" Why another bowhunting organization, it will just split our ranks?" . The ‘splitting of the ranks came in 1968 with the invention of machinery to replace the age-old longbow and recurve bow. Those of us who had been in bowshooting and bowhunting before the advent of these machines had to use our prowess and knowledge of animals and their habitat, and the understanding of our beautiful primitive equipment to be successful in the hunting field whether we killed game or just enjoyed the hunt. We made a lot of our equipment- arrows, quivers, armguards and bows. We sharpened our broadheads and learned to track animals, follow bloodtrails and understand the value of our predator/prey relationship in the woods. Many of the hunters who switched to the machines were members this group of ‘the old-days’ philosophy, and continue to be fine hunters. But the machinery ushered in the ‘high-tech’ equipment into our bow seasons. Many hunters came into the archery fields with the thinking that each new added piece of equipment would make it easier for them to be successful, and that is precisely what has happened. We have a new-breed, high-tech bowhunter who doesn’t have to learn how to stalk because he can take shots up to 100 yards. He does not have to learn how to sharpen his own broadheads as they come pre-sharpened. He does not have to learn how to follow a blood trail because he can use a string-tracker and sprays to make the blood show up better. He does not make any equipment because of the proliferation of high-tech gear. He does not learn anything about nature, the woods and the predator/prey relationship because he does not take time from his high-speed lifestyle to learn. We have bred the non-hunter participant in our seasons.

When we started to obtain bowhunting only seasons in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s, we used the philosophy that we were a very low success (5 to 10% take), high recreation/hours in the field per animal taken hunting group. The machinery has now put our overall archery kill figures at 20% and higher, and that now factors us into the game management equation. We no longer figure in the high recreation/hours per/animal taken class. Because we now figure in on game take numbers, we figure into the State management plans which also puts us in the category where season time and hunter numbers is regulated to control the number of animals taken. As the number of people in North America continues to grow and habitat continues to be ate up by development, the available hunting area shrinks. We can already see, and will continue to see, fewer animals- especially in the West-and more competition for those animals from hunters of all types. With to many animals being taken in the archery seasons, we will see (as has already started) steps to cut back the length of our seasons and all bowhunters suffer because of one type of equipment- the high-tech gear.

We must ask ourselves if it is fair to bowhunting that we suffer much less time in the woods pursuing game because of this high-tech equipment. We must also ask the users of high-tech equipment if they are willing to see seasons drastically cut (as was proposed in Colorado and Montana) so they can use these high-tech machines. Is it fair to the folks using traditional equipment to suffer shorter seasons and more restrictions because of high-tech equipment? I have been asked if we will try to get the high-tech equipment out of the bow seasons. I have stated that we will not pursue this agenda, but we do need to draw the line somewhere. We have seen a proliferation of new equipment come on the scene recently including an air pressurized arrow that releases the air into the body cavity upon the arrow striking the animal, a bow that will shoot a small dart and a hydraulic machine that shoots an arrow with no moving limbs, a rifle that shoots an arrow, and a greater push to legalize crossbows in archery seasons. We are reinventing the rifle, and with each piece of this type of equipment, Game departments and the public are casting more dim views of the ‘primitive’ sport of bowhunting.

Our youth programs have put many bows and arrows in the hands of youngsters, getting them started shooting with recurves and longbows- the right equipment.