HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Hunters should not be allowed to use a prehistoric weapon known as the atlatl to kill deer, the state Game Commission's staff concluded in an internal study.

		Previous coverage State ponders atlatl season (11/13/05)

The nonbinding recommendation was being made public Tuesday, about two weeks before the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners is scheduled to vote on whether to permit atlatl hunting.

The staff report said the atlatl, a wooden piece that propels an arrowlike dart, is not deadly enough.

"Staff is not convinced that an atlatl and dart, in the hands of the average hunter, possesses sufficient lethality to ethically and humanely harvest a deer in Pennsylvania," the report said.

Atlatl use dates back more than 8,000 years in Pennsylvania and far earlier elsewhere in North America and in Europe. The wooden piece gives throwers additional leverage to propel the darts as fast as 80 mph, and enthusiasts say they enjoy recreating the feel of a Stone Age hunt.

At least one state -- Alabama -- has legalized atlatl hunting for deer, but even there they are rarely used. Atlatl hunters have killed bison with the weapon, but animal rights activists are concerned they could wound and maim too great a percentage of deer.

Johnna Seeton, a board member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network, said modern firearms vastly improve the odds of a clean kill.

"You would think in this modern day and age that you would not have to unevolve yourself to, you know, such barbaric practices," she said.

Game Commissioner Roxane Palone, who sought the internal study as a possible first step toward allowing atlatl hunting, said previously it might help expand hunting in a state where the number of deer-hunting licenses is on the decline.

Sales of general licenses have fallen about 22 percent since the mid-1980s and are down about 2.4 percent in the past five years.

Palone did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment left at her home on Tuesday.

If the commission does give the go-ahead for atlatl hunting during its Jan. 22-24 meeting, a final vote could be made in April.

Spokesman Jerry Feaser said Tuesday that the Game Commission's board members have known about the staff recommendation for the past week but he did not have a sense of whether any support remained for atlatl hunting.