Crossbow culture hasn't reached Oregon's hunting scene just yet.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

With Oregon's archery season in full swing, here's something to ponder while you're holding that bow at full draw, waiting for that big buck to step just a little closer:

When, if ever, will crossbows be legalized for hunting in Oregon, and under what circumstances?

Currently, Oregon is one of only two states in which crossbows are illegal for hunting, according to an article in the current issue of Buckmasters Whitetail magazine. Nevada is the other.

Crossbows, of course, are commonly associated in the public mind with medieval knights. (Who hasn't seen movies in which bows mounted crosswise on a wooden stock have fired bolts that could penetrate a knight's armored suit?)

But there's a clear modern trend toward acceptance of these mechanized bows.

Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, California and Washington are among the states that loosened their regulations on crossbows during 2004. This year, Kentucky and Virginia have passed laws allowing crossbows' use during archery bow season.

"Like it or not, crossbow hunters are increasing and seem to be the way of the future throughout North America," Buckmasters says.

However, there's no clear consensus over how crossbows should fit into the hunting scene. A state-by-state list of crossbow regulations compiled by the American Crossbow Federation shows a wide variety of rules.

The biggest clumping of states (20 of them) restrict crossbow use to hunters who are physically handicapped or impaired.

Those rules are apparently based on the theory that such hunters are not able to draw and hold even the modern compound bows, on which cam systems absorb most of the pressure needed to hold the bow string back.

Ten states permit the use of crossbows only during rifle seasons, apparently on the theory that they're more like a rifle than a traditional bow and arrow. (Modern crossbows are often mounted on a rifle stock, are aimed like a rifle, and fired by pulling a trigger. Some even have telescopic sights.)

Four states allow crossbows to be used only during archery seasons. Four others say it's OK to use them during rifle and bow seasons. Still others base crossbow use on a hunter's age.

Out west, California is among the states that allow crossbows to be used for big game during general firearms seasons. Washington and Idaho say crossbows are for disabled hunters only. Montana makes no provision for handicapped archers, but allows crossbow bolts to be fired during gun seasons. British Columbia considers crossbows to be regular archery equipment, allowed during all archery seasons.

To date, there has been no big push to legalize crossbows in Oregon, according to Tom Thornton of the state's wildlife division.

"It hasn't been an issue in Oregon recently," Thornton said. "The only requests I'm aware of is some disabled hunters have asked for crossbows to be an option."

But those requests were denied on the basis that "other options are available for holding a standard bow at full draw," he said.

Also, he said, archery hunting groups in Oregon have opposed the use of crossbows.

Opponents of crossbows generally argue that crossbows have a longer range than vertical bows, and would be so effective that bow seasons would have to be shortened to avoid overharvest.

In Georgia, which legalized the use of crossbows in 2002, biologists report harvest rates of .49 deer per hunter using crossbows and .51 deer per hunter using vertical bows. Fifty-five percent of all archery hunters (and a whopping 80 percent among senior hunters) opted for the X-bow.

The crossbow's availability was credited with drawing 9,300 new archery hunters in Georgia in 2004.

Wildlife agencies need to sell more licenses and tags is one reason Buckmasters says: "Like it or not, crossbows are coming to your state."

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].