Why It Matters: For the continued success of our time-honored outdoor traditions, it is critical to secure policies that provide increased access and opportunity for hunters to remain engaged in their outdoor pursuits regardless of age or injury, as well as offering additional avenues for new hunters to be introduced to the stand or blind. Fully including crossbows in archery seasons can do just that.
Highlights:
- House File 1531 would remove a sunset deadline on the full inclusion of crossbows during Minnesota’s archery season.
- The bill, sponsored by Minnesota Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Josh Heintzeman, passed unanimously out of Committee last month.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) worked to pass the original authorization currently at risk of sunsetting in the Natural Resources omnibus bill during the 2023 legislative session.
In March, the Minnesota House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy voted unanimously to approve House File 1531, which would allow crossbows to be fully included in the North Star State’s archery hunting season. A trial period for full crossbow inclusion was enacted back in 2023, and House File 1531 stands to remove the sunset deadline that was set during that original passage. CSF worked to support crossbow inclusion in the 2023 Natural Resources omnibus bill and has continued that support during the current 2025 legislative session.
Crossbows benefit the sporting-conservation community by providing aging archery hunters an opportunity to continue to pursue their favorite species, as a dramatic decrease in archery hunters has been shown to occur as hunters grow older. They also provide hunters that have experienced injuries – whether those have long or short-term impacts – with an opportunity to continue participating in archery season as they would have. Additionally, crossbows serve as an introduction to new methods of take to hunters that have only ever hunted with a firearm. A report from Michigan indicates that following the inclusion of crossbows in the state’s archery season, about 19% of hunters using a crossbow had only previously hunted with a firearm. Archery success improved in Minnesota during its trial period as well, with the Minnesota DNR reporting:
“This year was an incredibly successful year for archery hunters, with archery harvest up 16%. Preliminary harvest results suggest this might be the second highest archery harvest ever in Minnesota, only surpassed by the 2020 season.
In 2023, Minnesota legalized crossbows for all archery hunters regardless of age. Crossbow harvest saw a 28% increase compared to 2023 and 48% of total archery harvest was by crossbow. Vertical bow harvest was also up 7% compared to 2023.”
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation is committed to securing policies that improve access and opportunity for sportsmen and women across the country, and during this legislative session in Minnesota, that has included supporting House File 1531. CSF will continue that support now that the bill has made it to the House floor and urge members of the Minnesota Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to support its passage.
