GET OUT THE VOTE FOR THE CROSSBOW QUESTION. YOU ARE ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR HUNTING SEASON LENGTH.

Wisconsin Crossbow Season Under Threat On Monday, April 9, 2018 at 7:00 PM, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will be hosting the Annual Spring Fish & Wildlife Public Hearings and Conservation Congress Meetings at pre-determined locations in each county throughout the state (click here to find your location). This year's hearing will include the following DNR Wildlife Advisory question aimed at shortening the length of the crossbow season (click here to read the 2018 Spring Hearing Questionnaire): Question #18: Do you support the DNR adjusting the length of the crossbow season, for those that are not disabled or elderly, to better reflect the harvest success rates of bucks similar to the gun season and archery season? This question not only proposes shortening crossbow season, it is open-ended on HOW short the crossbow season could become - will it shrink from four months to a week? If you do not want your crossbow season to be shortened or to lose the opportunity to harvest a buck during the rut period, you must take action by attending your local county meeting and VOTING NO on this question. The Wisconsin Bowhunters Association has encouraged its members to attend these public hearings and vote yes for restricting the length of the crossbow season, but they will not succeed if crossbow hunters step forward and make their voices heard! The reality is that the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association would like to exclude crossbow hunters from deer hunting during most or all of the archery season, especially during the rut period. In his Winter 2018 Message, WBA President Mike Brust states that, "The pressure to further restrict the crossbow season during the peak of the rut has been building," and he also states that, "the crossbow season and the archery season, although concurrent at the moment, are defined separately and the crossbow season can now be adjusted by rule to provide a more balanced and equitable opportunity for all weapon types." It does not make sense to restrict crossbow hunters from hunting during the full archery season and then state that you are doing so because you want it to be more "equitable." The Wisconsin Archery Season is longer than it has ever been, so how does shortening the crossbow season make this more balanced for vertical bow shooters? The real motive here is to limit or reduce the number of hunters in the woods during the rut period of archery season by implying that hunters who use crossbows are not "real archers" and should not be allowed to hunt alongside vertical bowhunters, which is, again, a message of non-equity and discrimination.  Unlike Wisconsin, most states do not differentiate between vertical bows and crossbows as archery equipment and they fully include crossbows in their archery seasons. Please click here to read the WBA President's full message regarding the strategy for limiting crossbow use during Wisconsin's archery season. The truth is that crossbows have helped to grow the sport of archery hunting in Wisconsin because they have allowed for a greater number of children, women, the disabled, and the elderly to participate in the archery season. Many current vertical bow archers also turn to crossbows when they do not have the time to practice and reach the skill level necessary to hunt ethically with a vertical bow. Without the crossbow as an option, most of these hunters would likely not be hunting during the archery season at all. Crossbows help to attract new hunters to the sport and help to retain aging and older hunters. In the three years since crossbow use was expanded in Wisconsin, friends and family members of all ages, abilities, and genders have begun the lifelong tradition of hunting deer together during the archery season. If this ballot question is approved, it may disrupt these traditions by excluding many from hunting with crossbows at all during archery seasons in the future. During this time when many anti-hunting organizations would like to see all hunting stopped, hunters should be working to unite with and support other hunters, rather than seeking to divide the hunting community and limit greater overall participation in hunting.   We strongly encourage you to act now! Make plans to attend the hearing. Submit letters to the editor of your local newspaper that are supportive of keeping crossbows as legal equipment during archery season. Spread the word to your friends and family members through word-of-mouth and social media that crossbow use in future archery seasons may be threatened and encourage them to attend the public hearings and cast votes as well. VOTE NO for limiting the season dates for crossbow hunting in Wisconsin! Thanks and Happy Hunting!