Bow hunters Selfish?

January 12, 2009

At the district 5 public hearing the other night this was a theme that came out a number of times when the new proposals were being debated. Many of the deer hunting proposals will directly impact the bow hunters and thus opposition from them is viewed by other hunters as selfishness. Switching the deer season to open firearms earlier like the eastern part of the state would more then cut the bow season in half not to mention the the proposal to extend muzzleloader season from one week to two by taking a week off the bow season.

The fact is that if all these proposals pass bow hunters will have additional time to hunt but they will have to choose their bow over a firearm. Allowing hunters the choice of weapons earlier in the season especially on private property I think will have minimal impact. If you’re bow hunting on your property and all the surrounding neighbors are firearm hunting will it negatively impact you? It could but it could also help you by pushing more deer on to your land.

There was an individual that spoke and identified himself as an employee of Gander Mountain in Greensboro and he stated that if these proposals passed archery sales would plummet and he would likely be out of work. Sounds unlikely to me… If your a bow hunter….. If you’re passionate about it….. I find it hard to believe one would give it up because others are hunting with firearms at the same time.

The proposal to open up Sunday’s to hunting with a bow would increase the bow hunting opportunities and may actually increase the number of bow hunters because it is unlikely the legislators will pass a law overturning the restriction on firearm hunting on Sunday’s anytime in the near future.

There was some other interesting points about opening the season early and the impact on the deer herd. While there might be an increase in the number of deer killed it would likely be an increase in buck harvest and not do much of anything towards reducing the herd size. Other questions about opening up firearm season prior to the rut and killing many of the quality bucks prior to the breeding and negatively impacting the herd.

A separate proposal would allow the inclusion of the crossbow as a legal weapon for anyone whenever archery equipment is allowed. Current law only allows their use by those with permits because of a handicap. The North Carolina Bow Hunters Association is adornment in their opposition to any legalization of the crossbow except for the use by handicap hunters.

There is a lot of changes being proposed and while I see the majority of bow hunters opposing many of these I don’t think it is necessarily selfish on their part. While I went into the hearing with views favoring many of these changes now after hearing the arguments against the changes I’m now less certain of my view. Can the deer herd in the center of the state as well as part of the mountains sustain the increase pressure of an extended firearm season? I don’t know and I’m not sure anyone else knows for sure either.

Next up we’ll look at the turkey hunting proposals.