BALTIMORE -- Arguments about equipment have raged in many sports across generations.

The same is true for those who use longbows and recurve bows to hunt white-tailed deer and other wildlife. While the traditional archers have tepidly accepted the use of compound bows in recent years, those who shoot crossbows have become a target of criticism.

"It's like major leaguers hitting home runs with aluminum bats rather than wooden bats," said Jeff McCormack, the president of the Baltimore Bowmen, a bowhunting club based in Glen Arm that doesn't allow its members to shoot crossbows. "How many home runs would these guys hit with aluminum bats, a hundred a year? You're not really doing it the hard way anymore. "

A decision last year by the state Legislature to allow hunters to shoot crossbows statewide has served only to fuel the passions on both sides. Three years ago, lawmakers allowed crossbows to be shot in five sparsely populated counties or by those over 65 or with a physical handicap confirmed by a physician.

Dennis Britton, who founded the Maryland Crossbow Federation is 2009, said crossbows were made legal because those using longbows, recurves and composite bows were unsuccessful in reducing the deer population that has overrun the suburban landscapes of Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties.

"The longbow hunters couldn't kill 'em," Britton said. "Montgomery County was (legal for) crossbow for years and nobody had a complaint. The only complaint was from the farmers that not enough deer were being killed and from the insurance companies that too many deer were ending up on automobile grilles."

Doug Huffer, a member of the Bowmen, is not ashamed to concede the reason he switched from a longbow or recurve to a compound bow -- "Missing."

McCormack, as well as some shooting compound bows, said the state's decision to allow crossbows was "money-driven" and that reducing the deer population was a good excuse for state officials to bend under pressure from manufacturers looking to sell new and more expensive weapons.

But Paul Peditto, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife and Heritage service director, said that "absolutely none of it has to do with the manufacturer, because we don't receive money from the manufacturers. One can argue that if that was our posture, we would have six months of firearm hunting for deer."

Peditto said data from other states that have permitted the use of crossbows show that another benefit has been a rise in retaining older hunters who no longer are able to shoot a crossbow or compound bow.

Britton, who is 67, said crossbow hunting is more a family activity and that a third of his 300 members are women.