ORIGINAL: Cougar Mag
Yes you could Zel, but here is the defining difference between a crossbow and archery equipment..... from the Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations:
A crossbow or any mechanical device capable of maintaining a drawn or partially drawn position on a bow without the hunter exerting full string tension is illegal. In other words.....the hunter himself must be holding the string at full draw.
Cougar Mag does that statement mean that any hunter that uses a mechanical trigger release with their compound is illegal. He is not supporting
full draw string tension, the mechanical trigger is, not even full draw weight.
My statements are that if you include compounds then you should include crossbows because:
[ul]Both give advantages over longbows and recurves[*] Crossbows are more traditional because they were in use thousands of years before compounds[*] Both crossbows & compounds have the same effective range (compounds maybe slightly greater)[*] The need for greater numbers of hunters out weights the selfish needs and wants of a few
[/ul]
Crossbows are not the enemy here, it is the people that only want it their way when they have no honest data or evidence to back up their selfish needs.
I see that you went to one place for your defination of archery equipment. Try the dictionary, or your federal government, you will see a much different defination. Something like :
A device that propels an object (arrow) by a means of a limb and string. Alot of difinations will also include listings of such devices; long bows, recurves, crossbows, compounds. If you were to check with a defination from say in the early 1960's compounds would not be included as they were not developed.