Crossbows????

[erikm1981]

I will go crossbow when I can no longer draw a compound. My 11yr old uses one instead of a rifle, until I feel comfortable with his compound draw weight. I personally feel all the other aspects of bow hunting and the challenge is still there with a xbow compared to a rifle. And that’s what I love so much about bow hunting.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I own 2. One is an Excallibur simple recurve. The other is a Mission MXB 360 compound. Both are deadly accurate and fast, but LOUD... Accuracy/range, both will stack bolts on top on one another at 50/60 yards and beyond... but I'd NEVER shoot at a deer with either beyond 30 yards... Even then at that close range, they're most likely going to jump the string... probably still get 'em but plan on not hitting where you aim... If you aim where you want to hit, you're likely to hit a few inches high on the animal. If you compensate for jumping the string and they don't "jump", you'll likely brisket shoot 'em or go completely under them... I've never shot a deer with mine... got 'em for my wife when she broke her wrist and was in the middle of chasing a biggun. She did get the deer with the Mission (after the Excallibur blew up). I have shot a couple hogs with both and they work well...
I love the aspect of bow hunting and getting close. When I can no longer use my wheelie bow or my stick n strang bows, I'll likely continue with one of these crossbows... Everything but the shot itself is still the same... well except for the fact that as others have commented, they're very cumbersome, heavy and bulky to tote to the stand and manipulate once in the stand...
Still beats sitting on the couch and posting on some bowsite how you wish you were in the woods!

[Fmjag64]

I hear the hardest part about shooting a crossbow is telling your friends and family that you like men.... All jokes aside, father time catches up to us all and the clock never stops ticking

[rladner]

Both my boys use a crossbow to hunt since they were 5. all my stands are set up for bow so it only made sense to get them a crossbow rather than a rifle when they were little. They like it. They both have killed, hogs, deer and turkey with it. I have a Raven. They are awesome, but pricey. I like the ability to cock and uncock using the crank. The Raven is small and compact so easy for women and kids to shoot. Sight goes out to 100 yards and can easily shoot that far accurately, but like others have said, I doubt a deer would be there by the time the bolt arrives. Bolts are expensive though so make sure you find them after the shot. The Raven, with the sight it comes with, has lighted reticle, either green or red, so night hunting hogs under a feeder light is super easy and my boys really enjoy that.

[PondPopper]

From a bow shop perspective, expect it to break. Keep your receipt of purchase. And I don’t meant the chap ones break. I mean they all break. Limbs shatter, strings snap, cranks lock up etc…avoid “accudraw”!

And all of those components you talk about possibly blowing apart was constantly running through my head when I was setting in a ground blind with it setting, with 180lb limbs cocked and locked close by, thinking that if something broke it could getting ugly. Freaked me out a little thinking what was made in China…
I was always glancing at it out of the corner of my eye. Heck I even carried tented and clear safety glasses that I wore when I shot it just in case pieces started flying when I pulled the trigger..
True story.

[big_smith]

My 74 year old mother hunts with one exclusively. Kills axis deer every year. I have a bow only place that is a hard place to hunt and I finally went to a crossbow just because of ease of use. I have a shooting pod I leave it set up in. All I have to do is flip the safety and lean forward on the scope. Very little movement in the blind and they are accurate. I don't like walking long distances with it because it is just cumbersome, but for ground blind hunting they are hard to beat. My mom and I both shoot the Crossman Snyper 370 which for the money is really hard to beat. You can spend more than what a rifle costs and I am sure there are advantages to the expensive bows, but the 370 has served us well.

[Geezy Rider]

Three years ago I tore up my right shoulder bad. Had to have my shoulder partially rebuilt. Took over a year to rehab and recover from. I figured that my bow hunting days were over so I sold my compound and bought a crossbow.
I still have to get up close and personal with the deer but it is definitely easier. There is no real change in strategy. It’s just like using a rifle at close range but it is very awkward
It is no where near as satisfying as taking a deer with a bow. It only allows me to extend my hunting season.
I don’t fear the energy and explosiveness of a crossbow anymore than I do a loaded firearm but I definitely respect it.
it’s just another form of hunting.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Well the reason I have 2 crossbows is because after much research and thought, I bought an Excallibur Matrix 380 right after they came out thinking the recurve is simple, less to break/go wrong and my wife was chasing a big deer she had shot the year before that we never recovered. He started showing up at feeders again but no shot for the rest of the season... She fell and broke her wrist during the off-season is a serious game of Nerf Football with our 3 and 5 year old grandsons in the living room!! She was all bummed out and said that now she'd probably never be able to get that deer with her bow...
Well opening morning, sure enough we were in the blind all set up and in walks that sucker.... he had gone down some (turned out to be a 8 or 9 year old). I got the camera rolling and when he turned just right she pulled the trigger... That dang Excallibur came completely UNMANUFACTURED right there in the blind!! Parts flying everywhere! It was an enclosed blind... We were both stunned, looked each other over real good and determined neither of us was injured... Well that was the first day of a 5 day hunt... I told her we might as well pack up and go home because even if you had your bow, you couldn't draw it with that wrist still recovering from the screws and plate that was put in after the break... She was so bummed... asked if maybe there was a place in town we could go buy another one... I checked in Del Rio...nope. So in the truck we go to Oasis Outback in Uvalde about 2 hours away... Bobby fixed us up with that Mission MXB 360, new bolts, quiver and everything... $1200 dollars later and a few shots on his range upstairs above the store, we were on our way back to Del Rio... Got back, screwed on a broadhead, took a couple shots to test it for accuracy and climbed back in the same stand at 4:00 PM that afternoon... 5:45 that evening, he walked out and she drilled him!

Year before as he was leaving after the bow shot:


LDP:



Was an exciting experience with a crossbow, but could have done without the "Drama"... FND is right about they break!! Couple years later, had to send the Mission back to Mathews to be rebuilt... It crapped out on TMag on a draw hunt at Kerrville! He had already got a deer with it tho, so it was not a total loss... Grandson got a doe at our home place last Thanksgiving... so far it's still slingin' bolts straight and true, but every time I or whoever I have in the shooter's seat pulls the trigger I hold my breath...

STILL beats sitting home on the couch!

[Casey]

I tore my bicep tendon while hanging a treestand last year on Labor Day. Using my compound was completely out of the question, until I healed up more. It took 6 months to get over it enough to pick up a bow again. I borrowed a friend's crossbow and killed 2 deer with it. I don't know much about them in general, and believe this one to be closer to lower end than higher end. I hated carrying it to the stand, cocking it and then having to shoot it into a target I had to keep in the truck, to decock it. It always felt a bit unsafe once I had it cocked. So, sitting in the blind and carrying it to the truck after the hunt made me nervous.

I don't think it saves you any movement in a blind or tree unless you're using a shooting tripod on the ground or something. You still have to lift it to shoot it as you can't just hold it up forever waiting on your shot. Hell, the safety on the thing was enough noise to spook a deer.

With all that said, I'm happy to be back on my Mathews this year. I'll certainly pick up a crossbow again should my physical condition require it, but until then I'll just lower poundage or whatever to keep shooting the compound.

[osochuck]

My son has one, and its a good tool to have in the arsenal.

We talked and will probably get a newer one this summer

[BarBBar]

If you archery hunt small tracts, your shots must be as accurate as possible so the deer you shoot don't jump your fence. With a scoped crossbow shot from the ground using a hunting tripod, your shots should be more accurate, with greater killing power, than a bow. I hunt a narrow 15 acre tract with close fence lines where a perfect crossbow or rifle shot often sends them skidding dead into the fence. With a tripod, you can more easily keep your hands and fingers away from the string, with no fatigue. I never use a crossbow except on the ground, cradled in a tripod. They scare me, but I try to be careful.

[Gumbo Man]

Well the reason I have 2 crossbows is because after much research and thought, I bought an Excallibur Matrix 380 right after they came out thinking the recurve is simple, less to break/go wrong and my wife was chasing a big deer she had shot the year before that we never recovered. He started showing up at feeders again but no shot for the rest of the season... She fell and broke her wrist during the off-season is a serious game of Nerf Football with our 3 and 5 year old grandsons in the living room!! She was all bummed out and said that now she'd probably never be able to get that deer with her bow...
Well opening morning, sure enough we were in the blind all set up and in walks that sucker.... he had gone down some (turned out to be a 8 or 9 year old). I got the camera rolling and when he turned just right she pulled the trigger... That dang Excallibur came completely UNMANUFACTURED right there in the blind!! Parts flying everywhere! It was an enclosed blind... We were both stunned, looked each other over real good and determined neither of us was injured... Well that was the first day of a 5 day hunt... I told her we might as well pack up and go home because even if you had your bow, you couldn't draw it with that wrist still recovering from the screws and plate that was put in after the break... She was so bummed... asked if maybe there was a place in town we could go buy another one... I checked in Del Rio...nope. So in the truck we go to Oasis Outback in Uvalde about 2 hours away... Bobby fixed us up with that Mission MXB 360, new bolts, quiver and everything... $1200 dollars later and a few shots on his range upstairs above the store, we were on our way back to Del Rio... Got back, screwed on a broadhead, took a couple shots to test it for accuracy and climbed back in the same stand at 4:00 PM that afternoon... 5:45 that evening, he walked out and she drilled him!

Year before as he was leaving after the bow shot:


LDP:



Was an exciting experience with a crossbow, but could have done without the "Drama"... FND is right about they break!! Couple years later, had to send the Mission back to Mathews to be rebuilt... It crapped out on TMag on a draw hunt at Kerrville! He had already got a deer with it tho, so it was not a total loss... Grandson got a doe at our home place last Thanksgiving... so far it's still slingin' bolts straight and true, but every time I or whoever I have in the shooter's seat pulls the trigger I hold my breath...

STILL beats sitting home on the couch!

Tim told me about that kill one time Charlie. He said that he had never killed a deer SO DEAD as the one he killed with Charlie’s crossbow. LOL

[corps2010]

I'll be the first one to tell you that it's not even fair using one. (and the last 3 archery bucks I've killed have been with a crossbow too).

You get the added advantages of using a rifle scope instead of looking thru a peep sight at dark (I have a Zeiss scope on mine), you don't have to time your draw when you're using a crossbow, it's basically like shooting off a bench if you have it tightened down in a Bog Pod or Field Pod, they're 100-200 fps faster than a fast compound so your holdover is less and margin of error is less if ranged incorrectly, higher kinetic energy, etc etc etc. They're also great for kids and/or women wanting to get into hunting.

When it comes to hunting, my setups are a little different than if I was hunting with a compound. (which I think make all the difference in my success rate). With a crossbow, I mainly hunt out of a box stand or an enclosed type stand and keep the windows closed with an Ozonics running until I get ready to shoot... you can get away with so much more doing this if the wind is swirling.

With a compound, I wouldn't hunt if I had a bad or swirling wind and think my success rate would be higher if I hunted out of a high lock-on or climber. (but i'm not going too because I had a Lock-On stand break in 2012 and now I won't step foot in one).

Just my two cents and YMMV

[Bisch]

Easier, It's just a sideways compound.

You meant to say it’s just a rifle that shoots arrows!!!!!!! Sorry OP, but couldn’t let this one just pass. It’s nothing like a compound other than it propels an arrow-like projectile!!!!!

Bisch

[60 Deluxe]

Rather than spend the ridiculous prices that crossbows are selling for, I'll simply go back to the rifle if and when the time comes. There is no shame in ending where I began. I never really took advantage of the archery season anyway seeing that it is quite often too hot for hunting in October.