The use of the crossbow or crossbow, as it is sometimes referred to by archers under the age of 35, has long been the subject of rules and regulations.

Pope Innocent I banned the use of the crossbow in Europe in 1139, saying: “The deadly, God-hated art of the crossbow must not be used against Christians and Catholics, under pain of excommunication.”

the times change

In Mississippi, the standing policy of the MDWFP has long been to allow crossbows to be legal for disabled hunters with a special permit, as well as hunters age 65 and older, for use during primitive gun and deer seasons. . The general rule of thumb was that as long as they couldn’t physically handle a standard longbow or compound bow, and could prove it with documentation from the VA or Social Security Administration, they were good to go with crossbows. Often the only avenue available to obtain your crossbow was through mail order and Internet catalogues, as few local stores carried “specialty” items. Sporting goods and gun shows often only had toy crossbows that fired fake bolts or plastic suction cup-tipped arrows.

Well times have changed again

In 2009, the full inclusion of the crossbow, to allow all properly licensed hunters to hunt with a crossbow statewide during regular seasons, failed to pass the state house. However, Jackson received enough phone calls and letters from groups like the Mississippi Crossbow Federation to support the initiative.

On May 19, 2010, the five members of the MDWFP Commission voted to change the previous regulation to define crossbows as regular archery equipment and allow everyone to use them at the beginning of the archery season in the state’s 665,000 acre Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). While not as radical as legislation proposed in 2009, it was an important step in allowing crossbow users to hunt statewide. In 2010, a General Crossbow License was made available to any hunter, resident or not, to allow them to use a crossbow to take deer during the early deer gun and gun season.

The $12.29 General Crossbow Permit is valid only during those two seasons, and to use it, the hunter must also have their Sportsman (or Full Game/Coarse Fishing) and Archery/Primitive Weapons permits. For out of state hunters, the permit is only $10 higher.

The Magnolia State has embraced the crossbow with open arms, as evidenced by aisle after aisle of devices on display at the Bass Pro Shop in Pearl. In fact, most sporting goods stores in the state I’ve been to have at least a couple of crossbow models on the shelf to compare. According to Wayne King of the Mississippi Crossbow Federation, more than 2,300 Magnolia State crossbow permit holders currently go into the forest.

While some bow hunters view the crossbow as a trap, crossbow aficionados counter that compared to a hunter taking whitetail with a scoped rifle shooting competition-grade Nosler partitions at 300 yards, the crossbow is still downright primitive. This argument is also used when comparing the crossbow to breech-loading single-shot rifles that are legal to use in conjunction with muzzleloaders during primitive gun season.

“Calling a crossbow a cheater’s tool and a sight-stocked .45-70 compound weapon a primitive weapon in the same state is misleading,” said Robert Martin, a proponent of Gautier crossbows. Martin is a disabled hunter who can no longer use a compound bow and is now hooked on crossbows.

When the state legislature resumes in 2012, the Mississippi Crossbow Federation will continue to push for legislation that finally allows all Mississippians to hunt deer and turkey with crossbows in all open seasons from October 1 through January 31.