Mississippi bowhunters -- and especially those who are newcomers to the sport -- now have the opportunity to add a new twist to their archery experience: With the introduction of the General Crossbow License in 2005, those who didn't qualify for the Special Crossbow License can now sample the thrill from a somewhat different orientation -- horizontally rather than vertically.

In the past, these trigger-actuated bows that you draw and cock rather than draw and hold could only be used by hunters 65 years of age or older and/or certified by a physician as having a disability that totally and permanently prevents the use of a compound bow, recurve bow, or longbow, or other conventional archery equipment.

But since 2005, any resident and non-resident having a regular hunting license can buy a General Crossbow License. The fee for the new license is $10.00 for residents and $20.00 for non-residents. Unlike the Special Crossbow License, this permit is only valid during primitive weapons and gun season for deer only. Small game also may be hunted with a crossbow license, but only during those periods when open season for the particular animal coincides with an open season on deer. (Continued)

Even before the measure went into effect, however, I managed to get a preview of what this move means for hunting in the Magnolia State.

Being a life member of the Mississippi Bowhunters Association, I was -- to say the least -- skeptical prior to my first experience with hunting whitetails by crossbow. In early October 2005, Robert Pitman, the owner of Alabama's prestigious White Oak Plantation, invited me to cover their inaugural Horton Crossbow Hunt.

At that point, I'd never even held a crossbow in my hands -- but I did hold some prejudices about the contraptions, having heard negative arguments to the effect that that they're not bows but "cross-guns" that shoot "bolts" rather than arrows, thus supposedly conferring an unfair advantage over those armed with "traditional" archery equipment. I'd soon discover, however, that most, if not all, of those preconceptions were totally unfounded.

Regardless of whether the crossbow ended up pleasing or disappointing me, I immediately realized on arriving at White Oak Plantation that everything I'd heard about this hunter's paradise was true. From the moment I stepped out of my truck, I felt at home on the sprawling 20,000 acres that make up the facility.

"White Oak's mission is to provide our clientele with the finest hunting, food, accommodations and service possible," Pitman explained. "The concept is purely Southern hospitality with our own personal flair to provide a truly quality outdoor experience. We're dedicated to the principles of respect for the land, the game and the guest."

Fortunately for me, I hooked up with a couple of other participants -- Horton Crossbows' Ottie Snyder, director of the American Crossbow Federation, and Daniel Hendricks, publisher of Horizontal Bowhunters -- whose wealth of valuable information about crossbow hunting, was just what a neophyte crossbowman like me needed.

Ottie Snyder is the kind of unpretentious guy who shoots straight from the hip. If you don't want the truth, then don't ask him, because the unvarnished facts are what you're going to get. Under his tutelage, I was amazed at how little time and practice it took to master a crossbow. Along the way, my view of these weapons also shifted toward a more favorable, fact-based view.