I don't think so...

When Arkansas opened crossbow hunting years ago, bunches of people predicted the demise of bowhunting. Many predicted the rape of the deer woods and outrageous kill numbers. Many predicted the addition of huge numbers of sloppy, scary crossbow hunters.

None of that came to pass.

You can and do have good and bad in every class of hunter. Be it Traditional Bow, Compound Bow, Crossbow, MuzzleLoader, shotgunor Modern Gun. I would not fear being shot by a Crossbow hunter. I would deem it much less likely than being shot by a gun hunter.

The kill numbers have not increased by any real magnitude like some said they would. The number of Crossbow hunters is actuall quite low by comparison to other methods. I have only seen one crossbow hunter in the woods in 20+ years of bow hunting. I actually started with a crossbow about 24 years ago, and moved to a Compound Bow after about 3 years. I found that there was no real benefit to a crossbow. It is bulkier, heavier, harder to pull back ( although locked back at that point ) , it had no real range advantage, and it was not like shooting a rifle... I still had to aim and aim true. I had to learn its range. It had a kill range of about 40 yards ( for accuracy and penetration ). So where was the advantage??

I believe a lot of folks worry needlessly, but then again, where is the harm in bringing in another class of hunter to further our sport. What if inline ML's were not allowed ?? What if Compound Bows had never been allowed ?? There are plenty of deer to go around... and none of us own the game in the woods... There are a lot of other things in this world to worry about that are more justified..

Hunt your woods ( be it private , leased , or public ) and enjoy yourself. The crossbow hunters are of no threat to you... I am right above you ( state wise ) , and the effects here are very minimal... despite all the doom and gloom of the naysayers for the first few years... It will balance out.

Good Luck and God Bless

MET