Why It Matters: Allowing hunters to use a crossbow during archery seasons ensures that sportsmen and women may continue to participate in the pursuit of their favorite species, even if they can no longer use traditional vertical bows due to age or injury. Crossbows are also an excellent introduction to prospective hunters, whether they are youth or adults that are simply interested in joining us in the woods and fields.
Highlights:
- Minnesota Senate File 3, the Omnibus Environment and Natural Resources appropriations bill, was passed in early June.
- The bill extended the sunset for crossbows to be included during archery seasons, which was first legislatively authorized in 2023.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) worked in both 2023 and 2025 to support full inclusion of crossbows and will continue that support in the future to remove the sunset entirely.
In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature allowed for the full inclusion of crossbows to take game species during those species’ respective archery seasons, but with a sunset date of 2025. Earlier this session, Minnesota Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Josh Heintzeman introduced House File 1531, which would have removed the sunset entirely. Ultimately passed as a provision of Senate File 3 (the Omnibus Environment and Natural Resources appropriations legislation), the sunset date was extended to 2026.
CSF worked with legislators to support the passage of full crossbow inclusion in both 2023 and 2025, as crossbows benefit the sporting-conservation community by providing aging archery hunters the opportunity to continue to pursue their favorite species, as a sharp decrease in archery hunters occurs as hunters grow older. Crossbows also provide hunters that have experienced either long or short-term injuries with the opportunity to continue participating in archery season as they would have and serve as an introduction to new methods of take that make archery season more accessible to hunters that have only ever hunted with a firearm.
Although fully incorporating crossbows into Minnesota’s archery seasons without a sunset date will need to be revisited next session, the omnibus’ extension will allow hunters in the North Star State to continue exploring the opportunities that horizontal archery offers – which has already boosted archery harvest in the state. CSF will continue to support legislation that expands opportunities for sportsmen and women around the country through the strong network of sportsmen-legislators that comprise the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses.
