Missouri hunters may soon have a new weapon in their arsenal -- the crossbow. The Missouri Department of Conservation is asking citizens for their thoughts on possible rule changes for the 2016 hunting season. Besides allowing crossbows, the department is looking to shorten the length of the hunting season after a decrease in the deer population over the last few years.
On Monday the department hosted an open house asking citizens to come discuss these possible rule changes with Conservation Department employees. The department’s Media Specialist Joanie Straub said getting public input is important due to the large amount of hunters in Missouri.
“We have over 500,000 hunters; it’s a huge industry and that’s why we take these things so seriously. We want to hear what people have to say. We’ve been really pleased to offer these meetings to the folks that have come out,” Straub said.
Hunters of all ages attended the open house in Columbia, many of them voicing their support of the new regulations. Currently, only hunters with medical exemptions are allowed to use crossbows. The department’s Deer Biologist, Jason Sumners, said many states have already started allowing crossbows as a hunting method.
“We’ve seen an increasing popularity in crossbows in a number of states. Currently there’s twenty-some states who currently allow crossbows during some or all of their archery season. As that has expanded, we frequently get an increasing number of requests to allow them during our season,” said Sumners.
The Department of Conservation will continue to gather public opinion on the proposed regulations. They invite Missouri residents to visit their local conservation office or the department’s website to take a survey and voice their opinion on the prospective changes.
