Here are some documented facts!
HERE ARE SOME DOCUMENTED FACTS!
Excerpt from "The Crossbow is Here to Stay" by C. J. Winand published in Buckmasters Magazine
Crossbows are unsafe and are a preferred poaching weapon.
When we consider the millions of days of field hunting, it isn’t surprising that some accidents will occur. Still, hunting is among the safest of almost all recreational activities. A report from the National Safety Council in 1999 determined that you have a better chance of being injured in a ping-pong game than in a hunting accident! Although many would question this fact, think about it. Because hunting accidents are so rare, this makes them more newsworthy. Thus, the perception that’s given within newspapers or television is totally different than reality. The bottom line is, on a per capita ratio all hunting is safe!
Everyone agrees that one accident is one too many and organizations such as the National Bowhunter Education Foundation and the International Hunter Educational Association have been reducing hunting accidents for years.
Dave Wilson is an Outdoor Skills Supervisor for the Ohio DNR, Division of Wildlife. Wilson states, "Since Ohio legalized crossbows in 1976, there have been 18 incidents involving them. Fourteen of these incidents were self-inflicted. There were also 12 longbow incidents during the same period with seven of these being self-inflected." On a per capital basis, when you compare the accident statistics of hunters using crossbows versus other bow types, one is just as dangerous as the other.
Anecdotal data from Wildlife Conservation Officers (WCO) in Ohio and Arkansas also reflect that poachers still prefer firearms over crossbows. This makes sense when you consider a poachers’ motive is to drop an animal on the spot, so no tracking is necessary. Poachers surely don’t want to use flashlights when tracking at night or risk trailing a deer during the day on property where they may not have permission to cross. Are deer illegally taken with crossbows? Probably so, but information from WCO suggests the illegal kills with crossbows are very few. If you still don’t believe this, just try to shoot a crossbow inside a truck. Besides being dangerous, the width and recoil of the bow limbs can easily knock out a window.