pro's and con's
well I think a lot depends on what you start hunting with, guys starting off with a vertical bow will find a X bow odd to carry and get into shooting position with without getting busted, as your profile sticks out a lot up in a tree, andf youc an not hold it in the ready position as long, and then you always have to watch the limb on shooting as they expand and can hit a tree pretty easy if your not careful
next Con for an X bow is second shots are much harder to get away with, next, there from my experience higher wear and tear on strings, mostly I feel due to the higher Lbs's , so just more stress on them, and many drag on the slide Barrel, what ever you like to call it!

next, some folks have a harder time judging distance looking through a scope as to open sight, and few guy use an X bow without a scope
next they can just be a pain in the ass to carry far, they are top heavy when shooting , and most are at least twice as loud or more than a vertical bow, again, mostly due to design and etra draw weights, again my opinion

going from sitting to standng and taking shots with a X bow has more movements in my opinion, and its a lot harder to keep an x bow at the ready/shooting position than a vertical bow, a vertical bow in the resting position is much more comfortable to hold for long periods of time, but an x bow you can hold without effort in the cocked and ready to fire so??
the profile of a vertical bow can be blended in better I feel too,
X bow are front heavy when holding for any lenght of time, but again a vertical bow isn't all that much lighter all set up with sights/wuiver/stabalizer, and ?
so weight isn't really an issue, but its how the weight is placed on each that , to me make a vertical bow easier to handle in a tree, blind or?? unless shooting out a blind stand off a rest, the the X bow wins, and is a for sure POR for an X bow, allowing you a super steady rest, something you cannot do on a vertical bow!

as far as shooting distance, both shoot as flat as the speeds allow, so a faster x bow/vertical bow, just shoots flater, no real one tpype being able to shoot farther flater or more energy than the other
thats a wash

BUT it takes a lot less skill to shoot an X bow, as to a vertical bow
an X bow can pretty much be a sight it in and forget it type deal, PRACTICE is always good idea's
but on a vertical BOW, form comes into play a ton more in my opinion

Draw backs to verticals bow's, SIZE some can be very long , takes effort to learn how to shoot well, more moving parts , not many but I , again MY opinion, feel vertical compound not recurve or long bows, have more things that can work loose, again my opinion

after that I have fewer con's on vertical bow's

I started hunting with them for 20+ yrs before switching over to an X bow mostly due to an injury and well, the injury is still there making shooting a vertical bow less fun for me

so I shoot a X bow
but stil play with vertical bows,

hope this helps, and again these are just MY opinions on pro's/ con's