New York Crossbow Coalition dissolving a year after major crossbow expansion

Pulaski, N.Y. — Victory has its rewards, but it can sometimes have shortcomings. Citing a drop in membership and participation among current members, the New York Crossbow Coalition’s board of directors recently voted to dissolve the organization. 

For a decade-and-a-half the group, led by the late Rick McDermott and most recently, Roy Dust, campaigned tirelessly for expanded crossbow hunting opportunities in New York and built a membership that was over 1,600 strong. Their goals were realized a year ago when the state legislature passed and Gov. Kathy Hochul eventually signed a bill that put crossbows on the same level as compound bows in most, but not all, of New York State. 

But since then membership has dwindled to just over 200 and Dust, who adamantly wants to secure McDermott’s legacy, feels it’s time to move on. Dust made the announcement in a July 23 email to the organization’s current members. 

“You, the membership, have been the strength and backbone of the organization. Your voice and response, when asked, got the job done,” Dust said. “However, as we feared, our numbers are too small to continue. We have begun the process of dissolving the organization. We thank all of you members, past and present.”

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NYCC background

McDermott founded the New York Crossbow Coalition in 2012 and championed the implement’s expanded opportunities that transpired in 2014. 

“I attended a Senate Environmental Conservation Committee meeting,” McDermott told New York Outdoor News in 2022. “A representative from New York Bowhunters came in. He said bowhunters oppose crossbows. That was my ‘OK, hold my beer’ moment. I am a bowhunter and I support crossbows. You don’t represent me.”

But the 2014 package wasn’t enough, as McDermott sought to have full inclusion for crossbow hunters throughout the entire archery season. 

A tireless campaigner, McDermott, eventually along with Dust and other members, worked numerous sport shows each year recruiting members and garnering support for crossbow expansion. McDermott, and his wife Annemarie, were killed in a head-on car crash in June, 2023. 

Dust took over as president of the group and immediately made an effort to spread the responsibilities out among the group’s other leaders, including McDermott’s son, Thomas, who will soon be leaving New York State. Once the pieces were picked up following McDermott’s death the group focused even more heavily on achieving crossbow expansion. 

They caught a break in the fall of 2023, Dust said, when one member pointed out a little-known and unpublicized part of Americans with Disabilities Act, which allowed crossbows to be used during the archery season by qualified individuals. Once confirmed with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, a permit system for Reasonable Accommodation to Use an Unmodified Crossbow During the Regular Bow Season put nearly 3,000 crossbow hunters in  the field that fall, and eventually a total of 8,000, according to Dust

“We believe that this shed so much light on the positive side of the crossbow, while debunking the misinformation previously spread by adversaries; the ability of the crossbow in the state’s R-3 program showed huge potential,” Dust said.

X-bow expansion

Then, in 2025, the NYS Assembly ENCON Committee chair Deborah Glick got behind the crossbow bill after a shooting session with DEC, which helped to move the bill through the Assembly.

The Senate followed and with both houses nearly unanimously passing the bill, it was inevitable that Gov. Hochul would sign it, which she did prior to the 2025 hunting season. 

“People were calling and texting me, congratulating me,” Dust said after the passage. “All I did was pick up the pieces when Rick got killed and tried to hold things together. He set it all up.”

Dust said dissolving the organization at this time seems to be the right thing to do to honor McDermott’s legacy, although at one point they did have long-term plans. 

“When I met Rick, the thought process was that we would eventually do hunts for women and the disabled,” Dust said. “As time went on, it was like, I don’t know if its going to be that easy if we can’t maintain our membership.” 

Along with such programs, Dust had hoped to continue to push to change the crossbow minimum setback distance for discharge of 500 feet in Westchester and Suffolk counties to  the 250-feet distance, like the rest of New York. And, he hopes to see all youth hunters be allowed to hunt from tree stands.

“After getting full inclusion last year, your board of directors recognized the possibility of a reduced membership,” Dust said in his email. “We had won at least 98% of the goals that Rick had dreamed of. Unfortunately, there are counties that can’t see the forest for the trees.”

What’s next?

The dissolution of the NYCC means the organization, as a non-profit, will pass on its assets to another non-profit(s). Dust said that process, along with liquidating some other physical assets is in the works. 

Meanwhile, Dust continues to credit the membership, his fellow leaders and especially McDermott for the success of the organization and for the fact the eventual goal of crossbow expansion was ultimately reached. 

“All I had to do was just not screw it up,” Dust said of his own leadership. 

For the time being, the group’s Facebook page and website, is still active at press time.