Status of Micro 335 in Québec?

[dpoisson]

Hi everyone!
From what I heard and I've gathered, it would seem the micro 335, with a power stroke of 9.5" falls short of Québec's 10" minimum power stroke requirement for hunting big game. Making it illegal to hunt with the micro 335 in Québec. Is this true?

Assuming it is true, is there anything that Excalibur is doing to remedy this situation? Are you guys talking with the government to get an exemption for the micro 335? Are they going to modify the hunting regulations to allow for the micro 335.

There is no doubt in my mind that the micro 335 has more than enough power to cleanly take big game...

Thanks!

David

[Tom]

Hi everyone!
From what I heard and I've gathered, it would seem the micro 335, with a power stroke of 9.5" falls short of Québec's 10" minimum power stroke requirement for hunting big game. Making it illegal to hunt with the micro 335 in Québec. Is this true?

Assuming it is true, is there anything that Excalibur is doing to remedy this situation? Are you guys talking with the government to get an exemption for the micro 335? Are they going to modify the hunting regulations to allow for the micro 335.

There is no doubt in my mind that the micro 335 has more than enough power to cleanly take big game...

Thanks!

David

David, I just looked up the specs on this website to see and they list the micro 335 with a power stroke of 10". Where did you get the 9.5"figure for the power stroke. Are you confusing power stroke with draw length.

Tom

[bubba]

For sure it's 10" X-2..........

[dpoisson]

My bad. I saw on a local forum here in Québec that some people mentioned it was currently illegal to hunt with these in Québec.

I thought I had checked the specs,... I don't know what happened, but in the end, it's my fault! Sorry for the thread!

David

[Tom]

No problem.

Even here in Ontario there was a confusion between power stroke and draw lenght. It is good to question something if your not sure. Just like this time, you get an answer and no problem is created.

Tom

[bubba]

Like Tom said. No problem.. That's what this forum is all about. Helping..

[dpoisson]

Well, a couple of minutes before I wrote on this forum, I also sent an email to the Government body that governs hunting in Québec.

The official response is that it is NOT legal for hunting in Québec. It is in french, but they basically say that the power stroke, which should be mesured from where the string is when the bow is not cocked to where the string is held once it's cocked is NOT 10".

Which basically means, it is not legal to hunt moose, deer or bear in Québec. It is however legal to hunt turkey and small game.

For those that can read french, here is a screen capture of the letter I received:


David

[Tom]

David, I believe that they are incorect in their ruling (or statement) because of their defination.

I believe that the Ontario MNR also had a ruling simular to what Quebec told you. But "archery defination" of draw lenght is basicly the distance the string travels back from at rest to the cocked postion. The "power stroke" is the distance the string travels after it is fired.

The power stroke will always be greater then the draw lenght just because of KE & limb deflection means the string will travel beyond the brace height (place when at rest).

I would forward the email you received from Quebec to Excalibur as I think they would like to see that.

Tom

[Excalibur Marketing Dude]

We have been working with the Quebec Government to fix this issue. For some reason they want to measure the power stroke differently than every other province or state. In Ontario we measure the power stroke to the front of the limb the same way they do compound bows.

Its really a crazy regulation. They should not be regulating the power stroke but rather the kinetic energy the crossbow creates with the recommended minimum arrow weight so they can assure an ethical kill. I think they are trying to restrict the pistol crossbows which they should but they need to better understand crossbow dynamics. A Micro makes enough energy to take down a bunch of deer if you line them up properly.

It's almost as crazy as the minimum draw weight laws some states and provinces have. Somebody has convinced these people that a crossbow with more than a 200 lb. draw weight will be pretty much a gun, they forgot about the different crossbow designs. When Governments set hunting equipment regulations they should research the topic more or consult real experts so the laws make sense.

This becomes very frustrating for crossbow manufacturers!

Peter

[dpoisson]

Excalibur Marketing Dude, and where would I send a copy of that letter to? The only address I see on their website is: [email protected].

David

[Bullzeye]

For some reason they want to measure the power stroke differently than every other province or state.

Peter

Vive le Quebec, they always have to do things different here.

[Excalibur Marketing Dude]

David, [email protected]. will work. Please send me the letter and I will forward it to those working on negotiating with the Quebec DNR.

Thanks,

Peter

[dpoisson]

Hi Marketing guy, I forwarded you the email I received.

Hoping it actually gets things moving and we can finally use the micro for more than just hunting grouse

David

[Excalibur Marketing Dude]

This shows how crazy the Quebec law is, by simply allowing the string to stretch the Micro's power stroke is then increased into the legal limit.

[colouredchameleon]

So I guess in Quebec one needs to only remove the Reds and they are good to go with a broken in string that meets the 10" minimum.
Or is there a potential by doing so that the brace height would be too low.
Or in order to keep the Reds in place that a shorter post be used on the Reds mounts.

I do a lot of fishing and hunting in Quebec and I must say they tend to do a lot of things differently than Ontario. For the most part Ontario MNR could learn from them when it comes to game management systems and enforcement.
I understand the confusion in this case as I had the same question as to which is which when I first starting using a crossbow. As well from time to time newbees post threads questioning this very subject even in regards to Ontario's regulations.
Work in progress I guess.
At least there may be a way around the Quebec Regulation as you suggest for the time being until it is ironed out.
If the Quebec MNR are anything like the OMNR then it may be more difficult then one would think to come to a resolution.