Don, you may not think that it's relevant, I do. I remember our candid conversations from 4 years ago on this topic and know that you take the commitment beyond just another ad in your magazine...and that your disdain for us (bowhunters) on this issue was rooted long before any "schoolboy" e-mail you recently received. (See cartoon you published from 10/2004 again)
I guess we can just add the significance of your relationship with crossbow manufacturers to the growing list of things we disagree on.
I've met other individuals in your exact position (TV/magazine guys with sponsors/advertisers who manufacture x-bows) and some of them have been asked to get involved the way you choose to do. I respect them greatly (even if we personally disagree on this issue) for not using their celebrity status or posing as "concerned individuals" to lobby this cause but rather trying to let the sportsmen of Texas influence this legislature.
I also know a few bowhunters that feel just as you do and who have no financial connections to any crossbow manufacturers. I listen to these individuals and respect their views (even though we disagree) much more than the opinions of people who don't bowhunt and are
paid to promote crossbows.
I tire of fellow hunters attacking the bowhunting community (calling us elitist, zealots, etc...) for simply defending our sport's future and trying to preserve 30 years of Texas tradition for future generations.
I guess it boils down to what's important to us as individuals...some of us want the "bowhunting" that we pass on to future generations to resemble the "bowhunting" that we were introduced to and have come to love.
For others it's very important to lead this push to change the definition of a sport that you admittedly don't participate in??? Yet, you feel the need to "fix" us and right some 30+ years of injustice? Why?
If anyone has earned the right to have a hand in sculpting the future of the Archery Season in Texas, it's the bowhunters of Texas.
BTW, my cell # is 469-360-9626...feel free to call me if you wish to but this keyboard joisting is getting silly.