Petition to Preserve Pennsylvania’s Archery Deer Season and Establish Separate Crossbow Opportunities

To the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners:

We, the undersigned, ask the Commission to reserve general archery deer-season participation for compounds, recurves, and longbows; establish a separately defined crossbow opportunity alongside muzzleloader seasons; and preserve appropriate disability accommodations.

We also request fluorescent-orange requirements for that crossbow opportunity and clear equipment distinctions in harvest reporting and trophy recognition.

The central issue is straightforward: with a conventional bow, the hunter draws and holds the bow. With a cocked crossbow, a mechanism holds the string.

That difference should be reflected in Pennsylvania’s hunting regulations.

A compound hunter still has to draw with a deer standing nearby, get to anchor, maintain control, settle the pin, and execute the shot. If that buck stops behind a tree, the hunter has to hold. If the opportunity disappears, the hunter has to let down without getting caught.

Those few seconds can determine whether months of preparation result in a shot opportunity.

A recurve hunter faces those same basic demands with fewer mechanical advantages. A cocked crossbow removes the need to draw in the presence of the animal and physically maintain draw tension while waiting and aiming.

The response we hear repeatedly is, “You shoot a compound. Why don’t you shoot a recurve?”

That does not answer the issue.

A compound and a recurve are not equally difficult to shoot. Let-off, sights, and release aids provide real advantages. But both require the archer to maintain the draw through the aiming process.

Reducing the effort required to hold a drawn bow is different from transferring that responsibility to a mechanical latch.

The mental demands also matter. An archer must coordinate aiming and release while maintaining physical control of the bow. World Archery recognizes release execution, psychological control, and target panic as challenges in compound shooting. A release aid does not make those challenges disappear. 

Crossbow hunters still need woodsmanship, patience, judgment, and responsible shot placement. Their accomplishments deserve respect. Recognizing those skills does not require treating the shooting demands of every type of equipment as equivalent.

Crossbow capabilities warrant fluorescent-orange requirements

The speed and range of modern hunting crossbows create a serious safety responsibility. A missed bolt can remain dangerous beyond the intended target. We believe those capabilities warrant a separately defined season with fluorescent-orange requirements.

The Commission should evaluate hunter visibility alongside equipment capability. That review should address both crossbow hunters and other hunters sharing the same ground during overlapping seasons.

Fluorescent orange does not replace identifying the target, knowing what is beyond it, or choosing a responsible shot. It provides an additional opportunity for a hunter to be seen before a shot is taken.

We ask the Commission to publish available crossbow incident data and examine shooting distances, target identification, and clothing visibility. We do not need to claim that crossbows cause more accidents than conventional bows to ask whether stronger visibility requirements are justified.

Recognition should identify the method used

A record-size buck deserves recognition. Its antler score measures the animal. Its equipment category should identify how it was taken.

Where crossbow harvests are grouped with compounds, recurves, and longbows in an undifferentiated archery record category, we ask that they be separated. Where separate categories already exist, those distinctions should remain clear in rankings and public announcements.

The Commission should apply that principle to recognition programs it administers and encourage independent record keepers to do the same.

We request the following action:

1. Begin a public rulemaking review of crossbow eligibility in archery deer season, with the goal of reserving general participation for compounds, recurves, and longbows that the archer draws and physically holds while aiming.
2. Establish a separately defined crossbow opportunity alongside muzzleloader seasons, with clear equipment, licensing, and harvest rules.
3. Preserve appropriate disability accommodations through an explicit process that allows hunters with qualifying limitations to continue participating.
4. Require fluorescent orange during the proposed crossbow opportunity and establish appropriate visibility rules for hunters participating in overlapping seasons. Support those rules with a public review of equipment capabilities and available incident data.
5. Publish clearly separated crossbow and conventional bow harvest information, including participation and hunting effort where available.
6. Maintain distinct crossbow classifications in trophy recognition programs under the Commission’s control and encourage that distinction among independent record keepers.
7. Place this proposal on a public meeting agenda and provide a written response, explaining how the Commission will evaluate the requested changes.

We understand that the Commission must consider hunter participation, retention, deer management, accessibility, and enforcement. Those responsibilities deserve careful attention. So does preserving the distinctive challenge of conventional bowhunting.

The Commission should explain how it weighs those interests and what it intends archery season to preserve.

For those supporting this petition, that includes the practice, discipline, and control required to draw, hold, aim, and release a bow while a deer is close enough to detect the slightest mistake.

That challenge still means something. We are asking you to protect it.

Submitted by:

Thomas Moyer
Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania

By signing, I support the requested changes and ask the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners to formally consider this proposal.