JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri hunters will now be allowed to use crossbows during archery season.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has approved the change, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A crossbow is a device that fires arrow-like projectiles called bolts, sometimes at 350 feet per second.
"I am not going to call it cheating to use a crossbow, but there is arguably less skill involved," Dunn's Sporting Goods salesman Josh Utt said. Dunn's has been selling crossbows at a high rate this year.
Crossbows have also shown up in pop culture like television shows, making the weapon even more popular.
"Some of your die-hard bow hunters have mixed feelings, but it's a good thing," said Nathan Dunn of the same sporting goods store. "It's definitely getting more people in the woods."
Missouri deer biologist Barbara Keller said crossbows had been allowed for people with physical limitations. Approximately 10,000 hunters have a medical reason for using a crossbow each year. Keller said officials want to remove a hurdle for people who want to participate in archery season. The move follows 25 other states that already allow crossbow use during archery season for everyone. Keller said she wasn't sure why the kill rates between the two methods of archery aren't significantly different.
Bill Brookshier, a longtime member of the Missouri Bowhunters Association, said the group opposes the use of crossbows during archery season because it doesn't feel like true archery. Brookshier said the association supports allowing older adults and people with handicaps to use a crossbow.
Bow hunter Jeremy Mason said unless deer are hit in specific areas of the body, they can run for miles and eventually contract infections. Mason said because crossbows are already cocked and ready to fire, more shots are most likely being fired at deer.
"People that have those things think they can shoot farther at an animal, and you start getting into the ethics," he said.
Last season, archery accounted for 18 percent of the more than 274,000 deer harvested in Missouri. Almost 1.3 million deer permits per year are given in the state. Officials estimate deer hunting contributes $1 billion to the local economy because hunters purchase gear, licenses, lodging, fuel and food.