Many traditional bow-and-arrow hunters decry the weapon that they say requires far less skill and practice to fire, and some fear more deer will be killed earlier in the year, forcing wildlife managers to constrict what has become one of the longest hunting seasons.Īmong the crossbow critics are the Pope and Young Club, a hunting and conservation organization headquartered in Chatfield that recognizes big-game records taken with a bow and arrow - but not with a crossbow. The crossbow has been long-stigmatized in archery circles. Last year, Wisconsin licensed 266,000 bow hunters out of more than 600,000 deer hunters. Of roughly 500,000 deer hunting tags sold in Minnesota, about 100,000 are archery tags. It’s unclear how big the crossbow market will grow. If archery had an ambassador in Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss in the “Hunger Games” films, crossbows found their surprise pitch-man in Daryl, the crossbow-wielding zombie hunter played by actor Norman Reedus in the cable TV series “The Walking Dead.” Responding to the rise in popularity, lawmakers in both states approved the changes, paralleling a wave of acceptance in deer hunting states. The parent company of Minnesota Sportsman magazine is launching Crossbow Revolution, a publication devoted entirely to crossbows. New models promising faster arrows (they’re called “bolts” when fired from a crossbow) are heavily marketed in major retailers like Gander Mountain and Cabela’s. On the heels of an explosion in popularity of archery in general, crossbow sales are surging. Previously, in both states, crossbows were treated essentially like rifles and shotguns, allowed only during each state’s firearms seasons, which last from eight days in Wisconsin to a few weeks in Minnesota in the chillier November air.
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