During the touchy January debate about whether to permit crossbows during archery deer and bear seasons, it seemed, perhaps to some on the board of commissioners, a reasonable compromise: crossbows would be legal, but hunters couldn't mount magnifying scopes on them.

Of course, the devil's in the details. Among them was just how enforcement officers would tell non-magnifying red-dot scopes from magnifying scopes without peeking through each one.

Last week, the commission gave final approval to a regulatory change that allows hunters to use magnifying scopes on bows and crossbows during the archery deer and archery bear seasons.

"Shortly after [the January] vote, the agency began to receive significant public comment about that magnification prohibition," said Game Commission executive director Carl G. Roe. "The Board decided it would be appropriate to revisit this aspect of the recently approved use of crossbows in the state's archery seasons."

One compromise remains in place: As approved in January, there's a sunset date imposed on the crossbow ruling requiring the board of commissioners to consider the impact of the expanded use of crossbows on deer populations before June 30, 2012.

During the 2009-2010 seasons, a crossbow must have a peak drawn weight of at least 125 pounds, and a bolt must be equipped with a broadhead that has an outside diameter or width of at least 7/8 inches with at least two cutting edges on the same plane throughout the length of the cutting surface, and the blade can not exceed 3 inches in length. There is no maximum draw weight. Crossbows may only be used during the early and late muzzleloader season when they overlap with archery seasons. An archery license is required.

Youth Mentored Hunting

Young hunters may find the regulatory processes of shooting their first deer a little easier following the passage last week of a measure that would allow adult licensed hunters to transfer their antlerless deer tags to participants in the Mentored Youth Hunting Program.

The state House of Representatives unanimously passed the measure, introduced by Rep. Peter J. Daley D-Washington/Fayette.

Since 2006, the Mentored Youth Hunting Program has allowed licensed hunters to provide one-on-one supervision to young, unlicensed boys and girls.

With safety and participation high, the program is considered a success. Estimates taken from the Pennsylvania Game Commission's voluntary Game-Take Survey show the level of participation in the youth program has increased for both adult mentors and youths. In the first year of the program, it is estimated that 43,780 youths were mentored by 32,913 adults, and kids harvested 52,788 squirrels and 36,351 groundhogs. In 2007, the number of mentored youth grew to 58,883 with 51,141 adult mentors, and the mentored youths harvested 61,160 squirrels, 52,114 groundhogs, 5,199 antlered deer and 3,496 spring gobblers.

The new legislation is designed to make it legally easier for mentored youth to harvest their first deer with the help of an adult.

At a time when youth and young adults are spending more time indoors, a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggested that youth who participate in hunting-related activities are more likely to embrace the sport and become lifelong hunters.

"With this expansion of the program, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will enable the young hunter to participate in a deer hunt that will be educational, memorable and have a better chance of being successful," said Daley, in a prepared statement. "This bill allows for greater harvest opportunity for our youth hunters and would go a long way toward reversing the trend in lack of hunter participation. This increased opportunity keeps youth interest alive. We lose so many of our young people today to video games and other activities."

The legislation is pending. It is supported by the Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, the Governor's Advisory Council on Hunting, Fishing and Conservation, Quality Deer Management and the National Wild Turkey Federation.

This year, however, for the first time, kids participating in the Mentored Youth Hunting program will have to get a permit. At their spring meeting last week, the agency's board of commissioners added the permit requirement. The permit will cost $1 plus vendor fees. It can be purchased from any issuing agent and will include official big game tags for antlered deer and spring gobblers.

Agency executive director Roe said implementation of the new Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS), which will go on line June 15, will enable the Game Commission to better chart participation in youth program.

"When we first started the [youth program], we didn't require a permit because there was no method available to issue a permit without creating an enormous obstacle for participants," he said. "With the full roll-out of our electronic license sale system this coming license year, we can provide a method for adult mentors to enable youth to obtain a permit without too many difficulties. By implementing the permit, we will be able to start gathering data about the level of participation in this program, which can be used to assist in better planning and scheduling our basic hunter-trapper education courses. This database of participants will let us know how many young hunters are approaching 11 years of age, and where they live, so that we can make sure the number of courses we are offering will meet the expected demand."

The Mentored Youth Hunting Program is for children under 12. At 12 years of age, they're required to have hunting licenses. Legal game for youth hunters are squirrel, groundhog, coyote, spring gobbler and deer. Mentored youth can participate in both the junior-only seasons for squirrels and spring gobblers. Adult mentors have to be at least 21 and possess a valid hunting license.