I have never hunted with a crossbow but am considering it. I am not a good hunter (I believe the indian name for that is "vegetarian"). I have never been in a club with tons of deer. I have mostly hunted public land. I have spent probably 3 or 4 hundred hours in a stand and have taken 2 shots with a compound bow at deer (killed 1). This season, I hunted many hours and never got an opportunity. On our club it was tough early season. The deer were going to the green fields late evening but most of our green fields don't have trees that you can hang a stand on, so I was deep in the hardwoods or pines. The crossbow hunters started using the shooting houses and killed some deer. Compounds don't work in shooting houses, or at least ours don't for me. I had shoulder surgery the previous year and missed the entire bow season because I couldn't pull my compound. I won't do that again. I know there are die hards, but don't miss time in the woods or decrease your opportunities because of them.
