Published: May 19, 2007 10:39 pm      

JOE OGNIBENE: A case for lealizing the crossbow

OUTDOORS

You might have read recently about a young marine who lost his right arm and leg in Iraq as the result of an enemy rocket attack.

Mark O’Brien, 24, of East Aurora, hopes that efforts by Senator George D. Maziarz to have the crossbow legalized will be successful so he can once again join his father deer hunting. Chances are slim that will happen.

The problem is, that according to Department of Environmental Conservation, the young man is not disabled, despite having lost and arm and a leg. According to the rules of the DEC, if a person can move a finger, he or she is not considered disabled. Attempts to have this shameful requirement abolished have met with vigorous resistance by New York Bowhunters and their pet politician, Senator Carl Marcellino, who constantly bottles bills to legalize the crossbow.

Members of NYB will tell you there are provisions for the disabled to use a crossbow in New York. The person must be completely unable to pull a trigger with any finger. They are allowed to fire a crossbow with a mouth tube and a puff of air. We now have a case of a young man who, while serving his country, left part of himself in a foreign country and is not asking for anything special, just the opportunity to once again take part in an activity he once enjoyed.

How will allowing disabled people or the elderly, who no longer have the ability to draw a bowstring, the use of a crossbow, harm our deer hunting in any way?

NYB has historically fought all attempts to have the crossbow legalized despite most of the country recognizing it as an effective tool for deer hunters. At one time they claimed crossbows were not “traditional” as they then claimed the compound bow to be.

What nonsense, there is nothing “traditional” about either.

Although the crossbow dates back to antiquity, a traditional bow is one made of wood, either a six-foot longbow or shorter re-curve. Both crossbow and compound depend on wheels and pulleys to impart speed and power to an arrow or bolt. Both can be fitted with trigger releases and optical or laser sights and string-holding devices. Other states that have long legalized the crossbow have refuted the argument that the deer herd will be decimated. Ohio, where crossbows have been in use for many years, has experienced an increase in the herd size despite record takes every year.

It will be interesting to see what our new DEC commissioner will do about Senator Maziarz’s bill. Will he go to bat for not only a wounded veteran, but all the disabled and elderly who want a fair chance to once again enjoy a favorite pastime? The world will not stop revolving if crossbows are allowed in hunting in New York, and no doubt many members of NYB will one day realize they are getting older and a horizontal bow is not a bad idea.

n Our weather has been anything but what we want for some good fishing. Water temperatures are still on the chilly side and fish have been slow to hit.

Fishing the sand bar in front of Fort Niagara for catch and release bass has been ho-hum for the most part. The same goes for Lake Erie and the Niagara River, both upper and lower. In the lower river some steelheads have been taken from Devil’s Hole and largemouth bass can be caught along the weeds at Peggy’s Eddy. There are still some lake trout to be caught in most of the popular drifts and stick baits with lots of wiggle are doing the trick. On Lake Erie, fishing with tube jigs in deep water seems to be the way to go. Water temperatures have been too cold, low 40s, for bass to be moving into shallower depths. The darker-colored jigs, motor oil, deep brown and purple seem to be most effective. Walleye trolling along the shoreline of Lake Erie down to Dunkirk with Rappalas is taking a few fish over 50 feet of water. If you can find them, Emerald shiners are catching walleye for drift trollers.

n It is with a heavy heart I have to inform friends who knew my brother, Sam, of his passing Thursday in Florida. Sam and I enjoyed each other’s company in boats, duck and goose blinds, deer camps and family outings. Sam was an avid skeet and trap shooter and worked on the space program at Bell Aircraft. His favorite fishing hole was Three Mile Bay up in the Thousand Islands area. I will sorely miss him.