Know Your Crossbow

A crossbow is a bow with a rifle-like stock that shoots shorter arrows (bolts).

• The crossbow is believed to have existed for more than 2000 years, long before gunpowder was invented in China. No one knows where the crossbow was created. It might have been developed in Asia and brought to Europe by early explorers, or possibly it was developed simultaneously on both continents. Early crossbows were used as military weapons and as sport hunting tools of the nobility. Early crossbows were cumbersome and heavy. They also were difficult to cock and usually required a lever called a goat’s foot or a geared cocking aid known as a cranequin.
• Eventually the crossbow was replaced as a military weapon by the English longbow because a longbowman could release up to six arrows in the time it took a crossbowman to launch one. With the advent of black powder, rifles and cannons replaced bows and catapults in military use. However, longbows and crossbows remained popular for sport hunting and target shooting. In Europe today, crossbow clubs still hold target competitions with participants wearing period dress and shooting reproductions of ancient crossbows.
• Because most of the immigrants to the New World were commoners and the crossbow was the sporting tool of nobility, the crossbow did not travel with the early settlers to North America. Instead, European settlers brought black powder firearms to protect and provide for their families.
• During the late 1930s and the 1940s, archery pioneers began making their own bows and arrows, thus starting the bowhunting initiative that eventually led to the creation of our modern archery hunting seasons. With the development of fiberglass for use in bow limbs and the development of the compound bow in the late 1960s, interest also began in developing a modern crossbow.
• In the mid-1970s, wildlife agencies in Ohio and Arkansas began testing short crossbow hunting seasons to measure the impact on hunters and the resources. Based on deer harvest data, the agencies concluded that the modern crossbow was a safe, humane, and user-friendly hunting tool that could provide increased opportunity for bowhunters without a negative impact on the resources or other hunter groups. Because of the positive results, Ohio and Arkansas ultimately expanded their crossbow seasons to coincide with the general archery seasons. Many other states and Canadian provinces also have established crossbow seasons, based on the Ohio-Arkansas data.