Minnesota House Bill HF1531

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/26/25
• Refer: 2/26/25
• Report Pass: 3/12/25
• Report Pass: 3/16/26
• Refer: 4/9/26

Caption

Expiration of crossbow hunting and fishing allowance removed.

Summary

HF1531 amends Minnesota’s game and fish law to remove the sunset date on the state’s crossbow hunting and fishing allowance. Under current law, a person may use a crossbow during the regular archery seasons to take deer, bear, turkey, common carp, or native rough fish, so long as they have the appropriate license and comply with existing crossbow and transportation requirements. The bill keeps those substantive rules in place but eliminates the provision that would have caused the authorization to expire on June 30, 2026. In practical terms, the bill makes the crossbow allowance permanent rather than temporary. It does not expand the list of species that may be taken with a crossbow, change licensing requirements, or alter equipment standards; it simply removes the expiration date from Minnesota Statutes section 97B.037. The effective date is the day after final enactment.

Impact

The bill amends Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 97B.037, by striking the sunset clause for crossbow use during regular archery seasons. This preserves existing crossbow hunting and fishing permissions for deer, bear, turkey, common carp, and native rough fish, and it continues to require compliance with transportation rules, equipment standards, and species-specific licenses. The main legal effect is to convert a temporary authorization into an ongoing one, affecting hunters, anglers, and the Department of Natural Resources’ administration of archery-season rules.

Sentiment

The available legislative history suggests the bill was treated as a straightforward policy continuation rather than a controversial overhaul. It was referred to the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy, placed on the General Register, and later returned to committee and re-reported as amended, indicating active but routine consideration. No committee transcripts or recorded votes are provided, so there is no evidence in the record supplied here of strong opposition or debate, but the bill’s caption and structure suggest generally favorable support for making the crossbow allowance permanent.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is the policy choice to make crossbow access permanent in archery seasons. Supporters are likely to view the bill as maintaining hunting and fishing access and avoiding an automatic expiration that could disrupt current practice, while critics may be concerned about whether crossbows should remain available in archery seasons indefinitely or whether the temporary allowance should have been revisited before becoming permanent. Because no transcripts or votes are included, the specific arguments and positions of legislators, hunters, conservation groups, or other stakeholders are not documented in the provided materials.