Indiana has a similar law in place starting this year , and our bowhunting community seems to be appalled . Crossbows can be legally used by all in our Late Archery season for does only , but the disabled may use them all through the hunting seasons . I own a crossbow and plan to hunt with it this year to extend my hunting opportunities , I have been using strictly muzzleloaders up until now . Personally , I welcome the opportunity to do this , but I seem to be in the minority for now . The reason your state allows certain weapons is to maximize the number of deer taken in their continuing efforts to improve the resource for all , and to more effectively balance the herd numbers . Indiana opened up the crossbow to all because we just weren' t taking enough deer each year with all the other weapons available , especially does , and because there was interest in using one for hunting . Up until now the crossbow owner had little more than an interesting " toy" to shoot at targets with , but wasn' t allowed to hunt with them . I applaund our Dept. of Natural Resources for making this decision , especially since they arrived at it facing considerable resistance from the archery community . I fail to understand why anyone who bowhunts would feel so threatened by a simple tool . In my state the bowhunters view crossbows with contempt at best , and actively campained to have them excluded from the Early Archery season . Many did so on the pretext that a crossbow wasn' t " archery equipment" , which I' m sure any IBO member would dispute if only with reluctance . Once the deer is dead it makes no difference how it got that way . A tool is a tool regardless of what it looks like or how it works . Instead of dreading them I would reccomend that you try shooting one first , if you don' t like it then don' t buy one . I always encourage anyone who shows interest in hunting to try it , and let them make their own choices about what tool they want to use . Hunting is a tradition that must be passed on from one generation to the next if we want it to survive , and times change whether we want them to or not . If you can' t embrace the crossbow at least accept that others do , and that they have just as much right to hunt as you do .