Crossbows Are A Great Recruitment Tool

The overall number of hunters in the woods continues to fall each year. Kids and young adults are not interested in hunting like previous generations were. Many states are seeing the number of hunters in the woods fall dramatically. As a result, states have increased the number of doe tags that are sold, lengthened hunting seasons, and allowed crossbows to be used during bow season. 

Many longtime hunters were extremely upset when crossbows were first legalized to be used during bow season. I must admit, I was a little upset. Eventually I realized hunting with a crossbow wasn’t a bad thing. Research has shown that many hunters who are hunting with a crossbow are people who have been hunting for years. On the flip side, some of the people using them are first time hunters who want to try hunting for the first time and they want to go out during archery season.

Some like the idea of using a crossbow because they are intimidated by firearms. Others don’t want to invest a lot of money in archery gear. Borrowing a friend’s crossbow or hunting with a friend who has a crossbow is an easy way to get involved in hunting.

Last fall, a friend of my sons who grew up in a non-hunting family became very curious about hunting. He wanted to eat something he had killed himself. My son who is a passionate bowhunter borrowed a crossbow from a friend and they spent the better part of an afternoon shooting a crossbow. They also spent a considerable amount of time going over the anatomy of a deer. Later in the afternoon, my son and his friend climbed into a Redneck blind on the edge of a food plot on our property. The majority of the evening my son and his friend did a lot of chatting and even did a bible study while they were waiting on deer to show up. 

Right before dark, a couple of does quietly left their nearby bedding area and walked into the food plot. A few minutes later, one of the does stood broadside and gave the new hunter a perfect shot opportunity. The young man steadied the crossbow in the window of the blind and made a perfect shot. Moments later, he was standing over the first animal he had ever hunted. 

He learned how to gut the animal and later that day, he ate venison for the very first time. My son isn’t sure if the young man will ever hunt again but one thing is for sure: he went from being a non-hunter to a person who had a very positive experience with hunting. One thing is certain: he isn’t going to be an ani-hunter.

This young man probably would have never tried gun hunting because guns can be intimidating to someone who hasn’t spent much time around them. The crossbow was the perfect weapon for this situation.

All over America, crossbows are being used to introduce people to hunting which is a good thing. We need all the new hunters we can get. Crossbows can be a great tool to introduce people to hunting. We need to celebrate every hunter that enters the woods, regardless of the weapon they choose to use.