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Our Stories |
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| Coalition members are full of testimonials
relating to the difficulties they face when trying to hunt as an equal. Most
of these stories revolve around various states failing to accommodate their
disability adequately. These stories are based on emails sent to our
webmaster. To
submit your own story to The Coalition, please email us at
coalition@disabledrights.org |
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 New York |
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| Hello. I'm a disabled hunter from New York with Cerebral Palsy, which now paralyzes my right arm. I applied for
a crossbow permit from the NY DEC, and they told me that I "wasn't disabled
enough" to legally hunt with a crossbow. The DEC issued me a modified-bow
permit, and advised me to purchase equipment from a man in Syracuse. This equipment modified a conventional PSE compound bow. I held the bow with my left-hand, and then held the bow steady with the help of a mouth piece. I could then move my left-hand up the bow, where the trigger was rigged. The biggest problem of this equipment was that it did not have a safety on its trigger device. During one hunt, the trigger was accidentally pulled. The arrow shot into the ground right between my feet. I lost my grip on the bow, and it swung around to hit me in the groin. A secondary problem was the fact that my teeth hurt for weeks after the season was over. I thought my dentist was going to kill me for using this device. I only tried bow hunting for that one year. I now hunt only with a
firearm, but I'd like to get back into archery. Seeing that I can successfully
hold a gun, I'm pretty sure that I can hold a crossbow. But state of New
York won't let me do that right now. The problem is that New York has made blanket policies on
who can use which accommodations, but disabilities rarely fit into neat
little molds. |
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West Virginia |
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| Ten years ago I pulled a muscle in my neck while
drawing a conventional bow. This injury required emergency surgery, and I
was out of work for a month. The doctors told me that if I were to start
drawing bows again, then I will likely end up re-injuring myself. So I stayed
away from archery hunting for 5 years, but picked the sport back up when
Maryland legalized crossbows for the disabled. I now legally hunt in
Maryland and Virginia with the crossbow. My son has recently purchased property in West Virginia, which him and I hunt. Unfortunately, West Virginia does not recognize the crossbow as a legal weapon. They allow only modified bows. But my crossbow is the only archery equipment that I own. In order to use WV's modified bow permit, I would have to buy a brand new bow setup, a Draw-Loc device, a bow scope (because my vision is so poor), and all of the other compound bow accessories. I would then have to pay someone to pull all of this together, and then spend hours trying to re-train myself. I estimate that it would cost be approximately $900 to purchase all of the equipment I just mentioned above. All of this money and work, just because West Virginia refuses to allow disabled crossbowers into their state. I refuse to spend this kind of money, especially on something that wouldn't work as well. Now worried that should West Virginia start a disabled crossbow program, I wouldn't fall under their disability definition. Many states do not recognize "risk of serious injury" as a valid reason to receive a crossbow permit. The bottom line -- West Virginia obviously doesn't want me in the woods.
My son now hunts alone during the West Virginia archery season. |
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Mississippi |
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| Hello. In response to your question on whether
Mississippi allows disabled to use crossbows, the answer is yes. But they
make you get letters from 2 doctors before they'll let you have
one. I don't know of any other state that makes you visit two separate
doctors.
But unfortunately I can't answer your second question -- I don't know if you can use a modified-bow in MS. When I first wanted to get into archery, I asked the MS DWFP if I could modify my bow with a Draw-Loc device. They told me Draw-Loc devices were illegal. So, then I applied for a crossbow permit. After applying, I was then told that Draw-Loc devices were legal for the disabled. I still don't know which is true. Different wardens have given me different answers. And nothing about modified-bows is on their website. I know crossbows are legal for me, so I use that. It seems that nobody has the guts to commit to any one answer, or put anything into writing. If the "average hunter" doesn't do it, then the problem doesn't need to be addressed. My disabled hunting abilities shouldn't come down to the interpretation of a single warden and a single judge. MS needs to decide what their regulations are going to be, and then make these decisions public.
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