PA Game Commission tweaks crossbow regs

By a 4-3 vote today, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a regulatory change that would allow use of crossbows statewide for the first two weeks of the early archery deer season and for the complete early and late archery hunts in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D. A second vote is required before the change is official for the fall 2009 season. 

Comments

[Walt]

Good Day

My question is , how after a vote has been made and the new 2009 Pa. hunting guide has been printed
and handed out to licensed hunters that have spent and invested thousands of dollars into buying a
cross bow ( Ten Point ) product ( 2000.00 ) now have been told we can not use them ? If a decision has
been made , it seems the right thing to do would be to stick with the voted decision for this year and then evaluate the out come of the 2009 year end harvest reports and then decide on a change for 2010 !
Crossbows regulation were approved in 5C in the past years that has an abundance of Whitetail deer .
I am sure the State Of PA can and have already reviewed the statistics of the use of crossbows in this area .

[jack rishel]

good day , i've spent 1500.oo dollars on a new bow-tech crossbow,now your telling me i can't use it during the rut, this is the only reason i bought it. times are tough now for some people and (YOU PEOPLE) should have thought about this before you printed out the hunting guides.I MYSELF AND ALOT OF OTHER PEOPLE I KNOW DON'T THINK THIS IS FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joseph Dufala]

I have went out and bought 2 crossbows, one for myselfr and one for the person that helps me hunt. It has cost me hundreds of dollar to buy thia stuff. I personaly have a 3in, screw in my foot, two shoulders that have been operated on, and still take injections for these shoulders. I have survived lung cancer losing 20 percent of my lungs, and now you tell me i can only hunt for two weeks. THIS IS NOT FAIR AT ALL, WOULD YOU FEEL UP TO PAYING ME BACK THE MONEY I INVESTED????? WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO GET SOME INTELIGENT PEOPLE ON THE BOARD????? IM ON AFIXED INCOME, WHICH DOESNT SEEM TO MATTER TO THOSE PEOPLE... IM 67yrs OLD...

THANK THE BOARD FOR ME. Joseph Dufala

[Donald Frump]

PA has NOT assessed the impact of the crossbow.

But a fraudulent antideer eco-nut group are dictating the deer management here, and anything to kill even more deer from the already decimated herd and earn pgc a few more bucks will be greatly embraced by the gameless greed commission.

We are becoming like NewJersey with nonhunting extremists running our game management. Crossbows are the least of Pennsylvanias problems by comparison.

[William J. Beers]

Cross bows are for lazy people who don't have the time and aren't willing to spend the effort to learn real archery. Lets give our younger generation another reason to get fatter and weaker and not spend family time on a meaniful activity. A cross bow you can learn in a day or two. Regular archery takes months...even years.
The pay off that the PA comision must be gettting for advertizing and such. Look at the hunting reg and several pages are devoted to crossbow sales. I am also bothered by the regulations for their use? Red dot scope? and first two weeks only? If we are to use the thing let them have a scope. I've never in my 40 pluss years of hunting seen anything so far from practical. Lets next make shooting off four wheelers legal. The commisson is thinking that stupid. We need to change the directions. I am fighting brain cancer right now so it doesn't effect me personlly but look to the long term future and get the dam dollar signs out of your vision.

[Timothy John Long]

How dare you the Board of commissioners decide to change the rules after the licenses have been bought. I and many like me have spent alot of our hard earned money on this equipment in hopes of having a few months to find time to hunt. I cut meat for a living and have little time to hunt reg firearms season due to processing deer. your original rules prior to hunting licenses being issued is what prompted me to buy a crossbow in the first place and now your going to tell me I can only hunt for two weeks. My step-father hunts muzzleloader and this was my chance to spend time with him hunting as are schedules are hard to coordinate.
As To William Beers comment that crossbows are for the lazy I say to you that everybody has their weapon of choice. As to crossbows being easier to learn there is no doubt,but maybe you will tell you're fellow bowhunters to practice more before going in the woods as I find old broadheads every year when processing deer and they are mostly in the hind quarters. (one shot one kill) An old wound does'nt make very good meat.

[eric singer]

i think that crossbows should be used, but i think that the state should make everyone that buys one should have to take a class on them .pepole think that they will shoot a long distance but they are only good for up to 30 yards. im abow hunter myself and its hard enough to because there are hunter out there that just take shots and hope they kill. if we have hunters out ther with crossbows thinking they will kill at 50 70 yards they are going to kripule more deer.think before you shoot

[JERRY SANDERSON]

Hunted years with bow, now the game has changed for me. can't pull my bow due to dammage to my shoulder. Almost didn't buy a archery stamp. Then found out It would be ok to use a cross bow.with the law change. like others with arm trouble bought a $700.00 bow so I could still hunt ln the Fall, then find out it will be only for two weeks, and the worst weeks possible. You don't change the rules in the middle of the game .I would like to hunt as in the past but that is history.The cross bow should be allowed the entire season like the recurve or compound.

[LEON BLEW]

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW AN ORGANIZATION LIKE THE PBO CAN HAVE SO MUCH INFLUENCE ON THE GAME COMMISSON. YOU SHUT DOWN YOUR E-MAIL DUE TO THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE CROSS BOW ISSUE(PASSED CROSSBOW USE WITHOUT SCOPES). THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A FEW MORE DEER KILLED BY USING A CROSSBOW,BUT THERE WILL NOT BE AS MANY WOUNDED DEER THAT WILL WALK AWAY AND DIE. I SAY THIS BECAUSE OF TODAYS SOCIETY. WE DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO PRACTICE LIKE WE USED TO, OR DO NOT HAVE THE HEATH LIKE WE USED TO, TO SHOOT A COMPOUND BOW. I AM IN FAVOR OF THE CROSS BOW WITH SCOPES FOR ALL SEASONS IN PA. DEER HUNTING.ARCHERS COMPLAIN THAT THE CROSS BOW WILL INFRINGE ON THEIR HUNTING, SINCE WHEN ARE DEER SEASONS FOR REGULAR BOW HUNTERS. I HUNT WITH ALL WEAPONS,IN THEIR PROPER SEASONAS AND SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH USING A CROSS BOW IF I WANT TO.THE ONLY ADVANTAGE YOU HAVE WITH THE CROSS BOW IS, IT IS ALREADY DRAWN. YOU STILL HAVE TO SHOULDER THE BOW,MAKE SURE ALL VEGETATION IS OUT OF THE WAY,BE MORE IN THE OPEN THAN WITH A REGULAR BOW.WITH TODAYS BOWS ,AT 65-85% LETOFF YOU VAN DRAW AND HOLD THAT BOW FOR QUITE AWHILE,HIDDEN BY STANDING IN YOUR TREE STAND AGAINST THE TREE. MY PROBLEM IS HAVING PEOPLE TALK ABOUT SOME THING THEY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. GO SHOOT A CROSS BOW,SEE HOW IT WORKS, LOOK AT ITS ADVANTAGES AND DIS-ADVANTAGES,THEN YOU CAN MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND. REMEMBER-- SOME DAY YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO USE YOUR REGULAR BOW--DO YOU GIVE UP ARCHERY HUNTING AS YOU KNOW IT OR DO YOU ADJUST.DO YOU GET SPECIAL SEASONS TO HUNT, NO. I ADJUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1