Archery Only!

[bsneekee]

Hey since we seem to be on the subject of mule deer management I thought I'd throw one out there. What if you took a number of units in a state and made them archery only and put regulations on the bows because obviously bow manufactures would hype up their bows and make them shoot accurately at 100 plus yards if many states had lots of archery only units. My other thought was that if you made some units archery and some rifle in a state the rifle units might get absolutely pounded and have to have a draw or really short season, so maybe archery only in some units wouldn't be a great thing. Who knows maybe their would be so many archery hunters both in and out of state that it wouldn't even make a difference. We'd just have alot more wounded deer walking around. However, I can't help but think that archery would reduce the take on animals and promote a better herd while still offering hunting opportunity. Guess what maybe they could even make a big chunk of the state or the entire state archery only. However, my concern would be that the fish and game wouldn't be able to generate enough revenue from tag sales. Another good question would be how this exclusive hunting would affect the average hunter. I feel it would decrease his desire to hunt because archery can be such a challenge and he knows he would be unsuccessful. Moreover, disabled or older guys wouldn't like this kind of hunting however certain exceptions could be made for them. The most realistic and probably the best idea with archery only hunting would be to take the units in a state that aren't doing very well and make them archery only and then populations would hopefully rebound. Anyways just wanted to experiment with and see what you guys think.

 

[moseleymiddleton]

the only problem i see with archery only is that there would be the weekend warrior who goes out tthe week before the season buys a bow and expects to be able to shoot 40-50 yards with hardly any bow experiance period.resalting in a alot of wounded game. there is alot of arera in wyoming with good trophy quality but gets punded on the two points so hard during rifle season the deer don't get a chance to grow up.


moseley middleton

 

[canhunter]

Some areas already see that type of "new archery hunter". Makes me sick to hear the stories. Scab hunters with rifles will still be scab hunters with a bow. Poor boow hunters happen the most in areas where the rifle season is not at a optimum time to see the best deer. Probably be ok with only a unit or two. It would be a hard sell as Archers are still in the minority along with quality/trophy animal hunters. Game departments who rely on hunter funding will always go with the majority because they have to. Some don't want to, but either go with majority or loose funder to operate.