I'm not sure where I stand on this as in my experience the crossbow isnt much more acurate & mine anyway has a shorter effective range. That being said I know, beyond a doubt that theres been more than I deer I woulda got if I could have held full draw indefinately. I should add that while I feel I could ethically take a shot with my compound at 35 yards the fact is every deer I'v ever got or even shot was within 25. 25 yards with my crossbow is a point & shoot deal.
Its clear in my view that crossbows are easier to hunt with (why do you think they were invented) whats not so clear is weather or not they oughtta be considered for bowhunting. I'v often thought they should be legal during gun season on lands not big enuff for a rifle.
I dont think its the same as a compound tho & kinda liken this argument to someone crying because they cant use theyre rifle during muzzleloader season. After all a centerfire is just a development of the muzzleloader isn't it?

Before you guys ream me out think about it.

A modern rifle is to a muzzleloader what a crossbow is to a compound.

If it were legal here to use a crossbow theres no doubt I would as I'm a hunter first & use the tools the law says I can. I might not agree with the law & in this case I'd be confused by it but make no mistake I would take advantage of it. Dont think I'd get the same satisfaction though. Kinda like gun hunting, I still do it to get meat & because its become a tradition but theres no way I get the satisfaction I do bowhunting.

Leverdude ,
I like the way you put that because you hit the nail on the head . It's all about choice , in this case the residents of Illinois will get to choose what they want in their woods , and that's what's really important here . I don't think I can follow such an elegant post from a guy who actually knows what he's talking about from both sides of the issue , and I've more than spoken my piece , so I'll bow out now .

Let the rat killin' resume .

No one ever said you were a bad hunter just because you want crossbows to be legal. All we said was that we didnt want them to be legal. nothing against you as a hunter.

Crossbows are considered the same as conventional bows here in Ontario. I have owned a couple and yes they can be easier to get the first shot off accurately but they still have the same short range effectiveness as a compound. If they allow a person to get out and hunt, make a clean and humane killing shot and still impose the exact same HUNTING skills as a longbow ( scouting, stands etc.) needs then what is the hangup about crossbows? You still need to do your field work and freeze your nu@@ off in a treestand and take a shot within 30 yds give or take a few. Is a compound less sporting than a recurve, a recurve less than a longbow? To follow that line of thinking then we should use only longbows with home made cedar shafts and flintlock rifles. Look the hard part is getting a shot. The shot should be as effective and lethal as the law allows. I would wonder how many of the purists who look down on crossbows use .300 magnums with 14x scopes to shoot 125 lb deer at 60 yds? An open sighted 3030 would kill also wouldn't it? To try and prevent people from hunting is a slippery slope boys, use what you like but stop worrying about the guy down the road who is perfectly legal also. Save your energy and nasty thoughts for the people who want to stop all hunting, they are your enemy not the guy who lives in an apartment and has no place to practice with a bow.

No arguement wanted here! I'm just looking for facts on the x-bows impact on general archery seasons.
I'd also like to know how many archers Ohio had before allowing x-bows in the archery season.

I didn't mean to imply that crossbow hunters are unethical. The choice of weapon does not make someone unethical, it is other choices.

I don't think that allowing crossbows will increase the amount of hunters very much.
I do think that most people that go out and get one will already be gun hunters, and I do think that alot of them will try flinging arrows at deer the way that they shoot at deer when they are gun hunting.
If they allow it, I hope that they try a small season at first.
They will probably go all out like they did when they banned mineral licks and feeding deer because of the CWD threat. I think that they should have started that with the northern counties.
I have never tried gun hunting because I don't like the idea of so many people in the woods at once. I only have public land to hunt. My favorite spot is bow only, I even get to hunt it during gun season, but I do have to wear blaze orange during the gun seasons.

I am not saying that gun hunters are unethical either, but I do know guys (not ethical hunters) that shoot at everything that runs past them.

i will say this i have a handi cap going in to the bow hunting . i shot bows ad as was growing up but hav always benintruguied on x bows . all that said and done i am going to ry bow hunting and see if it will work with my weak sore wrists and achcy elbows . i have always wanted to hunt with a bow lol abow not a compound bow but a bow but with all the let of i wil try a compound first . if i can get a weight that i can shot and is humane to th animals i hunt i will go trad cause I think al the compounds out there are just slow rifles

No, crossbows are slow rifles.

Remember Tom Hanks in the movie "League of Their Own"? Hanks says,"Their's no crying in baseball!"

Well, if Hanks were a bowhunter he would possibly say," Their's no crossbow in archery!"

Cougar, I see you hold your bow with your hands and release it with your hands. I do all that with my feet, shooting my cross bow?

The rest of y'all 'true' archers, how many of ya carved your bow with a sharp rock? How many of ya use real feathers on your arrows? Gut for string? OH, I see, you use those new-fangled compound bows. I jus' don't think those things oughta be allowed...

We never said we hated crossbows. Im just saying IMO i really dont want everyone in Illinois to have one of those "slow rifled" while im trying to bow hunt. I know that sounds kinda selfish but think if you were bow hunting and the middle of shotgun and rifle season and shots going on all around you, thats kinda how id feel with everyone using these crossbows with their big scopes. You can agree with me or not but thats just my 2 cents.