Horizontal bows make great tools for recruiting and keeping hunters.
It is interesting to observe hunter reaction to crossbows from back in the day when they were demonized by some. I am gratified to see crossbows finally gaining respect and coming into their own.
The oldest argument against crossbows was they are too effective and hunters would decimate deer populations. I remember when the same thing was said of compound bows.
Those concerns have been laid to rest by the fact that we still have plenty of deer in spite of compound bows and crossbows.
What cannot be disputed is the fact that having more hunters helps the future of hunting.
Having spent 25 years as editor in chief of this magazine, I had a ringside view of the crossbow’s bid for acceptance. Perhaps the earliest progress I recall was its use in the hands of disabled hunters.
I have first-hand experience from an incident on Sept. 15, 1995, when my friend Sam Halibi, of Alberta, Canada, fell while setting up a treestand. He broke his neck and very nearly died, becoming quadriplegic and confined to a power wheelchair, never to hunt again. Or so he thought at the time.
Then he discovered BE Adaptive Equipment (www.beadaptive.com), a U.S. company that sells electronic shooting rigs designed for people with Sam’s limitations. This rig, called the HQ100, gave hunting back to Sam after he missed 15 seasons as a result of his fall.
Treestand hunting was still out of the question, but he could hunt from the ground with a crossbow and his new equipment. Sam’s first attempt during the 2010 season didn’t produce a deer, but it did encourage him to keep trying.
Keeping a wheelchair-bound, 200-pound man hidden was an obstacle unto itself. Thanks to feedback from a few trail cameras, along with Sam’s knowledge of his hunting area, from which he had taken several record-book bucks before his accident, he located the travel route of a dandy buck.
The challenge then became how to find or create the perfect setup where Sam could hide within crossbow range of the trail. Then there was the matter of waiting for all conditions to be perfect before trying the ambush site. Only rarely was the wind cooperative.
On Nov. 26, 2011, conditions were finally right, and Sam found himself in the blind as two does came walking up the trail. A grunting buck was close behind.
With his heart pounding, Sam stopped the buck with a bleat as he maneuvered his hunting rig with his chin. Just as the buck looked right at him, Sam sipped on his trigger tube and watched his lighted nock arc 37 yards as if in slow motion.
At the string snap, the buck ducked and pushed back, causing the bolt to hit its carotid artery instead of the chest vitals. The result was the same, however, as the bruiser toppled to the earth after a short 50-yard dash.
Sam sat reflecting on what had just happened. It was his first buck in 16 long years, and I have no doubt it was the best hunt of his life.
Today, crossbow hunting has surged beyond use by hunters with disabilities, as evidenced by its acceptance in many states and provinces in North America. A growing number of states allow crossbows during the regular bow seasons. In other places, like in Alberta, they can be used only during firearms seasons. Either way, crossbows are gaining ground.
Each year, I host a WildMan event in Alberta. It’s a competition of all things archery, and then some: longbows, compounds, knife and tomahawk throwing, atlatl throwing, horseback archery and crossbows. Even though this event is only about target competition and many of those who participate aren’t hunters, I have been amazed to see how many people gravitate to the crossbow. They are fascinated by it and want to shoot it. And when they do, they like it all the more.
The same applies to the women who attend my wife’s annual WildWoman event. No matter what other activities the participants elect to try, they all seem to gravitate to the crossbow.
My wife, Sharleen, is another perfect example. She is simply not a candidate for a conventional bow, but she really likes shooting a crossbow and wants to hunt with it. She doesn’t have the arm strength to draw a hunting weight conventional bow, but with the modern mechanical cocking devices available on many crossbows, she can handle the job with ease. The crossbow has added an opportunity for us to hunt together.
Although modern crossbows are still short-range weapons with similar ethical range to compound bows, they have added new hunters to our ranks. They have also kept bowhunting alive for some old-timers who can no longer handle conventional compounds.
We all have preferred weapons for hunting, whether rifles, shotguns, handguns, longbows, recurves, compounds or crossbows. Choice of weapon doesn’t make one superior or inferior to another.
We are all hunters and have a specific purpose: to help manage game populations in order to maintain healthy animals for the future. Collectively, we are an instrument of conservation by virtue of the game we harvest and by the money we spend in the process.
To take the view that our particular bent should be honored at the expense of others plays into the hands of those who seek to eliminate hunting. The very best thing we can do is to welcome new hunters to our ranks, and crossbows provide a perfect opportunity to make that happen.
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This article was published in the September 2012 edition of Buckmasters Whitetail Magazine. Subscribe today to have Buckmasters delivered to your home.