Down here in Dutchess county the deer are all over the place. Unfortunatly there are also houses all over. The majority of locals are not hunters and don't like to hear gun shots. We need to thin out the deer herd down here and bow hunters just don't get enough of them. Cars do a better job. It's my opinion the most locals will accept bow hunting because they don't hear or see anything.
I tried bow huning for years and I saw lots of deer and almost always missed, some nice ones too. I finally took a doe and then hung the bow up and went back to handgun hunting. If crossbows were legal I would consider going back into the woods after deer in October and so would many others who have given up bow hunting. This could increase license sales and lower the problem deer numbers.
Maybe DEC could allow limited crossbow hunting in high population areas.
Just a thought.