October 28, 2010
Advertisement
In an effort to "resolve" a very hotly debated and divisive issue, the Pope and Young Club's Board of Directors has been developing a possible compromise solution to the ongoing debate over the Club's well-known 65 percent let-off limit on compound bows.
Advertisement
A solution was finally adopted by the Board and forwarded to the Club's Regular Members and Senior Members (voting members) for a vote on a change to the Club's By-laws. That vote concluded on Friday, November 14th, and the ballots have been tallied. By a vote of 294-148, the membership passed the motion.
THE CHANGE
The proposal called for a change to the Records Program, whereby the Club would begin accepting entries harvested by compound bows that have let-off greater than 65 percent (provided they are legal, in the state/province where used, AND meet the Club's remaining definition of a hunting bow). Any record book entry with a compound bow exceeding 65 percent in let-off will be listed with an asterisk in the Records and in the record books.
The proposal also called for the production of a periodic, specialty book that would contain only animals harvested with "traditional" bows (recurve bows, longbows and self bows), in addition to them being listed in the all-time record books.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Effective January 1, 2004, the Club will begin accepting entries taken with compound bows that have let-off greater than 65 percent.
This change is retroactive, meaning that animals harvested in the past can now be submitted for possible acceptance into the Records.
The 65 percent value remains an important numerical "line," as any entry taken with a compound bow having percent let-off greater than that will be listed with an asterisk. The Club's definition of let-off remains the same and is an important consideration when accurately completing the entry materials. The Club's definition matches the A.M.O. standard method of measuring let-off. It differs from the now-popular advertising definition of let-off, referred to as "effective" let-off.
This is a point all bowhunters need to be aware of---when completing the "Hunt Information Form" on the Fair Chase Affidavit, you need to list the A.M.O. standard let-off for animals taken with a compound bow.
A "traditional-only" record book is intended to be published in 2007, with subsequent editions published on a six-year cycle. Those entries will remain in the all-time record books, as has always been the case. The next all-time record book (which has been, and will continue to be, published on a six-year cycle) is due out in the spring of 2005. The deadline for that book, the 6th Edition of "Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America," is 12/31/04.
