ORIGINAL: tmontgo1
As madville said in his post, the regulation was put in during the seventies when the population was wiped out, like most of the rest of the state in the early last century. The goal was to get a sustainable herd back, and that is a conservation mindset.
I think what he is asking is, why even bowhunters are allowed then? If I remember right,its because there wasn't many bowhunters period in that time.