Deer hunting season, one of the most time-honored traditions in Michigan, will take on a decidedly different dimension this fall as the Department of Natural Resources expects to see a significant increase in the number of hunters who will go afield with crossbows.

Deer hunters have long been able to use crossbows in Michigan, but only during the Nov. 15-30 firearm season. During archery season, only hunters with permanent disabilities that made them unable to use conventional archery gear were allowed to use crossbows, if they obtained the necessary permits. And those permits were subject to review by medical professionals to make sure the applicant qualified to use a crossbow.

But the rules have been changed;
last spring the Natural Resources Commission decided that beginning this deer season, anyone who is age 50 or older may use a crossbow during the early (Oct. 1-Nov. 14) archery deer season.

And in southern Michigan, the opportunities are even more wide open: Any hunter who is at least 12 years of age may use a crossbow during any deer season (though those hunters must wear hunter orange if they are hunting during any firearms deer season.) Although 10-year-olds may legally hunt deer with archery gear, the NRC decided to set a minimum age of 12 for crossbow hunters because, unlike conventional bows, which have to be drawn immediately before releasing an arrow, crossbows are cocked and ready to shoot. The NRC was concerned about the safety of crossbows in a 10-year-old's hands because they are large and heavy.

The change in southern Michigan was based on several characteristics that don't exist in the northern two-thirds of the state. For one thing, deer populations are well above goal in almost all southern Michigan deer management units. And the vast bulk of hunting opportunity in southern Michigan occurs on private land, where wildlife managers have a difficult time having an impact on the harvest.

In the northern two-thirds of the state, there are fewer DMUs that are well over their population goals and there is far more public land. So the impact of crossbows could be more significant if crossbows were legal in all archery seasons. In addition, deer in the northern two-thirds of the state tend to congregate in "deer yards," areas with conifer cover that offers thermal protection during cold-weather months. The yarding phenomenon in northern Michigan made NRC members reluctant to allow the use of crossbows during the December archery season.

Any hunter who uses a crossbow must obtain a free crossbow "stamp" from a license vendor or from the DNR Web site. This regulation was made by the NRC to make it easier for state wildlife officials to collect and analyze data pertaining to crossbow hunting. The new crossbow regulations are expected to remain in force for three years, after which they will be evaluated and perhaps refined.

By early August, some 11,000 individuals had obtained a crossbow validation from license dealers or online, which wildlife officials say indicates a fairly high level of interest in the new hunting opportunity.

"The crossbow stamp is our only indicator, really," said John Niewoonder, acting big-game specialist with the DNR's Wildlife Division. "That's probably more than I was expecting, but I guess I really didn't have anything to base that on. In the past we constantly got calls for that application for crossbows permits, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised."

Niewoonder said wildlife officials aren't going to guess at how the new hunting opportunity will change harvest numbers, but they're not expecting dramatic changes.

"We're pretty sure it's not going to affect the harvest that much," Niewoonder said. "It might help a few guys get out in the woods who might not go otherwise, so they'll harvest some deer, but, overall, we don't think it's going to have a very significant impact. Things like weather on opening day of firearm season have a much bigger impact on harvest."

Still, some are hopeful the use of crossbows will help bring down the deer population in problem areas, such as southern Michigan and the tuberculosis action zone in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.

That's one of the reasons for the crossbow stamp for deer hunters: Wildlife Division staff wants to analyze the results of the various deer seasons to see if more deer are harvested and where that harvest occurs. They also want to see if crossbows help recruit new hunters, get retired hunters to return to the fold, or whether traditional archery (or firearms) hunters just shift to a different method of take.

Hunters who wish to use crossbows are subject to the same licensing requirements as all others hunters. Hunters who were born after Jan. 1, 1960 must either successfully complete a hunter safety education class or obtain an apprentice-hunter license. Although there is no official crossbow training, the subject is covered in hunter safety classes, and the DNR's Archery in the Schools Program has purchased crossbows for its instructors to make sure they are familiar with the devices. Archery programs will feature more crossbow information in the years ahead.

Hunters also may legally pursue any game they may pursue with a firearm with a crossbow and some hunters opted to try out the devices this past spring during wild turkey season. But wildlife officials expect the largest segment of crossbow hunters will be -- just as is the case with firearms and archery hunters -- deer hunters.

Hunters are reminded that baiting and feeding deer and elk are prohibited in the Lower Peninsula.