And for all those guys looking for that one reason why crossbows are considered by many to be more firearm like then bow like, read Silents post. Here is a person who could not shoot a bow .. not even practice with one due to lack of strength. But she could grab a crossbow her husband cocked and loaded for her and go and shoot deer. That's what makes them so "gun like".
Also, it's precisely whats makes your argument one of complete selfishness. To hell with the folks that aren't capable as long as it fits your needs?
The only negatives that you can come up with about crossbows are ones that threaten the "elitism" of your fraternal boys club. Some how in your mind it's OK to descriminate against other hunters and think the sport is going to benefit from it. You can't tell me one way that you or the deer heard would be negatively effected by a crossbow. Your just afraid that the other folks that you have fooled into thinking that you are doing something really special by killing animals with a bow, won't think your so special any more. Your motiviations are completely motivated by greed. The sport will certainly not benefit from excluding people or from building obstacles that people must climb in order to see if it is even something they will truely be interested in. My view point is an inclusionary one that has the best interest of the sport in mind. Yours is an exclusionary one that has your own best interest in mind. You have clearly shown that you don't support the inclusion of the young, the weak, the partially disabled, or even the disabled because they don't fit your definition of what a bow hunters should be (of course it's OK to shoot resleases, drop away arrows rests and use range finders, expandable broadheads, glow in the dark fiber optic sights, 80% let-off etc. etc.)
We get the picture. I have no doubt that you are even stronger in your conviction because you don't appear the type to take the oppurtunity to look at things from another perspective or willing to change and or adapt. I personally have that problem though more so in the past than now. I have found that to be one of my biggest weaknesses and therefore I have learned to overcome it and get both sides of an issue and then make the right decision rather than the one I am lead to during a knee jerk reaction. I used to feel the same way about crossbows that you do. However, after stepping back and thinking about it and weighing out all of the pros and cons, I admitted that my point of view was naive, descriminatory, and ultimately detrimental to the sport. Therefore, I altered my opinion accordingly. Ultimately I came to realize that though I thought I was protecting the "integrity" of the sport I was actually doing more harm than good. Ultimately, I was going to hurt myself in the long run because hunters need to recruit every man woman and child that they possibly can into the sport if we intend to retain this way of life that we now enjoy. IF we keep turning folks away from bowhunting then they aren't going to be there to support your rights or your seasons or anything else. Even if those folks don't leave hunting and they just turn to gun season it's going to hurt us in the long run. Eventually those people that have been turned away and wound up gun hunting will start to lobby the representatives for longer seasons and more animals during the gun season etc. and they are going to outnumber the "bowhunters" by a large margin and guess where they are going to take it from? Do you really think you are doing anyone else a favor but yourself by forcing your views on everyone else?