Illinois maximum draw weight of 200#

TRG3 · 10-20-2008, 10:40 AM

This is my first year to use a crossbow and last week I took a nice doe at 35 yards with my Parker Buck Buster 150. Since I also enjoy hunting rabbits in front of my two beagles, I looked on page 7 of the Illinois digest of hunting regs available at our Wal-mart and was surprised to learn that, while a crossbow can be used to hunt anything in Illinois that a traditional or compound bow can, "...maximum peak draw weights must range between 125 and 200 pounds." Do other states have such limits? Tom

1shotkill1993 · 10-20-2008, 07:42 PM

not mine i dont think, but my crossbow is a 175 lbs pull and that seems like enough to me?

Cossack · 10-21-2008, 07:43 AM

Mine won't even let you use one without special permit for disabled. Al though they are softening, you can now use one during RIFLE/SHOTGUN etc season.

awshucks · 10-21-2008, 10:00 AM

Most states have minimum poundages, a good thing, imo. Some have max poundages which is pretty dumb as there are only two xbows currently made over the what seems to be common limit of 200#. Both are recurves and both have speeds currently being topped by lesser poundage [more efficient] compounds.

I didn't know about Illinois except they have a minimum width reg also which 86's a few popular models of compound xbows. Pa has a 200# limit and I believe Oh had one for many years, but recently did away w/ it. Randy probably knows more about this than any of us.