Red Lion

I found the following in ammended legislation in MN from 4/2/07 regarding crossbow hunting in MN. It reads to me, that crossbows will be legal to use by all during some portion of the firearms season and then as of 2/2009 and all cases of poaching will be reviewed in order to see if theaddition of crossbows for 2 seasons has affected poaching. Can you say crossbows legal in archery season for 2009 as poaching will not go up!

Sec. 48. CROSSBOW DEER SEASON.
18.8Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 97B.035, or other law to the contrary,
18.9the commissioner of natural resources shall establish an open season for taking deer
18.10by crossbow during the regular firearm season each year. Crossbows must meet the
18.11requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 97B.106, subdivision 2. A person taking deer
18.12by crossbow must have a crossbow deer hunting license. The fee for a resident crossbow
18.13deer hunting license is $26 and the fee for a nonresident crossbow deer hunting license is
18.14$135. The commissioner may adopt exempt rules regulating the crossbow deer season
18.15according to Minnesota Statutes, section 14.386. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes,
18.16section 14.386, a rule adopted under this section is effective until January 1, 2009.
18.17EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment
18.18and expires January 1, 2009.

18.19Sec. 49. CROSSBOW SEASON REPORT.
18.20By February 1, 2009, the commissioner of natural resources shall submit a report to
18.21the chairs of the house and senate committees having jurisdiction over natural resources
18.22that includes the number of crossbow deer season licenses issued under section 48 and
18.23addresses whether there was an increase in poaching or other hunting problems during the
18.24time a crossbow deer season was permitted.

ranger56528

Thanks for keeping up on this Red Lion.....That would be awsome for 2009 since thats when I will get re-evaluated for my disability.It would be great if they said Iam ok to go back to Recurve and longbow ,but it would be awsome if I could do both in 2009.
If they give me a permenant disabilty its still a good thing to let crossbows in Mn to non disabled people.

sproulman

crossbow is not the weapon they use for poaching on most stateforestlands here in pa..they use 22 cal..

where the crossbow shines for poacher is around parks and homes,this is also where deer are..so, crossbow is used bigtime around those 2 areas..

i have friend that e-mailed me last year..his buddy works for parks here in pa..at his state park he works at he found 34 crossbow bolts laying on ground..

i wonder if people are target practicing, he he.

ranger56528

Around here they just shoot-em with there 3030-3006-308 better yet if there drunk enoughthey just hit-em withthere Trk's.
If I called 911 it would take the sheriff at least 15-20 min to get here,just think how long it would take if you called in a gun shot at 2-3 in the am.He!! you could have it gutted and home.

he!! I walked in my basement and can fined a dozen bolts on the floor.wont find any arrows tho..............................................

Rebel Hog

Yep! The 33" vertical compound bow is to hard to hide and to cumbersome for that!Can't get in your truck fast enough in case someone comes around.

Yep! Got to get a crossbow to poach around Parks and Homes!

Dnk

Hey, do you have any documentation to support this slander? Maybe the faults slander is why you PMed this to me!
Inbox From: sproulman To: Dnk Date: 3/1/2007 9:10:28 PM Subject: dont put my personel info
please dont put my personel info on the forum as i had threatening calls in past..i dont know if i gave you any info that someone can use to do that when i e-mailed you or pm you..

i dont care if you go after me for whatever your reasons are,but dont cause me to have some nut trying to locate me like before..thanks,sproul..

Bigg~BirddVA

All these xbow poachers running around how come there are never, ever any actual stories to back it up? As much as some hate xbow hunters if there ever was a poacher caught it would get more press than you could imagine. How many trophy bucks you have stand still in parks under 35 yards? And they're so stealthy no one would hear you shoot either. I know I want to load mine and shoot out my pickup truck window. You have what 10 degrees of angle to aim within? I know I want to do that in the dark and be off a little and have my 175# limb hit my dash or something and take my teeth out. And then I know I want to get my bright a$$ blood trailing light and follow the sucker for all to see. Oh that's right I forgot xbows drop 'em dead in their tracks like a 300 Win mag. Poaching myth is the biggest anti xbow turd they ever let slip out of their bag of poop.. or was it their mouth?

Rebel Hog

CLICK ON IT and play the Bigg~BirddVA game!

Arthur P

I can only think of one instance where a crossbow was involved in a poaching ring. Don't remember the details, 'cuz I've slept since then, but it was in Marion, Ohio several years back. I guess a Google search would turn up the particulars. I'm not even sure they could prove it was used for poaching, it was just listed among the weapons confiscated. That's the only documented instance I can recall.

The animal rights sympathizers plastered video of a duck with a crossbow bolt in itall over the local TV news here last fall. It was during duck season but since it's not legal to hunt waterfowl with a crossbow it would've been a violation. Not poaching though.

Sure does seem easy for those folks to find waterfowl with arrows and crossbow bolts in 'em. Makes me wonder if they've got a selection of bows and crossbows in their vehicles.[:-]

Anyway,I know a crossbow sure wouldn't be my #1 choice if I was gonna poach. I'd go with what the experienced poachers over in East Texas and Louisianna seem to prefer -.22 Hornet.

DJH -------

HERE ARE SOME DOCUMENTED FACTS!

Excerpt from "The Crossbow is Here to Stay" by C. J. Winand published in Buckmasters Magazine

Crossbows are unsafe and are a preferred poaching weapon.
When we consider the millions of days of field hunting, it isn’t surprising that some accidents will occur. Still, hunting is among the safest of almost all recreational activities. A report from the National Safety Council in 1999 determined that you have a better chance of being injured in a ping-pong game than in a hunting accident! Although many would question this fact, think about it. Because hunting accidents are so rare, this makes them more newsworthy. Thus, the perception that’s given within newspapers or television is totally different than reality. The bottom line is, on a per capita ratio all hunting is safe!
Everyone agrees that one accident is one too many and organizations such as the National Bowhunter Education Foundation and the International Hunter Educational Association have been reducing hunting accidents for years.

Dave Wilson is an Outdoor Skills Supervisor for the Ohio DNR, Division of Wildlife. Wilson states, "Since Ohio legalized crossbows in 1976, there have been 18 incidents involving them. Fourteen of these incidents were self-inflicted. There were also 12 longbow incidents during the same period with seven of these being self-inflected." On a per capital basis, when you compare the accident statistics of hunters using crossbows versus other bow types, one is just as dangerous as the other.

Anecdotal data from Wildlife Conservation Officers (WCO) in Ohio and Arkansas also reflect that poachers still prefer firearms over crossbows. This makes sense when you consider a poachers’ motive is to drop an animal on the spot, so no tracking is necessary. Poachers surely don’t want to use flashlights when tracking at night or risk trailing a deer during the day on property where they may not have permission to cross. Are deer illegally taken with crossbows? Probably so, but information from WCO suggests the illegal kills with crossbows are very few. If you still don’t believe this, just try to shoot a crossbow inside a truck. Besides being dangerous, the width and recoil of the bow limbs can easily knock out a window.