All the modern xbows I have seen shoot are pretty deadly at 50 plus yards. They shoot flat and fast which must still have more than enough kinetic energy to kill at that distance. If they didn't have the range they would be falling off the table at longer yardages and from what I have seen they are just the opposite. I don't own one and hopefully never will but I have shot them and if you can point and aim a gun it is the same. Being accurate with a bow requires lots more skill because of form, equipment matching and overall experience. Certainly the ease of killing something is much harder with a bow because you have to move to draw and there is only a certain amount of time you can hold at full draw. A xbow is always ready and all you have to do is pull the trigger. Like everything there are limits placed on what is allowed. Many places don't allow semi automatics for instance. Some places don't allow rifles. Placing a limit on bows that have to be drawn to shoot without a hold would eliminate the xbows and draw locks that are becomming more popular. I still maintain that if all the states allowed xbows to be used with a medical waiver then it would make more sence. To me a crossbow is just a line in the sand. Places have to determine how far they will allow it to go before the original intent of the season and method is lost.