In Maine outdoor circles most fisherman would agree that for some inexplicable reason a hatchery reared gamefish called a splake, like Rodney Dangerfield, “get no respect.” This good eating, fast growing hybrid sport fish deserves better. Maybe it needs to be represented by a good PR agency. It might have been misnamed from the outset. Image is everything.

Speaking of image, the much maligned crossbow will soon be center stage in Augusta when the Legislative Fish and Wildlife Committee hears a legislative proposal that would create a special season in Maine for hunting deer and other game with crossbows.

This bill, LD 67, is sponsored by State Rep. Stan Moody of Manchester. Moody’s bill, which has the support of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), would establish a special crossbow season for deer during the last two weeks of the October archery season and the first two weeks of the November firearms season.

Crossbows, like splake have always been a dirty word in Maine. Why is this? Moody, himself a sportsman, points out that the crossbow’s crucible goes back in history. According to the state lawmaker, Pope Innocent II in the 1100s said something to the effect that “crossbows were deathly, hateful instruments unfit to be used by Christians.” What we don’t know are his views on the use of longbows to slay non Christians. This might partly explain the crossbow’s bad rap and its long struggle to become a respectable hunting tool. Without question, crossbows are growing in popularity and are becoming legal hunting devices in more and more states.

In fact, according to Moody, crossbows are legal hunting devices in 41 states now. In Maryland, where I recently hunted deer with a crossbow, there are two different two-week crossbow seasons for deer, one in October and another in January. New Hampshire now has a limited crossbow season.

Actually, what is not commonly known is that, under special conditions, certain handicapped individuals may legally hunt with crossbows in Maine. Last year, according to Moody, 150 disabled Maine hunters were granted crossbow permits after submitting to personal interviews with the deputy commissioner of Fish and Wildlife.

Word is that the Maine Warden Service as well as the Maine Bowhunters Association are dead set against the legalization of crossbows in Maine. The wardens argue that the crossbow is the perfect poaching tool. Moody’s response to that objection is a sardonic, “Well, what tool would they PREFER poachers use?” Silencers are illegal, too, but that doesn’t stop deer poachers from using them to cover their activities.

As for the Maine Bow Hunters Association, its members just don’t like crossbows, period. They abhor them as a lazy man’s hunting tool, the prevalence of which can only serve to marginalize and sully the public image of the bowhunter as an elite breed of human predator. As elitist as it sounds the archers may have a point. Bow hunting deer with a compound bow, a recurve or a longbow is a special challenge that puts successful deer archers in a class by themselves, but …

To each his own, say I! Crossbows, like splake, should not be a dirty word. They are an effective hunting device and fun to use. They are not easy to carry, however. Lugging a crossbow all day through dry briars and huckleberry vines can be tiring. Because they will shoot an arrow (a bolt) at 300 feet per second, a crossbow has a little more range than a vertical bow. It can be argued, too, that the margin for error (wounded deer) is less than with a vertical bow.

Moody notes that experiences in other states indicate that the crossbow serves as an “entry device.” That is to say that hunters who start out with the crossbow often evolve as hunters and wind up carrying compound bows or recurves later on. Equally revealing, according to Moody, is that in other states the legalization of crossbows did not trigger a decline in the incidence of traditional archery usage.

What would be the impact of a limited crossbow season in Maine? Based on other state experiences, there would be some additional hunting pressure added to the mix, especially during the October archery season. This is not automatically a bad thing. For what we are seeing in Maine, for whatever reasons, is a discernible decline in hunter effort. This translates into a lower than predicted deer harvest, which should, in turn, signal wildlife managers and Augusta policymakers that the times are ripe for expanding recreational hunting opportunities. According to DIF&W spokesman Mark Latti, the Department is not prepared to divulge its stance on the crossbow question.

Although the four- week crossbow season in Moody’s bill may be a tad ambitious, his bill deserves a full and fair hearing. For it does represent an exciting expanded hunt option for Maine hunters at a time when these are needed. A legislative rejection of Moody’s bill merely because of the ancient Pope’s censure of crossbows or because of the contemporary bowmen’s disdain for them would be regrettable.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].