Montana Bowhunters Association Jerry Davis Crossbows

Representatives and Members of the House Human Services Committee, 

I apologize for not sending each of you a personalized email but my time is limited as I still work part time.  

I write to you today as a Vietnam era vet who is close to 70 and who has a bad shoulder and extreme spinal stenosis, and as an avid but unsuccessful bowhunter to express my opposition to SB 111, a bill that would allow crossbow use by those with disabilities and remove the requirement that a person using a permit to hunt from a vehicle not have to have a companion. 

First let me talk to the crossbow issue.  Crossbow use has no business in Montana’s Archery season by anyone.  Many are saying that there is no difference between a crossbow and a modern compound bow.  Well from the crossbow ads I had seen I was not so sure.  Then, I was loaned one by a bow shop.  I found my presumptions to be correct, that a crossbow is vastly different than a compound bow.

From my experience with this crossbow, I would say that a crossbow is not inherently a weapon for those with disabilities.  It is heavy, this model weighed 7.75 lbs. which is more than twice the weight of my compound bow which weighs about 3.5 lbs.   

This model requires the use of a crank mechanism because the draw weight is so high, 358 lbs.  Other models that do not come with a crank mechanism still require between 200 lbs. and 325 lbs. force to draw and cock the weapon. 

The trigger mechanism had a rather stiff trigger pull, which I would think needs to be modified for those with limited hand strength.

I found them not only to be heavy but also cumbersome and they require a support or tripod to shoot from. 

This model has two rails each of which can be loaded with a bolt.  

Note: A bolt is fired from a crossbow.  

The bolt hold-down on the bottom rail failed after a few shots.  I did not notice the hold-down failure until after I had cocked the weapon.  I now had to un-cock the crossbow because dry firing the crossbow could easily lead to catastrophic failure of the limbs potentially injuring the shooter.  I un-cocked the crossbow using a special tool provided but I still ended up getting my fingers slammed as I worked to un-cock the crossbow to relieve the high energy stored in the limbs.  Somewhat dangerous in my opinion.   

So, by themselves crossbows are no more useful to a person with disabilities than a legal bow and arrow without modification. 

Some of the specifics of the crossbow I was shooting are:

The weight of the bolts supplied with the crossbow were 352 grains in comparison to 378 grain arrows I shoot from my compound.

The bolt speed as measured with a chronograph was found to leave the crossbow at 364 feet per second (fps) but other models from this manufacturer have advertised speeds up to 440 fps.  My compound, on the other hand, has a measured release arrow speed of 240 fps. 

The kinetic energy of the arrow as it is released from my compound bow is 48.3 ft-lbs.

The kinetic energy of the bolt when it is fired from the crossbow is 103.5 ft-lbs. which is more than double that of my compound bow. 

NOTE: If you have further ballistics questions, I try to answer them.  I am a Professional Engineer. 

All crossbows built by this manufacturer, including the one I shot, come with a scope with graduations for various distances. 

All models including the one I shot have a stock and forestock much like a rifle. 

I found the crossbow to be very accurate out to 100 yards with very little practice, a substantially greater distance than an average bowhunter can accurately shoot a compound bow, which I would say is between 30 and 40 yards. 

After verifying that the crossbow was sighted in at 20 and 40 yds, I shot between 2 and 3 bolts each at 50, 60, 70, and 80 yards from a rest, and then 5 additional shots at 100 yds also from a rest.  Of the 9 bolts that I fired out to 80 yards only one was substantially off mark by 5 inches at 70 yards.  The other 8 shots were within 3.5 inches, with my last shot at 80 yards being only .75 inches high of dead center. 

Of the 5 shots I took at 100 yards, one was 9 inches, one was 7 inches, two were 3 inches, and my last shot was 1.75 inches from dead center of the target.  My impression was that shooting a crossbow with a scope is very comparable to shooting a modern rifle.

So, you may ask why am I so concerned about allowing crossbows into the archery season if it is limited to those with a disability?

Being successful at bowhunting requires a lot of practice with a bow, a lot of patience and stealth, and a lot of luck.  Bowhunting is a low success endeavor.  Mastering all the aforementioned skills and having the right luck just do not occur that often.  Because of our low success bowhunters have been allowed to archery hunt during the early bugling season when bull elk are distracted with breeding activities.

Putting the crossbow into this mix may well jeopardize our and our grandchildren's future archery opportunities to pursue bull elk when they are more vulnerable to long range weapons. 

With a weapon that has 100-yard accuracy, hunters will not have to master all the skills required by those that use legal archery equipment.  Success will increase proportional to the number of hunters using crossbows.  More bull elk will be harvested, quite likely leading to severe limitations or termination of the archery season and quite likely have negative impacts on the general season.

And adding to that problem will be the abuse of certificates for a disability, as required in this bill.  It will be an easy task for those wishing to abuse this option, just as the Permit to Hunt from a Vehicle (PTHFV) permit was abused between 2008 and 2012.  In 2008, when special opportunities were provided to those with a PTHFV, permit numbers grew from 512 permits to 11,000 in 2012. 

Montana lawmakers made changes to the law in 2013 in response to requests from disabled-hunter organizations who said the existing PTHFV privilege was being abused by able-bodied hunters and that the program had lost the respect of landowners and disabled and able-bodied hunters alike. 

The same is likely to happen with the crossbow.  Being allowed to harvest a bull elk during the bugling season with a rifle like weapon will be considered by many as a huge opportunity. 

Individuals wanting to take advantage of this opportunity but who are not willing or wanting to master the skills of bowhunting will likely game the system to get a certificate of disability.  Dr. Olszewski’s testimony during the hearing for this bill in the Senate Fish and Game committee said as much.  

The Permit to Modify Archery Equipment on the other hand still requires the bowhunter to master all the skills required to be successful at bowhunting while making allowances for their unique disabilities.    All archery shooting requires a lot of practice regardless of it being a longbow, a recurve bow, or a compound bow and the same applies to archery equipment that has been modified to meet individual disabilities.

So, I ask that you vote NO on SB 111.  

I am also giving you a link to my unprofessional video of my last shot at 100 yards with a crossbow.  I cannot even hit the target bag at a 100 yds with my compound bow.

Please feel free to call or email me with any comments or questions.  I will also be happy to meet with you personally to discuss the bill if you desire. 

Sincerely, 

 Crossbow at 100 yds.mp4

Jerry Davis 

725 Middlemas Rd 

Helena MT  59602

(406) 475-2226