[Jeff Higgins]

I have very mixed feelings about archery. On the one hand, I think it is a fantastic sport, and a great deal of fun. Especially traditional archery. The modern compound bows with their sights, modern trigger releases, and all of that kind of leave me cold, however. I won't begrudge those who enjoy them, however - to each his own.

On the other hand, I'm a hunter. I mostly hunt with muzzle loaders. I love the challenge of using a "primitive" weapon in the same manner in which our ancestors used them. And here is where I draw a parallel to archery - I firmly believe that muzzle loader, and archery big game seasons should be restricted to traditional, "primitive" weapons. No stainless steel, plastic stocked, scope sighted, plastic sabot / pistol bullet shooting, shotshell (209) primered, "black powder substitute" burning muzzle loaders allowed for hunting. Like wise, no fancy modern whiz-bang compound bows, either. Truly "primitive" tackle only, for both seasons.

But therein lies a problem. Even with all of the modern "cheats", bow hunters lead the leagues in wounded and lost game. It's the dirty little secret of bow hunting - most do not have the skill, or patience, to find even the game they kill, much less wound. If they run off (and most do, even when hit with a fatal shot) in any kind of cover or rough terrain, most bow hunters are simply incapable of finding them. Myself and my hunting buddies have collectively lost track of the number of deer we have found over the years, lying dead, half eaten by scavengers and rotting, with an arrow in them. It's the one aspect of bow hunting that bow hunters refuse to address.

So, yeah, it's bad enough when they use the modern tackle. I cannot imagine how bad it would be if they had to use "primitive" tackle. Maybe, though, the half interested duffers who only bow hunt (but refuse to practice meaningfully) to take advantage of the bow seasons would find it "too difficult" and give it up. That won't happen, though. For whatever reason, bow hunting is seen by many as more "pure", or more "fair", or more "sporting" - or whatever. It is anything but. The dirty little secret is that it is horribly cruel, and many who practice it are horribly irresponsible.