Vote Yes on Question #86
On
April 12, 2010, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress will host its Annual Statewide Fish & Wildlife Spring Hearings & Annual Conservation Congress County Meetings.
Question #86 in the Spring Questionnaire asks you to vote on whether or not to lower the age for those that can use crossbows during archery season to 55. While some oppose this change, recent data from a growing number of states with crossbow experience, including Wisconsin, strongly suggests that crossbows help manage the resource, improve bowhunter retention, bring retired bowhunters back into the fold, and recruit new hunters.
It is vital that you familiarize yourself with the data and attend your meeting this
Monday, April 12, to support the change.
All of the states which have studied their participation data show that vertical bowhunter participation peaks between the ages of 39 to 44. This peak is followed by a straight line decrease in participation through age 65+. Wildlife experts attribute this decline to time constraints. As raising a family becomes more complex, vertical bowhunters find less time to devote to practice. In later years, physical limitations become the primary reason for quitting the sport.
Wisconsin's own data supports this trend (see chart below). A steady decline in participation around the age of 45 is followed by a spike in participation around the age of 65, coincidentally, the age when Wisconsin hunters may use a crossbow. It is no stretch to conclude such a dramatic percentage change in participation is due to the use of crossbows.
Percent Change in Wisconsin Hunter Particpation Rates by Age Groups, 2004-2007.
The data from states which allow crossbows during archery season shows a much different trend (see Georgia charts below). The typical decline in participation around age 40 recovers between the ages of 50 to 60, indicating at the very least that the vertical bow hunters return to the woods using a crossbow.
Age Structure of 2003-2004 Georgia Vertical Bowhunters
Age Structure of 2003-2004 Georgia Crossbow Hunters
In their opposition to crossbows, the few, but highly vocal traditional bowhunters unwittingly have taken the anti-hunting position of opposing inclusion, recruitment, and retention, all of which are critical to the future of sustainable archery seasons.
Wisconsin's own deer herd management modeling studies indicate that if current participation and harvest rates remain stable through the next 20 years, the size of the herd will grow to the point where hunters will no longer be able to manage the resource, and other means of harvesting deer will have to be introduced. These studies are the reason Wisconsin is showing interest in expanding the use of crossbows as a way to increase participation. Crossbows help archery seasons remain relevant as a deer management tool.
We urge you to vote yes on question #86.