Just a few years ago, Louisiana Sportsman published a feature story about a hunter whose technique of choice was taking really, really long shots at deer. He wasn’t just some schmuck who would melt the barrel of his semi-auto rifle in hopes that one of the smoking-hot chunks of lead would cross something vital in the deer’s chest cavity.
No, this guy would factor in time of day, thermals, wind, distance and other measurables, and would regularly drop deer several football fields away.
Not long after the story ran, we got an email from an avid bowhunter who took umbrage at the story. He couldn’t understand how we could support an activity that was so inhumane. After all, the emailer pointed out, at those distances, there was an increased chance of wounding a deer without killing it.
In my reply, I conceded to the emailer that he was right on that point — the longer the shot, the less likelihood of a clean kill. But I also warned him about being critical of one man’s chosen methods while being blind to the ethical shortcomings of his own. Push for a ban on long-range shots today, and your method of take may be in the crosshairs tomorrow.
How ironic that bowhunting’s closest cousin — bowfishing — is now being threatened with forced extinction.
SB573, backed by the Coastal Conservation Association, has been proposed by Sen. Dan Claitor in the current legislative session. The measure would make it illegal to harvest redfish with a bow and arrow.
This is a bad bill that needs to die a quick, painless death.
I’m not much of a bowfisherman. I love seeing redfish swimming in clear water, but I’d rather cast artificial lures in front of them and watch them eat than I would sling arrows at them.
Other people see reds, and they reach for their bows. Good for them.
Redfish aren’t in danger. To the contrary, Bayou State marshes are loaded with them. The few boats who target reds with bows rather than rods aren’t even putting a dent in the population. So why ban them?
Some do-gooders argue that they want to protect undersized fish. After all, they say, you can’t release alive a 15-inch red after you’ve shot it.
Well, that’s true. But you also can’t release alive a redfish that’s gut-hooked after gobbling a chunk of dead shrimp. So should we ban fishing with natural bait?
CCA is treading on dangerous ground with its support of this bill. In its digital “call to action” to solicit support from its members, the organization makes reference to the 1980s, when “commercial fishermen were decimating redfish stocks trying to meet the insatiable national demand for blackened redfish.”
Really? Can that comparison really be made?
If someone can produce credible, peer-reviewed science that demonstrates clearly that redfish stocks are in perilous trouble here in Louisiana and bowfishermen are to blame, I say we run them out of town with pitchforks.
But I think I’m safe reserving my pitchfork for members of Congress who voted for the healthcare bill.
Those who support the bowfishing ban need to ask themselves one question: Is my chosen sport next?
(This column appears in the May issue of Louisiana Sportsman.)
