Are Crossbow Hunters Really the Bad Guys?

If you’ve read enough of my articles, perhaps you recall that I worked for a decade in a family owned archery pro shop. In addition to the mountains of compound bows and related equipment that I sold during my tenure, I also set up and sold dozens of crossbows. Not once during that decade, though, did I hunt with a crossbow myself. I have deep roots in compounds, and that is my passion and preference.

When I left the pro shop to pursue my writing career, there was hardly a lapse in my regular handling of crossbows. Almost immediately, I became the editor of a bowhunting magazine that is no longer published. I also wore the second hat of the equipment editor of that magazine, as well as a trade publication owned by the same publisher. Those roles entailed testing and reporting on compounds and crossbows for every issue. I even attended a media hunt with a few other outdoors writers/editors in Ohio in 2013. There, we hunted exclusively with TenPoint crossbows. It was the first time I had ever hunted with a crossbow. Out of seven hunters, I was the only one who didn’t have a shooter buck walk by after five days of hunting. 

More recently, I accepted the role of testing and reporting on crossbows for Bowhunting World and Grand View Outdoors’ archery trade publication, Archery Business. All of this is to say that even though I’m primarily a compound shooter, I’ve been immersed in crossbows for the last 23 years.

Last May, I decided it was time to experience a successful crossbow hunt to see what it is all about. I had already taken dozens of gobblers with compound bows since 2004, so I had nothing to prove. Two mornings in, I flattened a tom right in the decoys. It was cool to experience how deadly a crossbow can be and the confidence I had as I squeezed the trigger. It almost felt easy.

As someone who prefers to hunt with a compound but has had dealings with crossbows for more than two decades, I want to clear the air just a little bit and give both sides — those who love crossbows and those who hate them — some things to consider and evaluate. Let’s discuss.

Impact of Crossbows During Archery Seasons

The greatest debate about crossbow hunting centers on who should be able to use one during regular archery hunting seasons, and whether or not they should even be allowed. When my family owned our archery pro shop in Wisconsin, the state allowed hunters only 65 years old or older, or disabled folks with a doctor’s note to crossbow hunt. Aptly, the crossbow crowd was much narrower than it has been since Wisconsin more recently opened up crossbow hunting during the bow season to any properly licensed hunter.

In Wisconsin, like other states that have opened the gate to crossbow hunting, bowhunters wailed about the legislative move. To be fair, there was and is some level of merit to the concerns and complaints. For starters, gun hunters who want to extend their deer season without the commitment of learning a compound and becoming proficient with it now have an avenue that requires very little effort — many of these folks sight in a crossbow and then rarely practice with it, much like they do with their firearm of choice. In a state that allows more than one buck to be harvested, this means that more bucks will likely be harvested. 

Also, I know that there are plenty of compound hunters who have switched to crossbows to greatly extend their range without the commitment of repetition on the range required to extend their effective range with a compound.

That is all fine and dandy, but we cannot ignore the caveats of unleashing crowds of crossbow hunters into the fields and forests. First, the legalization of crossbows during archery seasons means more hunters afield and busier public lands. Folks who never archery hunted in their lives are now taking to the woods with a crossbow because it’s easy compared to compound hunting. And from a conservation standpoint, spikes in harvest rates are a valid consideration. A 40-yard shot with a compound, for example, is one that a lot of compound hunters will pass or think hard about taking, while a lot of crossbow hunters are taking that shot, most making it with little effort.

Another element regarding conservation is wounding and losing animals. Some folks say that shooting a crossbow is “just like shooting a gun.” Fundamentally, it is; you shoulder and shoot it much like a firearm. However, crossbows have much greater limitations than firearms. Still, some crossbow hunters get way too confident and lob bolts at distances they shouldn’t. Even if a given crossbow can hit a baseball every time at 100 yards, it doesn’t mean that an animal isn’t subject to moving between the time the bolt departs the crossbow and when it arrives at the animal. Even the market’s fastest crossbows — slightly over 500 fps — are roughly only a third as fast as a 12-gauge shotgun pushing slugs. As for rifles, even the modest .30-30 Winchester hits velocities exceeding 2,000 fps. Are crossbows just like rifles? Not even close.  

Now that I’ve issued some concerns and considerations, let me clarify that I’m not calling crossbow hunters or crossbow hunting ugly. In and of itself, I have no problem with crossbows or crossbow hunting. Hunters toting all types of hunting equipment — not just crossbows — are subject to making poor calls at times.

Opinion: Who Should Hunt With a Crossbow?

With the concerns aside, let’s direct the conversation in another direction. I believe that crossbows are good within the right realm. I’m going to explain what that looks like from my perspective to get you thinking. If you disagree, fine; you are entitled to your own opinion.

First, the obvious crossbow candidates are those who are too small/young to draw a hunting-weight compound, those who are disabled, or those who are aging and dealing with aches and pains. If shooting a compound or traditional bow is hard on you and/or makes you experience discomfort, a crossbow makes a fine solution. Other folks, especially with the onset of colder temperatures and bulky apparel, can barely pull the minimum weight for compound hunting. Again, a crossbow is a viable solution to that dilemma.

Age and physical limitations aside, I see some other practical applications in which a crossbow is not only a better choice than a compound bow, but an ethical one. There are tons of blue-collar folks who love to hunt, but due to work and family life are unable to hunt more than a handful of times each fall. Likewise, they have almost no time to practice and develop compound proficiency. I’m not saying you don’t need to practice with a crossbow. I am saying that it is easier to become proficient and deadly with a crossbow with minimal practice as compared to a compound bow. Someone who barely gets time to practice and hunt shouldn’t tote a compound and run the obvious risk of wounding animals. A crossbow is a more ethical choice, so long as ethical shot distances are observed.

Another solid example of when to break out a crossbow is when someone doesn’t really know if they want to become a hunter. It makes a mentor’s life so much easier. Case in point. My nephew lives in the city. I’ve taken him turkey hunting with a shotgun, and he has taken a few birds. During the school year, he expressed a little bit of interest in deer hunting, and he got a compound bow. However, with school, hockey, and no place to shoot his bow at home (I live an hour away, so my yard isn’t a viable platform), letting him hunt deer with his compound bow would be a tremendous mistake that would likely lead to a wounded animal. Ultimately, I’d be setting him up for failure because he is not proficient with his bow. But, he wants to try deer hunting.

Because I live an hour away and because he is so busy with school and sports, taking him hunting with a crossbow makes sense. I put my TenPoint TX440 into his hands at my house, and every single shot he has taken with it out to 60 yards has been a kill shot. I won’t allow him to shoot that far at a deer, but it has given him the confidence that any deer 40 yards and closer is in big trouble. It also instills a lot of peace for me as his mentor. I’m not taking him hunting hoping he can hit a deer in the lungs; I’m taking him knowing that he can and almost certainly will. As I write this, I’ve taken him deer hunting twice, but we haven’t had a deer within shooting range. We’ll hunt once more before the season closes and hopefully have a mature doe walk by within 40 yards. If that happens and he loves deer hunting, I’ll probably push him to get more serious with his compound.

If the considerations we’ve run through don’t apply to you but you still want to or currently hunt with a crossbow, nothing is stopping you as long as you’re legal to do so. Bowhunting requires a lot of time and passion, and if you love to hunt but don’t have a passion for shooting 50 arrows or more a week, then there is nothing wrong with crossbow hunting. By doing so when you’re physically able to draw and shoot a compound, however, you’ll have to accept the fact that there are neigh-sayers out there who will give you flack for it, especially if you kill a monster buck. Most of that transpires when you hang a picture up at the local bow shop’s bulletin board or post your picture to social media or hunting forums.

Final Thoughts

The amount of controversy that runs rampant throughout the hunting community is alarming. A large share of the “hate” is directed at crossbow hunters, though some trollers will nitpick at literally anything. Let me issue a call to action: Hunters must stand with one another. I’m not asking everyone to agree that crossbows should be considered legal equipment during archery hunting season. If you’re exclusively a compound hunter until you die, great, but don’t hate on someone who chooses to hunt differently than you or has different preferences and outlooks. Remember: Some bowhunters who use only recurves and longbows think that compound shooters are cheating.

In closing, I understand why crossbow hunters face more political fire than compound hunters. However, crossbow hunters aren’t the bad guys. Anyone who hunts by the regulation booklet and practices sound ethics shouldn’t be criticized, regardless of their preferred hunting tool. From chucking a spear, to hunting with a tactical semi-automatic rifle, there are many different ways to hunt and take game. Let’s put more emphasis on standing together and agreeing to disagree than on hurling insults upon those who do things differently than we do. Why should we let something like a crossbow divide a group as great as the hunting community?

Sidebar: Devil’s Advocates on Social Media

Have you ever read comments on social media big-buck posts? If so, you’ve probably seen the ugly comments, such as, “He cheated and shot it with a crossbow.” “Nice farm deer.” “Shoulda let it go another year.” The list goes on. Maybe you’ve even made idiotic comments like those on the post of someone you’ve never even met.

Online trolling is an epidemic. Some people waste hours upon hours looking to stir things up rather than use their time positively and productively. It happens on social media, and it happens on online forums. People get incredibly brave and confident when they’re on their phone or behind a keyboard. If you are or have been that person, ask yourself: Would I say this to someone’s face? Is this message going to cause abuse and stir up hatred and negativity?

If you don’t know the person and exactly how they killed the animal, then keep your comments to yourself. If you do know the person and that they used illegal measures to take the animal, contact the appropriate authorities rather than commenting on the post. 

Hunters have a lot of good, positive interactions on social media, but for every positive exchange, there are plenty of negative and destructive ones. This is a trend that we must aim to change. Our hunting future could depend on it.