I was sitting where I most often enjoy reading magazines when I noticed yet another article about crossbows. I was reminded how there was a time when any mention of making crossbows legal for everyone would quickly raise the hair on the backs on bow hunters. Eventually they would lose the war, perhaps when state wildlife agencies and bow manufacturers realized they had probably sold a long or compound bow to everyone who wanted one.

With that war now over, what will be the next big debate within the deer hunting community? Perhaps I missed it, but there wasn't so much as a wimper when the TPWD made it legal to use airguns to hunt deer. With more and more hunters now hunting very small tracks, perhaps a law that sets a minimum acreage requirement for deer hunting might be on the horizon. After all, how easy it to keep a bullet traveling at over 2,700 ft/sec on a two-acre tract. As was the case with crossbows, perhaps you need only look at where all the current debates are raging to get an idea of where the next big shakeup will happen.

Personally, I have to wonder what might happen should the TPWD shut down the use of feeders after a large outbreak of CWD. I can remember a few years ago when the very mention of those three letters would send chills through some in the deer hunting community. Antler restrictions get an honorable mention as more evidence rolls in as to their impact on herd genetics. I've never really understood why the same people who are most against AR's, are the same ones who claim they create no impact on low-fenced deer. I mean, why be against something that you believe makes no difference?