Zombie Apocolypse - What do you grab?

Crossbow people the zombies hear the shots they will ALL start running to you DUH!!!

^This. Have you people learned nothing from "The Walking Dead"!?!

Crossbows are too slow to fire. Only works if you're in a rural area and not urban where you can be surrounded or chased, and they take a lot of upper body strength to load. Plus, you'd be hard pressed to find crossbow arrows at any local pit-stops you make going through towns if you happen to break or lose them.

If you're going that route, your better off with a combination bow and traditional arrows. Easier replacement parts to come by, lighter, and easier to fire.

If your choice of weapons is in the archery field, I would steer clear of the crossbow also. Heavy, slow to load, not accurate a longer yardage. I would stick to the traditional stick and string as arrows can always be made or a compound would definately be a lot quieter and faster.

Yup. Compound bow would be ideal, but a recurve or long bow would work nicely too. They are easier to repair that combi's also.

We could form a hunger games alliance between the 2 of us!

Compounds would give a lot more distance over the tradtional but then again...you could run out of arrows.

LOL Katniss has nothing on me. I've not shot a bow in a long time, but I grew up hunting with combination bows and long-range rifles.

For zombies though, if they're far away, you're better off avoiding being detected than trying to take them out at range. I wouldn't think you'd need much range, just enough to kill your food and protect yourself should get surprised. Recurves are easier and faster to load than combi's also.

Yeah I am right there with you. I do this for a living...and I love it. I would much rather have a bow in my hands than pretty much anything. I would love to fling a few arrows at about 50 yrds at them with my compound though. So much more dramatic. LOL

Problem with archery equipment:
cumbersome - will always restrict one of your hands
limited ammo, and must recover ammo and pray your arrows weren't bent or destroyed
bulky, hard to negotiate through small openings in a hurry (bushes, windows, etc)
worthless if you end up on the ground
worthless in close-quarters
worthless if one arm/ hand is injured
requires lots of practice... must be extremely proficient to hit a moving object the size of a cantaloup at any distance.
not good for rapid firing
difficult to use under duress
sized to fit the shooter, which means others in your group may not be able to use it if you're incapacitated
must always have a clear lane of shooting
extremely difficult to use at night or from a vehicle
not easy to run with one

As you can tell, I've considered this already.

awful lot of shotguns running around. you folks do realize that shotguns are heavy and ammo is bulky, so you get less of it. while I hate to recommend such a small round, you really need to think 9mm. less stopping power, but assuming you are a good shot -- and you will have to be anyway, right? -- you will be fine and can bring along a lot more ammo with a lot less strain.