My Thoughts On The NC Bow Hunters Association and Why I’m No Longer a Member Part One
August 27, 2009
I was pleased to have Ramon Bell from the NCBA as a guest poster on here earlier this week. I appreciate his willingness to address the issues and clarify the Association’s position. The NCBA is certainly a prominent sportsman organization here in the state and have supported and advocated for our sport over the years. While I agree with them on many issues there is a few I fundamentally don’t agree.
Opposition to 2nd Week of Muzzleloader Season
The one that is most important to NCBA is the opening of gun (muzzle loader) season one week earlier statewide. Not so much that it encroaches on the ‘bow only’ seasons statewide by another week, it does. But because we feel this is not in the best interests of the quality of the buck deer population and the quality of deer hunting in general for all of North Carolina.
I don’t know about anyone else but I was surprised at this statement because the message I heard at the public hearing I went to was that adding this week on would only make the bucks go nocturnal earlier reducing the opportunity for bow hunters. I’m certain that there message of Quality Deer Management and improving the Buck population was missed by a lot of the hunters in attendance at the public meetings and not just me. I’m not convinced that the way to go about improving the maturity of bucks in NC is by season lengths but rather by bag limits and other regulatory measures. I’m not advocating for that and that is really another whole topic (QDM, Antler Restrictions, and Earn a Buck programs) that we’ll certainly get into in the future.
In the past archery equipment was not allowed during the muzzleloader season but that has been corrected and basically you can bow hunt from opening day in September all the way till the closing day on January 1st. The majority of hunting takes place on private land so individuals and clubs can easily control hunting methods, antler restrictions, doe harvesting etc. Everything one could want except controlling how your neighbors hunt.
We (NCBA) also believe there are other ‘Safety’ and ‘Social’ factors for why any gun season for deer should not be opened earlier. From a ‘Safety’ standpoint, we feel it will be dangerous, not only for hunters and bowhunters in particular! It will be dangerous to others who will be using the woods at this time of year.. late October.. when leaves are still on trees and in full fall colors to boot. This foliage will not only restrict vision and line of sight for hunters and make for dangerous shooting situations, our ‘blaze orange’ hats and vests will blend in with the fall colors complicating already dangerous situations. From a ‘Social’ standpoint, there could be many more unwanted and unnecessary confrontations and conflicts between hunters and others who will be in the outdoors during this time engaging in a variety of other outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, biking, horseback riding, animal/bird watching.. and just sightseeing in general to take in the fall colors.
Safety while handling any weapon is important safe gun handling is especially important. I fully support and advocate people follow the rules when it comes to guns. Identifying your target is paramount whether it is an arrow, bolt, or bullet you are releasing. Hunting is a safe sport especially compared to other recreational activities like softball, soccer, and football. The vast majority of serious and fatal accidents in hunting are from falls. There are a number of firearm hunting opportunities that take place prior to killing frosts while foliage is still present. There does not seem to be an increase in accidental shootings because of it. I believe that this argument supports an unfounded stereotype against hunters in general and I would have hoped that the NCBA would not engage in promoting such a stereotype.
How this proposal came to be is not that important because it obviously had wide support at the public meetings. There are many gun hunters that support QDM practices but the majority of them did not appear to support this argument at least in the public meeting forums I attended. I honestly believe that if people feel strongly about improving the age of bucks in this state that there are better ways to go about it then season structure. I’d be curious to know the age structure of bucks taken by bow as to those taken by gun. Anecdotally in conversations I have with hunters that hunt all methods it seems that when they have a bow in the hand they are more apt to take a smaller buck then if they were gun hunting they’d pass it up. I got two buck tags for where I hunt whether I take them in October, November, or December I don’t think will matter.
Part 2 will look at the Crossbow Issue and I elaborate a bit on why I did not renew my membership.
Moose Droppings is a place that chronicles my journey, I’ll explore new places and ideas I’ll learn new things and I’ll teach the things I’ve learned to others. Join me on the adventure and hopefully it will help you in your outdoor endeavors.
[...] to the guest blog post from Ramon Bell of the North Carolina Bow Hunter Association. As I said in my earlier post I’m grateful for Mr. Bell’s post and while we may disagree on a few points there is many [...]