Whitetail Insider

Crossbows in Suburbia?

By: Dr. Richard A. Lancia

In many suburban areas in the eastern U.S., white-tailed deer are superabundant. They cause many problems for landowners, including damage to ornamental landscaping, increased prevalence of Lyme disease and deer-vehicle collisions. In the study summarized below, up to 56 percent of landowners reported someone in the household had Lyme disease, 44 percent were involved in a deer-vehicle accident and 96 percent experienced damage to landscaping.

As urban sprawl continues, deer hunters face less and less accessible land to hunt, even though many state agencies have liberalized hunting restrictions in the urban-suburban interface. Using crossbows in suburbia has always been controversial among bowhunters because it is perceived to be too similar to gun hunting.

So, what can be done to get landowners and hunters together? Researchers from the Wildlife Division of Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection and the University of Connecticut surveyed landowners and bowhunters in the township of Greenwich, Conn., to see if there could be a win-win opportunity.

Almost 75 percent of homeowners supported lethal control to reduce and manage deer populations at acceptable levels. Of lethal methods, bowhunting was preferred by nearly 66 percent of homeowners. A majority was willing to wait up to 5 years for management to be effective, if there were no costs to landowners.

When bowhunters were asked: If a crossbow season were established during the existing archery season, would you support it? Only 25 percent said they would. On the other hand, if a crossbow season were initiated outside the existing bow season, then acceptance doubled. Apparently, bowhunters were more interested in crossbow hunting if it meant more opportunity to hunt. When bowhunters were asked if they would use bait if it were legalized, almost 66 percent said they would. The two most common reasons to support baiting were increased success and better shot placement. Other studies have shown crossbows to be more effective than vertical bows, and hunting over bait as an effective means to increase deer harvests.

Unfortunately, gun hunters were not surveyed in this study. My guess is that they too would support a separate season for crossbow hunting. If so, hunter numbers could be large enough to have an impact on superabundant deer. Allowing new weaponry might also recruit new hunters and thereby increase license sales—something state agencies would undoubtedly support because most of their budgets come from these sales.

So what’s the bottom line? Crossbow hunters and suburban property owners need to work together for the benefit of both—increased hunting opportunity and success and reduced deer damage: a win-win.

Please visit our sponsor.