From JS Online: One of the last top deer hunting states to tightly restrict the use of crossbows, Wisconsin appears on the threshold of change. A bill has been introduced in the Legislature to allow all hunters to use crossbows during the state's archery deer hunting season… The bill could be signed into law in time for the 2013 season. I have covered the crossbow debate for years, here on the blog and back in my days as whitetail editor for Outdoor Life. I have reported on the positives from proponents like NRA: crossbows help recruit and retain hunters. I have documented the kicking and screaming of groups like Wisconsin Traditional Archers who remain staunchly opposed: crossbows mean more pressure in the woods…too [...]

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has reported that hunters killed an estimated 343,110 deer during the 2012-13 season, an increase of about 2 percent over the previous year. Hunters shot 133,860 bucks and 209,250 antlerless deer. In my home state of Virginia, 213,597 deer were reported shot, including 96,712 antlered bucks, 18,061 button bucks and 98,781 does. The 2012 kill was down 8% from the previous year. Post your state’s harvest data from last season so we can build a database and see and compare figures. Looking back, how was your season? Was the kill up or down? Your observations as to why?