From: Bergeron, Daniel [mailto:Daniel.Bergeron@wildlife.nh.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2018 8:24 AM
To: ‘Edward Hale’
Subject: RE: Crossbow use expanded! Great!

Hello Ed,

Glad to hear that law works for you.  We also expanded crossbow use in WMU M (which covers about half of Rockingham County) this past season.  It is now legal for any hunter to use a crossbow in WMU M (in place of a traditional/compound bow) throughout the archery season with no need for a special permit of any sort.  New England is different from other states in its allowance of crossbows because we have some of the lowest relative deer densities in the nation (we are near the northern limit of whitetail range).  In NH we are not opposed to their use and have been expanding opportunity with them when we can.  However, crossbows are a more efficient weapon than traditional or compound bows and therefore result in higher success rates.  Because of this we have to be more cautious when expanding their use, particularly given how liberal our archery season already is.  In most areas of the state if we expanded their use we would likely have to drastically reduce the length of the archery season to compensate for increased success rates.  As time goes on and deer numbers rise in certain areas of the state I’m sure crossbow use will continue to expand, we just have to be more cautious than states to our south and west that have a more robust deer resource to work with.

I hope this information was informative.

Happy Holidays,

Dan Bergeron

Deer Project Leader

New Hampshire Fish & Game Department

11 Hazen Drive

Concord, NH 03301

(603) 271-2461

Daniel.Bergeron@wildlife.nh.gov

Did you know? New Hampshire Fish and Game protects, conserves and manages more than 500 species of wildlife, including 63 mammals, 18 reptiles, 22 amphibians, 313 birds and 122 kinds of fish as well as thousands of invertebrates!