Post by Woody Williams on Oct 8, 2005 8:50:35 GMT -5
Commissioner Jon Gassett Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources #1 Game Farm Road Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Dear Jon:
I have kept quiet about this issue long enough. I thought I would write you a letter on the issue before I leave for a week of bow hunting. UBK’s (United Bowhuners of Kentucky) stance on Crossbows is totally ridiculotus.
Bow hunters in this state have fought every regulation change that would bring in new sports for the last 20 years. They tried to stop the muzzleloader season, and held it off for several years. They tried to stop fall turkey season, and held it off for several years. They have kept the crossbow season in a ridiculous time frame and have made it so short that few people will ever take up the sport. They have done this because they don’t like crossbows and don’t want others to take up any sport but theirs.
If the resource was threatened I would be the first to take up their cause. However, the resource is not what is threatened. What is threatened is the sport of hunting. We are losing hunters every year and yet what UBK is doing is curtailing the entry of more hunters into the sport.
We should do everything in our power to make it easy for people to take up hunting. I even suspect that if some people had the chance to crossbow hunt they might switch over to traditional bow hunting.
The UBK had better wake up and smell the roses. There will come a time when they will need a large number of other hunters to back them up to protect their sport. Theirs will be the first to go. I urge you and the commission to do what is right and regulate a long and viable crossbow season.
Sincerely,
John Phillips Retired Deer Program Coordinator, KDFWR
Dear Jon:
I have kept quiet about this issue long enough. I thought I would write you a letter on the issue before I leave for a week of bow hunting. UBK’s (United Bowhuners of Kentucky) stance on Crossbows is totally ridiculotus.
Bow hunters in this state have fought every regulation change that would bring in new sports for the last 20 years. They tried to stop the muzzleloader season, and held it off for several years. They tried to stop fall turkey season, and held it off for several years. They have kept the crossbow season in a ridiculous time frame and have made it so short that few people will ever take up the sport. They have done this because they don’t like crossbows and don’t want others to take up any sport but theirs.
If the resource was threatened I would be the first to take up their cause. However, the resource is not what is threatened. What is threatened is the sport of hunting. We are losing hunters every year and yet what UBK is doing is curtailing the entry of more hunters into the sport.
We should do everything in our power to make it easy for people to take up hunting. I even suspect that if some people had the chance to crossbow hunt they might switch over to traditional bow hunting.
The UBK had better wake up and smell the roses. There will come a time when they will need a large number of other hunters to back them up to protect their sport. Theirs will be the first to go. I urge you and the commission to do what is right and regulate a long and viable crossbow season.
Sincerely,
John Phillips Retired Deer Program Coordinator, KDFWR
