crossbows

[rrrrrrkevin]

Ive been hunting with both since I was 2 and 1/2 years old and I think only police and military should have bows.


jk I just started this year and I love my compound because its so different and fun to shoot but if someone prefers a crossbow I dont understand what the problem is? If you think its not sportsman like then tell that to the guy with shoulder or back problems.

 

[joemac]

I just looked at the PSE tactical crossbows before I found this thread. Technology is certainly influencing the industry.

I will probably get a crossbow in the near future. I believe that crossbows are a useful tool to introduce new hunters to the sport that just cant draw a conventional hunting bow. I think it's also a useful tool to keep people in the sport longer. I also think most archers aren't going to go switch just because it's now legal, some will but most I don't think will.

I tend to think about it like this; would you be for or against a law making it illegal to hunt with AR or assault type rifles? I feel like it's pretty much the same principal.

 

[rickyp]

you can hunt with the ar style rifles and other so called asult rifles. they now make the ar style rifle in mant great big game calibers and when loaded with soft point the 7:62zx39 round is in the same class as the 3030

 

[joemac]

you can hunt with the ar style rifles and other so called asult rifles. they now make the ar style rifle in mant great big game calibers and when loaded with soft point the 7:62zx39 round is in the same class as the 3030

I never said you couldn't hunt with assault rifles. What I said was IMHO allowing hunters to hunt with conventional bows but not cross bows would be the same principal as allowing hunters to use bolt action rifles but not assault rifles.

Also, what is everybody's opinion on draw assisting devices on conventional bows. IE, the drawloc http://www.drawloc.com/

 

[AKbythebay]

I just started hunting with a crossbow last year. The biggest advantage I found was that I could shoot lefthanded. If a deer was to my right with my back against the tree in a stand it was very difficult to aim right with a standard bow. With a crossbow I can switch to my off hand and still get an accurate shot using a red dot scope. Big advantage in my book.

 

[NebraskaMan]

Hello All,

I am 58 years old and have always wanted to hunt, I just never had time, money, etc since entering the workforce. I am going to retire in a couple of years and am going to start hunting as a hobby.

I don't have the time, energy, adequate area to practice, etc to become profecient with any type of verticle bow. The horizontal bow is easier to become proficent with limited practice, both physically and mentally. When I am hunting I want to make ethical harvests. If I wound game animals I want it to me a terminal wound not one where the animal dies a slow death or is crippled and staves to death or is easy prey for preditors.

If it was not for the open crossbow regulations in Maryland I would be using a firearm. I would be restricted to only several weeks in the outdoors, even more restricted practice time, more expensive practice time and even more restricted hunting areas.

If not for the crossbow there would be one less active hunter in Maryland. One less hunter with an active vote for hunting rights. One less hunter to stand up for hunting rights.

Very Respectfully,
NebraskaMan
______________________________________________________________________
Stuck in Maryland, land of the liberals, and trying to make the best of it...

 

[rickyp]

NebraskaMan
I do not want to discurage you but if you are thinking you will just pick up a crossbow, shoot it a few times then go in the deer woods and shoot and kill a deer, You are mistaken
a crossbow is not as easy as people think it is. The only advantages to a crossbow is that they are easy to become consistant wiht and it is easyer to mount an optical shighting device.

They still have a "rainbow" trijectory and it is very critical that you learn how the arrow flys just like you do with a vertical bow.

Crossbows are not inexpensive. You can buy a good shotgun for less money then a good hunting crossbow. the arrows alone can over $30 each! for hunting my B.H. runs about $15 each, the lum- a- knock is $10 each and the arrow is $10 each for target shooting my arrows run about $11 each

Crossbows are very heavy they are hearder to deal with in the tree stand or ground blind then vertical bow. not only do you have to be concerned with the limbs but you also have the stock to deal with and all this takes up a lot of space

then you have to learn the field craft so it you do not have the time or energy to learn and practace then maybe you would be best to take up fishing.

 

[possumman]

Hey Nebraska man-rickp doth protest too much--you can buy a crossbow for less than $300-Ebay - a dozen bolts for about $50 at Walmart- a bag target for $40 and 6 field points and 6broadheads(under$40) and teach youself to shoot accurately enough to hit a paper plate consistently at about 20 yards in a long afternoon if you have any rifle experience-you need not spend $1000 on a crossbow to take deer.I have used an inexpensive Horton (under 300fps)with a single pin fiber optic sight the last couple of years and had 4 shots in the woods- 4 deer down. Its not rocket science and and it need not be as high tech as the bowhunting magazines would have you believe-go ahead and buy one and try it out you can get into it for about $400. By the way I also shoot traditional longbows and recurves- many obtained at yard sales and hunting flea markets and dont have a ton of $ in them either. If you are spending $30 on a crossbow bolt that is just nuts.I know there are Chevys and Mercedes out there but the deer dont know the diffrence when it passes thru.

 

[rickyp]

I am trying to discourage people from going on fle- bay and buying one of the cheep .PO.S. so called crossbow then taking it ion the woods and trying to kill an animal Whit it.

You are right you can buy a descent used crossbow but they have hidden cost. They should be taken to a pro shop and gone over and new strings and cables put on unless you truly know it's history, You take a chance of getting stuck with someone's junk.

The arrows are another matter. I build my own arrows that the price is what i have ot pay to make them I buy used 2219 or 2216 arrows and cut them down install the proper knocks and inserts then fletch them with my color pattern. The lum-a-knock isn't needed but is a nice add on.

Depending on the knock you have to use you may or may not be able to walk into walmart and buy an arrow for your crossbow. I have to use flat knocks and I have yet to see one at walmart.

You are right the deer doesn't know the difference between between arrows when you get a pass trough shot.

This isn't rocket science it is hinting and it doesn't have to be high tech however what you use needs to fit you and be used right that takes practice.

The part of his statement that got to me is that he doesn't have the time or energy to to become proficient with any type of vertical bow. a lot of people think you can just pick up any old crossbow shoot it a few times and be ready to hunt. We owe it to the animal to be proficient with what ever we use to hunt with.

 

[Minuteman]

Talk about bringing a thread back from the dead...LOL.

NebraskaMan, welcome to the forum, that was a whopper of a first post.
How could you have joined in 2009 and only have 1 post?

Please introduce yourself: http://www.mdshooters.com/forumdisplay.php?f=119

I too am hunting this year for the first time in many decades and I'm using a crossbow I recently purchased. I did a little practice before taking the qualification test out at Patuxent, it wasn't hard, but I've been shooting rifles all my life; there is an arc to contend with, it's no joke.

Anyhow good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

[possumman]

I have used both flat and half moon knocks on mine and havent seen a difference-crossbows generally are not very sensitive to arrow tuning - the bolts are short - the spine stiffness is high-and you launch them off a waxed track.I have used both carbon and aluminum and at 20-25 yards they all group fine,perhaps because I have shot traditionally without sights for so long I just compensate but with the single pin I dont feel disadvantaged.There is no need to stack arrows but if they group at 4-6 inches at those distances you can put deer down and really you shouldnt be shooting at deer much farther than that. I think I will take some of my old 23/64 cedars out-cut them down and see how they fly -probably just fine. If a 60 lb longbow casting a heavy feather fletched cedar arrow at 180 fps blows clear thru a deer then a vane fletched carbon bolt zipping along at 280 fps will do the same even though it probably carries less kinetic energy, and mechanical heads make them fly like a field point. I think we have a tendency to overthink this stuff but realize that hobbys are what we make of them.

 

[jtb81100]

My 2 cents:
Got my only compound bow about 12 years ago and even when I practiced daily and got pointers from a family friend who has used them for decades I have trouble keeping them inside a foot from 15 yards. Basically was never comfortable enough to even try to hunt with it.
Last summer I bought a discontinued model Horton crossbow with an adjustable RDS. Within 30 minutes I was shooting 3 inch groups at 15 yards and by the time deer season rolled around I was shooting 1"-2" groups anywhere from 15-40 yards. Will never pick up a compound bow again.

 

[Edward78]

Just bought a Horton Havoc and shot it for the first time today and all I can say is SWEET. That is one quite smooth shooting bow and accurate as hell. I love it can not wait to get out in the woods with it. I have hunted with compound bows and do still like them but I hunt for allot of reasons the enjoyment of being out in the woods and its relaxing and all but the main reason is for the meat. I like deer meat and I like to save money and I shoot every doe that crosses my path and a crossbow makes it allot easier.

 

[mark71211]

I am a bow guy all the way through and not a big fan of crossbows ( stringed gun ) that much "yet". I am seeing more deer get wounded with a crossbow over the bow because crossbow users don't know there limits and treat them like a gun. They are not understanding that a crossbows range is alot shorter then a bow and that the bolts KE does not hold like a arrow does over any distance. But when the time comes when my body starts to wear out then I will myself go out to buy a crossbow. That will be a sad day too!

 

[04RWon]

Buy my crossbow

 

[willtill]

My 2 cents:
Got my only compound bow about 12 years ago and even when I practiced daily and got pointers from a family friend who has used them for decades I have trouble keeping them inside a foot from 15 yards. Basically was never comfortable enough to even try to hunt with it.
Last summer I bought a discontinued model Horton crossbow with an adjustable RDS. Within 30 minutes I was shooting 3 inch groups at 15 yards and by the time deer season rolled around I was shooting 1"-2" groups anywhere from 15-40 yards. Will never pick up a compound bow again.

I have found the same with my Excaliber Vortex. Consistently.

Love my crossbow. But as stated; it doesn't make bowhunting any easier; especially when negotiating saplings and other tree's and branches from a closely hemmed in treestand. You have to watch what those limbs (bow limbs) are going to impact on when you let loose a bolt from them. Otherwise that crossbow is liable to get snatched out of your hands.

Another disadvantage with a crossbow -vs- compound; is that you cannot nock another bolt faster, when compared to nocking an arrow in a compound bow.

 

[drwalther]

yeah, so I got serious about getting a crossbow when I saw "Top Shot." I confess, I'm a wannabe!

so, for my first crossbow, because I believe it'd be enjoyable for the experience (I have the Archery merit badge ), and because I'd like to pass on the skill to my kids in coming years, and because I MIGHT actually try it hunting some time, and because there is more than a little reason to believe social unrest may rear its ugly head in this country in the near future, I'd like to get a crossbow.

so, I'd like to open Pandora's box, What is the BEST crossbow out there for durability, accuracy, precision, and well, I won't hate the "Cool factor." oh, I don't really want a "beginners" bow or something basic

I know, there won't be a consensus, but some top offerings from some of the top crossbow folks here will suffice me. Thanks!

 

[w2kbr]

My bow Hunting has come to an end, for alot of reasons not connected with a bow.
I started with a recurve, went to compound and my last, which is up for Sale (non firearm related classifieds) is a Horton 175, scoped, with a few bow related things...
Anybody interested see the above mentioned classifieds......

R

 

[Pablopac]

They r front heavy. Look at the Horton vision. Bow is mounted in reverse. More balanced. Love mine.

 

[MikeTF]

yeah, so I got serious about getting a crossbow when I saw "Top Shot." I confess, I'm a wannabe!

so, for my first crossbow, because I believe it'd be enjoyable for the experience (I have the Archery merit badge ), and because I'd like to pass on the skill to my kids in coming years, and because I MIGHT actually try it hunting some time, and because there is more than a little reason to believe social unrest may rear its ugly head in this country in the near future, I'd like to get a crossbow.

so, I'd like to open Pandora's box, What is the BEST crossbow out there for durability, accuracy, precision, and well, I won't hate the "Cool factor." oh, I don't really want a "beginners" bow or something basic

I know, there won't be a consensus, but some top offerings from some of the top crossbow folks here will suffice me. Thanks!

Excaliber. But I shoot a tenpoint.

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