common sense use to prevent injuries or fatalities.

The crossbow is just as dangerous as any high-powered hunting tool and requires good, common sense use to prevent injuries or fatalities.

          Recently I entered into a discussion with a hunter that was a lifelong crossbow hater and after some conversation, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that he was still using arguments that had been laid to rest by documented facts long ago.  In the past twenty years that I have been participating in the crossbow controversy, the first and most powerful defense we have used to debate has always been documented facts and figures.  We have avoiding at all costs the emotional conjecture that most often shrouds the testimony and claims of our opponents. 

          However, that said, even I must admit that there is one argument that we cannot overcome with our fact-based rebuttals, and that is “If the crossbow is allowed there will be more hunters in Our Woods, during Our Season,  killing Our Deer!”  And since one of our claims is that the crossbow is perhaps the most useful tools to keep older hunters in the woods longer and to bring new hunters into the sport, we will not debate that claim. 

          And if you happen to be one of the proud possessors of your own wooded acreage, then you do own Your Woods, and there will only be crossbow hunters there if you allow them to be there.  The Your Season and Your Deer part, however are not and never have been yours, so you will just have to get beyond those claims as they are just not true.
         
The individual I was conversing with listed a number of negative claims about the crossbow and I did the best I could to explain why those claims just weren’t true.  His first objections was that crossbows were too dangerous and made the woods unsafe.

Ohio statistics prove that there are no more poaching violations, but instead far less than any other weapon, including the vertical bow.

Ohio statistics prove that there are no more poaching violations, but instead far less than any other weapon, including the vertical bow. 

          While it is true that a crossbow, like any other hunting implement is dangerous (which makes it a very handy item for taking big game by the way) it is no more dangerous than a vertical bow and far less dangerous than a firearm.  Documented history lends credibility to my defensive claim purely based upon the recorded hunting accidents nationwide.  I wish that I was able to report that there has never been an injury or fatality with a crossbow, but that is just not the case.  People have been lost and injured by crossbow misuse, but not nearly as often as the anti-crossbow camp would lead us to believe.

           A peculiar slant to their argument is that the crossbow is the weapon of choice to the inexperienced hunter using one to get into the forest during the archery season and therefore he is a greater danger to himself and those that are in the woods around him.  Now at this time I would like to mention that the fellow I was discussing crossbow hunting with was in his late twenty’s or perhaps early thirty’s;  I would guess this based upon his prime physique, lack of wrinkles and vast knowledge of just about everything.  I on the other hand am old… on Medicare old.  Explaining to him that indeed, I do use a crossbow to hunt with and that I consider myself to be a very safe hunter given the fact that I have 54 years of experience hunting big game.  Forty two years of that time I have hunted with the bow and arrow; the first 15 years were with a recurve bow, which still proudly hangs in my den.  For the next twenty years I used a compound and since 2005 I have used the crossbow only.  I resisted however, pointing out to him that I had been bowhunting long before he was born and that just because I use a crossbow that does not make me and an unsafe rookie hunter.

         

A very high percentage of crossbow users are older hunters that have been chasing wild things for decades, consequently they are some of the safest outdoors people in the field.

A very high percentage of crossbow users are older hunters that have been chasing wild things for decades, consequently they are some of the safest outdoors people in the field. 

 Most of my hunting companions share a similar story and if for even an instant I was worried about my safety in the woods with these seasoned outdoors people, I would not hunt with them.  My point is that just because one uses a vertical bow, to claim that makes him a safer hunter is ridiculous.  Here again, statistics verify that crossbow hunters have no more accidents in the field that vertical hunters.  And usually, if there is an accident it is due to the deficiencies of user and not the weapon.  To steal a phrase, crossbows don’t shoot people, people shoot people… either through carelessness or improper use of the crossbow, but most commonly because they do not take the time to read their owner’s manual and do something they were warned against doing that was highlighted in that booklet.  Bottom line is that crossbows are no more dangerous than other hunting devices and are considered by most to be one of the safer options in the field to take big game.

          The next myth to rear its ugly head in the conversation was the claim that the crossbow is nothing more than a poachers weapon.  Now let’s think about that one for just an instant.  Let’s go poach a deer with a weapon that we will have to take a flashlight out and track to recover…  makes perfect sense to me; who stealthy can that be?   And what fun we would have shooting out of the window of a vehicle with a crossbow… broken limbs and all.

          Ohio keeps records of poaching violations based upon weapon used and to the surprise of most folks, the vertical bow has twice as many violations as the crossbow; and the crossbow has been a legal option for Ohio bowhunters since 1976.  But in all fairness, if you add the vertical bow violations with those of the crossbow the sum represents approximately 2.5% of total violations, state-wide.  Archery equipment, because of its cumbersome nature and the fact that it kills by hemorrhage not shock, makes it a poor choice for the modern poacher.  Based on Ohio statistics, the poacher’s weapon of choice is still the .22 rifle, preferably a cheapo model that can be quickly tossed out of the window in the event of the red and blues suddenly appearing in the rearview mirror.  The bottom line is that if you are a hardcore, criminal poacher, you will most likely not choose an archery tool.

The most important step that any new crossbow hunter must take is to read the owner's manual for their new crossbow, cover to cover, at least once before even assembling their new bow.

The most important step that any new crossbow hunter must take is to read the owner’s manual for their new crossbow, cover to cover, at least once before even assembling their new bow.

          I am running out of space for this installment so I will break here and continue this topic in my February blog.  If you have any input on this subject, please feel free to leave your thoughts below.  I look forward to reading your comments, pro or con. 

          Until next time, please take care, be well and God bless. 

 

Daniel James Hendricks
Post a Comment
Login To Account

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *