He claimed that most deer every year are shot inside of 20-yards? I have know idea how he could back up that statement?
He can back that statement up with statistics. According to hunter surveys, the average shot distance is about 18 yards.
He said the greatest advance we have today is the mechanical release.
We had mechanical releases long ago. Very good ones, at that. Hardly 15% of archers used them. It wasn't until the mid-90's that I attended a tournament where there were more release shooters than there were fingers shooters. By that time, bows had shrunk from around 45" down to 40", letoffs had gone from 50% up to 65% and they were getting harder to shoot with fingers. Now a 40" bow is considered a l-o-n-g sonuvagun and letoffs are ridiculously high, up to 99%! It's not that the release makes it easier to shoot accurately. It's that the vast majority of today's bows are designed for the release and are nearly impossible to shoot with fingers.
I don't consider the release to be a major advance. It's merely a necessity with most bows they put out today. (Speaking of which, why would anyone pay full price for a 3/4 size bow?
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IMO, the greatest advances in the past 30 years have been in treestand technology. Far more folks use them today than 30 years past. However, if I had my choice of one piece of equipment to have banned, that would be it. I'm tired of hearing how Billy Bob Butthead didn't practice his shooting from a treestand and proceded to wound several deer. But as bad as that is, it's not the worst thing about them. They are, far and away, the most dangerous piece of equipment a hunter can use. I'm very tired of hearing about hunters getting killed or permanently crippled by falling out of those things.
Again, it's no fault of the treestand, it's the people that use them. People buy them and then don't get accustomed to their use, or shooting from them, before opening day. Even experienced hunters let their minds wander and make mistakes that can cost them their lives. I can't help wondering... How many potential Darwin award winners went out this weekend and bought treestands.