Photo by Charlie Dobbs
Asa biology teacher educated in Fisheries Management and Aquatic Ecology, I can’t help being a data driven kind of guy. Whether working with data to be a better teacher, a better hunter, or a more informed member of society, I like numbers. Since the state of Wisconsin passed a law allowing any age hunter the use of a crossbow during archery season, I’ve been particularly interested in the statewide deer harvest and how the new law would affect harvest during archery season. In 2013, 87,628 deer were harvested with archery equipment. In 2014, the first season where crossbows were legal to use at any age, 54,810 deer were harvested by archers and 26,891 deer were harvested with a crossbow. Since then, crossbow license sales have increased, and the total number of deer harvested during archery season has been relatively stable. Hunters are choosing the crossbow over the compound and traditional bows. After a decade of this change, over 60-percent of the deer harvested during archery season are with a crossbow. Maybe, the season should be changed to the crossbow season instead of archery season?
Many years ago, while bowhunting in northern Minnesota near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, I had the pleasure to take my uncle’s friend on a bowhunt during the opener of gun deer season. My uncle arranged for me to take him to a special spot I’d hunted often when hunting out of my uncle’s deer camp. When I picked him up at his deer camp, the air was bitterly cold, and the snow squeaked underfoot. When I helped load his gear into my rig, I was surprised (and a bit concerned) about how little gear he had. No stand, no parka, no hand muff with hand warmers. All he had was a pair of thin, cotton camouflage overalls, a blaze orange vest, a ball cap, and a beautiful bow he cradled as if it were made of fine crystal.