Nationwide, at least two dozen hunters claim serious thumb injuries from Barnett Crossbows. Although Barnett — the largest maker of crossbows in the country — put thumb guards on its popular Jackal models late last year, older models are still on sale at Academy Sports and Gander Mountain stores in North Texas.
Gander Mountain did not respond to an inquiry; Academy referred questions to Barnett.
David Harville's experience with his Barnett Jackal crossbow in September appears to be common. The tip of his thumb was in the pathway of the crossbow's drawstring, which fires an arrow at 325 feet per second. He was hunting in the woods in his home state of Indiana. His thumb "was cut down to the bone," Harville told News 8.
"I was losing quite a bit of blood, so I had to put the thumb back over, wrap it in the shirt, and go to the emergency room," he said. "And it was about half an hour in the woods."
David Reynolds in Virginia was hunting with his six-year-old son when he said his crossbow fired and sliced the tip of his thumb.
"So I looked and my thumb was hanging off," Reynolds told News 8. "'Daddy, it does't look good,'" his son told him. "'There's blood everywhere.'"
The thumbs of the two hunters were reconstructed with pins and screws.
The power and stiffness of a drawstring makes a crossbow an inherently dangerous product. Barnett crossbows are marked with warning stickers to explain that danger, and its owners' manuals carry the same warning.
"People injured with a crossbow haven't read the labels," Barnett's vice president of product design David Barnett said in a deposition last week. "People injured with a crossbow have no intention of looking at labels."
The company declined to talk to News 8 because it faces lawsuits in several states for negligence in design and marketing. The company denies negligence.
Because the bow is front heavy, it's natural for a hunter to want to hold it where his or her thumb is in harm's way. When a hunter is looking through the weapon's sight, fingers or a thumb are not visible.
Barnett has settled a few of the suits brought against it. But David Harville and David Reynolds are both suing the company.
Reynolds said he called Barnett after his accident to see if there had been a recall of the product. A company representative asked him to read her the serial number. "When I tell her that, she says they don't track it," he said.
Harville, who hunts and traps to supplement his income, told News 8 he called Barnett about his accident to get relief from his $10,000 in hospital and rehab bills. Instead, he said the company offered to give him a new bow if he'd send them the one that wounded him.
Both Harville and Reynolds said they filed complaints with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Investigators visited them both.
In writing, the CPSC told News 8 it is "currently looking into these (and other) incidents."
Brad Kizzia, who represents eight hunters suing Barnett who've lost or damaged their thumbs, said the issue is simple.
"They made an unreasonably dangerous product, and they're responsible for that," Kizzia said.
